Behind The Scenes: Bell Helmets Test Lab

big fan of  bell helmets , this is why

CUTTING UP EXPENSIVE CARBON BIKES!

GRINDDURO 2016

looks so good

Managing Cycling and Relationships

cross racing!

So after a year of riding and racing 12 hour and 24 hour endurance events the body has had a kick in the butt as we have jumped in to the south west cyclocross series, having raced one event tow years ago on a 29er and then came back last year to race two rounds we were keen to do some more, we hit the series at round 2, fast and flat track at Taunton, with lots flip flop turns and banks we were stoked to roll in for 5th!! few weeks later and the east Devon round, few more ramped climbs and my poor form at the this time showed, paced it in for 9th, one week later and were in Exeter, this tracks got loads long draggy climbs and ruts but its not very tech, we come in 9th again but well off the pace.. Another week and its the Barnstaple round, and were on the new GT grade x, i felt a lot better than the week before, the track was still not over tech but i felt ok, yet we finished..11th! time to try and get in shape before the next event or find some faster legs! still great winter fun.

Thompson Capella review

This is the Thompson Capella disc, Thompson has put lot time and money in to developing this bike and it shows, Designed as a cutting edge endurance road bike, but dont think of this as a endurance road bike from 5 years ago with long head tubes, and tug boat handling, this is the new breed of road bikes that go back to the era of what a true road bike was, yes you can do a sportive on it, a club run with the fast boys and just about any style of road riding, its the classic road bike reborn!

 The frames very much split, the top tube shape and lay up along with the slender seat stays are all about rider comfort, While the down tube/bb and chainstays are all about putting down the watts.

So how does the Capella stack up?? First ride and the bike felt fine, no crazy handling and we were happy to ride it in our weekly mid week club ride, but then we hit the hills! .. and i was blown away by this bike!! no bike i have ever thrown a leg over has had a bottom bracket that stiff!! its like jumping off the floor on to a box at the gym or kicking off the wall at the pool, unreal how every bit power goes to the rear wheel, this bikes so much stiffer than my dale super hi mod evo that the frame has a higher RRP than this complete! its that good! what goes up must come down and disc brakes helped me take some KOMs and that matched with sharp but predictable handling thanks to great angles, the bolt through hubs front and rear helped this bike carve the turns while the slight aero profiles of the tubes and neat inline seat clamp all help make this a must have for any riders wish list for a next bike, i was not 100% sold on the black white colours but then Thompson let you have custom colours at no extra cost! Some might over look the Thompson as its sell for a lot less money than a S-works but dont! Thompson are just better value and its products prove they can go head to head with any of the the markets finest. 2 thumbs up for this rig and we were sad to see it go..

Baden Cooke || Life After Racing and factor bikes

Dirt Shark: 2016 FMX High Rollers Contest

GT GRADE X REVIEW

So this is my new cross bike.. can the cyclocross spec grade from gt cut it as a cross race bike.. first test and blog coming later this week..

GT GTS ELITE long term review

so almost 2 years, how did it do, was it worth the money.. Well the bike did good, plus has to be full 105, a solid frame and a great value winter bike or first road bike, If your planning on getting one, dump the tyres, they maybe 25mm but these are cheap steel beaded, switching tyres changed the ride and helped me not get dropped on the group ride, it was that big of a change, the only other change i made was the wheels, if your looking at this bike for the long term that be the big upgrade, i put some old dt swiss wheels from my old spec tarmac comp and again boosted the ride by making it feel and ride quicker in the hills, other than this the bike stayed stock, its a great value ride what for the money still wins its price range hands down.

cross is boss...

Hi all, The last month we have jumped in to the cross racing season and raced round 2 of the south west series, this taunton track was fast and flat, i came in pumped for a result and put in a big effort and come out the race with a 5th! 2 weeks later we were in North Devon for the next round, few more ramps and my lack form was showing, i got a solid 9th, Then just 7 days later we were in Exeter for escot, one of the hardest races of the year with its ruts and bumps and this year a lot long draggy climbs, this showed my poor form even more and i had a bad race and never got going, i planned to make a big push on the last lap but ended up getting wiped out twice by other riders, my 9th here was not what i wanted but at the same time with my lack good legs right now im going to have to take and hope to bounce back as were racing again this sunday, on the plus we have a new bike for this weekend, so lets hope that works out well. 

Top 3 Ways To Seat Tubeless Tyres | Mountain Bike Maintenance