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2020-09-01 Cycling Plus Flipbook PDF

2020-09-01 Cycling Plus

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ISSUE 370

SEPTEMBER 2020

HIGHLIGHTS MIND GAMES 58 Train your brain to banish the selfdoubt and fatigue on long rides

PAST MASTERS 84 Unleash the power of memory to fuel future goals

IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT 98 How to keep your cool in the sizzling heat this summer

Cheddar Gorge is an Alps stand-in for John Whitney P122

BIKERADAR.COM

SEPTEMBER 2020 7

ISSUE 370

SEPTEMBER

34

44

Specialized Roubaix

Sidi Sixty Limited Edition

46

Spektrum Eco glasses

GEAR & BIKE REVIEWS… NEW BIKES

NEW GEAR

14 Last issue we delved deep into the history of the Giant TCR. This time we test out the eagerly awaited latest iteration

44 Shoes from Sidi, shades from Spektrum, a helmet from Coros and clothing from La Passione and Le Col

BIKE TEST

BEST UPGRADES

34 Few bikes have a reputation like Specialized’s Roubaix. We chart the history of a modern classic

66 Twelve upgrades, from wheels to handlebars, to make your dream bike sing even louder

INSIDE EVERY MONTH… Rob Ainsley knows what he wants for his 60th 32

HUB

TRAINING CAMP

26 In The Spin, we ponder how we need to up our hygiene game at sportives as the 2020 Etape du Tour gets rescheduled for September, and profile three routes in Scottish Borders town Moffat

105 How to use the vast array of technology to improve your riding; learn from British cycling legend Sean Yates; strengthen your legs with off-bike exercises; cook up a tasty roasted veg and feta grain salad

BIKE SHED

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! SAVE 35% & RECEIVE A GIFT Pay just £50.79 every 13 issues by direct debit and receive a Lezyne Caddy Sport saddle bag worth £49.99

BIKE TEST

DESIGN FOR LIFE

74 Two British-born bike brands, Ribble and Kinesis, face off in a mighty battle of the superbikes

90 We sit down with Torgny Fjeldskaar, the designer behind some of the world’s best-loved bikes

8 SEPTEMBER 2020

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THE BIG RIDE

Ned Boulting has a Tourshaped hole in his life 130

122 In the month that features editor John Whitney was due to ride the 2020 Transalp race in Italy, they challenged him to mimic one of the stages in a ‘Local Roads’ edition. So he headed to Somerset’s Mendips...

120 Regular Cycling Plus photographer Russell Burton lives in the heart of Salisbury Plain, a perfect match for the Santa Cruz Stigmata gravel bike that he’s been testing all year. He’s back to give his latest update

ALL ROADS UNLIMITED — WE’VE BEEN RIDING ON GRAVEL SINCE BEFORE IT WAS A THING.

MAYBE THAT’S WHY WE DON’T REALLY LIKE THE WORD “GRAVEL”.

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FROM THE EDITOR... What a race! Sorry, force of habit – I’m writing this the day after the 2020 Tour de France was supposed to have hit Paris with the latest owner of the winner’s yellow jersey. I don’t know about you but a July that was already strange, felt stranger still without the world’s biggest bike race. (Something that Ned Boulting felt acutely, too - p130.) Luckily, as we go to press the rescheduled Tour is still readying to roll out from Nice on 29 August. Check out our preview magazine and keep everything crossed for a classic comeback edition.

Paul Robson Editor

SUBSCRIBE TODAY FOR ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVE OFFERS & COMPETITIONS AS PART OF OUR SUBSCRIBER CLUB!

HIGHLIGHTS… BRAIN TRAINING Many of us have had a lot of time to think recently and in this issue we take a look at two different ways to use our brains to improve our riding. And, perhaps, take our minds off the real world for a while, p58

GAME CHANGERS In this issue we’ve got two bikes that can lay claim to making a seismic impact on what we ride: the Giant TCR and Specialized Roubaix. Tech Ed Warren tests the latest TCR on p14 and then looks at the history of the Roubaix on p34

GET IN TOUCH… If you’ve anything you want to say you can chat with us via @cyclingplus on Twitter, CyclingPlusMagazine on Facebook and cyclingplus on Instagram. And, of course, you can always email us at [email protected]. And don’t forget to visit www.cyclingplus.com!

OUR AWARDS THE UK’S BEST TESTS FOR OVER 25 YEARS THE ONLY BIKE BUYING ADVICE YOU CAN TRUST... We take our testing very seriously at Cycling Plus. For more than 25 years – an age when disc brakes, Di2 and super-wide 1x gearing weren’t even a glint in a designer’s eye – we have been putting road cycling products through their paces. Our Senior Technical Editor Warren Rossiter, has nearly a quarter of a century of riding experience in just about every discipline. He can separate the great from the also-rans when it comes to bikes, clothing, accessories – and more. If it gets our seal of approval you can be sure that you’ll be bagging a great buy!

THE TECH TEAM’S SENIOR TECHNICAL EDITOR PREVIEWS HIS ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS... WARREN ROSSIT ER

SENIOR TECHNICAL EDITOR This month’s testing has been a pretty exciting mix including finally being able to get out on Giant’s new superbike, the TCR Advanced SL 0 as well as clocking up miles in on the futuristic folding ebike from British innovators Gocycle. I’ve looked at two more British-born superbikes from Lancashire’s Ribble and Sussex’s Kinesis with two very different but impressive machines. I’ve also tried out some great new kit from La Passione and Le Col, shoes from Sidi, a connected helmet with built-in headphones that are safe to ride in, plus commuter backpacks and some eco-friendly sunglasses from Scandinavia made from castor bean oil.

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Look out for our Best On Test award. We only give this to gear and bikes that really deserves your attention

Is the ninth iteration of Giant's superbike its best yet? p14

How do British-born superbikes stand up to global competition? p74

Photographer Russ Burton does Cali in style on his Stigmata p120

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The ninth iteration of a bike that debuted in 1997... but there’s nothing ‘nineties’ about this superbike

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Race day ready Giant TCR Advanced SL0 Disc £9499 Future superbike

T

he 2021 Giant TCR is the ninth iteration of the compact-framed race machine that debuted two decades ago, back in 1997. There is, however, nothing ‘nineties’ about

this superbike. At the heart of all the Advanced SL models is a new way of manufacturing carbon-fibre frames (as outlined in issue 368, One Giant Leap), which in summary involves Giant weaving its own carbon-fibre sheets in-house to exacting specifications, and cutting each piece used in the frame with highly accurate, laser-cutting tools. That means over 500 precisely cut pieces make up the frame (compared to the previous model’s 380). There is also a new method used to bind it all together in the form of a carbon-nanotube infused resin that greatly strengthens the bond between the layers of carbon composite. This is claimed to greatly increase impact strength and reduce weight. Weight reduction also comes from special thin-line paint, which saves 65g over Giant’s standard, seven-layer paint applications. It all adds up to a frame and fork that’s 140.43g lighter than the previous model. Giant doesn’t make claims on frame weight, rather it gives the weight of a complete painted frameset (which means fork, headset, all metal hardware and seat clamp) as 1266g. By comparison, the lightweight S-Works Tarmac weighs in at 1371g. So, rest assured, the TCR is a very light bike. The frame’s stiffness and aerodynamics have also been improved, which shows just how important the new Advanced carbon materials and manufacture have been to this bike’s design. One of the unique features of the SL 0 is the use of an integrated seatpost (ISP). In the past we’ve heard complaints that an ISP

BIKERADAR.COM

SEPTEMBER 2020 15

CADEX wheels with carbon fibre spokes

SRAM’s Red AXS and Quarq power metre

SPECIFICATIONS

The unique integrated seatpost

means that your bike is hard to pack to travel. Well, we’ve taken a TCR with an ISP (cut to 79cm) on many flights in a Polaris box and SciCon case and had no trouble at all. We’d rather have a seatpost that has no chance of slipping or twisting from water ingress from riding on wet days and is lighter than a conventional set-up. And because the post transitions into the frame it’s more aerodynamic too. Our complete test bike, a large fitted with two Giant bottle cages, tips the scales at just 6.71kg. Consider that the UCI’s legal limit for racing is 6.8kg and that shows just how light this bike is. On the road, we have to admit to being somewhat apprehensive about such a light bike. Surely it would put too much pressure on the stiffness and ride quality when it’s this minimal? Particularly as, at 92kg, this tester is not exactly a featherweight ride. However, we’ve been completely blown away by the dynamic feel of the 2021 TCR. You can’t detect any unwanted flex through the pedals and bars and the response of the ride is sheer brilliance. It shines very brightly when you’re powering on the pedals and the swiftness of the handling makes for a bike that can be flicked and thrown around in an instant. It simply refuses

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to be anything but spot on when it comes to handling; nothing knocks your confidence. Any bike this light is going to climb with the best of them. As you’d expect, the TCR does it with a willingness to plough ahead in a straight line, aided in no doubt by the lightweight 1327g CADEX 42 wheels keeping all important rotating weight to a minimum. When tested independently on an old TCR, CADEX were found to be among the bestbalanced wheels in terms of rigidity, speed and comfort. On exiting a lean after cornering, they just seem to want to stand up straight and get on with the business of getting you down the road. The addition of aerodynamics to the TCR frame have wind-tunnel figures to back them up and the subtle, truncated airfoil shapes of the tubes give the new TCR all the aero kudos of a cutting-edge bike. Giant claims that testing of the frame and its new aerodynamic features will save you 34 seconds over 25 miles (40km). At odds with this are the short sections of external hoses on both front and rear brakes, rather than the fully integrated routing of rival bikes. It may save a watt or two to go internal, but we like that Giant has retained simplicity in the cockpit, which also deserves praise. The stem

Weight 6.71kg (L) ISP cut to 79cm saddle height Frame Advanced SL-Grade composite, integrated seatpost Fork Advanced SL-Grade composite, fullcomposite OverDrive 2 steerer, disc Gears SRAM Red eTap AXS 48/35, 10-28 with Quarq DZero power meter Brakes SRAM RED eTap AXS hydraulic, 160mm/ 140mm rotors Finishing kit NEW Giant Contact SLR bar, NEW Giant Contact SLR stem, Integrated design, 2 x clamps 25mm/45mm seatpost, NEW Giant Fleet SLR saddle, CADEX 42mm Disc WheelSystem, CADEX 25c tubeless tyres Extras Tubeless sealant, outfront mount (Garmin, Wahoo, Giant compatible), 2 x Giant bottle cages

Regardless of its light weight, we’ve been blown away by the dynamic feel of the 2021 TCR

Light, bright and fast: Giant has produced a dream machine with the 2021 TCR

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SEPTEMBER 2020 17

This TCR is at its heart a race machine where lightness and stiffness take priority over comfort

is an elegant, matt-finished carbon unit, which is all good, but the new Contact SLR bar is the real star of the show following the same clever design principles as the Defy’s superb hand-holds. Great shape, impeccable vibration reduction and ergonomically shaped tube profiles in the drops and on the tops: make no mistake the TCR is at its heart a race machine where lightness and stiffness take priority over comfort. It’s not an uncomfortable bike, however, thanks to the bar, D-Fuse-shaped ISP and excellent short-dimension Fleet SLR saddle, yet it still communicates the feel of the road, grip-wise. The 25c tubeless tyres are supple and grip for days in dry conditions but we tried switching out the wheels for a pair of ones shod with 28mm tubeless tyres and the difference is marked. Racier types may turn their noses up at 28mm tyres for not HIGHS communicating the road surface Lightness; stiffness; efficiently, but when those responsive surfaces aren’t ‘race enough’, handling we’d always opt for more volume, cushioning and less fatigue even LOWS if this means a few extra grams. Some may not like the The bike’s basic geometry exposed brake hasn’t changed over the outgoing hoses model. There are small changes: a 2mm reduction in the bottom BUY IF... bracket height to allow for You can afford one of today’s increased tyre capacity (the 2021 most complete bike will take 32c tyres, the old race bikes one up to 28s), the stack height

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Advanced SL composites using new cutting-edge processes

from the bottom bracket remains the same at 581mm (L) and the reach is 402mm making it race focused: long, low and fully aggressive. Parallel 73-degree angles for head and seat are classic racebike stuff too. The Red AXS gearing is 48/35 with a 10-28 cassette and 12 speeds. That’s the equivalent of a 52/36 with an 11-28 on a traditional 11-speed setup but with a slightly lighter gear and a higher gear at each end. Red AXS’s simplicity of operation is welcome, as is the adjustability through its accompanying app, which also reads from the included Quarq power meter. At the end of each ride it’ll report on the number of shifts, power max, average and normalised power, along with a full GPS track of your ride (Garmin or Wahoo). The info syncs to your head unit, which will then autoupload to Strava. Or you can link directly to your GPS head unit and show battery levels, gearing, cadence and all of the power metrics supplied by the Quarq. SRAM’s new brake rotors and the flat-mount Red hydraulic units provide consistent powerful braking that are full of feel. This latest TCR only enhances the reputation of a bike that, for more than two decades, has been at the forefront of race-bike design and performance.

THE VERDICT

Exquisite poise and a dream-machine specification CADEX Fleet saddle with a mount for an integrated light

PHOTOGRAPHY RUSSELL BURTON

The 2021 TCR only enhances the model’s reputation as a race-bike leader

STAGE S SMART BIK E T H E U LT I M AT E I N D O O R T R A I N E R T O TA K E Y O U R C YCLING PERFORMANCE TO THE NEX T LE VEL. Q

D UA L - S I D E D P O W E R M E T E R T E C H P R O V E N W I T H S I X G R A N D TO U R W I N S

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W I D E - R A N G E F I V E - P O I N T A D J U S TA B I L I T Y I N C LU D I N G C R A N K L E N G T H

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M U LT I P L E S C R E E N S E T U P S F O R P H O N E A N D TA B L E T P LU S O N - B O A R D C H A R G I N G

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W I D E A P P CO M PAT I B I L I T Y I N C LU D I N G Z W I F T, T R A I N E R R O A D, S U F F E R F E S T A N D M O R E

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REAL ROAD BARS WITH ELEC TRONIC SHIFTING, BRAKING AND STEERING

Q

G AT E S C A R B O N B E LT D R I V E F O R Q U I E T, M A I N T E N A N C E - F R E E O P E R AT I O N

Go, go gadget! Gocycle GXi £3699 British-designed, futuristic, folding ebike ocycle’s latest ebike, the GXi, is the latest iteration of the clever, singlesided design that was first seen a decade ago when the company formed and launched its ebike range with the G3 model. Aimed primarily at commuters looking for a fast-folding ebike this iteration of the company’s notoriously stylish range adds a more integrated design and clever connectivity over the GX. The single-sided design is a great idea that works particularly well for commuters because the stub-axles that hold the wheels in place mean that punctures can be repaired without the need to remove the wheel at all. The sealed drivetrain is trouser-friendly and inside is housed a Shimano Nexus 3-speed hub gear that’s electronically controlled. It gives a gear range of a 39.1-inch in first, a 53.3inch in second and a 72.5-inch gear in third. The lightest gear is the equivalent of a 34/22 on a standard road bike (50/34, 11-32 cassette) – an easy gear for climbs; the middle gear is the same as being in 50/25, so you can happily spin up low-gradient inclines with ease. The largest gear is similar to being in 50/19, great for holding a decent pace on the flat. The injection-moulded magnesium back end also integrates 1-inch of suspension travel for added comfort.

G

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Gocycle has kept its smartthinking, single-sided design

A 375Wh battery means 50 miles’ worth of power from the GXi

The GXi handlebar incorporates an LED display, which shows your effort, the motor energy, battery level and gear through a series of coloured lights. The front of the bar incorporates a wide and bright integrated daytime running light using tech borrowed from the car industry. The system configuration is set for EU regulations, which means the standard 250w motor output and assistance up to 25kph (15.5mph) within 10 per cent. Gocycle’s setting is at the upper level of 10 per cent and power delivery is a smooth curve. It does have great pick up from the front wheel motor (Gocycle’s own) from a standing start as Gocyle has engineered in traction control, which monitors how fast both of the wheels are going so that it can bring in traction control when needed. The 17.5kg bike houses a large 375Wh battery within its aluminium frame, which powers a powerful front hub motor up to a claimed range of an impressive 50 miles. The battery can be charged to full from empty in four hours. The integration of the bike is completed by the Gocycle app within which you can tune the power delivery to match your own power output through a series of tuneable power curves. It displays a myriad information, including speed, cadence, max speed, average speed, trip distance, odometer, calories burnt, pedal power in watts,

Gocycle’s all-singing, all dancing new folding ebike

’Light pipe’ technology from the car industry

SPECIFICATIONS

The bar shows a lot of useful information

max pedal power, average power in watts for you and the bike (showing the split) and the equivalent in fuel litres you’ve saved using the bike. Gocycle also includes lights and integrated mudguards and plenty of accessories are available aftermarket. On the road the Gocycle is seriously good fun. The full-length wheelbase of 1065mm gives it great stability and a pretty relaxed 70-degree head angle makes for stable handling still swift enough to navigate through traffic with ease. As for range – we got on average of around 47 miles on a single charge using the ‘city’ mode via the app. This limits the assistance until the rider is putting in the equivalent of 100 watts of their own power and ramps up to full assistance at around 250 watts of rider input. ‘Eco’ mode comes in at around 175 watts, and then there’s on-demand where the system delivers e-assistance when it deems you need it. You can also set your own custom power-

On the road the Gocycle is seriously good fun with great stability and stable handling; swift enough to navigate traffic with ease

HIGHS

Class-leading handling and ride quality; great fun

LOWS

It doesn’t come cheap

BUY IF...

You want a folding ebike that goes beyond where it’s supposed to go

band assistance level via easy-to-use sliders on the app power grid screen. The GXi is a folder, but doesn’t have Brompton levels of compactness. The folded size is 830mm x 370mm x 750mm. That’s small enough to fit into the boot of a small car, but it won’t slide under a desk like a Brompton. At 17.5kg it’s a little bulky too. The gear range is ideal for urban riding and the low 39.1-inch bottom gear along with e-assist means the Gocycle has an impressive climbing ability. On one of our test rides it took on a local hill a kilometre long with 95m of elevation gain and a gradient average of 10 per cent with a max of 16.8 per cent without a hitch. The ride quality is impressively smooth thanks to the combination of the soft-tail back end and the massively voluminous tyres. In fact, the combination of the handling and ride quality encouraged this tester to try the Gocycle way out of its comfort zone on one of our favourite gravel excursions. With the bike running in ‘eco’, but with a tweak to the assist coming in at the 200 watt mark it achieved an impressive 61.236km with 418.75 metres of elevation at an average speed of 25.07kph on a route that took in everything from long road climbs to real gravel (nearly 30km of it). What was even more impressive was how well the bike coped with different terrain. The motor may be tiny compared to most of its

BIKERADAR.COM

Weight 17.5kg (one size) Frame Hydroformed 6061 aluminium with injection moulded magnesium rear end and Lockshock 1-inch travel Fork 6061 aluminium Gears Shimano Nexus 3-speed with Gocycle electronic predictive shifting Brakes Hydraulic discs Wheels PitstopWheel Magnesium with centre hub mount Finishing kit Gocycle bar system with Gocycle Light Pipe tech running light and dashboard display, Velo D2 comfort saddle, 34.9mm alloy seatpost (different lengths available), MKS EZY detachable pedals, Gocycle Ergo comfort grips, fast folding stem, 20-inch x 2.25inch Gocycle All Weather by Vredestein tyres, kickstand

SEPTEMBER 2020 21

Compact enough to fit into the boot of a small car, but it won’t slide under a desk like a Brompton This iteration has lots of extra features compared to the GX

rivals but it in no way seems underpowered in comparison. The front and rear disc brakes are shielded from the elements and they work superbly well. Fit-wise, the GXi is well thought-out. The relaxed 68-degree seat angle means that as you extend the telescopic seatpost it also lengthens the reach so, unlike some folders, taller riders like this tester (6ft 2in) don’t feel cramped. Gocycle also offers two lengths of seatpost extension, and you can alter the bar height. The GXi is a big step up in price from the standard GX (£2899) and it’s undoubtedly a lot of money. The upgrades include the smart handlebar with its rider-facing light display that shows battery level, mode and gear position. The front of the bar has a full-length, daytime-running light based on ‘light pipe’ technology and it shines ultra-bright white when the bike’s active (on). The GXi also has a predictive, automatic, 3-speed gear shift over the GX’s manual shift. The auto shifts down to first when you stop and it’s a great feature that ensures you’ll get the jump on most vehicles away from traffic lights. The GXi also gets a larger battery: 375Wh over the GX’s 300Wh giving it an improved range of 16km further than the GX’s 64km range. The GXi’s a little more integrated too with no external cables, which makes folding a more fuss-free

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The clamps all have integrated safety-locking mechanisms

experience. It gets an improved saddle, detachable metal MKS pedals and a drop of a claimed 300g from its predecessor. So, is the £800 increase from the GX worth it? If you are never going to exceed 64km in a single ride then the GX’s range will be plenty. In its favour, the GXi charges to 100 per cent in four hours with the optional fast charger. The bar has vertical adjustment, unlike the GX, which is great if more than one rider of differing sizes will be using it. The smart bar is nice to have, as is the full cable integration, but the app is the same across both. The metal pedals are a big improvement over the GX’s folding plastic MKS units for a solid platform. The saddle is similarly an improvement, although we would switch out the saddle for a favourite. The auto-shift function is good for commuters, but we don’t believe that experienced cyclists are going to be sold by auto-shifts. Would we spend the extra? Well, yes, we would actually – but only just and that’s largely due to the bigger range.

THE VERDICT

The best folding ebike for ride enjoyment, but it comes at a price Built-in traction control means wheels are constantly monitored

MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS PART S

EDITED BY JOHN WHITNEY

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THE BIG PICTURE IMAGE ANDY MCCANDLISH

CANCEL CULTURE Originally scheduled for September, the 2020 Tour of Britain was lost to the pandemic but that didn’t stop Trevor Ward from sampling some of the best roads that were set to bring the curtain down on the race. This final stage from Stonehaven to Aberdeen, rescheduled for 2021, includes the fearsome Cairn o’Mount climb, a twomile, 10 per cent monster. Come back for next issue’s Big Ride and catch a look at Trevor’s pain face...

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SEPTEMBER 2020 25

THE SPIN

CLEAN SPORT L’Etape du Tour lives on, but will old hygiene habits die hard in cycling’s new pandemic world? ne of the most unlikely news items to emerge this summer was of the postponed 2020 L’Etape du Tour rising again, phoenix-like, to get a new date on this year’s sporting calendar: 6 September. Its viability remains subject to approval from the relevant authorities but it meant that, at the time of writing, one of the few sportives surviving on the barren wasteland that is the 2020 cyclesportive calendar also, oddly, happens to be one of the planet’s biggest. Around 15,000 cyclists descend annually onto the Tour de France organiser ASO’s mass participation showpiece. Since 1993, the event has mimicked a stage of the Tour and this year the plan is to ride 175km of Stage 2 around Nice, a characteristically mountainous route that passes over local favourite climb, the Col de Turini. I’ve ridden the Etape once, in the steamingly hot 2015 edition that finished in the La Toussuire ski resort. For all the Kafkaesque faff of the pre-race sign-on – hosted at the difficult-to-reach summit of La Toussuire, a choice that could only have made sense to the organisers who’d block booked the hotels in the resort – race day itself remains one of

O

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JOHN WHI T NE Y FE ATURES EDITOR

The longtime Cycling Plus staffer offers his take on all the comments and controversy on the frontline of the cycling scene

my favourite experiences in this sport. Fifteen thousand people, united by a common love of the bike, indulging their passion through the great Alpine playground. It remains a priority of mine to return to it, though almost certainly not this year. It’s hard to figure out what social distancing and good hygiene looks like in an event such as the Etape. In its favour is that it’s one that takes place entirely outdoors, where Covid-19 finds it harder to transmit. It’s a far safer place to be than, say, a Donald Trump campaign rally; both events attract not just similar levels of attendees, but also, in both the furnace of an Alpine valley and the foment of a Trump podium, undesirable levels of hot air. As much as race day is spent outdoors, however, there’s an awful lot of indoors to contend with either side of it, in the trains, planes and hotels – breeding grounds for this disease. How might a post-Covid mega-sportive look? Let’s start at the beginning, because at 1m apart, those 15,000 starters are going to be stretched all the way to Monaco. That said, face coverings are a common sight at the Etape anyway, so perhaps there’s less to fear – the ride starts in the cold, early hours, so your versatile snood can add another string to its bow (as my Cycling Plus buff, free with issue 329, did during lockdown supermarket visits...). Then there’s the humble tub of hand sanitiser, which since March has become as important as wallet and keys when leaving the house. But will the weight obsessives countenance such a grievous intrusion in their bid to climb an Alp as a 100g tub of Purell in their jersey pocket. They’ll surely miss it at the summits if they don’t, at the usual site of the feed station. Few things in the world are in need, postpandemic, of such a complete reimagining as the mass participation feed station. They were an environmental health officer’s waking nightmare before all this, a place where germaphobes, if they wanted to eat – generally the case after heaving themselves up a mountain – would need to suspend their disbelief when dipping their hands into a wellransacked box of dried apricots. Best of luck with the queues, too – if it’s anything like my local Waitrose, riders will be waiting in line down beyond the final hairpin. And I can’t leave the subject of hygiene without a mention of nose blowing, the cyclist’s habit whereby they clasp a finger to one side of their hooter and blow. Always unpleasant, in our new reality it’s a sin punishable only with a North Korean-esque spell of hard labour. You know, it really does bring a whole new meaning to the concept of clean sport...

ILLUSTRATIONS DAVID MAHONEY, MICK MARSTON

“In its favour it takes place entirely outdoors... a far safer place than, say, a Donald Trump campaign rally”

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buff with a lint-free cloth.

moisture, providing a true

Fenwicks tells us it’s safe

aero advantage. It’s also

on gloss, matt, satin and

eco-friendly as the material

powder-coat finishes,

is woven from regenerated

as well as polished,

polyester sources rather

anodised and stainless.

than virgin material.

Fenwicks claims one treatment is good for up

02 SILCA ITALIAN ARMY KNIFE VENTI £26 The VENTI (that’s 20 in Italian) packs flat and

to six months.

01

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comes with pretty much

TORQ’s hypotonic drink

every tool you’ll ever

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need for roadside fixes and

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15g of multi-transportable

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carbs in every 500ml

keys, 8/10/20/25 Torx bits,

sachet. Talking of

Philips and flat drivers, a

transportable, this sampler

7mm box wrench, 8mm

from TORQ squeezes six

flare nut wrench, 10mm

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spanner, disc-pad spreader,

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spoke keys and even a

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03

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BIKERADAR.COM

SEPTEMBER 2020 29

RIDES LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

MOFFAT Explore forest roads, lochs and mountains by bike The sparsely-inhabited Scottish Borders are great for cycling, thanks to fine scenery and empty main roads, flushed free of traffic by the motorway. Moffat, with cafes, pubs and the world’s narrowest hotel is a good base for day rides. The old A74 serves as a fast, wide, magic carpet of a bike path to Scotland’s highest village.

ROUTE ONE HIGH EXCITEMENT 70 MILES FAST, EASY SCENERY Steady, easy climb on old A74, now an empty B road superseded by motorway, and up to lofty Wanlockhead at 411m (cafes, pubs). Great descent slicing through hills, then another nice climb up pleasant valley to rejoin that old road for the long, fast ride back to Moffat. GET THE ROUTE: komoot.com/ tour/206606391

ROUTE TWO AE GRADE 41 MILES EXTENDABLE GRAVEL JAUNT Lanes and forest roads to Ae’s mountainbike trail centre (cafe). From here it’s 35km of easy rural back roads back to Moffat, so you can explore a few extra forest loops and trails before returning: route details from the centre. GET THE ROUTE: komoot.com/ tour/206606856

ROUTE THREE LOCH IT UP 45 MILES SHORT, FAST AND SCENIC An easy half-day on some main, but never busy, roads with fabulous scenery all the way. Up past the Devil’s Beef Tub to the back road past Talla Reservoir, one shortish steep climb, then St Mary’s Loch and a super-fast run back down to Moffat. GET THE ROUTE: komoot.com/ tour/206607267

STOP FOR CAKES LEAD MINING MUSEUM

GET SPARE TUBES ANNANDALE CYCLES

FANCY A PINT? BLACK BULL INN

HAVE BREAKFAST RUMBLIN’ TUM

WITH FAMILY? STATION PARK

Super scones, cakes and coffee in Scotland’s top village. Simple tasty meals. Outside tables. WHERE: Wanlockhead ML12 6UT

Local bike shop in centre. Workshop, parts, repairs etc for all bike types. Accommodation too. Closed Sun. WHERE: Moffat DG10 9EG

Refurbed ancient inn with real ale, bistro and accommodation. Railings for bikes. (Many pubs in Moffat!) WHERE: Moffat DG10 9EG

Good-value breakfasts, coffee etc right in centre of town. Outside tables. Open from 8.30am. WHERE: Moffat DG10 9HJ

Nicely old-style park: boating lake, skateboard half-pipe, putting green, great for having picnics. WHERE: Moffat DG10 9HF

30 SEPTEMBER 2020

BIKERADAR.COM

ILLUSTRATION TOM WOOLLEY

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LIFE CYCLE

DIAMOND FRAME Bus pass for my 60th? Nope, just give me a new bike, says Rob Ainsley... hen I was 10, I dreamed about winning the Premium Bonds and buying a new bike. Ambitions changed as I grew up. I wanted to be rich and famous instead. But reality intervened and I steadily dialled things back. I just wanted to be rich. Then I just wanted to be comfortable. Then I just wanted a job. This month I turn 60. Now I dream about winning the Premium Bonds and buying a new bike. Bikes have been part of my life almost every day for over half a century, and have figured in most of my best life experiences. Overall, they’ve got lighter, faster, more sophisticated, better-looking and worth more. If only the same applied to me. My first non-kiddy bike was a blue Raleigh, circa 1968. I was a utility cyclist from day one. I rode to the ice-cream van to buy cigarettes for my parents. Don’t worry, it was done responsibly: they wrote a note for me to show the ice-cream man, and only bought me cinnamon cigarettes. I commuted to school on my Vindec. Even then, you had to mind out for other road users who thought the streets belonged to them. Boys playing football, in other words.

W

32 SEPTEMBER 2020

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ROB A INSLE Y

WRITER & JOURNALIST Rob wrote the Bluffer’s Guide to Cycling and 50 Quirky Bike Rides. He’s collecting international End to Ends yorkshireridings. blogspot.com.

Through the 1970s I had a succession of town bikes, typically blagged for £20 in a house clearance job-lot with boxes of old tools. Most were identical Raleigh Wayfarers (Sturmey Archer three-speed, dark blue frame, black saddlebag). They don’t make ’em like they used to. Thank goodness. My first proper bike, whose saddlebag usually carried an OS map and a pork pie, was in 1979: Raleigh Clubman, Reynolds 531, metallic green, £120. At the time, that bought about 325 pints of lager in a pub; they would cost you £1200 today. It was the most perfect bike I’d ever had. Brooks saddle, too. I wish I’d kept it, because it might be worn in by now. Later, I lived in Japan and had some domesticbrand town bikes to get around. I don’t know how many, because we’d never lock them. We just leant them up in piles against a wall. So many bikes looked similar that I must have often inadvertently taken someone else’s. In 1996 I bought a second-hand Raleigh Record Ace, fitted for touring with rack and triple chainset, for £200 from a shop in Bristol (£430 now, by the pints rule). I rode to Athens, did the End to End and myriad other tours. It was the most perfect bike I’d had. Sadly, when parked one evening it got squashed by a careless lorry. Taking the mangled remains to the dump felt like taking a family pet to be put down. In London in 2005 an in-law had just bought her boyfriend a Specialized Crossroads for his birthday, but before she could give it to him, he broke off the relationship. Bad karma: so rather than sell it, she gave it to me. (My Specialized Hard Rock, adapted as a trekking/utility bike, had just been stolen.) Everyone got something out of it: I got a town bike, she got revenge, he got to walk home. In 2010 I bought yet another metallic green Raleigh: a Royal tourer, for £395 (£520 today on the lager scale). I did several international End to Ends on it and countless big trips. At the time, it felt like the most perfect bike I’d ever had. A real workhorse. Last year, I acquired a used Dahon Speed TR folding tourer: sturdy enough to carry full expedition kit, comfy all day, 24 gears for the hills, but compacting small enough to go free on Eurostar. But my favourite bike came in 2015, built to my spec: a Spa Cycles Steel Tourer. Roughly 310 pints of lager got me V-brakes with extra levers, down-tube shifters, high short-drop bars and ultra-low gears (Deore, 46-34-24 / 11-34). A joy to ride, handles perfectly loaded and my companion on untold journeys since, home and abroad. The best, comfiest, most perfect bike I’ll ever have. Until, of course, I win the Premium Bonds.

ILLUSTRATION JOE WALDRON

“Bikes are lighter, faster, more sophisticated, better-looking... If only the same applied to me”

W O R D S WA R R E N R O S S I T E R

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THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT…

IMAGES ROBERT SMITH

IS THE SPECIALIZED ROUBAIX THE MOST INFLUENTIAL ROAD BIKE EVER? WE LOOK AT HOW IT BROKE THE MOULD... ohn Cordoba, Head of Road and Gravel Product Management at Specialized, makes a bold claim when he says, “We believe the Roubaix is the most inﬂuential bike in the road endurance space.” Of course, this is the kind of thing you’d expect a brand insider to make, especially when a new model of bike is released. But is Cordoba right? When the Specialized Roubaix was launched in 2004 it could certainly be argued that it ushered in a new era of road-bike design. It was the ﬁrst performance bike to really bring comfort to the fore – until the advent of the original carbon, bikes were either race or recreation, never both – pioneering ideas such as endurance geometry and introducing active damping to counter poor roads. A decade and a half later, the Specialized Roubaix is, for many ordinary road cyclists a bike that’s synonymous with one hugely desirable attribute: comfort. It’s become a ﬁrm favourite for riders looking for a bike to get them through long days in the saddle and is, arguably, the benchmark machine other brands look to

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THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT…

when building endurance bikes. “It has allowed the riders to go long distance,” conﬁrms John “while having more conﬁdence (with the bike’s handling and control) and still having that highperformance feel.” But while comfort is deﬁnitely one of the Roubaix’s key selling points, it shouldn’t be forgotten that it has serious race-winning chops too – Roubaix models have been ridden to seven victories in the legendary, bike-and-rider breaking Paris-Roubaix, and achieved multiple top 10 ﬁnishes at cobbled Classics. Despite these impressive palmarés, Specialized fans looking for a race bike have tended to gravitate towards the brand’s Tarmac or Venge models. However, Specialized says that its latest Roubaix – released as a 2020 model just prior to last year’s Paris Roubaix – was designed to reset that balance and place the brand’s smoothest machine squarely back into the peloton. They achieved success immediately with Lotto-Soudal’s Philipe Gilbert riding it to victory around the Roubaix velodrome. While this year’s cancelled Classics season has put the brakes on the Roubaix proving itself on the world circuit once more, we thought it was time to talk to the team behind the bike to ﬁnd out if it really is one of the most inﬂuential bikes on sale today.

The wonder years The original Roubaix was designed as a response to pro-race bikes that had been getting longer in the top tube and lower at the front. This was the result of the switch to integrated headsets, rather than traditional threaded units, which made it much easier to reduce head-tube size. Pro riders can hold more aggressive riding positions and were happy to live with the pain of more prone positions in the pursuit of speed and race wins; regular riders, however, found race bikes becoming ever more extreme. The Roubaix aimed to give the rider the beneﬁt of race-machine pedalling efficiency, thanks to improved frame stiffness and the low weight that modern carbon-ﬁbre construction

36 SEPTEMBER 2020

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BELOW A happy perch: S-Works power saddle

ABOVE Every cyclist’s dream: long-distance comfort

RIGHT Racemachine pedalling efficiency

ROUBAIX MODELS HAVE BEEN RIDDEN TO SEVEN VICTORIES IN THE LEGENDARY PARIS-ROBAIX could afford, but with a change in geometry that would make the bike more accessible and usable by more riders. The term, ‘endurance geometry’ entered the cycling lexicon, although in reality it was similar to what had already been seen in British and European audax style, or American ‘century’ bike geometries. These bikes had elongated head tubes and short top tubes mated with shorter upward pointing stems for an upright, relaxed riding style – perfect for comfortable long rides, less good for racing. The Roubaix was different – it blended the racier position of the pro-ranks with the comfort of a century bike. This was achieved by using a slightly taller head tube and reducing the reach (a longer reach – the horizontal distance between the centre of the bottom bracket to the centre of the head tube – lowers your ride position, a shorter reach means you sit more upright) at the same time. But, by retaining the responsive steering geometry of a race bike, rather than the slower, stable feel of a tourer or century machine. While the very ﬁrst bikes simply used geometry tweaks to deliver extra comfort, technological advances in frame design made successive versions of the Roubaix lighter and more compliant. The carbon-frame tubing was manipulated to include ﬂexible characteristics to make the ride smoother and, in 2010, Zertz was introduced. Zertz is a highly elastic material placed into the seatstays and fork legs of the Roubaix across every model. The principle was

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT…

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SEPTEMBER 2020 37

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT…

that this ‘elastomer’ would absorb high frequency vibrations from rough road surfaces making for a smoother ride. At its launch it was perceived as a gimmick, the squishy inserts looking more like an afterthought. Over the years we’ve tested various iterations of Zertz-equipped Roubaix and always found them comfortable, but was this was down to elastomer or, as rival designers and engineers mooted, the fact that splitting the stays and fork legs at these sections introduced more surface area for vibrations to spread and dissipate before reaching your hands or seat. Either way, Zertz became hugely inﬂuential in a market where rival brands thought seriously about making endurance-focused bikes where handling, vibration damping and low weight was as much a priority as ride position. Without the Roubaix, one could argue, we wouldn’t have such superb bikes as Giant’s Defy, Cannondale’s Synapse and Trek’s Domane. Gradually, the Roubaix became more aggressive in its ride position – although nowhere as much as Specialized’s race-speciﬁc machines – and it was with the advent of the second generation SL2 it started winning the race from which it took its name. Belgian legend Tom Boonen took back-to-back wins onboard an S-Works SL2 in 2008 and 2009, and Swiss star Fabian Cancellara took victory in 2010 on an SL3. The last of the ﬁrst generation, the SL4 introduced in 2013, took the Roubaix to another level. Specialized wanted to capitalise on the Roubaix’s Zertz-derived comfort but not have their riders penalised by excess weight (compared to the racer’s favourite Tarmac). This meant a whole new approach to construction. In the main most bikes at this time used a method of carbon construction based in the traditions of steel. You simply took carbon ‘lugs’ and bonded tubes to the lugs. Specialized’s new approach involved building a frame from four separate sections bonded together without the need for heavier lug sections. The seatstays got slimmer, chainstays beeﬁer, the bottom bracket shell improved torsional rigidity. The result hugely reduced weight and improved stiffness, and it’s production innovations such as this that still inform

SPECIALIZED ROUBAIX TIMELINE From zero to hero in 16 years, here’s how Specialized’s Roubaix became a pro favourite and one that’s popular with regular riders

38 SEPTEMBER 2020

Specialized’s carbon construction today (and most rival brands too). Up front it used a ‘Cobra’ design head tube whereby extending composite/carbon ﬁbres from both top and down tube were wrapped fully around (like a lasso) creating a huge increase in front-end stiffness. The SL4 was the ultimate of the pre-Future Shock designs with Tom Boonen and Dutch racer Niki Terpstra winning aboard the design in 2012 and 2014.

ABOVE Cobra design creates front-end stiffness

BELOW 2020 model: proves ‘smoother is faster’

Coming out on top The biggest change in the Roubaix’s history came in 2017 when the frameset was completely redesigned, and innovations were introduced that took the Roubaix back to its comfort-oriented roots. Development was led by engineer Chris D’Alusio and Head of Applied Technologies Chris Yu who asked themselves: ‘Is smoother faster’? That led to months of data capturing, using technical partner McLaren’s Formula 1 datalogging equipment. “From the data we gathered, McLaren developed a piece of software called the ‘rolling efficiency simulator’, “ explains Yu. “Our engineers and designers use this to design our bikes to meet the needs of any road surface.”

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Specialized introduces a new category of road bike: endurance road. The ﬁrst Roubaix is launched with an unprecedented combination of torsional stiffness and vertical compliance.

Specialized adds to the ﬁrst iteration of the Roubaix platform with a lighter S-Works frameset and Pro full-build model; it also signs Team Gerolsteiner.

Gerolsteiner rides the Roubaix for the ﬁrst time on the cobbles; some of the team’s riders use the bike for other races during the remainder of the season.

Gerolsteiner and Quick-Step ride the new Roubaix; changes are made to improve performance and increase effectiveness of Zertz damping. Specialized collate feedback from races.

Quick-Step’s Tom Boonen rides the Roubaix to claim its ﬁrst victory at the bike’s namesake, ParisRoubaix, on board a new 2009 prototype model.

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THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT…

“WE STARTED TO SEE THAT ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF COMPLIANCE WA S A L S O T R A C T I O N ...”

CHRIS D’ALUSIO - SPECIALIZED ENGINEER

ABOVE D-shaped Pave post adds aero benefits

D’Alusio goes on to explain: “We started to see that one of the beneﬁts of compliance was also traction: if you can keep in contact with the ground more of the time then you’ll have increased control and be able to go faster. A McLaren F1 car has suspension that’s not about comfort, it’s all about traction.” D’Alusio built a slew of radical prototypes, including a linkage fork and even a mountainbike style pivot rear end using a version of the ‘Brain’ system that Specialized uses on its XC range. “It took a while, but we realised that we’d need something at both ends,” he admits. “Like everyone else, we’d been concentrating on the back end, which seems crazy... I mean, you wouldn’t ride a mountain bike with a rigid fork and suspension on the back!” At the back a smart, repositioning of the seat clamp into the joint with the dropped seatstays – that sit 3.5 inches below the top-tube/seattube junction – combined with an oversized seat tube and a slimmer, elastomer-topped seatpost allowed a huge amount of unsupported post for plenty of comfort. It was up front, though, where Specialized changed the game with the addition of the Future Shock suspension unit.

We had seen road-bike suspension before with the likes of Cannondale’s Headshok-equipped tourers, the pivot-and-elastomer based Girvin Flex Stem and the Paris-Roubaix winning – and subsequently banned – mountain-bike style RockShox Ruby forks in the 1990s. When it comes to front suspension there are two distinct types: splay – which relies on the fork being able to move fore-and-aft, and axial where the fork moves vertically up and down below the head tube. A classic slender steel fork offers splay, while a mountain-bike suspension fork offers axial movement. Specialized claims that splay changes the dynamics of the handling as it’s constantly changing which, it says, will slow you down, while axial movement has a tendency to ‘bob’ when climbing. On the Roubaix and Future Shock, Specialized’s brief was to create a suspension system that didn’t have the downsides of splay or axial path movement. This was achieved by positioning the effective suspension on top of the head tube and under the bars, which reduces any bobbing effect because it suspends the rider and not the bike. The principle being that you maintain equal rigidity between the front and rear wheels by separating the suspension duties from the frame and fork. The original Future Shock was a minimal weight unit contained within the head tube and offers 20mm of comfort aiding suspension travel

This year’s top model We found the 2017 Roubaix capable, comfortable and versatile – it was our 2017 Bike of the Year so you can tell we liked it. However, Specialized also created something of a headache for itself.

2009

2010

2012

2014

2017

2019

Quick-Step and Boonen do it again: making him one of only a handful of elite riders to have won the race three times. The bike gets a redesign making it lighter, and it signs Saxo Bank to the line-up.

Specialized has three past Paris- Roubaix winners (Boonen, Stuart O’Grady, and Cancellara). Cancellara rides away en route to a huge victory on a Project Black 2011 development bike.

After a fourth win at Paris-Roubaix, Tom Boonen has the ﬁnal word on the new Specialized Roubaix SL4. “Everything is better. It’s faster and it absorbs the vibrations of the cobblestones.”

Building on Specialized’s now focused path to prove ‘smoother is faster’ with the next generation of Roubaix. Niki Terpstra rides the SL4 to victory in the 2014 edition of the Paris-Roubaix.

The 2017 Roubaix SL5 introduces Future Shock for the ﬁrst time. Combined with an innovative frame design and the CG-R seatpost. Zdeněk Štybar logged a second place in its debut at Paris Roubaix.

Specialized brings the 2020 Roubaix to pro riders just in time for Paris-Roubaix. In its debut race Philipe Gilbert rides to victory and ﬁve of the top 10 ﬁnishers were riding the new Roubaix.

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THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT…

After the successes of Future Shock on the Roubaix it rolled out the technology on the carbon-ﬁbre framed Diverge, which was aimed at the growing gravel market. While ostensibly taking the technology off-road, the Diverge is also highly capable on the road too. This has had the effect of turning many riders towards the Diverge as it appealed to those looking for all-road kicks, rather than the road-focused Roubaix. Cordoba and the R&D team felt that the Roubaix should be refocused as a performance machine, so the 2020 Roubaix takes everything learned from the 2017 iteration and Future Shock and applies it to a bike with racing in mind.

New-look Roubaix Take one glance at the 2020 Roubaix and you can see the same design language that’s being used in the Tarmac and the Venge. Specialized’s R&D work in its own wind tunnel means that it has a tube-shape library, which has informed the design of each its current road bikes. Specialized says that the Roubaix is more aerodynamic that the current Tarmac (which will be replaced later this year). In fact, it claims that its numbers show that the 2020 Roubaix is as aerodynamic as the original Venge – a bike designed to be as slippery as possible when launched in 2010. In real-world terms, it claims that the 2020 Roubaix is 14 seconds faster than the previous model over 40km (at 40kph). It’s not all about cheating the wind, however. The carbon layup of the frame is designed to offer optimal stiffness where it’s needed (through the bottom bracket and head tube) and to keep weight low. The range-topping S-Works frame is an impressive sub 900g. But comfort is still important as the new bike uses Future Shock 2.0 at the front end. This is an upgraded system that offers riders ‘on-thego’ tuneable damping with a dial in place of the headset cap where you can alter the feel of the suspension as you ride. The original Future Shock could be tuned but only by switching out springs

IT TAKES EVERYTHING LEARNED FROM 2017 AND FUTURE SHOCK AND APPLIES IT TO A BIKE WITH RACING IN MIND

TOP Tests show this Roubaix is as aero as the original Venge

RIGHT Carbon layup means optimal frame stiffness

ABOVE The aero-sculpted seat tube saves drag

BELOW Future Shock 2.0: an upgraded system

in the workshop (it came with three distinct grades: soft, medium, stiff). The rear end’s simple trick of lowering the seatclamp down into the frame to give maximum unsupported seatpost has been developed further. Using a Venge-style, aero-sculpted seat tube saves drag as does the hidden clamp. The seatpost is all-new too. The zig-zagged elastomertopped CG-R post has been replaced with an aerodynamic D-shaped Pavé post that relies on carbon layup under the saddle clamp to offer similar compliance as the previous model. Geometry-wise the Roubaix follows the traits of the Tarmac and Venge, sharing the same parallel 73.5-degree angles (on our 58cm test bike) it’s got a little steeper and sharper than the previous model. It does differ somewhat elsewhere, however, with a taller stack, the distance vertically from the centre of the bottom bracket to the centre of the top of the head tube (630mm compared to 591mm on the Tarmac), and a shorter reach by 10mm (392mm compared to 402mm). The wheelbase is also slightly longer (thanks to the Roubaix’s larger tyre capacity of 32c) at 1014mm compared to 1005mm. In short, the 2020 Roubaix takes its cues from the Tarmac and the Venge and appeals to racers, but we believe they’ve hit the right balance to give the bike mass appeal to a wider range of riders.

A classic in the making In our opinion some of the Roubaix’s earlier models had become a bit too sedate and the build choices reﬂected that. Shorter, more upright stems and middleweight comfort-orientated component choices made some of the Zertz infused SLs a little, well, boring.

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT…

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SEPTEMBER 2020 41

“WITH THIS ROUBAIX WE FOCUSED ON BRINGING MORE PERFORMANCE TO THE RIDER” JOHN CORDOBA – PRODUCT MANAGER

Things changed with the 2017 Roubaix, we were so impressed it won our coveted Bike of the Year award. With the improvements on the 2020 bike we found its combination of low weight and compliant ride (along with Tarmac-like handling) superior to the Tarmac on poor road surfaces. It makes for a bike that we seriously think could be all we’ll ever need. The even better news is that Specialized is bringing a whole suite of bikes based on the new 2020 Roubaix design, starting with the Roubaix Sport, equipped with Future Shock 1.5, coming in at attainable £2600; rising to the S-Works range that features three models that all feature premium sub-900g Fact11r frameset, Future Shock 2.0-equipped fork, S-Works carbon bar, power saddle and premium Turbo Cotton tyres – all driven by Shimano Dura-Ace Di2. Top of the tree is the S-Works Roubaix Sagan, which rings up at a superbike-price of £10,000 and comes with limited-edition Sagan components too. The 2020 Roubaix has exceeded our expectations. On the road it feels familiar – it is at heart an endurance bike, but it’s one that feels like a race bike and handles with race bike reactivity. Yes, it’s a little taller up front than the Tarmac but not so much to make it feel sedate. The key element, though, is the control you now have over the Future Shock. On normal, smooth roads swing the stem-top adjuster fully anticlockwise to minimise the movement and the front-end sinks and sits low and compressed. You still get a bit of movement from the shock – nulling road buzz – but it feels stiff and maintains the point-and-shoot handling we’ve come to love about Specialized’s purely race-focused bikes: the Tarmac and Venge. At the rear, the new Pavé post feels better than the old CGR. It ﬂexes fore and aft in a subtle and ﬂuid manner. On a bike with this much additional ‘tech’ you’d expect to be penalised with extra weight, but the Roubaix isn’t. This new-generation ‘system’: frame, fork, shock, post and clamp is 50g lighter than the previous generation bike. If you opt for the cheaper Pro (Fact10r) model (from £2600) the same system is 170g lighter than the previous generation. Our 58cm test bike (complete with SRAM Red Etap AXS disc and

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TOP 2020 Roubaix: reaches out to more riders

BELOW All-carbon fork is lightweight and stiff

ABOVE Works with mechanical and electronic drivetrains

power meter with 105 Shimano pedals, 2 x bottle cages, Garmin Edge 1030 and out-front mount ﬁtted) tipped the scales bang on 8kg. Remove the accessories and the raw weight is just shy of 7.5kg. “With the latest Roubaix we focused on bringing more performance to the rider,” concludes John Cordoba, “We already had Future Shock technology, but we wanted to give the rider the control of adjusting their Future Shock as they needed to adapt to the different terrain, they’re riding in. Along with focusing on aero improvements, we delivered a bike that will allow riders to ride further, while feeling conﬁdent to take on any road.” We pitted the 2020 S-Works Roubaix against its S-Works Tarmac cousin back in issue 355, with the conclusion being that the Roubaix came out on top with an almost perfect four and half stars out of ﬁve. So did the Roubaix live up to Specialized’s claim that ‘smoother is faster’? Well in our testing on some of Wiltshire, Somerset and Dorset’s most challenging roads and surfaces the Roubaix did indeed prove the faster machine over an 82-mile loop with 2000m of climbing. Thoroughbred racers, such as the Tarmac, may be best on optimal road surfaces but the Roubaix makes more surfaces optimal. To some riders it may lack the ‘it’ factor of a Venge or Tarmac but we’re convinced that the Roubaix is the bike that makes more sense to more people. It’s a bike that’s inﬂuenced a whole genre, yet remains unsurpassed at the forefront after more than 15 years, and its future is looking bright.

01

MOST WANTED

SIDI SIXTY LIMITED EDITION £330

Anniversary footwear from Sidi

his Italian brand’s reputation as a shoemaker is legendary as it was Sidi that revolutionised cycling footwear from its leather and metal-plate soles into the lightweight, tech-laden shoes that we wear today. Sidi has also provided footwear to more cycling champions over the years than most of us could name. Its 60-year anniversary is being celebrated throughout 2020 with a series of limited-edition versions of its rangetopping Sixty shoe. These faux-snakeskin versions may be one of the more out-there designs from Sidi, but there is no hiding the wealth of tech within. The snakeskin-printed polyurethane leather (PU) upper is formed in one piece, with a toe overlay for extra protection and twin-mesh toe vents. The traditional tongue design is tensioned on the forefoot by a single Velcro strap, which incorporates Sidi’s signature sawtooth insert. This means that the strap will not relax once tensioned up no matter how hard your efforts, or how adverse the conditions. The tongue is thickly padded on the inside and anchored centrally is Sidi’s Techno 4 tension adjuster. The Techno 4 predates Boa with its flip-up dial adjuster and spring-loaded release. It may lack the simple HIGHS two-way, micro-adjust of the Glorious fit; latest Boa, but we think it works stiffness in the sole; comfort well and holds very firm in all conditions. The basis of any good road LOWS Heavier than shoe is the sole. Sidi hasn’t some; expensive disappointed with the latest

T

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improved version of its Vent carbon design. It’s ridged, shaped and reinforced creating one of the stiffest soles around. A neat touch on the toe is a closable vent. You can slide it closed and secure it for the winter, or add a little more air when the temperature rises. This toe vent and the deep toe bumper protect the carbon sole and both are replaceable. Sidi’s wealth of spares for its shoes is impressive; its footwear is intended to be a purchase that will give you good value for money and they are built for the long haul. The brand’s approach to shoe design in a market featuring woven uppers, radical light weight or the cook-to-fit approach could be seen as somewhat traditional, even a little dated. But they do fit incredibly well. The foot-formed shape is superb, maybe a little generous compared to some lower volume rivals, but the interior finish and choice of lining materials is excellent, as is the generous use of padding at key points around the heel and on the inner tongue, and it’s all there for good reason. The supportive fit, thanks to the solid, integrated heel cup all adds to the feel of luxury that this shoe provides. You can certainly find significantly lighter shoes than these 617g a pair (size EU 45) but you’ll be hard pushed to discover a shoe that feels as good when worn day in, day out and on long arduous rides. Sidi has certainly learned over its six decades of experience how to take care of your feet and it designs and builds shoes that are meant to last and last.

WE SAY...

Handmade Italian shoes that are built to last, and are comfortable too

ALSO CONSIDER...

02

TO INFINITY & BEYOND

FIZIK INFINITO R1 KNIT £349.99 Fizik’s top-flight R1 shoe here reimagined with a predominantly knitted upper that uses an exoskeleton for structure with the highelastic knit sections bonded to it. It creates a highly breathable shoe combining form fit and stiffness with added comfort and is one of the firmest carbon soles around. At 636g for a size 45 they are not as light as some fully knitted shoes.

SUNNY SIDE UP

GIANT SURGE PRO SHOES £249.99 03

DIAL

The Techno 4 Dial predates the likes of Boa and is a Sidi innovation. The adjustment is accurate and they hold fast.

01

SOLE

Sidi’s super-stiff carbon sole offers adjustable venting with this slideable cover; open it for the summer, close it during the winter.

02

HEEL

Sidi’s solid, integrated heel cup provides some of the best support and stability you’ll find in any road shoe.

03

A shoe developed with Team Sunweb. The upper is standard: a seamless welded microtex fabric and Boa dials with laser-cut venting but the sole, Exobeam, is different: the carbon forefoot plate is wide and rounded, it then slims and thickens vertically creating a spine between forefoot and heel. They’re lightweight (564g, EU 45) too.

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WE SAY...

Environmentally friendly shades that perform as well as the respected brands

SPEKTRUM BLANKSTER £119.99

Performance shades with eco credentials

s cyclists our choice of transport is as green as it gets, yet the kit we wear is mainly polyester and our helmets, shoes and glasses are all made from fossil-fuel derivatives. Spektrum is joining brands, such as Giro, Isadore and Alé in making moves towards using recycled materials and greener manufacturing methods. This Swedish-based eyewear brand uses a new bio-plastic in place of the usual Grilamid material found in high-end cycling shades. Bio-Grilamid is made from castor oil – a vegetable oil made from castor beans. Spektrum claims that this material offers the same benefits as Grilamid with light weight, flexibility and strength. Our test pair weighs in at 29.7g bearing out the weight claim. The Blankster’s shape follows HIGHS the current trend for retroGreat fit; inspired single-shield lens shapes superb lens; sustainable and the 60mm deep lens is well manufacturing supported by the angular frame. The frame has great spring to it LOWS meaning it holds your head with a Limited range vice-like grip. The rubberised tips

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and nosepiece ensure the glasses stay put, even when you’re soaked with moisture. To tune the fit two sizes of rubber nosepiece inserts are included. The lens clarity is superb, as good as we’d expect from market-leading brands. That’s not surprising when you consider the lens is made for Spektrum by Carl Zeiss, one of the most respected companies in the world when it comes to optics. The spherical curvature of the lens, along with the variance in thickness means that there’s no distortion at all, even at the edges of your vision. The lenses are treated with a hydrophobic coating, so fogging of the lens just doesn’t happen. The lens is also scratch-resistant and shatterproof. There are many options of lens for the Blankster. We went for a brown tint that works well across bright sunshine and lower light conditions, while the understated, moss-green frame is a welcome alternative to the bright neon that seems to be the go-to colourway trend. The Blanksters offer the performance of leading brands but with a more sustainable production method. In addition, they’re not as pricy as the best-known brands. We reckon Spektrum is onto a winner with the Blankster.

BENCHMARK

UPGR ADE

Bollé Shifter £149 The sweeping shield lens is well-vented and the robust frame grips your head tenaciously when combined with the pliable nosepiece, so they stay put on the bumpy stuff. The arms are kinked at the temple, which naturally angles the glass downwards and the arms are relatively short too. The redtinted lens, called Vermillion Gun, uses Bollé’s Phantom tech, which means an antifogging treatment, photochromic darkening in bright sunshine and impact-resistant NXT material.

WE SAY...

A well thought-out product with an astounding amount of features. Perfect for commutes!

HEAD TO HEAD

OSPREY METRON 26L CHROME BARRAGE £120

£170

Weights and measures

On your back

Weights and measures

On your back

This 1190g-weight bag uses a 500-denier, nylon-pack cloth to make a reasonably light, yet hard-wearing pack with a 26-litre capacity. At 48cm long, 35cm wide and 26cm deep it’s compact too.

The Airscape back of the Metron is where Osprey’s knowledge comes to the fore. The Y-shaped padding straps have a height- and widthadjustable chest strap and a fast-adjusting click-fix waist strap. A mesh panel on the back separates the pack from your back leaving a space for air to flow, making the Metron supremely comfortable to ride with even when loaded up to the max of 26 litres.

Weighing in at 1410g with a heavyweight 1050-denier, nylon waterproof outer. Its 22 litre capacity can expand to 33 litres, due to its roll-top design. At 54cm tall, 30cm wide and 14cm deep it’s taller but slimmer than the Metron.

The mesh-backed strapping system on the Chrome offers more support across the shoulders than the Osprey. It sits higher up your back than the Metron and the bodyshaped strap system with metal-fast compression adjusters means it does away with a waist strap. On the bike it feels very secure while still giving you plenty of freedom to move. Its build is tough and it’s also backed with a lifetime guarantee.

Fixtures and fittings

A soft, lined pocket for glasses, an organiser pocket for your wallet, phone and stationery, plus a key loop. The main compartment has a padded laptop sleeve (fits a 13-inch MacBook Air) and a zipped Bag for your buck? shoe pocket as well as plenty The Metron is a brilliantly of room for a change of thought-out pack, full of clothes. On the outside there’s useful features and light with an elasticated Lidlock bungee it. The material scuffs a little cord (behind which is a easier than the Chrome sleeve for holding a but in practicality U-lock) to attach your terms it comes out on HIGHS Features; helmet. There’s an LED top. Osprey backs up cleverly light loop, a lined, the bag with an designed elasticated side pocket extensive guarantee compartments and pocket panel to with spare parts hold a water bottle. On availability to LOWS Lighter the underside there’s a registered owners material needs Fluro green rain cover and replacements extra care in a zipped pocket. for defects.

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Fixtures and fittings

The main compartment is waterproof lined with a simple laptop pocket. The main compartment is roll-topped and strapped down with a broad, two-inch web strap. On the outside there are twin, Bag for your buck? open-mouthed pockets set on The QR buckle plus no waist each flank at the base of the strap makes it easy to sling on bag, big enough for a water and off quickly, but accessing bottle or a mid-sized lock. The the main compartment means cargo-webbing strap unclipping and system looks great and unrolling the top. The HIGHS is heavyweight, plus Barrage will last for Very tough; it’ll expand to carry big years (this tester has a waterproof; items. The straps are Chrome roll top that’s sharp styling hard wearing and the more than a decade adjustable chest old) but you need to be LOWS Minimal strap is held in place smarter when packing features and with a mini, quickit for your commute compartments release buckle. than with the Metron.

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NINJA CAGE X1

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TOOLBOX T8

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NINJA CAGE X

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STRAP PACK

NINJA CAGE X1/AJ

CO2 FUELPACK

ROADBOX

WE SAY...

Great new features on this Bluetooth-connected helmet, plus lighter weight and more comfort

COROS SAFESOUND ROAD £92.99

Connected helmet with built-in sounds

his is the third iteration of Coros’s Bluetooth-connected helmet with built-into-the straps speakers. The EOSS (Ear Opening Sound System) works via a horn shape that pipes sound at your ears, crucially, without covering them, so you can still comfortably hear the world around you. The sound quality is good, if a little lacking at the low end compared to AfterShokz Aeropex (see Also Consider, right). If your musical taste errs towards big bass then you may find the Safesound not quite up to scratch, but for general use they pack more than enough punch. Compared to Coros’s previous helmet, the Omni, the Safesound is streets ahead with a much better volume level and more clarity. One of the criticisms we’ve had with previous Coros helmets is the weight. Housing a battery, light, Bluetooth and speakers adds HIGHS Well-priced; heft, which is why the new great tech; Safesound seems all the more long battery remarkable: our large test life helmet tips the scales at just 303.1g – that’s around 60g LOWS Not quite lighter than the Omni model enough bass in and similar in weight to nonthe speakers Bluetooth models.

T

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The helmet itself has improved too: the openvented shape looks attractive and the deep internal channelling is airy feeling. At the rear six large exhaust vents surround the on/off button, charge port and integrated LED rear light (which can be turned on and off, or set to auto via the bar-mounted remote or the app). The silver-threaded, anti-bacterial pads wick moisture well and the dial-adjust rear cradle is comfortable and minimal. Coros has improved the quality of the straps with a leather underchin section that’s very comfortable. It has also introduced a Specialized ANGi-style safety function. In combination with the Coros app, the helmet will detect if you’ve had a collision and notify your emergency contacts. To make things easier the helmet comes with a bar-mountable remote control with buttons for volume, phone pick-up and pause. The Safesound is the best iteration of Coros’s helmet range yet. It doesn’t cover your ears so you can hear traffic from all directions making it one of the safest ways to listen to music or podcasts when you’re out riding. You can even take phone calls by pressing a button positioned on the outer of the speaker on the strap, or via the bar-mounted remote control. Importantly, the Safesound is cheaper by over £80 than Coros’s similar models.

ALSO CONSIDER

UPGR ADE

AFTERSHOKZ AEROPEX £149.95 AfterShokz’s headphones work using bone-conduction technology. This means that, rather than sitting in or over your ears like traditional headphones, they sit on your cheekbones, which still allows you to hear what’s going on around you when riding. This latest-generation model is the best yet. The PremiumPitch technology gives a clean, crisp sound that’s good for music and spoken word. The battery life is good at around eight hours and our test set is still going strong after daily use for over a year.

Bicye Insurance wh up 25% oﬀ ! *

Visit theinsuranceemporium.co.uk/CP99 or call 03300 244 065 today to claim your extra discount! Entertainment & Leisure Insurance Services Limited is an appointed representative of The Equine and Livestock Insurance Company Limited. The Insurance Emporium is a trading name of The Equine and Livestock Insurance Company Limited (registered in England and Wales no. 294940) which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority no. 202748. *The 25% discount is available on lunar and calendar monthly policies and policies where the premium is paid annually, and is made up of 15% Introductory Discount, an Age Related Discount plus Security Discount (if DSSURSULDWH 3OHDVHVHHRXUZHEVLWHIRUWKHDGGLWLRQDOGLVFRXQWV7KH,QWURGXFWRU\'LVFRXQWLVDYDLODEOHIRUWKHɺUVWSUHPLXPSD\PHQWVRQOXQDUDQGFDOHQGDUPRQWKO\ policies or one premium payment on annual policies. X 2ɹHUHQGVDQGLVRQO\UHGHHPDEOHRQPRQWKO\SROLFLHVDQGQRWZKHUHSUHPLXPVDUHSDLGDQQXDOO\

WE SAY...

Premium-quality, Italian clothing at a vastly reduced price

£80; £120 Premium clothing for less orthern Italian company Passione, founded in 2013, claims its products are made for the same production costs as premium Italian brands, however, as it doesn’t rely on distributors and retail mark-ups, this equates to a huge saving for the consumer. The Vibes jersey’s front panel is a bodyforming, high-stretch close weave and the elbow-length arms feature an even higher elasticity fabric, so it feels second-skin tight. On the rear, the back panel has an open weave for superb breathability and on the flanks an open mesh is used to help regulate your temperature. The sleeves and collar are both laser-cut and left raw (no stiched hem at the cuff) for a super-close fit. The three rear pockets are nicely reinforced but lack a zipped security pocket. This 136g-weight (L) jersey is intended for summer use, so we can see why that’s been omitted in favour of lightness. The full-length zip has a camlocking zipper and a neck protector and one on the hem line, so it won’t be abrasive against your bib shorts. All of the seams are flatlocked and the fit is tight. The sizing is spot-on but, be warned, Italian clothing tends to be on the small side. The Minimal bibs, as the name suggests, are designed to be light but not at the expense of support. These 188g (L) shorts are constructed using a highly compressive matt fabric that can take effort to get on but the support is superb. The seams are all flatlocked or bonded and the legs are laser cut. The braces are a high-stretch mesh material that run over the shoulders and HIGHS combine to make a Y-shaped Superb back. The midriff is cut just hot-weather performance; above the waist making these a price great summer bib. The Elastic Interface pad is multi-density LOWS and designed for long-distance Super-close rides and we had no complaints race fit even after a long, hot trek.

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PERFECT PARTNER

N

VIBES MITTS & SOCKS £25, £12 Lightweight mitts with mesh details and a suede microfibre palm, along with long socks in odour resistant, lightweight Meryl Skinlife fabric to complete your colourcoordinated, Italianstyled summer look.

Do it like Mathieu and

ﬁght for your hair – Mathieu van der Poel

Alpecin’s innovative caffeine formula has Mathieu convinced. The special Caffeine Complex strengthens the hair and it can be styled more easily. For best results:

Apply daily

Leave on for 2 minutes – from application to rinse

UPGR ADE

£95; £120 Complete summer riding gear e Col’s second-generation Sport line is designed to be durable training kit. The fit sits well within Le Col’s racing heritage but the materials are a little more relaxed with comfort coming to the fore. Both jersey and bibs are designed in the UK and manufactured in Italy. The polyester in the jersey is blended with a good level of elastane so it conforms and fits superbly well without feeling in any way restrictive. The detailing is good: the full-length zip has a proper metal pull with a long rubber logo’d handle that’s full-finger glove friendly. It also has a good-sized garage at the collar. The arm length stretches down to the elbow for sun protection on warm days and the high-stretch fabric and double-skin cuffs mean they don’t ride up. The hemline has a strong, stitched-in elasticated ribbon with a silicone grip strip running through it. On the back it’s as you’d expect with three pockets including a zipped, weather-resistant valuables stash pocket sewn into one of them. The pockets are generously sized and the meshlike material has plenty of stretch, although they can sag a little when full. The matching Sport bib shorts have a fit that’s more comfort-orientated than most of the Le Col line. The trunk of the bibs is generously long before it transitions into the mesh braces, meaning it has a nicely supportive fit around your core. The light, 210g Lycra material in the legs gives plenty of free movement. The leg cuffs are deep and rely on material leg grippers, rather than silicone, which works very well. The pad is nicely shaped with multiple thicknesses and densities of pad and it’s well-suited to long training rides and epic days out. The embroidered Le Col logo on the small of the back is a nice HIGHS touch but it did feel a little itchy Good looking; at first, until washed. comfortable fit; good price This line proves that not everyone needs cutting-edge race wear, just good-quality, LOWS Not well thought-out cycling kit. compressive If it looks as sharp as this, well, ‘race’ wear that’s just a bonus.

L

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WE SAY...

PERFECT PARTNER

Sharp-looking, highperforming training wear that’s also big on comfort

LE COL CAP £20 This understated design is well-matched to the monochrome design of the Sport range and the cottonrich mix of the material makes it comfortable and durable too.

L U F I T U A BE R IT O F Y A E D D I R THE

No matter where you ride, why you ride, or who you ride with; there’s a product For Every Ride at Chain Reaction Cycles. www.chainreactioncycles.com

VERY IMPORTANT BIKE

Canyon Ultimate CF Evo 10.0 LTD £7499 Featherweight superbike for less than the competition anyon’s Ultimate range of race bikes have always been light, but alongside these, each year for the past decade, it’s added a specialedition, top-of-the-range bike called the Evo with a lightened chassis and a collection of lightweight parts. The 2020 Ultimate CF Evo 10.0 Ltd is now available as a discSPECIFICATIONS brake bike, which tips the scales at the UCI race-limit (6.8kg)! Weight 6kg Frame Carbon When you consider the frame Fork Carbon weighs just 675g and the fork Gears SRAM Red AXS 285g, combine those and that’s 12-speed 48/35, around the same weight as a 10-33 frame alone on a lot of pro-level Brakes SRAM Red hydraulic bikes. Frankly, it’s astonishingly disc light and, unsurprisingly, it’s Wheels DT Swiss PRC 1100 Canyon’s lightest ever road-disc Dicut frameset. The composites chosen Finishing kit for the frame combine ultra high Schwalbe Pro One TT Evo modulus (UHM) carbon and an 25mm tyres, ultra-high tension (UHT) Canyon CP20 cockpit CF, carbon material that weighs Schmolke TLO just 90g per square metre in its UD carbon woven pre-impregnated (with seatpost, Selle Italia SLR C59 resin) form. Everywhere on this saddle bike, the focus is on light weight

C

01

02

The power driving this featherweight bike is SRAM's impressive Red AXS

56 SEPTEMBER 2020

and performance with parts, such as Canyon’s sub-300g, one-piece CP20 bar/stem combo alongside a featherweight seatpost from German high-end carbon specialists Schmolke, which has a claimed weight of just 95g. Even DT Swiss’s wheelset is all about gram saving with the 1283g (a pair) special-edition PRC1000s, and these are shod with Schwalbe’s lightweight TT version of its Pro One Evo tyre. There are small, weight-saving measures all over this bike. The front mech mount is integral to the frame and made of carbon fibre. The bolt hardware throughout the frame is titanium, rather than steel, and the thru-axles are made from lightened aluminium. Canyon has even gone to the trouble of reducing the frame graphics to a minimum, using lightweight lacquer to shave every piece of excess from the build. It’s all driven by SRAM’s wireless Red AXS group and even though this is an exercise in lightness it’s still managed to add a Quarq power meter chainset into the mix. Although the £7499 price tag is a hell of a lot of money, relative to rival brand’s superbikes it’s a bit of a bargain with Giant’s new TCR Advanced SL, for example, coming in at £9499. So, if you’ve got a spare £8k hanging around...

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Keeping the focus on lightweight with Canyon's sub-300g CP20 bar/stem combo

03

A featherweight seatpost from Schmolke, weighing in at a weenie 95g!

The frame weighs 675g and the fork 285g, that's around the same weight as the frame alone on a lot of pro bikes...

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MIND GAMES

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MIND GAMES

. . . B U T S C I E N C E I S N OW UNLOCKING THE BEST M E N TA L T O O L S A N D T R I C K S T O H E L P YO U FIG HT TO TH E FINISH

t the Tour de France each year, panoramic helicopter footage captures the towering Alpine climbs and on-bike cameras record the explosive attacks, but the most important feature of the race remains invisible to all: the epic battles raging within the minds of the suffering riders. “Cycling is all about the mind,” says 30-time Tour stage winner Mark Cavendish. “You have to train your brain as well as your legs.” And this is true for pro and amateur riders alike. When pain courses through your legs like snake venom, will you suppress it or succumb? When the slithering tentacles of self-doubt creep across your mind, will you banish them or sink into despair? And when your resilience wobbles with 50km to go, will the battlements of your mind hold ﬁrm, or crumble to dust?

THOUGHT POLICE The psychology of stamina has always been the dark art of the cycling world – the most mysterious skill of all. While training blocks can be printed in ink and nutrition plans logged in digital apps, the workings of the mind are nebulous and hard to pin down. We know elite riders use psychological tricks: 2018 Tour champion Geraint Thomas breaks down long rides into smaller segments to prevent anxiety gnawing at his mind. Two-time Tour stage winner Dan Martin visualises the pain in his legs as a rising level of water – a vivid image that enables him to focus all of his thoughts on lowering it back down. Thanks to a recent wave of scientiﬁc research, it is now possible to reveal the most

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effective psychological tools for boosting your physical and mental endurance, from selftalk strategies and cue words to distraction techniques and thought scripts. “Stamina has both a physical and a mental component,” explains Carrie Cheadle, a mental skills coach and author of On Top of Your Game (carriecheadle.com). “Mental skills don’t replace ﬁtness, but they can help you push yourself further than you thought possible. You might need different strategies at different times, so it’s important to have lots of tools in your belt.” This is perhaps the most important lesson of all. During a challenging bike ride, when bouts of hunger and suffering will inevitably sap your energy, motivation and commitment, you’ll need to pull out different weapons at varying times: a cue word here, some positive self-talk there, a calming image one moment, an uplifting affirmation the next. Some tools work better in certain scenarios, some vary in effectiveness depending on your mood or level of fatigue. So the more tricks you have at your disposal, the stronger you will be. One of the best tools for boosting endurance is self-talk – the psychological term used for all those wacky conversations that swirl around

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF STAMINA

your frazzled mind on long rides. You might think you’re going mad but the impact of selftalk is now quantiﬁable. A study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise showed that cyclists who used positive or motivational self-talk (statements such as, ‘I’ve trained hard for this, I’m going to smash it’ or ‘I’m halfway through, I’ll be ﬁne’) experienced a lower rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and lasted 18 per cent longer when asked to cycle to exhaustion. That’s because an athlete’s perception of effort – how hard they think they’re working – seems to be a major determinant of their endurance power, so positive thoughts really can boost your stamina. Another study in the journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback found that cyclists who were given positive feedback during time trials experienced higher glucose levels, lower oxygen uptake and lower lactate production. Again, the positive thoughts had a real physiological effect on the metabolic impact of their performance – even when the positive feedback they were given was entirely false, such as telling the riders they were cycling faster than they really were. “One of the advantages of maintaining a sense of positivity is that there seems to be a

CA R R I E C H E A D LE , M E NTA L S K I LL S COAC H & AUTH O R O F O N TO P O F YOU R GA M E

reduced physical cost to the work,” explains Andy Lane, Professor of Sport Psychology at the University of Wolverhampton (winninglane. com). “In our own tests we’ve also seen this among individuals who report a positive mood, because their ventilation rates were lower during the exercise.”

IT’S GOOD TO TALK Five mind games for better endurance

01

IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT Positive self-talk is particularly important in the ﬁrst part of races when it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the big challenges ahead. One way of cultivating a more upbeat mindset is to ask yourself short questions that inspire positive answers. A study by Lane published in Mood and Human Performance showed that vigour can be increased through this kind of technique. “The activation training involved saying: ‘Can I get through the next 10 seconds or one minute?’ And the answer is always, ‘Yes’. That increases your emotional state. Thinking about mile 93 at mile three is irrelevant.” Intriguingly, a study in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology found that some riders raise their game by using negative or challenging

POSITIVE SELF-TALK Talking to yourself and getting ﬁred up in a positive way has been found to quantiﬁably and signiﬁcantly improve endurance. By telling yourself you’re going to be ﬁne makes it more likely you will be.

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MIND GAMES

03 A N DY L A N E , P RO F E S SO R O F S P O R T P SYC H O LOGY AT TH E U N IV E R S IT Y O F WO LV E R H A M P TO N

02 NEGATIVE SELF-TALK If used as a challenge to do better, being critical of yourself – ‘You’re being lazy today – you can do better’ – can bolster endurance, particularly towards the end of a ride when such talk is more in sync with your mood.

62 SEPTEMBER 2019

self-talk instead. For instance, ‘You’re being lazy today - you can do better’ or ‘You’re holding something back – time to speed up’. One theory is that critical self-talk can become motivational if it is harnessed as a challenge to do better. Studies suggest challenging self-talk is best used towards the end of a race, when fatigue puts you in a more negative mindset, as it is more in sync with your mood in that moment. When you’re tired trying to banish negative thoughts is impossible, so it is better to acknowledge the negative thought then respond to it with a positive twist, such as, ‘Okay, my legs hurt – but I’ve ridden this distance before and I’ll be ﬁne.’” The secret to this kind of ‘cognitive displacement’ is to focus on logic and reason, according to triple Olympic team pursuit champion Ed Clancy. “The best way to deal with pain is to reason with yourself. I’ll often say, ‘This hurts but what I am going through isn’t going to kill me. It will be over pretty quickly then I will feel really good at the end.’” Many sports psychologists recommend creating a ‘thought script’ to ensure you have the right words for the right moment. For

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THOUGHT SCRIPTS Find the right words to trigger a positive emotional response when you need it most. For example, towards the end of a sportive when you’re ﬂagging, have a Strava stat on hand to remind yourself how hard you’ve worked towards your goal.

example, if you often doubt your ﬁtness, keep a Strava stat to hand that reminds you how hard you’ve trained. “Plan for what kind of thoughts are going to invade your head - and when - so you can come up with answers,” suggests Lane. “Imagine how you will react when you are a bit behind, going too slowly, feeling hungry or in pain near the end. And work out what you are going to need to tell yourself to trigger the right emotional response in that moment.” Other forms of self-talk have their uses, too. A meta-analysis in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science showed that ‘instructional’ self-talk – such as ‘Elbow in’ – is more effective than motivational self-talk when completing complex skills, such as a time trial. “Yes, time trialling can hurt but you cannot ride around thinking about a nice island where you could have a good holiday,” says four-time world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara. “It is better to think about your technique, your position, your cadence and keeping your body still. That helps you focus your mind.”

TALKING TO YOURSELF Near the end of a sportive, ‘assisted positive self-talk’ – using an external cue, such as a motivational message stuck to your handlebars – can be helpful. A study in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology showed that athletes who used assisted positive self-talk – in this case, listening to pre-recorded uplifting statements - performed better than those who relied on spontaneous self-talk. A pre-planned

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF STAMINA

my breathing and the smoothness of my pedal stroke,” reveals Ben Swift. But Carrie Cheadle suggests that a good way to stay focused during high-intensity efforts is to ask yourself questions like: ‘What ﬁve things can I see right now in my ﬁeld of vision, or what ﬁve things can I feel?’ “Be really speciﬁc, such as ‘the fabric touching my left shoulder’. This helps you stay in the present. Some athletes might slap their leg when their mind drifts - feeling that contact brings them back to the present.” In contrast, a study in the journal Sports Medicine revealed that ‘dissociation’ strategies – focusing your attention outwards, at the scenery or tonight’s dinner – may be more effective at dulling pain during low to moderate intensity exercise. Alphabet games – trying to list objects beginning with the letters A-Z – can provide this kind of escape. “Dissociation is more effective for lower-intensity exercise like long bike rides when distractions can help you overcome nagging pain and maintain your motivation over periods of time,” says Lane.

05 VISUALISATION By picturing a difficult situation in your mind before an event will help you cope with the negative emotions in the moment of it happening.

COPING STRATEGIES

mental pick-me-up can serve as a kind of motivational back-up battery for when your own willpower begins to wane. When the pain kicks in on steep climbs or mad dashes through crosswinds, cue words can be especially powerful. These simple trigger words – shorter and more speciﬁc than standard self-talk – can help you narrow your focus during stressful moments. “When you are pushing yourself to maximum intensity, a cue word - like ‘smooth’, which you can say over and over - can be more effective,” says Cheadle. “Trying to reason with yourself and order your thoughts is much tougher when your body is under stress. But when you’re freaking out, a cue word helps you immediately refocus on what matters. And affirmations – such as, ‘I’m strong, this is my race’ – can lead you to a positive state. The most powerful affirmations, like thinking about a certain memory, give you a visceral reaction and help you tap into positive emotions when you’re struggling.” Many athletes play mind games to distract themselves from the pain. Science is now helping to identify which games to play, and when. A study of cyclists in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology suggested that ‘association’ strategies – thinking about the immediate sensations, such as the rhythm of your legs or sound of your breathing - are most effective during high-intensity exercise, such as tackling sharp climbs or sprinting. Many pro riders do this instinctively. “On a tough climb, I ﬁnd it is helpful to focus on

04 ASSOCIATION STRATEGIES At the sharp end of a sportive on the ﬁnal climb, association strategies, such as the sound of your breathing or the rhythm of your legs, can help to distract from the pain.

Even after stocking up your mental toolbox, it is important to steel your mind before a race. Visualising yourself coming through dark moments will mean you are less likely to be ambushed by negative emotions during the race itself. Before a competition, Fabian Cancellara would visualise his legs spinning fast, the lactate burn in his legs, and even the sights and the sounds along the course. “Try to anticipate a difficult situation and visualise yourself coping with it,” suggests Lane. “Imagine yourself coping successfully with the fatigue, even feeling the anger and depression starting to build as you suffer. It’s about building strategies ready for those unpleasant emotions you will experience.” Armed with these psychological techniques, you will soon feel empowered to push your limits of endurance. But science suggests the real secret to endurance lies in rewiring your mental response to pain. A 2013 study by the University of Turin revealed that when subjects were induced with arm pain, those who were told it would lead to beneﬁcial muscle change were able to endure that pain for longer. It is thought their positive mentality helped coactivate the natural opioid and cannabinoid systems in the body to release more painkilling substances. Simply reframing the pain you experience during a sportive as a positive consequence of your athletic accomplishment – evidence that your body is becoming ﬁtter and stronger – can trigger real biochemical changes that will help you power through the pain. Psychology has long been the most mysterious component of cycling performance. But the message from scientists, psychologists and pro riders is now clear: master the mind games and you’ll unlock extraordinary new powers of endurance.

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

SPECIALIZED FUTURE SHOCK

A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM With its revolutionary Future Shock technology, Specialized proved you can have comfort and compliance in one bike. Now Version 2.0 is here... he Roubaix is the showcase for Specialized’s latest development of its game-changing, road-bike suspension system. Future Shock 2.0 takes the original simple, sprung system ﬁrst seen in 2017 and adds damping and, most importantly, on-the-move adjustment into the system. It’s not all new as version 2.0 follows the same principles as the original unit. Chris Yu, Head of Applied Technologies at Specialized explains: “With the original Future Shock we recognised the enormous beneﬁt of suspending the rider and not the bike. With the traditional location of suspension units somewhere in the frame (between the fork and head tube being the most common), we found several signiﬁcant disadvantages, especially for a road platform. These disadvantages include a loss of pedalling efficiency through bobbing in the front, as well as a compromise in handling since there is a non-rigid load path between the front and rear wheels, which can manifest itself in a feeling of vagueness when cornering. We

realised that placing the Future Shock unit above the head tube resulted in all the beneﬁts of increased compliance, while avoiding all the disadvantages. The beauty of the system is the ability to separate the duties of introducing compliance from the duties of a race-ready frame and fork (maintaining a stiff structure).” Future Shock 2.0 comes as standard on S-Works, Expert and Pro models. It has 20mm of movement and inside the system is an oil port, which simultaneously controls compression and rebound damping, so the Future Shock smooths out rough road surfaces in a controlled way. The biggest difference from the original unit is that 2.0 eschews a traditional top cap above the stem clamp in favour of a dial adjuster. So, you can now adjust the front end on the ﬂy from near-lock out (rigid) to fully open in any increment throughout 360-degrees of rotation. On the Sport and Comp model Roubaix (and some models of other Specialized bikes that feature Future Shock tech, such as Diverge, Sirrus, Turbo Vado and Turbo Creo) there is a strippeddown Future Shock 1.5. This doesn’t have the adjustability of the 2.0 but the 1.5 unit has improved top- and bottom-out behaviour. It progressively ramps up resistance in the spring, meaning that you get a smooth suspension action with no sudden stop when the Future Shock fully compresses or fully extends, as well as a lighter, more progressive spring than found on the 1.0. You can tune the 1.5 just like the original Future Shock 1.0 by using different spring weights. Combining isolation from road harshness and fatiguing vibrations without compromising handling or rolling efficiency, Future Shock proves that ‘smoother is faster’.

“We recognised the benefit of suspending the rider, not the bike”

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

SPRING

DAMPER

OIL PORT

A new specially designed spring that means that the Future Shock system reacts quickly to obstacles on the road

The hydraulic damper is at the heart of Future Shock 2.0 helping to deliver 20mm of axial compliance that suspends you and not the bike

03

01

02

The oil port controls the compression and damping. The dial on top of the stem means you can make your own adjustments on the ﬂy

01

02

You can now adjust the front end on the fly from near lockout to fully open

03

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SPECIALIZED POWER EXPERT P71

12 OF THE BEST...

ULTIMATE UPGRADES

A collection of our favourite upgrades to keep your bike running at its best ere at Cycling Plus we test a huge amount of kit and components, with over 400 individual items ridden and rated over the last year alone. In our experience the best upgrades for your bike needn’t be the most exclusive or expensive or, in fact, the ones that come with professional rider endorsements. We think the best ones offer a tangible benefit to your ride experience but don’t have to cost the earth.

H

Our test features the products that will survive British winters and roads

In our experience the best upgrades for your bike needn’t be the most exclusive or expensive

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Rather, we like to recommend kit that we know works and will stay the distance, irrespective of price. Your bike is only at its best when it’s being ridden, rather than serviced and repaired. You won’t find the most rarefied ultra-light carbon parts on show here. They are fine for show bikes and making headlines, but will they last a wet British winter without a hitch? We’ve collated our test team’s favourite products that they have not only tested but have continued to use day-in, day-out ever since. So if you are looking for lighter wheels, a more comfortable saddle, better bars or superior pedals we’ve got our favourite recommendations right here, and to quantify how much more efficient and quicker your bike is post-upgrade we’ve even recommended our favourite GPSs.

SHIMANO 105 P72

FULCRUM WIND 40 DB P69

GARMIN EDGE 830 P70 FIZIK CYRANO R5 BAR & STEM P73

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The Pro Carbon SL’s rims have a subtly aero profile and are supplied with Mavic Yksion Elite Allroad XL 40mm tyres, UST tubeless valves, Mavic tubeless sealant and syringe, plus adaptors to switch the 12mm thru-axle end caps to quick release. Swapping to the optional front axle and end caps gives 15mm thru-axle compatibility as well. The centre lock hubs have aluminium bodies and axles, auto-adjust sealed cartridge bearings and Mavic’s responsive Instant Drive (ID) 360 freehub, which can be swapped for a SRAM XD-compatible unit. There are 24 double-butted, straight-pull, flat steel spokes per wheel and square aluminium nipples. The rims are 25mm tall and 23mm wide internally, with a hookless UST design that seats tyres fast. Mavic says the rims are suited for tyres 28 to 64mm wide. Including 12mm end caps, tubeless valves and tape, our wheelset weighed 1521g. On the road, these wheels have a great response, accelerating swiftly with a satisfying hint of whip when under serious loads. They have a compliant feel that, along with low pressures and tubeless security, helps to maximise grip and provide decent seated comfort. They have all-terrain confidence, spin beautifully and have brushed off everything we’ve thrown at them so far.

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WE SAY...

CADEX 42 DISC

A genuinely different set of lightweight race wheels

£1099 (F) £1399 (R)

New-world wheelset The rim of the CADEX wheel is 42mm deep, with a slender 23mm outer width and a 19.4mm inner: dimensions designed to work optimally with 25mm and 28mm tyres. So far, so normal. The rim itself is a clever design: a hook on a rim is designed to ‘catch’ and hold the bead of a tyre ensuring proper retention, but this hookless design relies on the air pressure pushing out and forcing an air-tight seal, it’s how tubeless works best. These are among the stiffest wheels we’ve ever tried. Drop your shoulders and lay them into a corner and Stiffness; on exit the bike wants to flyweight; easy stand up, forge ahead and setup go straight. At first it feels odd but when it clicks Limited tyre the 42s are devastatingly capacity; pricey rapid.

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The lack of mass is most telling when you get to the hills. A light set of wheels is a boon to any climbing task but combine lightness with the solidity of the 42s and it’s an amazing feeling, as if every ounce of your energy is finding its way to the tyre’s contact patch. We’ve ridden plenty of light wheelsets before, but these tyres with their lack of lateral flex feel incredibly efficient. Weight-wise, the bare wheels tip the scales at an impressive 1327g and with tubeless valves and tape fitted that rises to 1430g.

“THESE ARE AMONG THE STIFFEST WHEELS WE’VE EVER TRIED; THEY JUST WANT TO GO STRAIGHT”

12 ULTIMATE UPGRADES

DT SWISS£494.98 GR 1600 (pair) SPLINE WE SAY...

The Wind’s build quality, stiffness and performance are compelling reasons to buy

FULCRUM WIND 40 DB £1099.99 (pair)

New carbon aero hoops Fulcrum’s new carbon Wind range of wheels sits below the highend Speed and Racing carbon models but brings a lot of that technology into the mix. The rim is 40mm deep with a blunt aero shape and constructed using unidirectional carbon fibre layers. It can be used both as a standard clincher or tubeless. The rim edge is specially shaped to blend more smoothly with the tyre, eliminating an area of turbulence that can slow you down and disrupt the handling. Rim width is generous at 21.5mm externally and 19mm internally, according to Fulcrum. All Wind wheels are hand-assembled. The components, aside from the light carbon rims, consist of CNCExcellent build machined aluminium quality, smooth hubs holding 24 straightrunning pull spokes. The spokes sit in special alloy beds Not that light, in the rim, which means very stiff perfect alignment and

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friction-free tensioning, plus the inner-rim bed isn’t drilled, resulting in a perfect seal for tubeless tyres – ours suffered no air loss over months of testing. The hubs roll smoothly, freehub engagement is quick and, after hundreds of miles of testing, we haven’t detected any play at all. The Winds weigh 780g front, 900g rear – that includes tubeless valves, Shimano freehub (with options for Campagnolo and SRAM XDR) and 12mm end caps for thru-axles, so 1680g a pair, which is not detrimentally heavy. On the road, the Winds impress with their resolute stiffness. This adds a responsive feel to direction changes and pedal inputs, especially when sprinting hard. Running the same tyres as the wheels they took the place of (Zipp 303 disc), the Winds are more rigid, though a bit heavier. Into a stiff crosswind they handle with an assured stability, making them a great companion for fast, undulating roads. If climbing is your main aim, though, you may want lighter wheels.

The GR1600 gravel wheel has an aluminium rim of 25mm x 28mm, so it’s wider than it is deep. The inner width is 24mm so it can take tyres over 50mm wide. The wheels are hand-assembled using DT’s hardwearing and ever-reliable 350 hub internals, which sit inside a fetching silver/grey CNC’d hub shell using DT’s straight-pull Spline design. The hubs look every inch a premium unit. These wheels are built to be tough, with a proven two-cross spoke pattern, and are rated to a max system weight of 130kg, enough for bike, rider and luggage. DT includes plenty of extras: tubeless tape (which we found a bit on the thin side), valves, IS sixbolt rotor adaptors, Shimano and SRAM XDR freehubs, 5mm (QR) endcaps and 15mm endcaps (they come 12mm as standard). The 790g front and 960g rear wheel (including valves, tape, disc-lock rings and Shimano freehub) make them firmly middleweight. But out on the road and trail, they feel both light and responsive but without being overly stiff. With a large-volume tyre in place, the wheels worked well in tandem, absorbing rough washboard surfaces without bouncing or pinging you off-line, yet not flexing so much as to be detrimental to handling. The GR 1600 is a beautifully balanced wheel that’s been put together to a very high standard.

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WAHOO ELEMNT BOLT £199.99 WEIGHT 61.4g SIZE 73mm x 48mm x 20mm IN THE BOX 1 x bar mount, 1 x out-front mount, micro-USB cable BATTERY LIFE (CLAIMED) 15 hours

The Bolt GPS computer is simple to set-up via smartphone and syncs with your phone, downloads updates and connects to sensors (Bluetooth Low Energy and Ant+). The Elemnt app/smartphone do most of the hard work, but you rely on having Wi-Fi and your phone for moving data back and forth. Customisation is in the app. You can plan routes or set a destination and the app works it out, but you can’t edit created routes. For more accurate routes, upload Strava or Komoot files. It has myriad training options including FTP tests, climbing, mixed and sprint sessions, and is fully compatible with most smart trainers. GPS pick-up is 47-55 seconds and we got 12-13 hours run time. It’s a brilliant unit to track performance but for navigation it’s just okay. The monochrome display is fine in the countryside but in urban areas the maps are a mess of lines, and it can be slow to redraw.

“THE APP DOES MOST OF THE WORK, BUT YOU RELY ON WI-FI AND YOUR PHONE” 70 SEPTEMBER 2020

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WE SAY...

Great navigation, lots of features and some inspiring functions

GARMIN EDGE 830 £349.99

Feature-packed GPS cycling computer and navigation device WEIGHT 81.3g SIZE 85mm x 20mm x 50mm IN THE BOX 2 x mounts, 1 x out-front mount, micro USB cable BATTERY LIFE (CLAIMED) 20 hours

Garmin has packed full-colour mapping, a tactile touchscreen and onboard navigation into the Edge 830. The 830 is simple to sync with sensors and it had no problem finding our heartrate monitor. Once you find a sensor you can rename it to avoid confusion. It also quickly found our SRAM eTap, SRAM/ Quarq power meter and the Shimano WU1111 antenna on a second bike, allowing us to see gearing and battery info direct from Di2, and you can use the hidden buttons on the hoods to control your Garmin. Battery life is an impressive 17 hours Superb when navigating with navigational performance, all sensors connected. impressive Navigation is assisted battery life by heatmaps, which prioritise paths and roads most often used Takes a while to acclimatise to by cyclists. ClimbPro the system automatically shows the

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distance and elevation remaining on each climb of your prescribed route. Regular updates include a whole bunch of off-road metrics, including trail recommendations. Heat acclimatisation is a great feature, too. Plus, the 830 retains one of our favourite functions: virtual partner. Set the average speed you want to achieve on a ride and you get a screen showing you up against a virtual rider. Routing involves manually entering an address, point of interest or map pin. The routes are bike specific (avoiding major roads). The GPS system uses GLONASS, Galileo and GPS satellites, and pick-up is a decent 35 to 40 seconds. Integration with Strava is seamless and the 830 can store up to 200 hours of ride history in its 16GB memory. That also allows you to download plenty of add-ons via Connect IQ. The 830 isn’t without some issues, though. On occasion the unit had trouble auto-uploading a ride, and it also ‘forgot’ a power sensor after a mid-ride break.

12 ULTIMATE UPGRADES

ERGON SR£119.99 PRO WOMEN WEIGHT 213g LENGTH 261mm WIDTH TESTED 141mm OTHER WIDTHS 152mm

Specialized’s Power Expert saddle is designed for long-distance comfort, and we found this to be the case. The near triangular outline is dominated by a 155mm-long Body Geometry cut-out that’s over 30mm at its widest, and is shaped to improve blood flow to and minimise pressure on sensitive areas, particularly when you’re in a more aggressive, dropped position. Notably, the Power Expert has a stubby 242mm-long, carbon-reinforced shell, Supportive which means you need comfort, to position its truncated day-long nose 30mm further performance behind the bottom bracket’s centre line than Not for riders you would a conventional who fidget length saddle.

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Specialized’s medium-grade PU padding gives consistently even cushioning all over, and is helped centrally by the shell’s flexibility on either side of the cut-out. It’s firm enough for performance-orientated riders, but comfy enough for many hours aboard. Excellent support, great efficiency and impressive comfort at a reasonable weight (thanks to its hollow titanium rails) make the Power Expert a benchmark saddle.

“ITS OUTLINE IS DOMINATED BY A 155MM-LONG BODY GEOMETRY CUT-OUT THAT’S OVER 30MM AT ITS WIDEST”

The Canyon//SRAM pro team developed the Ergon SR Pro and its carbon composite shell with TiNOX rails to keep it light. A woman’s pelvis is more flexible than a man’s, which can cause pressure to build at the front, so Ergon used a new Orthopaedic Air Cell Foam with OrthoCell pads in critical areas, to reduce this issue, plus a cut-out that’s further forward than a typical men’s saddle, which really reduces soft-tissue pressure. The slightly angled ramp at the rear supported us very well when riding in a more forward position on the bike and this saddle is comfortable to ride in any position, even when you’re on a long ride. The V-shape design encourages you to sit back, also reducing pressure at the front, and although its nose is slightly wider than most other women’s saddles it didn’t affect the comfort. There’s also an SR Pro Men model with subtle differences.

“THE ANGLED RAMP SUPPORTED US WELL WHEN RIDING IN A FORWARD POSITION” BIKERADAR.COM

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CRANKBROTHERS CANDY 3 £124.99 WEIGHT (PAIR) Pedals 335g, Cleats and bolts 48g / Fixing 2 bolt

The Candy design adds an aluminium platform around the original four-sided Eggbeater pedal mechanism, creating pedals suited to gravel and adventure riding. The axle is forged chromoly steel, it has slick-feeling cartridge and needle bearings protected by a doublelip seal. The central spring and four-way retaining pedal wings are stainless steel, rotating within the two-part machined aluminium body. The pedal body is 73mm wide and incorporates cast grip plates on each side, although clip-on plastic covers can be added to increase their height by 1mm. Relatively shallow brass cleats are provided, plus additional shims.

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WE SAY...

If you want top-level Shimano performance on a budget, look no further

SHIMANO 105 £114.99

Dependable and affordable good quality carbon pedals WEIGHT (PAIR) Pedals 276g, Cleats and bolts 73g / Fixing 3 bolt

These Shimano 105 pedals offer great performance and durability at a very competitive price, even though they have got more expensive in recent years. They have also got lighter and, with obvious similarities to their Ultegra and Dura-Ace cousins, the 105s have a carbon fibre composite body with a 64mm wide, stainless-steel plate protecting the good-sized central platform from wear. Their sculpted shape permits Great decent lean angles, and construction; leaves few places for fine performers grime to accumulate. The adjustable release tension They’re a is already fairly firm at little heavy its minimum setting and

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the pedals turn smoothly on high-quality bearings with a steel axle, plus they hang perfectly for fast collection and entry. Supplied with yellow dual-compound cleats, the six degrees of float available feels smooth and the cleats, although bulky, are grippy to walk on and quite hard wearing. Easy entry and release bookend a great riding experience.

“THESE PEDALS TURN SMOOTHLY ON HIGHQUALITY BEARINGS WITH A STEEL AXLE”

12 ULTIMATE UPGRADES

WE SAY...

An impressive matching cockpit setup that brings modern ideas and function in an affordable package

PRO VIBE ALLOY BAR & VIBE£79.99 STEM £99.99 BAR: WIDTHS 38, 40, 42 & 44cm WEIGHT 250g (42cm) STEM: SIZES AVAILABLE ±10° 80-130mm, ±17° 90-140mm WEIGHT 150g (±10°/110mm)

FIZIK CYRANO R5 BAR & CYRANO R5 STEM £44.99

£44.99

Excellent entry-level bar and stem BAR: WIDTHS 40cm, 42cm and 44cm WEIGHT 300g (42cm) STEM: SIZES AVAILABLE ±7° rise/80-130mm lengths WEIGHT 155g (±7°/110mm)

While the Cyrano R5 is a goodquality, entry-level bar, it offers more than some in this price range. What’s unique is that it is available in three versions that work with a rider’s flexibility, like many of Fizik’s highend components,. The Bull bar here is designed for the least flexible, while the Snake version is for the most flexible and the Chameleon sits in between. Here, the Bull version has 75mm of reach with a shallower Great price, 125mm drop, making it performance and options ideal for riders who prefer a more upright position. It is made from an Not the lightest Anticorodal aluminium,

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in this case 6061, which offers high levels of stiffness and fatigue resistance. The ride and shape impressed us and, along with the matt sand-blasted black finish, it makes it look and feel more expensive than the price tag would suggest. Once again Fizik has done a top job when it comes to the appearance of the matching R5 stem, with its stealthy mattblack finish with neat graphics. It’s made using a combination of Anticorodal 6061 aluminium and Ergal aluminium. On the road it’s stiff and flex-free thanks to the Anticorodal 6061, while the Ergal helps with fatigue resistance. The hardwear is stainless steel but with price, looks and performance like this the Cyrano 5 is hard to beat.

PRO is the component arm of Shimano, known for its quality, no-fuss products. The Vibe compact bar is made from 7075 aluminium and comes with 130mm drop and 80mm of reach. The more traditionally shaped Vibe is designed to be Di2 compatible, but of course works well with cable gear setups and the ports are in perfect locations for an easy life without sacrificing strength. It also boasts a centre port for complete integration with the stem. We like the slightly elongated top sections with flat undersides for how your fingers naturally grip the bars. This also helps to increase stiffness. The Vibe is pricey for an aluminium bar but the quality and stiffness shine through. The Vibe stem is also machined from 7075 aluminium and is burly without reducing aerodynamics. PRO has done this with a tapered fork clamp. Unlike most stems, the Vibe has reverse fixing in that the bolts tighten the front clamp from behind the stem for a sleek finish. The result is a super-stiff stem offering an efficient ride.

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WE TAKE T WO BRITISH-BORN BR ANDS AND SEE HOW THEIR SUPERWORDS WARREN ROSSITER

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BIKE OFFERINGS STAND UP IN THE FACE OF GLOBAL COMPETITION PHOTOGRAPHY ROBERT SMITH

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BEST OF BRITISH RIGHT

The Kinesis’s ride position is taller than the Ribble, which is a low-slung race bike

BELOW RIGHT

Titanium tubing means a smooth Kinesis; The Ribble is optimised for aero

ou’ve decided to splash out on a superbike, but what’s best for you? Do you go race? A carbon lightweight to get that edge on your riding mates. Or do you opt for a more exotic titanium bike that’s designed to tackle everything the road can throw at it, with the promise of solo pursuits and long days in the saddle? The obvious choice when looking at superbikes is to go for the biggest global players: carbon from Asia, race bikes from Italy, exotic handmade metal bikes from America. However, we thought mid-Covid crisis and the effect that’s having on the UK economy that we should be looking to support home-based brands. But does our homegrown talent match up to the rest of the world? First up it’s Lancashire’s finest, Ribble, with its latest, lightweight race machine from a superbly re-invigorated range. Ribble has completely redesigned its online bike builder with a myriad more options with the added ability to custom-specify the paint finish alongside parts choices. It’s been a while since we’ve looked at its pure race offerings and we decided to opt for a top-of-the-line Endurance SL R replete with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and Ribble’s own aerodynamic Level 62 wheels and one-piece bar, not forgetting an eye-

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“IF YOU WERE CONSIDERING A BIKE WITH THESE KIT LEVELS FROM ONE OF THE MAJOR GLOBAL BRANDS YOU’D BE LOOKING AT £10K” wateringly bold, metallic-green fade paint scheme. This is a complete superbike specification and if you were considering the global competition with the same level of equipment on a race-focused bike from Specialized, Pinarello, Colnago, Trek, or BMC you’d be looking at close to £10k.

RACING THROUGH RIBBLE VALLEY

The Endurance SL R frameset was designed, developed and tested in the UK by the team at Ribble led by ex-Boardman

Bikes head honcho Andy Smallwood and former WorldTour rider (U23 world champ and US Postal rider) Jamie Burrow heading up product development. The frame is constructed using high-grade Toray fibres in 800 and 1000 series guise – Japanese manufacturer Toray produce some of the highest-grade carbon materials available; it’s the same stuff as you’ll find under the paintwork of the likes of Pinarello . The stiffer, lighter Toray 1000 is used in key areas, such as the bottom bracket and head tube with the more compliant, yet still light, 800 fibres used in the stays and main tubes. The manufacturing process requires a solid EPS (expanded polystyene) core in the moulds, which ensures consistency in the structure keeping the ratio of (heavy) resin to (lightweight) carbon fibres in lightweight’s favour. It also means that any potential weak spots (from ridges, creases, air pockets or other imperfections) are eliminated. It’s not just about the materials with the SL R: aerodynamics was also a key factor in the design, with this model reducing drag over Ribble’s previous race machine by a huge 28.5 per cent, verified by CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysis and wind-tunnel testing.

BIKE TEST RIBBLE ENDURANCE SL R DURA-ACE DI2 £5449.99 SPECIFICATIONS Weight 7.74kg (L) Frame & fork Carbon Gears Shimano DuraAce Di2 (50/34, 11-28) Brakes Shimano DuraAce hydraulic disc Wheels Level 56 DB carbon Finishing kit Level carbon onepiece bar, Fizik Aliante R5 saddle, Vittoria Corsa G+ 28c tyres

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Swift speedster with stunning looks to match

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Uncompromising race-optimised position

BUY IF...

You want a racing superbike with custom options for less cash than any of its rivals

KINESIS TRIPSTER ATR V.3 £2200 FRAMESET, COMPLETE BIKE £5975.79 SPECIFICATIONS Weight 9.54kg (58cm) Frame Cold drawn seamless 3AL/2.5V titanium Fork Kinesis Range carbon Gears Shimano GRX Di2 Brakes Shimano GRX hydraulic disc Wheels Sector GCi carbon Finishing kit Praxis Zayante carbon chainset, Challenge Strada Bianca 36c tyres, (all Ritchey) WCS C220 stem, Skyline saddle, WCS carbon post & Butano bar

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Beautifully appointed frame; gloriously smooth ride quality

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Relaxed mile eating isn’t for everyone

BUY IF...

You want to achieve huge distances in comfort and style

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LEFT

The Ribble comes with Level carbon wheels and slim lightweight tyres...

BELOW

... plus Shimano’s premium offering: the race-ready Dura-Ace Di2

hoops combine a 56mm, tubelesscompatible, deep-blunted carbon rim that’s broad at 26.5mm wide and 17.5mm internally, which is optimised for 25c and 28c tyres with CNC-machined hubs and straight-pull spokes with a quick 10-degree engagement on the freehub. The SL R is finished with the flawless performance that comes from Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, which we selected in a sportive -friendly 50/34, 11-28 spec. You can choose whichever ratios you’d prefer from Ribble’s bike builder. The control unit is neatly integrated into the frame’s down tube and all of the wiring and hydraulic hoses are smartly internally routed, too.

TRIPSTER TALENTS Ribble has achieved this by introducing a new tube shape, which like most of the current race bikes around is based on truncated airfoil shaping. This is a shape similar to the cross-section of an aircraft wing with the tail of the teardrop shape cut-off, which ‘cheats’ the air into believing that the tail is still there. It acts in a controlled manner and doesn’t create a disruptive ‘wake’, making for a faster frameset than round tubes without the weight penalty of airfoil-shaped tubes. The fork’s broad airfoil shape is also designed to prevent turbulent air from affecting the spinning front wheel. All of these gains mean a faster ride for less of your efforts. For the SL R that adds up to sub-900g for the frame and 400g for the fork, so it’s a lightweight machine with proper aerodynamic performance. It’s not just the chassis where Ribble has upped the aero, at the front it has Ribble’s new Level 1, onepiece carbon bar/stem. This aerooptimised, bladed bar flows seamlessly into a slender stem, which integrates the cables well and blends into interlocking aero-shaped headset spacers that smoothly flow into the head tube. Ribble claims that this setup has 40 per cent less drag than a standard, round-tubed cockpit. Cable routing is clean and simple, and runs through the head tube making maintenance easier than many of its rivals. Ribble’s Level also provides the wheels in the form of the 56DBs. These 1660g

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“AERODYNAMICS WAS A KEY FACTOR WITH THIS MODEL REDUCING DRAG OVER RIBBLE’S PREVIOUS RACE MACHINE BY 28.5 PER CENT”

Next up it’s Kinesis, the British marque from Sussex-based distribution company Upgrade. Kinesis is also home to the legendary, pioneering British mountainbike brand DMR. Think of Kinesis as the road, gravel and cyclocross wing of this innovative small company. We opted for the Tripster: the pinnacle of its ATR range. ATR stands for ‘adventure, tour, race’ so this is a bike that’s truly designed to do it all. Kinesis has a close relationship with its customers and the third iteration Tripster’s changes and upgrades comes from feedback from ATR riders (including this tester). The chassis looks similar to the previous model but this is the biggest revamp in the ATR’s history, even the titanium tubeset is all new. The premium, cold-drawn seamless 3AL/2.5v butted tubes are the same as you’ll find on premium US brands, such as Moots, Lynskey and Litespeed. The tubes are mated to a new machined head tube that Upgrade claims is stronger and yet more comfortable than any previous model. The seatstay/seat-tube junction has been redesigned to provide a much greater weld area making the back end stronger. With big tyres (it’ll take up to a 45c in 700 and a massive 50c in 650b) the ATR will see you through some pretty extreme, off-road excursions. The reshaping of the stays into a more flattened profile blends with the inherent spring of titanium for added rear-end compliance and therefore comfort. The internal cable routing paths have been

BIKE TEST

LEFT

Ribble opted for the classic Fizik Antares; Kinesis the swoopy Ritchey Skyline

improved (with it comes very neat exit ports brazed into the frame) and it’s even upgraded the thru-axles to smart GW switch lever axles. Instead of having to carry a hex key the axles take a magnetically locked-in lever that can switch between front and rear. The geometry has also been tweaked, particularly for smaller sizes where Kinesis has introduced a semi-sloping top tube for better rider clearance, and made the reach longer. It makes the ride more sporty than previous models and helps the Tripster live up to its ‘race’ tag. Up front a new fork called the Range is an all-carbon unit that has increased tyre clearance (up to a massive 45c in 700c). It’s lighter than the previous fork (by 34g) even with a full suite of mounts (low riders and mudguards). The titanium chassis is one built for versatility. The ATR can be easily put into service as a smooth-rolling endurance bike, a classic tourer, a lighter bikepacking machine, or because of the generous tyre clearances it can run different wheels sizes and turn its hand to gravel duties with aplomb. Kinesis doesn’t offer complete bikes, but its many dealers will build bikes to order, which gives you the choice of anything you like, or take the advice of Kinesis and its recommendations; we decided to go for a mix of both. We’ve been very impressed with Shimano’s GRX Di2 group, particularly the ergonomically superior

“THE ATR CAN BE PUT INTO SERVICE AS AN ENDURANCE BIKE, TOURER, A LIGHTER BIKE-PACKING MACHINE OR GRAVEL BIKE” shifters, going as far as to say that they belong on any bike where you’ll spend most of your time on the hoods, rather than in the drops. Let’s face it, that’s pretty much all serious cyclists who don’t necessarily race. So, we thought, ‘Let’s put our money where our mouth is and go for GRX on a bike that’ll spend most of its time on tarmac’. Gearing-wise, we opted to go more road than gravel so Praxis’s excellent Zayante carbon chainset with 50/34 compact rings was selected from Upgrade’s impressive component catalogue, with Shimano’s wide 11-34 cassette. Wheels-wise we wanted something wide and able to take big, comfortable

slicks as we had aspirations for this Tripster to be an all-day or multi-day master. Again, Upgrade had some great options starting with the distinct-looking Sector wheels. The Sector GCi wheels don’t just look different, they’re made different. While the core of the rim is constructed from UD carbon, like pretty much every other premium carbon rim on the market, they’re finished with outer layers made from TeXtreme Innegra fabric. Sector claims that by using the Innegra in the rim this improves impact resistance by 75 per cent over standard carbon, with 50 per cent more vertical compliance than a standard carbon rim. According to Sector, you get the ride character of a premium alloy wheel with the weight saving of a carbon wheel. It also claims that the unique Sector construction means that, in the event of a serious crash, the GCi’s are less likely to suffer catastrophic failure. It backs its claims up with a lifetime warranty. Weight-wise, these 38mm deep, 31mm wide (external) and 24mm wide internal wheels tip the scales at 1690g a pair, including tubeless tape and valves. The wheels have a certain something about them: even when shod with the luscious compliance of 36c Challenge tyres you can still feel the wheel-smoothing effect when you smack into a pothole or hit a sleeping policeman at speed. It reminds us of classic, handbuilt alloy rim-based wheels of yesteryear.

TAKING THE RIBBLE

Unlike bikes from days gone by, the Ribble SL R is impressively light. It’s a bike designed for speed and agility: just look at the low 562mm stack and long 396mm reach. That gives flat-backed, head-down racers a position on the bike that is only compounded by the negative rise on the Level bar’s integrated stem. If you want a bike set for achieving a super-racy position, then the SL R is it. It’s a sharp handler, too, with the compact 999mm wheelbase and 73/73.3-degree head and seat angles all making a contribution to a race-ready rig that’s as nimble as some of the best examples from the biggest global brands. You can certainly feel the influence of Jamie Burrow on this bike. Ribble offers a holistic approach on the SL R with everything – bar the groupset,

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BEST OF BRITISH

BELOW

Kinesis: RX Di2 rear mech with a clutch to prevent chain bounce on the rough

RIGHT

An oversized seatpost on the Kinesis and a D-shaped carbon post on the Ribble

tyres and saddle – coming from within the brand. The wheels are light for the depth of the carbon rim and the shaping copes admirably in crosswinds for 56mm. The internal width of 17.5mm isn’t fashionably wide, in fact, it’s optimised around a 25c tyre but they do work very well with a 28c tyre, as fitted here, with the tyre sitting flush with the rim’s sidewalls; staying stable, rather than ‘light bulbing’ – bulging outwards and making for an unstable feel in the corners. The wheels are tubeless-compatible, but the bike arrived with non-tubeless tyres. In this case they are some of the very best clinchers around in Vittoria’s supple, Graphene-infused Corsas replete with tan sidewalls, which always add a touch of class to proceedings. The bike’s overall low weight of 7.74kg makes it a winner when it comes to climbing and Dura-Ace Di2 is a superb group that’s difficult to find any faults with. Ribble hasn’t cut any corners when it comes to the SL R: integration of the group is beautifully done with not a cable on show and the Di2 controller and charge point seamlessly flow into the SL R’s down tube. The ride has lots of quality, the supersupple 28c tyres do a wonderful job of minimising buzz from less-than-ideal surfaces, yet at the same time the SL R is a firm ride: the chassis feels taught and direct. Both assets that suit the aggressive ride position and fast handling. The SL R is most suited to riders looking for a racing experience; something to get your heart racing, blood flowing and adrenaline rushing. It’s one very fast machine in terms of out-and-out speed and handling, but you can choose the gear ratios to suit you. How many of Ribble’s big-name rivals can offer that?

GOING ON A TRIPSTER

The Tripster is an altogether different experience, although one that’s just as rewarding. The v.3 chassis with its engorged tyre clearances, new tubeset and all-new fork is simply the best yet. It’s arguably the finest-quality Tripster so far. The new, laseretched logos on the frame, for instance, elevate the v.3 into the highest echelons of titanium bike finish. The dropouts are now machined from a single billet of titanium with a dedicated, replaceable hanger – all of which are details normally reserved for the

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“THE SL R IS MOST SUITED TO RIDERS LOOKING FOR A RACING EXPERIENCE, SOMETHING TO GET THE HEART RACING & BLOOD FLOWING...”

most exclusive of titanium purveyors. Details are all well and good but it’s the ride that counts, right? Well the v.3 doesn’t let us down here. The new tubing and flattened, curved stays imbibe the Tripster with a much more forgiving ride than ever before. That’s even taking into account the large volume tyres and unique wheels. We switched these out for Zipp 30s and road tyres and the v.3 has much more ‘life’ in the frame, more of a spring in its step. So much so, that even with the large 31.6 diameter seatpost and tube (Kinesis tells us this keeps strength in the frameset for expeditionlevels of load-carrying luggage) it has enough give to provide comfort. The new fork, Range, offers three cargo-mount points on each leg with internal hose routing and mudguard eyes, yet only weighs 500g and is compliant over rougher roads. Still, it tracks well and doesn’t shift offline when cornering at speed. The Sector wheels with their strength claims and suppleness are a hard one to quantify in isolation as they’re built up with big volume slicks from Challenge in the 36c Strada Bianca’s tubeless setup. The tyres and wheels working in tandem feels wonderful, combining old-school artisan wheel-build with ultra-modern materials. The two working together in tandem, however, is wonderful combining oldschool artisan wheel building with ultramodern materials. The Tripster has a gloriously comfortable ride with no fear of pinch puncturing, thanks to the tubeless

RIGHT

Bar choice: Ribble’s own Level component line; Ritchey’s WCS on the Kinesis

tyres. We’ve purposefully hit potholes, ruts and sleeping policeman to feel the effect and there seems to be a heap of compliance, while the claimed 75 per cent impact strength improvement puts your mind at ease when you hit something hard. We’ve tested the bike predominantly on tarmac and this frameset with this wheel and tyre package feels every inch as accomplished as endurance bikes, such as Giant’s Defy, Specialized’s Roubaix and Trek’s Domane. Yet it arguably has the edge when it comes to riding beyond the road thanks to its incredibly high levels of versatility, there aren’t many endurance bikes that can take a 50c 650b tyre . We’re still hugely impressed with Shimano’s GRX Di2 and convinced that Shimano are missing a trick with aiming the GRX Di2 lever design and servo-wave assisted braking at the adventure and gravel crowd. There simply isn’t a better design on the market for controlling braking from the hoods. As most road riders who aren’t racing spend the lion’s share of their time riding on the hoods, it seems somewhat criminal not to enjoy the best option all of the time. The wider gearing with a 1:1 bottom gear (34/34) means that the v.3 can ascend almost anything and is limited only by your legs and not by lack of range. The Ritchey finishing kit is the US company’s usual high-standards and I’m particularly impressed with the Butano bar. It’s lumped into the brand’s ‘gravel’ range but, like GRX Di2, it makes a lot of sense on a bike that’s more versatile than just dirt roads. The top has a four-degree sweep to the ergonomically profiled top and the drop has a 12-degree flare, which is not as extreme as most gravel bars (such as Ritchey’s own crazy, wide-flared Venture Max XL). When wrapped with Ritchey’s Race Gel tape it’s simply a very comfortable, compliant bar and a great contact point for the longest of rides. We also opted to get away from road clipless pedals. As we’ve been testing the bike with destinations in mind when we arrive, we want to be able to walk around in shoes, not slip and slide like Bambi on ice. So, Ritchey’s large, platformed trail pedals were chosen and we’re really enjoying the freer feel on and off the bike. This Tripster does have one (small) issue, and that’s the

“THE REAL WINNER HERE IS HOMEGROWN BRITISH DESIGN. BOTH BRANDS CAN CONFIDENTLY MIX IT WITH THE BIGGEST NAMES IN CYCLING” weight. At nine and a half kilo’s it’s never going to be any weight weenie’s fantasy. Thankfully, the Tripster’s ride quality is so gloriously accomplished, even carrying the extra mass it’s absolutely no slouch on tarmac. In fact, over scarred surfaces and the grit and gravelly roads during a wet season’s riding, it’s arguably a faster machine than a flyweight road bike as you simply rely on the brilliant tyres for grip and compliance and the chassis takes care of the comfort. Add in the exemplary control of GRX Di2’s braking and the Kinesis has the perfect recipe for confident ride character. The handling, which is stability personified, can still give you a thrill when punching it downhill fast.

Ultimately, the real winner is homegrown British design. Based on our experience and thorough testing we can say with absolute certainty that both of these British brands can put together bikes that can confidently mix it with some of the biggest names in the bike market. We would happily recommend the SL R up against legendary race bikes, such as the (Specialized) Tarmac, (Trek) Émonda, or even our current bike of the year Cannondale’s SuperSix Evo. As for the Tripster we’re looking straight past (Moots) Titanium from Steamboat Springs in Colorado and handbuilt bikes from (Litespeed) Chatanooga, Tennessee, and opting to get our metal fix from just off the A34 in Horsham, West Sussex.

VERDICTS RIBBLE ENDURANCE Speed; bespoke build and finishing

KINESIS TRIPSTER A mile-eating companion wherever you want to ride

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Nostalgia

Past M

Nostalgia

Masters From childhood memories and vintage bikes to the legends of the Tour de France, the sport of cycling is drenched in nostalgia. But scientists now believe a ride down memory lane is a powerful motivational tool that can help keep your life on track Photography Getty images

Words Mark Bailey

Nostalgia

F Below — Cycling’s rich history offers an endless source of nostalgia for riders and fans alike

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or athletes who get such a thrill from forward propulsion, cyclists spend a surprising amount of time looking back. Nostalgia is woven into the fabric of the cycling world. It is stored in those golden memories of your first bike or Alpine climb, and in the jerseys and souvenirs gathered along the way. It fuels our lust for retro kit and vintage bikes. And it is the myths and legends of the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix that entice us to tune in each year, or make pilgrimages to ride the mountains and cobbles ourselves. From the wool jerseys and steel frames of the L’Eroica sportive, to our secret sock drawer shrines full of medals and race numbers, nostalgia is pivotal to the cycling experience. Nostalgia develops organically – we can recall eventful rides or where we were when Bradley Wiggins won the Tour in 2012. But it is also marketed to us through events and brands. With its ritualistic return to famous cols, the Tour doesn’t just sell us a race; it invites us to explore over a century of heroic deeds and sacred geography. According to Professor Tim Wildschut – Professor in Social

and Personality Psychology at the University of Southampton and keen cyclist – it’s a uniquely rich font of nostalgia. “Cycling provides a lot of fodder for conversations and ‘nostalgising’,” he says. “You could talk for hours about the equipment, clothing, nature, races and iconic racers. There’s so much to reflect on, like the LeMond versus Fignon time trial [the climax to the 1989 Tour de France] for my generation. It’s the diversity of it. It can be the changing seasons, the physical activity, the excitement of a race…” Cycling is also a deeply sensory activity and this sensory input passes through the amygdala – the area of the brain responsible for emotion and memory.

A golden age Nostalgia is the bittersweet emotion we feel when we think of the past – sweet because it allows us to relive good times, bitter because we know those times have passed. We can feel nostalgic about people, objects and places, and the emotion can be triggered by anything from the smell of oil to the sight of a familiar road. We feel personal nostalgia (a longing for our own past) and historical nostalgia (a yearning for a former era). “You could watch [post-war Tour winner Fausto] Coppi and long for the simpler days of cycling, but personal nostalgia is always more sensory and powerful,” says Professor Wildschut. The word nostalgia – derived from the Greek words nostos (to return home) and algos (pain, longing) – was first coined by the Swiss physician Johannes Hofer in 1688 to describe the maladies of homesick soldiers. And until recently experts still regarded nostalgia as an enchanting but debilitating mindset that enticed people to wallow in an idealised past and hide from the reality of the present. But Professor Wildschut is one of a group of experts – including his colleague Professor Constantine Sedikides, and Dr Krystine Batcho and Dr Clay Routledge in America – who have turned this theory upside down. Nostalgia is now regarded as a powerful and positive psychological tool. “We’ve shown that, contrary to being backward-looking, nostalgia inspires optimism, makes you want to do things and fosters inspiration and creativity,” explains Professor Wildschut. “To apply this to cycling, it may be that in your childhood you were part of a team, so when in adulthood you think back, you want to contact those people and arrange a weekend to go cycling together.” Remembering an epic sportive can

Nostalgia

Left — Italy’s L’Eroica sportive is an opportunity to recapture a bygone era

inspire you to do new ones. Reading about old cycling heroes can motivate you to train harder yourself. Some experts even suggest nostalgic reverie is a form of meditation that boosts our mood and motivation. Nostalgia also helps people relate their past experiences to their present lives to enhance their sense of stability. “Nostalgia is good at meeting this need to feel continuity,” says Professor Wildschut. “To recognise yourself and say: ‘Yes, everything is changing, I am changing, but when I’m riding my bike, I am that same person I was when I was 14. And looking into the future, I’ll always be able to get out on my bike, whatever happens.’ That provides a sort of temporal unity and a narrative thread through your life.” This is why we often feel nostalgic in times of hardship, loneliness or change. The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a wave of nostalgia for old movies and classic sports matches. “The future is amorphous and unpredictable,” states Professor Wildschut, “but nostalgia provides a template for what it could be like – and what you hope it will be like.” Rather than trapping people in their own memories, nostalgia is actually a highly social emotion; telling a story about a race will inspire similar tales from friends. “We have a need for meaningful existence but what gives us meaning are often experiences with family or friends,” explains Professor Wildschut. “Cycling and the friendships that come with it imbue life with meaning. I raced with friends and we still get together every year. Those rides are a part of it but it is also about sitting around the table, telling stories and sharing memories.” Cyclists can even feel nostalgic about objects, as the popularity of retro clothing and vintage bikes confirms. Of course, this is not unique to cycling. “It is what Hollywood does. It’s what car manufacturers do. It’s just a staple of marketing because people have a lifelong preference for whatever products were popular in their teens,” says Professor Wildschut. “My own Time bike is a little bit of nostalgia. When I was young we went on holidays to France and I admired the French bikes. They were so different from what we had in Holland. I thought, ‘I would like a French bike’. And 37 years later, now I can.”

Nostalgia is so powerful it can make us do extraordinary things. In a study of cycle tourists at the Tour de France, Australian researchers Dr Sheranne Fairley and Dr Matt Lamont found that nostalgia for places and social experiences was a major motivation for attendance. “People really want to visit that hallowed ground,” explains Dr Fairley. “We grow up watching sports and we want to emulate what people do. Along the way everybody was re-watching things at a pub or on the bus, then riding up mountains and thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is when they did this particular event, and this is how they must have been feeling.’”

Tour tales The tourists were inspired not by past personal experiences but by what they had read in newspapers or seen on TV. “Most people I interviewed could recall particular performances in the mountains that had sparked a narrative of myth or aura that drew them to these places,” says Dr Lamont. Visiting sites imbued with nostalgic meaning, like Alpe d’Huez, was particularly important: “To be physically co-present with a sporting amphitheatre so rich in Tour de France history was profoundly satisfying for them.” The Tour is laced with rituals and traditions, from the famous publicity caravan at the head of the race to the colourful village decorations, and the sight of fans in fancy dress. “We have nostalgia for the culture of the sport as well as for the sport itself,” explains Dr Fairley. “Everyone knows the norms, the values, the beliefs, the symbols everything that encapsulates that particular culture or subculture.” The Tour’s obsession with nostalgia is partly the result of marketing. The organisers celebrate anniversaries, revisit famous climbs and lionise previous champions. “There’s some very clever stuff inside marketing and you don’t even realise that they’re trying to use nostalgia, but it’s just pulling on a memory that you have,” says Dr Fairley. But we are also active participants in the creation of nostalgia. Dr Lamont found that fans collected memorabilia, autograph cards and summit photos to aid nostalgic reflection. “Visiting the Tour was described as a once-

“THE FRIENDSHIPS THAT COME WITH CYCLING IMBUE LIFE WITH MEANING… IT’S ABOUT SHARING MEMORIES” BIKERADAR.COM

SEPTEMBER 2020 87

Nostalgia

Below — David Millar felt nostalgic for the era of five-time Tour winner Jacques Anquetil

in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he says. “They wanted to gather a critical mass of material to enable nostalgic memories of their experience into the future.” Nostalgia has motivated many pro riders too. When Mark Cavendish read cycling books as a boy he yearned to see his own name alongside the greats. Sir Bradley Wiggins is an avid collector of bikes and jerseys. Ten-time Tour winner David Millar’s early nostalgia was more historical than personal. “I had no nostalgia [as a child] because I come from a zero cycling family so I discovered it in real time in the 90s,” he says. “I was in Hong Kong and discovering this European sport gave me nostalgia for a Europe I didn’t know. It seemed quite an archaic sport – purist, gentlemanly and old-fashioned. And that was one of the driving forces for me getting into it.” Over time he carefully selected the elements he most admired. “Nostalgia is built on a very personal view of what you are aspiring to, what you want to remember, and how you want to do things,” he reflects. “I chose to idolise [five times Tour winner] Miguel Indurain and [1988 UCI World Road Race Champion] Maurizio Fondriest and I based a lot of my style and position on them. In Hong Kong the only way I could find out about cycling was by reading stories or looking at old videos. So my love for cycling

NOSTALGIC REFLECTION INSPIRES POSITIVE MOODS AND IT CAN MOTIVATE YOU...

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was about that history and the nostalgia. I wanted to be one of those stories.” Millar’s most potent experience of historical nostalgia came at the Circuit de la Sarthe in 2009 when a doctor who had known five-time Tour de France winner Jacques Anquetil (1957, 1961-64) told him: “You would have been great friends with Jacques because he saw it like you see it.” In that moment, time slipped away and Millar felt an invisible thread between himself and the French cycling legend. “That was a lovely kind of nostalgia,” he reflects. “When you meet somebody who can tell you a firstperson story, so you can live it vicariously, you can get a glimpse of a former time.”

Making memories Since retiring, Millar has founded the CHPT3 clothing brand, which is heavily influenced by vintage style. “It was inspired by nostalgia and a concept of clothes that I had never been able to wear as a racer,” he explains. “So my collection had buttons, which bring nostalgia for a time when you had the time to button up a jersey. But I do think it is important to try to create something that is special and that you can eventually be nostalgic about.” Whether you’re admiring old photos, reading about Tour heroes or remembering epic rides, looking back is good for you.

Nostalgic reflection inspires positive moods and motivates you to achieve new things. Think of it like the revolution of a pedal stroke: we have to pull backward as well as push forward to progress faster. But if nostalgia is so positive and powerful, how can we create more vibrant memories to tap into? Experts call this creative process ‘anticipatory nostalgia’. It involves consciously creating memorable moments by doing something special or different, like riding a beautiful route or a famous col, then actively savouring the experience to cement it into memory. “I do this all the time, with cycling and my family,” reveals Millar. “I read a book called The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath. It explains how when we have first or extreme experiences, we ‘label’ that memory so we can store it and recognise it in the future. Nostalgia is based on this kind of ‘peak end’ theory – remembering that intense or first experience. Your active recognition during that moment is really important: if you label something, you help create nostalgia. That’s why cyclists do big adventures and crazy long rides. You’re actively creating nostalgia so you can tell stories afterwards. And really that’s what cycling is for many people: a vehicle for creating memories and moments.”

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STYLE COUNCIL

W ORD S WA RREN R O S SI T ER

01

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STYLE COUNCIL THE ROLE OF THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED SO WE SPOKE TO ONE OF THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS FOR AN INSIDE GLIMPSE INTO HOW TO ST YLE A BIKE... To r g n y Fjel d ska a r + ! 2 01 /& ) ! " 0&$ + " /H! " 0&$ + 01 / 1" $ &01 4 % , 0 " C V in clu d e s 01&+10 1 U h + + , + ! )" *,+$01,1%"/0T

e ﬁrst came across Torgny Fjeldskaar’s work at the world’s biggest bike show, Eurobike, back in the early 2000s at one of Cannondale’s mega-stands, which was showcasing a cutting-edge concept bike. The radical geometryshifting machine on display was a bike that could morph from ﬂat-out time-trail machine into a more upright comfortable one. It was space-age stuff. We set out to meet the team behind this amazing ﬂight of fancy and through one of our Cannondale contacts were introduced to Norwegian industrial designer Torgny: a quiet, softly spoken, focused man. After explaining his initial thinking when designing the bike he then delved deeper into the inﬂuences in his designs – which ranges from cars, to aircraft and even chairs. After many years following Torgny’s inspiring Instagram feed (@torgny_f), which showcases his incredible designs and hand-drawn artwork, we decided to catch up with Torgny to ﬁnd out more on the industrial designer’s role in bike design and discuss how the industry has changed over the decades...

W

How did you get started in the world of designing bikes and was this the vehicle you always wanted to focus on? “I got my ﬁrst bike at the age of ﬁve and it’s been my main mode of transport ever

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since. For many years I was a paperboy so I got used to riding in all sorts of Norwegian weather early on. You basically get as wet as in the UK but quite a bit colder! At the age of 10 I got my ﬁrst road bike, and as a teenager I got into the-then big, new trend of mountain biking and later on some gravel touring (except we didn’t know it was called gravel at the time). I always loved the design simplicity of bicycles and conversely the changes that mountain bikes brought. “Bicycles are such a big part of my life that it wasn’t until the age of 33 I bought my ﬁrst car, a vintage BMW 323i from 1980. As much as I love cars, in my opinion, they make little sense as a daily means of transport in urban areas. “I studied mechanical engineering in Trondheim, Norway and then I did a masters in transport vehicle design in Barcelona for two years. My ﬁrst job after graduating was in automotive design at Mazda’s European Design Centre in Frankfurt, a place I really enjoyed working and I learned a lot from helpful colleagues.

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