ALTERNATIVELY... OR GO ELECTRIC...ALL THE
GEARS,
NO IDEA
Remove your rose-tinted
cycling shades for a sec and
you’ll realise Britain’s roads
are in a right state, with
reports that a £10bn backlog
of pothole repairs will take
a decade to fix. So while the
idea of taking to the Tarmac
sounds like a good idea,
bruised cheeks and the
threat of falling into a sinkhole
suggest otherwise.
Enigma’s Evoke won’t
evade every pothole – that’s
still on you – but because it’s
made from titanium it offers
better shock-absorption and
comfort compared to carbonfibre, which also gets very
spendy very quickly.
With many customisation
options to let you create
your own perfect steed,
the Evoke is equally adept
at short blasts or all-day
adventures. The handling is
supposed to recall a classic
race bike adapted for modern
riding styles, which means
wide tyres, bolt-through
axles and flat-mount brakes,
with a slight drop from
saddle to handlebars – so
at least your riding position
is aerodynamic, even if your
body shape isn’t.Cannondale
Synapse Disc
Tiagra
A surprisingly
comfortable
aluminium road
bike with retro
colourways, this
aluminium cruiser
for open and
gravel roads
includes carbon
forks, powerful
disc brakes and
a Shimano Tiagra
groupset.
£1000 /
cannondale.comFocus
Paralane2 9.8
The biggest
compliment we
can pay to the
Paralane2 is that
it hardly looks
like an e-bike.
The price is
a giveaway,
but then you
are getting a
carbon frame
and forks to
offset the Fazua
Evation motor.
£6599 /
focus-bikes.com67
Saddle up, because you don’t need to be an oily-fingered nerd
to get up to speed with the current crop of wheeled steeds
1 FRAME
The criss-cross
of tubes that all
other components
are attached to.
Choose between
corrosion-resistant
aluminium,
featherweightcarbon fibre,
smooth titanium
or strong steel.2 GEOMETRY
The lengths and
angles making
up a frame vary
depending on biketype, and will affect
the ride. Search
the web for a bike
geometry chart.3 GROUPSET
The mechanical or
electrical parts that
make you stop orgo: drivetrain, gears
and brakes.4 HUBS
The central parts
of your wheels
that connect to the
spokes. They can
affect riding style.5 SEAT STAYS
Different bikes
employ various
ways of reducing
the road shock
travelling from
the rear wheel
up to your delicate
saddle area.JARGON BUSTER
STUFF PICKS
Enigma Evoke Ultegra R8000
£4150 / enigmabikes.com[ Words James Day, Ross Presly ]