Interesting stuff

Now, I must admit I have never tried electronic gear shifting. But whilst I had the option to put it on my bike I decided to go for mechanical XT 8100. I am not an electrical engineer and I don’t think I would find it so easy to fix electronic derailleur on the side of the road, plus, I already always forget to charge my phone, my earbuds, and my music player before a ride, adding shifter batteries would be the end of me! So the horror when the MTB press announced that XT mec

#MakeMountainBikingChillAgain has started to appear on my social media recently, and I must say, it is awesome to see. For years now all my algorithms have been filled with perfectly curated man-made trails on hard packed earth and huge wooden obstacles, jumps, drops and tight boardwalks; Giant, busy bike parks full of £10,000 bikes and full face helmets. YouTube is full of crazy downhills and massive back flips in the air. Don’t get me wrong, I am in awe at the skills and de

When I was still competing my bike of choice was a 2010 Trek 8500. Back then, for the grand sum of £1500, it was considered a very high end competition alloy hardtail. Shimano XT 770 groupset including hydraulic brakes (although weirdly, but actually not that weird for Trek, a SRAM cassette), carbon seat post, Fox 32 forks, and Bontrager XXL components all around. With its Bontrager XR1 tyres, it was one very light aluminum bike. I loved it. My Trek 8500, kept original except