Easy to set up with plenty of adjustability but it's not without its imperfections

Available for pre-order today, the DirtySixer Gravel Bike is described as "the ultimate gravel bike for tall riders," complete with 32-inch wheels and an aluminum frame. You can save over $1,000 by pre-ordering one. Check it out here...The post The DirtySixer Gravel Bike has 32-Inch Wheels! appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

A report from the council has suggested widening or realigning the cycle lane for a long-term solution, making access to private lands an almost certainty

Puck Pieterse is one of the most talented cyclists on the planet and she has only the young age of 22. She is firmly one of the favourites to win the Cyclocross World Championships this winter despite her focus in other disciplines and she has revealed when she intends on getting back to racing."Pr...

Last month, nearly 30 riders lined up in Idaho Falls for the inaugural East Idaho Epic, a 430-mile self-supported bikepacking event through Eastern Idaho and a western area of Wyoming. To celebrate a successful first event, we compiled this double-header event recap from the event organizer, Jonathan Black, and one of the participants, Danni Coffman...The post Stories from the Inaugural East Idaho Epic appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

Festka has an all-new Spectre Gravel, a race-ready gravel bike inspired by the fastest road racing bike. While it retains the characteristic vibration damping that comes from the way Festka builds all of their carbon bikes, this new gravel bike is not meant for casual adventure rides. This is a gravel bike that wants to go fast!Festka Spectre Grvl handmade Czech carbon gravel race bike(Photos/Cory Benson)Festka calls their Spectre road bike the absolute stiffest and most explosive bike they have ever built. Created to satisfy Festka co-founder and ex-Conti Pro racer Michael Moureeks need for speed, it features exceptional stiffness from its headtube, down through the downtube and bottom bracket, then out through the chainstays to the rear axle. On the other hand, the dropped mono-seatstay and 27.2mm seatpost combined with the unique rider-tuned nature of the frames robot-woven carbon tubes, means the bike still promises to eat up road buzz for all-day comfort and deliver improved rear wheel traction.Now, the Festka Spectre Gravel does all of that but with bigger tire clearance so you rides are not limited by smooth road surfaces.(Photo/Festka)Michael always wants to ride fast. And gravel riding was no exception. So he demanded a single bike that blended that all-road style of versatility with bigger but not too big tire clearance. He wanted a gravel bike that felt as fast as his Spectre road bike when he stomped on the pedals. And at the same time, a bike that he could ride with 40mm gravel tires to go fast on dirt and gravel roads or could swap in something like 32-35mm road tires to stick to hard surfaces.And of course, a UDH to accommodate the latest SRAM Red XPLR AXS gravel transmission groupset.The result is this new Festka Spectre Gravel. With a max tire clearance of 700c x 40mm tires, it might seem under-biked compared to most new gravel bikes that we talk about these days. But Festka calls this a race-ready gravel bike engineered for maximum speed and performance. Plus, Festka already had the Scout for a few years if you were looking for bigger tires, or more of an adventure-style ride.Tech detailsEach Spectre Gravel is produced by hand in Festkas Prague workshop. There, size-specific Czech-made carbon frame tubes are individually mitered, assembled in a jig, and then each joint is overlaid and laminated by hand in a painstaking process. At Bespoked in Dresdens airport over the weekend, Lenka one of Festkas frame builders worked throughout the handmade bike show on one Festka frame, showcasing the time-consuming process. Building up the transition material from one tube to the next, adding layers of raw carbon fiber weave, resin, and then tape overwraps to compress & hold them in place.(Photo/Festka)full carbon tube-to-tube construction with CompoTech robot-wound tubeshandmade in Prague, Czech Republic 52mm headtube for fully integrated internal cable routing through the headsetEnve All-Road In-Route full carbon 1.5 tapered steerer fork1x only, 46T max chainringelectronic shift only, wired or wireless: i.e. AXS, Di2, EPS/WRLUDH for compatibility with all drivetrains40mm max tire clearance (specifically, width as measured)27.2mm round seatpost with conventional external clampBB86 PressFit bottom bracketmax 140mm rear rotor1035g frame weight (albeit an unpainted size M, as claimed)available in 7 stock frame sizes (XXS-XXL), also custom geometry possibleFestka Spectre Gravel Pricing, options & availability(Photo/Festka)The new Festka Spectre Gravel is available to order now direct from Festka or any of their dealer bike shops around the world. Frames are made to order, with about a 3-4 month lead time. The new gravel bike comes in a wide 7 size range, and as is typical with Festka, more custom sizing is typically possible for those that have more unique fit requirements. Were waiting to hear back an exact number on price, but we suspect it will start around the same 7000 that it costs for a Spectre road frameset. This bike shows the standard paint scheme for the Spectre Gravel with the majority of the carbon structure visible through just a glossy clearcoat. But of course, Festka also creates some of the most amazing paint jobs weve seen on a bike, so you could always transform one of these new Spectre Gravel race bikes into a piece of art if you have the time and budget.Festka.comThe post Festka Spectre Gravel Stiffens Up Race-Ready Handmade Carbon Gravel Bike at Bespoked appeared first on Bikerumor.

Here's what makes Lou Bates one of Great Britain's indoor cycling stars

CyclistHow do you beat Tadej Pogaar?With 25 victories this season, its no understatement to say it isnt easy to beat Tadej Pogaar. Hes almost won it all, completing the Triple Crown this season in winning the Giro dItalia, Tour de France and World Championships Road Race.It begs the question: how do you actually beat him? To try and answer that, weve ignored the wins and instead looked back at Pogaars defeats over the past two seasons for a few clues. To help keep things focussed, weve excluded team time-trials and ASO criteriums, and only looked at stage finishes during stage races where Pogaar crossed the line in the top five (to avoid outright bunch sprints or big breakaway days).It turns out there are four ways in which it is possible to pip Pogaar, so what are they and how often have they been done?Flat individual time-trial (14% of his losses)A.S.O./Billy CeustersWith various Grand Tour time-trial victories and three National Championships against the clock to his name, Tadej Pogaar is no slouch in TTs. However there have been three occasions over the past two seasons where he has been defeated in individual time-trials. A big hit came on Stage 16 of the 2023 Tour de France in which he lost 1min 38sec to Jonas Vingegaard. It was an unexpected result and a huge blow to Pogaars yellow jersey ambitions given the pair stood just 10sec apart at the beginning of the day, and in the end he wouldnt claim that time back. Vingegaard said it was the time-trial of his life. Its hard to disagree.The other two instances occurred in Grand Tours this year. Pogaar won the first 40km time-trial at the Giro dItalia by 17sec over Filippo Ganna, but the tables were turned a week later when Ganna took the top spot by 29sec ahead of Pogaar over a shorter 31km course. It wasnt an essential win for Pogaar though, as he was already leading the Giro by over three minutes at that point.At the Tour de France, it was Remco Evenepoel who prevailed by 12 seconds over a 25.3km flat time-trial, although Pogaar would get his revenge on the final days hilly TT.Essentially if you want to beat Pogaar in a time-trial, you need to be at least one of the top five time-triallists in the world. Pogaars individual time-trial defeats:Stage 16 of the Tour de France, 2023 (2nd)Stage 14 of the Giro dItalia, 2024 (2nd)Stage 7 of the 2024 Tour de France, 2024 (2nd) Related Posts The 21 best mens Grand Tour stages of the 2020s so far What if Tadej Pogaar didnt exist? Pogaar vs Merckx: Who had the best season ever? GOAT Bingo: What does Tadej Pogaar still have left to win? Outsprint him (24%)Sara Cavallini/Getty ImagesSara Cavallini/Getty ImagesPogaar is obviously not a pure sprinter, so this one is more understandable considering he does ride in the Classics as well as stage races and Grand Tours, but he also isnt trying to win Grand Tour bunch sprints.Most of these losses came from one-day races such as the 2023 E3 Saxo Bank Classic. The trio of Pogaar, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel formed the lead group on the Oude Kwaremont and, knowing he wouldnt be the quickest in a sprint, Pogaar tried to attack and drop his rivals in the final kilometres. Both Van Aert and Van der Poel came past him in the sprint to the line, however.Another instance was Milan-San Remo this year. As usual all eyes were on Pogaar on the Poggio and his UAE Team Emirates squad came to the fore with Tim Wellens setting a fierce pace. However when Pogaar attacked, riders were able to stick to his wheel. He had greater success when he tried again a few hundred metres later but Van der Poel saw the attack and hunted him down and a sprint it would be. Pogaar tried, apparently putting out a maximum of 1,040W but he didnt have the power to come around Japser Philipsen or Michael Matthews.After the finish, he said, This year was not hard enough to be a climbers race. I did everything I could to get third place. In this situation, I couldnt have done much better.Dario Belingheri/Getty ImagesPerhaps the most surprising defeat in a sprint came at the hands of Vingegaard on Stage 11 of this years Tour de France.Pogaar, in the maillot jaune, distanced everybody with an attack in the last 32km and it looked to be all over, however he seemed to hit a bit of a wall and Vingegaard slowly closed him down. The finish in Le Lioran was slightly uphill after a hard day with over 4,000m of elevation and it came down to a head-to-head battle. The win would go to Vingegaard who had his hands on his head in disbelief hed never beaten the Slovenian in a two-up sprint before. When it comes to outsprinting Pogaar, it either needs to be on a flat or nearly flat parcours or you need to hope he blows up.When Pogaar was beaten in a sprint:E3 Saxo Bank, 2023 (3rd)Milan-San Remo, 2024 (3rd)Stage 1 of the Giro dItalia, 2024 (3rd)Stage 11 of the Tour de France, 2024 (2nd)GP Quebec, 2024 (7th)Take the breakaway all the way (29%)Dario Belingheri/Getty ImagesDario Belingheri/Getty ImagesThere can be different definitions here, including whether Pogaar was beaten as a result of the breakaway beating him to the line (eg, Roman Bardet at this years Tour, pictured above), or whether he was part of a breakaway that another rider attacked from.One example of the latter is the 2023 Coppa Sabatini in which team tactics played a vital role. Teammate Marc Hirschi attacked from the breakaway that Pogaar was in, so he didnt try to chase him down and finished third.That same year at the World Championships Road Race, Van der Poel launched a 22km solo attack for victory. It was too far out to be deemed a late attack (well get to those), so were classing it as a breakaway, and it left Pogaar having to settle for third place.The composition of a breakaway is important in trying to beat Pogaar. You have to either be no danger to the GC fight (like Georg Steinhauser in the Giro), have favourable terrain (like Van der Poel) or just be more powerful at that given point in time.The latter is rare, but again not impossible. After a month off following the World Championships in 2023, Pogaar was back racing in September at the Giro della Toscana. Here he was building up his fitness for Il Lombardia in October, so the race itself wasnt a main goal, but he was dropped by Ineos Grenadiers Pavel Sivakov in the last 29km then passed by Richard Carapaz too. Attack him after some time off the bike in a race he isnt targeting and you might stand a chance.When Pogaar was beaten by a breakaway:Stage 13 of the Tour de France, 2023 (3rd)UCI Road World Championship Road Race, 2023 (3rd)Giro della Toscana, 2023 (4th)Coppa Sabatini, 2023 (3rd)Stage 17 of the Giro dItalia, 2024 (2nd)Stage 1 of the Tour de France, 2024 (4th)Late attack (33%)Michael Steele/Getty ImagesIn the last two seasons, the most successful way of beating Pogaar has been through a late attack. Of the seven instances, five were won by riders not deemed a threat to Pogaar in a stage race general classification. All came from an attack in the final 10km.Several came at the 2023 Tour de France, including Victor Lafay on Stage 2 (pictured above). That wasnt even the first instance at that race, though. On the opening day in the Basque Country, Simon Yates attacked just after the summit of the days final climb and his twin Adam followed. It made sense Pogaar wouldnt chase the move down in the last 9km given Adam was his teammate and the twins battled for the win, Adam prevailing. Another long attack came later in the Tour from Ineos Grenadiers Carlos Rodrguez. After some stopping and starting thanks to a TV motorbike, Rodrguez and Adam Yates caught Pogaar and Vingegaard, and the Spaniard jumped clear with 8km remaining.While Rodrguez was third overall in the standings, he was not seen as a direct threat to the yellow jersey, sitting over four minutes down in the GC. Both Pogaar and Vingegaard were understandably just looking at each other and Yates wasnt wasting any excess energy for a stage win with one already in the bag given he was required as a domestique.Another Milan-San Remo trophy escaped from Pogaars grasp with a blistering 5.5km solo attack from Van der Poel. Using the Poggio as a platform like so many have done in the past, the Dutchman gapped the field while behind Pogaar finished off the podium, his efforts on the Poggio depleting his energy levels.He said after the race, Maybe I was just not strong enough to go solo Mathieu [van der Poel] was sprinting at the top [of the Poggio]. I was already dead from my turn.An attack on the San Luca climb at the Giro dellEmilia went unanswered in 2023 too. The four-man group of Pogaar, Rogli, Carapaz and Enric Mas stuck together like glue and Aleksandr Vlasov, Michael Woods and Simon Yates bridged across in the final kilometre.Rogli jumped away in the last 400m and Pogaar tried to answer but couldnt get on his wheel.A late attack typically works best against Pogaar when it comes in the final 10km from a rider not deemed a threat in a stage race GC. Or do it in an Italian Classic not called Il Lombardia.When Pogaar was beaten by a late attack:Milan-San Remo, 2023 (4th) 5.5kmStage 1 of the Tour de France, 2023 (3rd) 9kmStage 2 of the Tour de France, 2023 (3rd) 1kmStage 14 of the Tour de France, 2023 (2nd) (also break from breakaway) 8kmGiro dellEmilia, 2023 (2nd) Final kmTre Valli Varesine, 2023 (5th) 9.5kmStage 1 of the Volta a Catalunya, 2024 (2nd) 1.1kmWhat about in GCs?All of these are based on one-day races or Grand Tour stages, not the overall standings of a stage race. Pogaar was beaten by Vingegaard in the 2023 Tour de France with the third week his undoing. After dropping to 1min 48sec down in the ITT, it was expected that Pogaar would bounce back the next day. The opposite happened and he cracked on the Col de la Loze.He didnt have the ideal preparation for that edition having fractured his wrist at Lige-Bastogne-Lige earlier in the year, and fuelling was claimed to be his issue on the Col de la Loze.So, if you want to beat Tadej Pogaar, lose time in GC and attack in the final 10km. Failing that, get in the breakaway Thomas De Gendt-style and hope Pogaar doesnt catch you or, if youre Jonas Vingegaard, hope he bonks again.Good luck. Related Posts The 21 best mens Grand Tour stages of the 2020s so far What if Tadej Pogaar didnt exist? Pogaar vs Merckx: Who had the best season ever? GOAT Bingo: What does Tadej Pogaar still have left to win? The post How do you beat Tadej Pogaar? appeared first on Cyclist.

The idea of a budget cap has been discussed for a few years within the world of cycling. Whilst it is not exactly what's happening at the moment, the Belgian cycling association has taken the decision to eliminate bonuses given to riders who take medals in World, European Championships and Olympic G...

The 2024 season on the road has concluded and at the top of the charts we have UAE Team Emirates who have come at the top of the classification after Tadej Pogacar's brilliant season, the constant search for UCI points all year long and the difficult year of Team Visma | Lease a Bike who suffered fr...