Mountain Bike Rider — March 2018

6 mbrMARCH 2018

EDITOR’S LETTER

Back to the future

W

henItookupmountainbiking,a

bike was just a bike. There was

no pigeon-holing; you just rode

it anywhere and everywhere.

And, mostly, you raced it,

because racingwasmountainbikinginthe

late Eighties and early Nineties. I raced XC for

around seven years

before witching to

downhill, and in that

time the bikes and

kit developed at a

glacial pace. In fact

it’s only in the last

couple of years that

full-suspension has

been adopted at the

highest echelons

ofthesport.Asthe

race tracks have got

harder,sofinallybrandshavebeenrelaxingtheir

geometry and building suspension that actually

moves.Whichisallgoodnewsforthemajority

of us that don’t actually race, because these

short-travel rippers make pretty good trail

bikes. Light, fast and efficient, they cover

ground with minimal effort and carry speed

brilliantly on typical flowing, trail centre

singletrack, making the most of your effort,

whatever your fitness level.

So, while at first glance they might seem

like an irrelevant niche, the best options can

actually make smart alternatives to hardtails

ortrailbikesifyourridingisofalesstechnical

nature.We’vetestedfiveofthelatestmodels

thismonth(p90),soifyou’reinthemarket for

a new bike and want to rid ff d

cross-country, just like we

back when mountain bikin

simpler, this is the test for

Now available on the iPad,

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mbr.co.uk/digital-edition

HOW TO

mbr.co.uk facebook.com/MBRmagazine twitter.com/mbrmagazine youtube.com/user/MBRmagazine strava.com/clubs/mountain-bike-rider-

XC bikes are no longer

stuck in the past

ON THE COVER

22 BUZZ: FITTER BY STEALTH
Want to get fitter and faster, without
killingthefunonyourride?Procoach
AlanMilwayshowsushowtotrain
withoutspoilingthebuzz

ON THE COVER

60 SKILLS:BETTERBRAKING
Knowingwhentobrakeandwhento
letitflywillworkwondersforyourgrip
andspeed—expertcoachAndyBarlow
from Dirt School shows us how to
manage our stoppers

REGULARS

8 BIG PICTURES

15 BUZZ

The new Leeds Urban Bike Park, skills

while-you-wait, mountain routes with

GPS mapping, understanding trail

centre guiding and loads more

38 MAILBOX

Your rants, raves and witty ripostes

106 AFTERIMAGE

Chris Porter relives the Nineties,

absconding to France with the new

Cannondale Fulcrum DH bike

Use down-time on the

trails to fine-tune your

freestyle skills, p

Hone your stopping

stylewith help from

our resident coach, p

Hasthe Bossnut

finally met its

match? p

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Editor,m

Five cross-country rigs

ridden and rated

CONTENTS