The Gear Factor

Craghoppers 750ml Bottle Look, I’m not going to lie, I bought this on an impulse as it was by the till and it caught my eye. I have a Swiss SIGG bottle and I like the taste of cold water come from it (and it looks pretty cool), so when I saw cool matt black bottle from Craghoppers for £4.00 I had to pick it up. It’s sole purpose was to finish off the all black look of my Specialized Rockhopper…

Afan W2 @cognation @mbwales #mtb #mbwales #cognation

Afan W2 Its not like me to not take any photos but I only had my phone with me and it was raining – a lot! Anyway, we (Calne MTB) got up early on Sunday and 8 of us drove to the Glyncorrwg Visitor Centre at the Afan Forest Park Bike Trails, near Port Talbot in West Wales. Our plan for the day was to do W2 – this is both the “W” trails: Whites Level and Y Wal – see the two “W”s… Whites Level Map…

Uberbike Narrow wide chainring

Seeing fellow riders with only one chainring I often wondered how it was possible and marvelled at their superior levels of fitness for managing without the gears that I held so dear to my heart. Until quite recently I hadn’t even considered that I would convert a bike to a single chainring and go 1×10. I suppose it started when I bought a Genesis Alpitude that had a 2×9 set up and soon after saw…

It’s not all about hitting cool trails for me; yes that’s a HUGE part of why I ride my mountain bike but it’s also about enjoying the outdoors, the fresh air and occasionally the solitude. That’s why last week I bought a stove and some gas, loaded up my bike and pedalled out to make myself a cup of tea in the hills.

I am no expert on this subject matter and I know there are many specialist…

Photos by Paris Gore for http://www.bikemag.com

Specialized has had a bit of a rough ride over the last few years – they were notably late to the 650b party sticking with 29″ until caving in, then there was the Cafe Roubaix story (lets not go there) and they generally suffer a little from a market saturation problem – most bike shops stock Specialized, you can get them anywhere and they don’t…

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I haven’t been posting much over the last year or so due to work commitments and simply not having the time. Well that’s about to change.

Due to my personal circumstances I am now in a position to make this website work a little harder. Ok so actually, I intend to work a little harder on the website. I am also running 3 MTBs currently so have plenty of stuff to talk about. Here is an outline of…

Glyn Yr Aur

Last weekend we stayed in a small cottage high above the Coed Y Brenin trail centre called Glyn Yr Aur. Its about a mile ride from the Beast Trail on the road between the sections known as Gomez and Morticia.

The weather was kind to us all weekend and the resulting views were stunning. Its a steep climb up by bike and each day ended with a 300m climb to go “home”. Its also steep in an…

Moove Torque Flat Pedals

Haven’t written a review for a while, but finally I have some new gear to share my thoughts on. Flat pedals are a pretty key part of your MTB set up: without them how are you going to rotate the cranks, to turn the wheels, to climb that hill, so you can come down again with a big smile on your face?

My Alpitude was crying out for a bit of bling and so what better way than to add some orange…

Wales Mountain Biking by Tom Hutton

Wales is well and truly on the Mountain Bike Map as it hosts some of the UKs oldest trail centres and of course it has Bike Park Wales as the ultimate riding location for many.

However, those that know best know that to get the best out of riding in Wales you have to avoid the trail centres. Make some Welsh friends and you will soon find yourself riding tighter and steeper trails than you would…

Trail Review – Chase Trails

Chase Trail – Cannock

A few weeks ago (while it still felt like Summer), I took a diversion on the way home from a work trip to visit the much talked about Chase Trails at Cannock Chase. It was hot and dry and dusty, what better was was there to end the day sitting in the car and in meetings.

The Chase Trails incorporate 2 Red graded trails (Follow The Dog and The Monkey) that you can link…

Brandon Semenuk is one of them freeride mountain bikers you watch on YouTube. You are probably in awe of his skills along with those of his Red Bull Rampage buddies Cam Zink, Brendan Fairclough and Cam McCaul. I am and I live watching freeride movies like Seasons and last years Where the trail Ends. I have no expectations that one day I can do this sort of thing, but it does make me believe I…

Shimano AM45 MTB Shoes Review #Shimano #MTB

Shimano AM45 SPD Shoes

Having spent much of the Winter riding with Endura Overshoes on it was time to switch to something that looked a little better with shorts! Me vain???

After much research (and finding a seriously good price) I decided to go for the Shimano AM45 SPD shoes. The AM45 and the AM41 (flat pedal version) are a pretty common site these days and after a ride or two its easy to see…

Garmin Vivofit Review #Garmin #Vivofit

Garmin Vivofit

The Garmin Vivofitis one of the latest in a growing selection of fitness bands / watches that are available from numerous manufacturers. What is it? Well its a digital watch and pedometer that keeps track of your daily activity by counting steps. I don’t usually wear a watch; I usually get bored of them and very rarely use them to tell the time any way – I am either in front of a…

Trail Review - Cwmcarn Cafall (Worth a visit) - #MTB #MBWales

Photo Courtesy Lauren-Jenkins.co.uk

For a long time Cwmcarn has come under some criticism with only one XC trail and one DH trail. Many trail center users were choosing to visit the near by Forest of Dean with its wider selection of MTB trails and forest routes or to travel further west to Afan for a bigger all mountain fix on Skyline, Y Wal or the grueling Whites Level.

Cwmcarn was being left…

Review - Rapid Racer Products - NeoGuard #rapidracerproducts #mtb

MagicShine MJ-880 Lights Review and Video (Part I) #mtb #nightriding

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IK0bD3qF0M&w=470&h=295]

2000 lumens of award winning lights! What more could you ask for to illuminate your trail and brighten up your night rides?

The kind folks at MagicShine UK solved our night ridingissues this…