Cycling

This weekend brings the third annual Anjou Velo Vintage bicycle ride and weekend of ativities to Saumur, France. Vintage bicycles will make the 87 km ride between Angers and Saumur to celebrate the 100th edition of the Tour de France, passing through Unesco World Heritage sights along the way. The weekend will host a vintage show, swap and party where there will be no shortage of tales from the old days.

Photo submitted by Dmitry Tkachenko. Dmitry has a chance to win a retro TDF t-shirt from Après Vélo. Check in Friday to vote for...

Giro’s 40M Tech Overshort is exactly what you imagine—high performance cycling shorts that you wear over your spandex. They provide style, warmth and perhaps protection in a crash, but mostly they’re for modest folks who don’t like to look like they’re riding around in their underwear. Many people will tell you that there’s nothing like riding in just plain spandex cycling shorts. (The retired Pittsburgh bike messenger Ray Balls was living proof.) Wearing anything over them means you’re increasing the friction between you and your saddle, and impeding cooling and ventilation. Thus, one of the biggest challenges in designing a high-performance overshort is reducing friction. The 40M Tech Overshort features a seemless nylon and spandex panel where it matters most. Another major factor in performace is fit, so Giro offers these shorts in sizes XS-XXL in both regular and slim fit. I have a 31″ waist, so Giro sent me the “32 Slim”. I don’t think I’ve ever had a better fitting pair of shorts. Granted, aesthetically I prefer a baggier look, but I simply can’t deny that the cut of the 40M is spot on. Although they’re made for road riding, I’ve taken them on mountain bike rides, as well. Off road riding puts shorts to the test because you change riding positions so frequently. These never felt uncomfortable, nor did they ever snag on the nose of my saddle. The shorts are constructed if synthetic fabric that has a nice look and feel, as well as a little bit of stretch. Giro makes use of additional spandex stretch panels at the waist, with both buttoned waistband adjustments and good old fashioned belt loops. Personally, I would have liked a zippered wallet pocket on the butt, however Giro decided to keep the 40M Tech Overshort all business (noting that their accompanying jerseys all have plenty of rear pockets). These shorts have just two small pockets, a zippered cell phone pocket on the left thigh, and a key pocket on the right hip. Like the rest of the New Road collection, the 40M Tech Overshort is sewn in California. Available in three colorways, they retail for $120. Check out www.giro.com

Backbench Business Committee "supportive" of debate on the issue read more

Parliament will debate 18 recommendations that could make cycling safer and more popular for millions of people in Britain. The suggestions contained in April’s Get Britain Cycling report will be discussed in the next few weeks, according to Julian Huppert, MP and co-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group.The debate has been called for by cycling lobby groups such as Sustrans, the CTC and British Cycling, and is seen as a chance to keep pressure on the government. News that the Backbench Business Committee will support Huppert’s call for a discussion supersedes a public petition set up in April demanding a parliamentary debate. About 68,000 people have signed the petition, which needed 100,000 signatures to trigger conversations.Huppert told The Times that he hopes MPs will turn out in large numbers to debate the report’s recommendations. Sustrans policy director Jason Torrance said, “It is fantastic see the recommendations of the Get Britain Cycling report being debated in parliament, but it is important that this results in clear outcomes, not just rhetoric.”A principal aim of the inquiry is to increase the total number of journeys made by bike from the current two percent to 10 percent by 2025. Recommendations include increasing spending on cycling projects from £2 to £10 per person per year, and the appointment of a so-called 'Cycling Czar' to ensure the activities are incorporated into policies in all governmental departments.

Grand Tour debut for Moreno Moser

Enduro racing could be a long-term mountain bike craze, or a here today, gone tomorrow discipline. Photo: Allen Krughoff | HardcastlePhotography.comIn case you’ve been off the grid at a sweat lodge on the Mexican border, enduro mountain bike racing has arrived. On one hand, the excitement is palpable. On the other, it rings of the sport’s faded glory days, when NORBA cross-country could be found on national TV, or those few years that thousands flocked to rural backwaters for 24-hour races. If road and mountain biking are siblings, the former is an even-keeled professional with a suburban home, maybe kids. Mountain biking, however, has bounced around between an unfinished Ph.D., a sojourn in South America, multiple minor arrests, and annual trips to Burning Man. While road relishes consistent events and formats borne out of years of tradition, mountain biking frequently reinvents itself, usually based on the most current racing trend. What is enduro? Enduro is that latest trend. But perhaps, this time, it can enrich the sport in the long-term. For the benefit of the sweat lodge set, enduro is a race on a long (10- to 30-minute), technical, undulating downhill. Usually, multiple stages are combined to determine overall standings. As with most mountain bike races, the format and courses vary based on the venue and whim of the organizers. In its purest form, enduro is a grassroots, accessible way for average mountain bikers to race. Neither eight-inch travel bikes nor endless base miles are necessary to hop in and have a fun time. The trail bikes people already own are well suited to the courses. If mountain biking wants to settle down a little, a steady influx of grassroots participation will go a long way, but there are pitfalls looming: To the race organizers: Many race series have been doomed by inattention to the racers’ needs — your customers. Do you think they are going to gush about how much they love corporate sponsorship over post-race beers? Race promotion should be less like selling tickets to a Miley Cyrus concert and more like putting together an elaborate pig roast for your 200 closest friends. To the bike companies: Don’t make enduro-specific products. Make mountain bike gear that works well for hard-charging riders that pedal. You shouldn’t need specialized gear to hop in a race. The average mountain bike will do just fine. Thanks to many companies, these bikes are better than ever, but don’t let fashion drive product development into the hinterlands of specificity. If I see an enduro skinsuit next year, I will dropkick my POC helmet with the rage of an ejected NCAA basketball coach. To the riders: Don’t believe the hype. This isn’t new. Enduro is just a race format. Enduro “riding” or “training”? That’s what we call “mountain biking,” my friend, and we’ve been doing it for years. Keep it fun, get new riders involved, and don’t take it too seriously. Honestly, the fellas riding Repack back in the ’70s were living the enduro lifestyle harder than the majority of people buying dropper posts today, so keep it in perspective. Power to the people Like any half-crazy, free spirited sibling, mountain biking always manages to inspire. Does it need to find a career path? Does it need a racing format with staying power? Maybe. People race regardless, so why not cultivate enduro, which is coherent with the average rider’s experience; ride up to ride down. Give them great events and versatile technology. Yes, it’s fun to marvel at Olympic XC racing or downhill forks that rival moto componentry, but how far can that inspiration take us? Mountain biking isn’t likely to find its own Tour de France to attract millions of spectators. Don’t force it to wear that monkey suit. Embrace the grassroots. Go try an enduro race, and maybe you’ll see what I mean. Editor’s note: The Dirt Dispatch is an opinion column periodically penned by VeloNews tech writer Spencer Powlison. He draws on his New England-born pragmatism and over 18 ye

The rather bright, affordable Superstar Highline 780-40 bar comes in just about every colour known to man, so if hue-matching is your thing you’ll be in your element here. Unsurprisingly, the 780-40 has a 40mm rise and is 780mm wide. If you want to trim it down there are cut marks, but they don’t denote widths. Setup is a doddle thanks to the centre lines, which help with getting the bar centred and rolled to the desired angle.The 6-degree upsweep and 8-degree backsweep create a comfortable feel, and the 40mm rise is ideal if you’re looking to raise your front end for riding steep stuff.This article was originally published in Mountain Biking UK magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.

For those who haven’t been paying attention over last few months, renown French suspension manufacturer – BOS, has...

Bike races come in a rich variety of flavours—the Big Kahuna of stage races is the Tour de France, but the Cool Kids go for the Giro d’Italia; there is the Race to the Sun and the Race of the Falling Leaves; races that began at the dawn of competition like Liege-Bastogne-Liege and races that have popped over night—Qinghai, anyone? And some, year after year, never fail to surprise or to enchant, and where a victory earns cycling immortality. Of the Classics who cannot love de Ronde van Vlaanderen, the glorious Tour of Flanders? And what makes it great is that you have to ride uphill over big rocks to win. This is crazy and you know you want to try it. “Hellingen: A Road Cyclist’s Guide to Belgium’s Greatest Climbs” is the magic lamp to rub to make that wish come true. Simon Warren, author of a guide to British hills entitled “100 Greatest Cycling Climbs” and its companion volume “Another 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs,” has widened his horizons, crossed the Channel and taken on the famous climbs of cycling-mad Belgium. There are only 50 climbs in this pocket-sized volume but they include many of the most famous climbs in Flanders and Wallonia. The book opens with his account of luring his family to Belgium in August with the promise of tourism, steak and frites and, obviously, beer. He writes of how cycling is so woven into the fabric of life in Belgium and one of the great joys of the sport: even if you could buy a Formula 1 car you would have no place to drive whereas we can get on our bicycles and ride up the same brutal, painful, tortured climbs as the pros do. The first thing to do is to figure out how to ride the cobbles as most of us don’t have much of an opportunity. The author has a nice page devoted to technique, which seems counter-intuitive as you have to relax while being pounded by the pavé and trying to be smooth while slamming into the rough surfaces or avoiding gaps. Reducing tire pressure helps and running wider tires too. It is also a good idea to make sure all the fasteners on your bike are tightened before doing this. By the way, the author says that “cobbles” are only naturally occurring stones whereas cut and finished ones are called “setts.” Not that this matters since they generally appear to be dreadfully finished and put in place by drunks. Reflecting Belgium’s dual nature (Flanders/Wallonia; Flemish/French) the book is divided into two sections covering the climbs in question. The “Hellingen” as the climbs are known in Flemish are short and steep and often cobbled in Flanders while in Wallonia they tend to be longer, almost as steep and generally paved with tarmac of varying quality. Each section covers two pages, with a picture of the road surface on the left and text about the ride, how to get to it and of course a rating out of 10. Apparently “1” is considered “hard,” while “10” is “almost impossible.” So in Flanders our 25 climbs include a fair number of legends, like the Kemmelberg, Oude Kwaremont, the Paterberg, the Koppenberg (9/10) and the Muur-Kapelmuur in Geraardsbergen (10/10). After you have chosen likely candidates there is a chapter that allows you to pick the climb through its road surface, much like a connoisseur’s guide to wine. Swirl around the idea of the Koppenberg: “Anarchy beneath your tyres. Slippy, steep and utterly random.” Or the Molenberg would be more to your taste? “Stones? They are more like asteroids floating in space. It’s like trying to ride over Stonehenge.” The Ardennes climbs in Wallonia are spread over a much larger area of the country but are to be found to the southeast and southwest of Liège. The winner in this group is clearly the Mur de Huy of Flèche Wallonne fame: 19% maximum gradient earns it a 10/10. Oddly enough, I found it much harder than the Col de Haussire, “the toughest climb in Belgium,” near La-Roche-en-Ardenne. 3.9 kms long, it hits 20% near the top and also earns the 10/10, where