I was fortunate enough to try a pair of these recently. There is always something special about a fresh set of factory clean crystal clear lenses. The sunnies came with a hard case that houses a spare lense, in this case for low light situations together with a microfibre soft case which doubles as a cleaning cloth. There was also a spare nose piece included which is something I have found is handy to replace over time, especially if you use sunscreen on your face often which seems to break the rubber down. The lenses have a clip on surround which serves an aesthetic purpose mainly however I p ..read more

Tubeless tyres (TL) have been around on mountain bikes for years (and even longer for cars!) and in the last couple of years road bikes also. These provide some real benefits when used so take a look at what these are in relation to mountain biking first. One of the biggest for mtb benefits is the ability to ride at lower pressures, without a high risk of pinch flats. The lower pressures allow the tyre to mold to the shape of what it rolls across providing a larger contact patch which provides more grip. Be warned though, too low and you may risk burping (when the tyre bead releases from the ..read more

1. Join a ride group. There is no more a sustaining motivating factor than riding with others (and socialising is good for your mental health also!) 2. Do a skills course. Not only will you refresh you skills to keep you safe, it will be a great confidence booster plus you can meet others that may of similar ability and fitness as potential riding buddies. Set some ride related goals. These can be events, being able to ride a certain distance or maybe just a certain trail. Ride a new location. Hitting some trails new to you can be a great adventure to motivate you along. New bike day. Altho ..read more

I recently picked up a Trance 29 to experiment with a bigger travel bike in the lead up to a planned trip to Derby. Well, Covid may have canned the Tassie trip but the dance with the Trance must still go on! My regular race rig is an Anthem29, and I love it! It’s light, fast, nimble and after owning 3 in the last 3 years I have it pretty much dialed to fit like a glove. But in Derby, everything is bigger! So a bit more travel was in order. The Trance29 is Giant’s next graduation in travel to be 130 up front and 115 rear. Yes there are models with more travel however an important item often ove ..read more

Ive been riding with the new Sram AXS (said axis) wireless rear mech and dropper post the last few weeks. It came standard on my new Giant Trance29 Pro 0 (which will be reviewed under seperate blog). I’ve been riding Shimano di2 on both road and CX for the last 3 years and electronic shifting has been a very positive experience for me. In fact I’m yet to find someone who regrets changing from mechanical to electronic shifting, and doubt I ever will. The CX bike has seen the full on frozen mud conditions of a european winter, rain storm road riding and rocky trail conditions and has not missed ..read more

The often misunderstood dropper post is finding its way onto more and more new bikes these days, yet so many people don’t use them. Having said that when we coach good technique many often say they wish they had one. So how do they help? By increasing your range of movement on the bike and letting you get lower. Why is that it important? Many manoeuvres in mountain biking your largest mass (your hips and trunk) is used to transfer weight onto different areas of the bike. The further you can move it the more effective some movements can become. Eg- a manual. A dropper can be especially assisti ..read more

It all started with new bike day. A 2021 TCR Pro0 with a popping factory chameleon blue paint job. Within two weeks I had managed to chip a piece of paint off a chain stay at a post ride South Bank coffee shop visit. I have received more damage at coffee shops than I have riding my bikes. (I will say my local does have a FeedbackSports bike rack and it fills every morning. Take note coffee shop owners!) Anyway, I set about investigating a solution and came across Bunny Wrap who did clear wraps to protect your frame. After looking on their webpage and them talking to the guys there it became ap ..read more

For the past couple of years I have been taking the approach of train on what you race, so I set up my Giant TCX (Cyclocross bike) with a set of SLR1 carbon hoops and tubeless road tyres and did my mid week sessions on this. I loved this bike, (and still do) so it needed to be something special to get me onto a different bike. The new model TCR was the first bike that offered substantial benefits over the TCX so I could not resist to jump on one when the opportunity arose. Here are the top 10 things that struck me as positive in the process. Some are just small, but little things all add up to ..read more