*OK, no-one’s actually asked any of these questions. Yet. But, y’know… in anticipation.   Seb here – Cranked’s founder and editor. I thought y’all might have some questions about our final issue and what happens next… Why is Cranked closing? After 8 1/2 years, I feel I’ve done what I set out to do. I wanted to create the best print magazine for mountain bikers that I possibly could, without compromise. I think we – the whole diverse, ever-shifting Cranked team over the years – pretty much did that. It was never perfect, but it never could be. “Thank you” feels inadequate, but I’d like to ..read more

US bike mag Beta has closed its doors after printing just 5 issues.   We’re never happy to see a fellow print bike mag close but, even by the brutal standards of the publishing industry, Beta’s was a crazy short run.   Conceived as a replacement for the long-running Bike mag, which closed a couple of years back, it borrowed very heavily from its forebear’s look, feel and editorial direction (with the benefit of hindsight, perhaps that wasn’t such a smart move). It was never available in print form outside the US although, ironically, that was set to change just days before the suits ..read more

Cranked’s cover price – and the price paid by subscribers – is increasing. The new cover price will be £12.50 (from Cranked #30, on sale mid September 2022). The new UK subscription price will be £54, or £4.50 if you pay monthly rather than annually (from mid July 2022). You’ll have questions about all this. Hopefully, we have answers: Why the price increase? We’ve absorbed several print price increases over the last few years, but the latest one is bigger than the previous increases. Most of our other costs have been increasing too. We can’t absorb it any more. But 25% on the cover pric ..read more

Since 2015 we’ve published a lot of features (around 240, in fact). These, in no particular order, are some of the ones that we particularly like. Do feel free to tell us we got it horribly wrong, and let us know your favourites… Ukraine This was a surreal and slightly scary experience (although less scary for us than for our Kyiv-based writer). In early 2022 we were put in touch with a Ukrainian rider, and it made us realise that we knew nothing, absolutely zilch, about mountain bikers in that part of the world. So we asked him to interview some of the riders in the local scene, and write ab ..read more

If you’ve been riding for a while, chances are you’ve accumulated a motley collection of what, for the purposes of this discussion, we’ll euphemistically label ‘spare parts’. You know what I’m talking about.  Bolts. Washers. Cable end caps. Spare cables. Spare chain links for 9, 10, 11 speed. A well-worn 8 speed XTR derailleur that works perfectly well, so you can’t quite bring yourself to chuck it in the metal recycling bin. An 8 speed hub that needs new bearings. An ultra lightweight 27.2mm seatpost from sometime in the 90s, when that sort of thing seemed important. Aluminium bottle bos ..read more

There’s probably an ideal ride length. Someone cleverer than me could doubtless concoct a formula that builds in all the variables. Available time before next domestic appointment. Trail conditions. Weather. Availability of riding buddies. Mood. Time since last ride. Calorific value of nourishment to be found rattling around in the bottom of the Camelbak. And so on. However, despite having given it little thought, I reckon I’ve set nothing less than a new world record: ten minutes. Yes, really. A ten minute ride: just perfect. Not too short, not too long, and crammed full of trail loveliness ..read more

You’re looking at Cranked’s shiny, all-new website. After nearly 7 years, we figured it was due an update. Here’s what’s new: more and bigger images, so we can show off what’s in each issue better more information: full contents list for each issue, and lots more info all around the site easy, one-stop EU and worldwide shopping: EU taxes and shipping all included, so there are no nasty surprises at your end UK shipping has gone up slightly too. Sorry. It won’t be news to anyone that costs are increasing everywhere, and we’re not immune. However, Cranked’s cover price remains at £10 and we’ll ..read more

Quite a few years ago, when wheel size was the topic du jour, I was out on my regular bike testing loop. Yep, I used to review bikes, for my sins. I’d paused to give that day’s tester – a mid-range big-wheeler hardtail – a quick once-over. As I was fiddling around, a couple of mountain bikers rolled to a halt next to me.  Nods and pleasantries over, one of them pointed to my bike. “Is that a 29er?” he said. I replied that yes, it was. He tutted and shook his head. “I don’t like them”, he offered. Not wanting to seem rude, I asked why. There followed a diatribe about how his local bike sho ..read more

It’s a truism in mountain biking that bikes are continually improving. Anyone who’s been riding longer than a decade or so – and owns, or has at least tried, a fairly current suspension bike – is likely to agree. I mean, head angles steeper than 65 degrees… what were we thinking? And let’s not get started on those archaic tiny wheel diamaters, or flimsy quick release axles, or triple chainrings (remember those?).  Am I right? There’s also, paradoxically, a resurgent interest in old bikes. The older and more obviously anachronistic, the better. Retro bike restoration is quite the thin ..read more