Issue 162

Description

Editorial – Good Enough For Ya?
Chipps reckons bikes got ‘good enough’ years ago, but they keep on improving and we’re destined to join them on that journey.

Singletrack World’s Portes du Soleil Guide

Morzine: Enduro Now is Better than Downhill Then.
Benji takes a capable trail bike to Morzine trails that once dictated a DH machine and comes away impressed.

Les Gets: Knocking it out of the (Bike) Park
Sanny goes up and out of the bike park in order to see the views and try the trails that few bother to see.

Ebikes in the Mountains?
Mark looks at the logistics and benefits of taking (or renting) an ebike for the mountain trails, despite the abundance of chairlifts in the Portes de Soleil area.

Gravel to a Gun Fight
Sanny wouldn’t listen and took a gravel bike up the chairlift. Turns out, there’s a load of gravel (and hardtail and family)-friendly stuff just the other side of the lifts.

What is Soul?
Can bikes have ‘soul’? Can only steel bikes have soul? How about new bikes? Can you add to it, or does it drain away if not topped up? Chipps takes a deep dive into a completely invented topic to see what the truth is.

Flight Club
A few issues ago, Steve Aspinall was sailing through the air with ease and encouraging you to join him. Then it all came to a sudden stop. Now, he’s back, he’s more philosophical and he’s mostly fixed.

Mini Grouptest: Riding Trousers
Riding pants? Riding trousers? Call them what you will, they’re a great way of keeping the brambles out and the pads up. Benji and crew check out a handful for you.

UK Adventure: Wider, Not Wiser
Our endurance racing stalwart, Jason Miles comes out of self-imposed exile to discover that everyone got faster while he was away.

Through the Grinder
Our longest-running reviews section continues its slow erosion of test products for your benefit and entertainment.

Cycling Culture: Tall Bikes
Why would you make a bike harder to ride and to get on and off? ‘Just because’, seems the perfectly reasonable excuse cited by disciples of the Church of the Tall Bike.

UK Travel: Cragg Megadeth
Or, Creag Meagaidh, to give it it’s full name. Munro-bagger Sanny teams up with MunroBiker to tick another peak off their iSpy book of big Scottish mountains.

Flannel Panel
Who does what here, how to contact us and what our favourite motorway service station is.

Last Word
One day, you’re going to go on your last mountain bike ride. That needn’t be today, reckons Hannah.