An epic week of mountain biking and gravel riding through the remote trail networks dotted along the historic Rail Road towns of Nevada – where no PBs were set, but plenty of PBRs and PB&Js were consumed Words and photography ZOE BINDER I’ve been lucky enough to ride my bike all over Australia since I was young, and more recently a good part of Europe, but the United States has always eluded me. So when the opportunity arose to finally go riding stateside, I knew I couldn’t miss it. Any keen cyclist, especially one who tends towards the knobblier end of the tyre spectrum, is well aware of ..read more

On the back of our recent Big Ride in Nevada, USA (issue 67), we sat down with local Nevada cycling travel expert, Kyle Horvath, to find out more about what makes his state so special Photo: Ryan Warner Interview Jack Lynch Cyclist: Thanks for making the time to chat with us, Kyle. First of all, why should I listen to you about riding in Nevada? Just joking – but tell us about your riding background. Kyle Horvath: I played bikes all my time growing up in Virginia. Nothing competitive, just pedalling with friends and finding things to jump off of until it got dark. I moved to Lake Tahoe after c ..read more

The Roman archaeologist, TV presenter and cycling adventurer Sam Wood tells Cyclist about his unique background, Bike Odyssey’s new tours in Japan, and what it was like following in the steps of ancient general Hannibal and his 37 elephants Interview Jack Lynch Photography Andrea Illescas, Nick Esser Cyclist: Hey Sam. You have quite an unusual background for a bike tour operator. Tell us a bit about your experience both on and off the bike? Sam Wood: Yes, I’ve been lucky enugh to lead a pretty diverse life! I’ve always loved the bike, but I originally trained and worked as a Roman archaeologi ..read more

On the back of a new year, a new team and some great early results, Michael Storer is hoping to make the 2024 season his best to date Words Jack Lynch Usually I say the harder the better, but I’m not a huge fan of rain,’ says Michael Storer from his home near Varese, Italy, barely a day after he returned his name to the upper echelons of the WorldTour. ‘I tend to prefer nice and hot and dry weather, like we get in Perth.’ The Western Australian had just finished sixth on GC in the UAE Tour, with an impressive fourth place up the Jebel Hafeet climb on the final intense stage. There aren’t too ..read more

Tempered features help to improve the latest S-Phyre Words Sam Challis  Photography Lizzie Crabb We’re up to version four of Shimano’s S-Phyre shoes, but ever since the initial change at the top of Shimano’s road shoe range from R321 to S-Phyre RC9 in 2016, it has been a case of evolution as opposed to revolution. In this instance, there has even been a case of devolution, with the RC903’s shape said to be returning to the wider fit offered by the RC901s, as a change in the RC902s made them much narrower and more tapered at the toe box. This was not well received by fans of Shimano shoes ..read more

MTB-inspired features make Merida’s second Silex unrecognisable – oh, and it just happened to win the Gravel Worlds Words James Spender  Photography Tapestry Merida could have halted the marketing campaign for its latest Silex after Matej Mohorič won the 2023 Gravel World Championships on one. By the Slovenian’s own admission – never mind his bike sponsor’s amazement – he wasn’t really supposed to win, and it might be fair to say the Merida Silex wasn’t supposed to win either. But then, that’s the thing. Merida says the Silex has been designed to be way more capable than the average grav ..read more

Giant has unveiled its 10th rendition of the iconic TCR. Cyclist heads to HQ in Taiwan to see it up close at the launch – and, of course, to see how it rides Words Nick Squillari I came for a model launch, and what I got was an education. The story of the 10th generation Giant TCR is not complete without context and my thoughts around the accompanying tour of Giant Taiwan Manufacturing (GTM), the Giant factory. It’s one of nine worldwide, but the only one that produces the TCR Advanced SL. GTM is Giant’s flagship centre of manufacturing, with all its top-level carbon products coming out of it ..read more

Bikes and kit compared The route Timed sectors 1 Gorge Luz: 10.6km, 227m ascent, 2.1% average gradient 2 Col du Tourmalet ascent: 19km, 1,407m ascent, 7.4% average gradient 3 Col du Tourmalet descent: 16.8km, 1,191m descent, -7.1% average gradient 4 Gentle descent north: 15.7km, 350m descent, -2.1% average gradient 5 Côte de Loucrup climb (incl dip): 3.7km, 78m ascent, 2.1% average gradient 6 Côte de Loucrup descent: 1.8km, 121m descent, -6.7% average gradient 7 Flat to the finish: 25.2km, 96m ascent, 0.4% average gradient Aero vs Lightweight vs All-rounde ..read more

If you saw issue 66 of Cyclist, you’d have seen our phenomenal Big Ride in Montana, USA under the expert guidance of Trek Travel. But Montana is far from theonly destination on Trek Travel’s extensive list of cycling holidays. We chat to Ambre Hobson, Trek Travel outside sales manager, to learn more about what they have to offer riders seeking adventure Interview JACK LYNCH   Cyclist: Hi Ambre. Firstly, congrats on working in what appears to be one of the world’s best jobs. It’s all bikes and beautiful places, right? Ambre Hobson: Hey, shhh, let’s keep this between us, but you’re absolut ..read more

The elite World Solo 24-hour MTB Champ and seven-time Peaks Challenge 11-hour wave leader discusses her love of multiple disciplines, advice for Peaks first-timers and getting closer to gender parity in the cycling community Interview JACK LYNCH Photography OUTER IMAGE COLLECTIVE / RACE ATLAS   Cyclist: Hey Kate. For those unaware of your cycling CV, can you please run our readers through your palmarés and background? Kate Kellett: I grew up on acreage and like most kids in the country, learned to ride quite early on. As an adult I didn’t get into competitive cycling until I was in my ea ..read more