[Stuff YouTube Feeds Me Presented With No Context]Further to yesterdays post, my relationship with bike advocacy has sort of fluctuated over the years. When I first started this blog, I didnt give advocacy much thought, and as a bike racer and hardened veteran of the streets someone who had worked as a bike messenger briefly between jobs if I did think about it I sort of wrote it off as namby-pamby and dorky. However, as the years went by and I became exposed to more and more people and ideas in the world of cycling, I learned some important lessons thanks to advocates. For example, I came to appreciate how much weve sacrificed to the convenience of the automobile over the course of the 20th century, particularly in cities. Ive also come to understand that not only do we take motor vehicle deaths for granted, but we also often take the extra step of deriding or blaming the injured or killed party if said party was not in a car. (For this reason I still think the whole Crash Not Accident campaign makes a great point.) Nevertheless, a lot of those people dont seem to like me very much these days, even though I agree with many of the things theyre saying:[This is a weird one. Ive barely mentioned The War On Cars and dont think Ive ever interacted with them on Twitter, so I have no idea why theyve blocked me. Imagine having an idea you want to share as widely as possible and then blocking people. It makes no sense.]I mention all of this because back in 2010, when my first book came out, Transportation Alternatives included me in a Bike Culture Summit:As Ive reminded you before, these were heady days for urban cyclingand for me. Blogs were still a thing, and mine was pretty popular; Id been writing it anonymously for about three years, and Id just revealed myself on the eve of my books publication:It was, and continues to be, the most anticlimactic reveal of all time, because I was, and continue to be, absolutely nobody of note. So, unsurprisingly, it was all downhill from there.And no, Performance never thanked me for getting a Scattante into the Wall Street Journal:This was, and continues to be, the highest-profile media placement a Scattante has ever attained.But the Scattante and my own near-miss with celebrity arent the point; the Bike Culture Summit is the point. I admit I was feeling very eye-rolley at the summit, partially because I still thought bike advocacy was a little silly, and partially because I was very skeptical about the idea of a bike culture, which I even wrote about in the book I was there to promote:Meanwhile, one of the participants, who was then with Transportation Alternatives and is now with Lyft, did believe in the idea of a bike culture, and by way of an example spoke of the bond she shared with the fellow riders with whom she had been arrested in protests over the years.Now I believe in the right to protest. This is America, goddamn it! Canadas stepstool! Weve got the right to free expression, and to stand up to tyranny, and to demand our money back at the supermarket when our Froot Loops are stale. At the same time, I also remember being troubled by the protest commentnot because of the protesting, but because of the idea that this marked you as a member of the bike culture, which seemed rather off-putting. Its riding a bike, not the right to vote. You shouldnt need to be an activist and face the prospect of arrest to be part of the bike culture; all you should need to do is ride a bike.And no, of course she didnt , If youve never been arrested youve not part of the bike culture! All Im saying is that the average person who might be thinking about taking up cycling or maybe riding to work might find that kind of militancy a little off-putting, thats all. Between the arrests and the constant references to people dying why the hell would anybody want to bother? Its not really any different than pointing out how many people might find, say, the marketing around road bikes a little off-putting, as we also saw yesterday:On one end youve got getting arrested during a Critical Mass Ride, on the other end youve got ripping around town on a plastic race bike, stripping off your bib shorts, and jumping into a river:In the middle is something a normal person might actually consider relatable.Its sort of like the George Carlin bit about Live Free or Die and Famous Potatoes:Granted, my own sensibilities are much closer to the roadie side than the political prisoner side (I guess road bikes are my Famous Potatoes), but I still find the marketing to be quite bizarre and unappealing:Oh sure, Guy Looking At Graphs is very convincing:But Im going to have nightmares about the Disembodied Thighs of Crabon:Indeed, Canyon is quite literally blowing smoke here:Hey, Ill admit it, Im getting old and tired. These days Id rather ride an antique:Im reasonably sure that this was never tested in a wind tunnel, and if any smoke was blown on it then it came from the cigarette the person who built it was probably smoking.Increasingly Id also rather point my bike away from all the mishigas in the city than towards it:The path above will take you to some good roads:And if you squint a little you can even pretend youre deep in the country:Just beware of the geese this time of year, because theyre very protective at their young:This one hissed at me like a deflating tire, a sound I know all too well:Eventually Ill have to change the cables on this bike, at which point Ill curse the internal cable routing, but in the meantime I continue to adore the top-mounted shifter because you can so easily use them one-handed:Less convenient are the toe clips:Which on this particular ride I used with slotted cleats for maximum inconvenience:You can make a case for foot retention, and you can even make a case for clips and straps, since in a pinch you can ride in sneakers or whatever, but there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to ride with slotted cleatsand yet doing dumb stuff for no reason is precisely what makes us human.I guess you could call it wallowing in my own humanity.

SRAM finally releases its new Red AXS groupset, with improved brakes and impressive weight savings

Has the latest Sram Red finally surpassed Dura-Ace? Here's which pro level groupset we'd go for in 2024

Fabio Jakobsen's disappointing 2024 Giro d'Italia continued on stage 11. The Dutchman wasn't allowed a sprint opportunity in the finale of the day as he crashed in the last few hundred metres.I was okay and had a good day, but when they go over a rear wheel I can't ignore it anymore, the 27-year-...

Read our Cyclist's Guide to Yorkshire for our top tips on the best climbs, coffee stops & places to stay. La entrada Yorkshire and the Lake District: A Cyclists Guide se public primero en Eat Sleep Cycle.

After the abandon of Cian Uijtdebroeks through illness, Bahrain - Victorious' Antonio Tiberi is the new Maglia Bianca at the 2024 Giro d'Italia, rising to 5th overall as the Best Young Rider."Now I'm in the White Jersey but yeah, not in the way I was imagining," admitted the Italian talent in his po...

The all-new Marin Alpine Trail is an alloy enduro transformer. Its a complete departure from the previous generation bike, fully adopting the best of modern enduro mountain bike tech, plus so much adjustability to really dial in your perfect setup. Or even to let you change the character of your bike, as the you change where you ride it.With all that adjustability said, the new Marin Alpine Trail is already a killer bike out of the box in its standard settings. So let the tinkers tinker, and let the rest of us just hop on and hit the trails2024 Marin Alpine Trail 160mm alloy enduro bike(Photo Mountain Bike Connection Winter/Rupert Fowler)Marin calls the new 170mm front / 160mm rear Alpine Trail their boldest and most capable mountain bike ever. Its only really 10mm more travel front and rear and a 1/2 slacker head angle, but this new bike fully embraces rowdy enduro riding in its new aluminum guise. Yes, thats right. The new 2024 Marin Alpine Trail is now aluminum only base on delivering a high-value to the rider theres no carbon version. And the way Marin described it, theres not really any reason to make this bike carbon. (Photo BCA/Rupert Fowler)Instead, this new Alpine Trail is built to be the burly bike you can take to the bike park, shuttle up to shred your local hills, pedal up for some all-around all-mountain good times, or even strap on a race number and hit the enduro circuit with it.So, what else is new?Super Adjustable(Photo BCA/Rupert Fowler)Adjustability is the key buzzword here. This new Marin Alpine Trail was designed to adapt to the rider, terrain, and their style of riding. They say there are 12 geo combos you can set the bike up with. (click to zoom)Perfect for the tuner geeks among us. (Photo BCA/Marin)Up front that means the bike starts with a Zero-offset headset. Or you can drop in the angle-adjust upper headset cup and change the head angle by +/-0.75. (Photo BCA/Rupert Fowler)In the middle of the bike, at the top of the seatstay where they meet the rocker, a simple flip-chip lets you swap between the standard mullet setup with a 29 front/27.5 rear wheel. Or swap in a 29 rear wheel (not included) for a full 29er setup with virtually unchanged geometry.(Photo BCA/Rupert Fowler)Then, out back where the chainstay closes in on the rear axle, another simple flip-chip lets you pick a High bottom bracket/Short chainstay length for more agility or a Low/Long position for more stability. BB height varies 7.2mm and chainstay length changes 7mm. Both of which are relatively small changes that can tweak the bikes handling to your liking, without doing anything too drastic.The suspension-tech-adverse dont need to worry though. Its still super good in the out-of-the-box preset position, too.Downtube storage(Photo BCA/Rupert Fowler)The Alpine Trails downtube glovebox is called the Bear Box. The large opening in the hydroformed alloy downtube makes room for a custom-made water-resistant bag to carry your spares inside the frame. A TPU tube, tool & inflator, for example. The Bear Box door itself is double-sealed to keep water out, but easy enough to operate and still secure. And serves as the mounting point for the single bottle cage mount on the frame.But, theres also an extra set of bosses above the rocker link where you can mount an external tool carrier or gear strap.Tech details(Photo BCA/Rupert Fowler)The new 160mm Marin Alpine Trail is now a proper 4-bar suspension design thanks to moving the rear ends pivot onto the chainstay. They call it MultiTrac 2 LT gen 2 and Long Travel. The update allows Marin designers to reduce anti-rise, allowing for better chassis control while braking, more mid-stroke support, and better feel at bottom out to coincide with the bump up in travel. A bonus in the suspension redesign was the option to add the chainstay flip-chip.(Photo BCA/Rupert Fowler)The bike features a fully 6061 aluminum frame, and a proper headbadge. All complete bike builds come set up with a mixed mullet 29 front & 27.5 rear wheel combo. But all sizes and all builds can simply swap in a 29 rear wheel and flip the chip to go full 29er.(Photo BCA/Rupert Fowler)The bike now features a larger diameter 34.9mm seatpost for bigger & smoother dropper travel, internal cable routing with self-sealing rubber gasket guides, and a new UDH. Plus, theres a 73mm threaded BSA bottom bracket, ISCG05 tabs, Boost thru-axles, and post-mount disc brakes.(Photo BCA/Rupert Fowler)Lastly, thick rubber protectors on the chainstay & seatstay keep any rattling chain noise to a minimum. And a big downtube protector keeps rocks from messing up your paintjob. Plus, a little mini-mudflap on the chainstay yoke keeps rocks & debris from chewing up the swingarm or messing with the main pivot bearings. Plus, all of these rubber protectors are a nice canvas for Marin to show off their California forest inspiration.Initial Setup(Photo BCA/Rupert Fowler)While I love the flashy pink & blue of the top-tier bike, I was happy to get some wet trail time on the second-tier Alpine Trail XR (eXtra Rad!) earlier this year. I kind of feel like this is the perfect build for an aluminum enduro bike. It mixes the best big travel suspension RockShox has on offer, with the lower-cost dependability & performance of a mid-tier mechanical drivetrain and the pleasantly-powerful DB8 brakes. Youll never worry about bashing this build through gnarly rock gardens, or hucking it off some sketchy drops. And thats precisely what the new Marin Alpine Trail wants you to do.(Photo BCA/Rupert Fowler)I rode the large bike in its stock Mullet wheel combo setup, Low bottom bracket / Long chainstay flip-chip setting, and middle position zero-offset headset cups. That means 63 head angle, 78.3 seat angle, 442mm chainstays, and a 345mm bottom bracket height (or 20mm BB drop from the centerline of the axles 14mm drop from the 27.5 rear & 31mm drop from the 29 front. #geometry) First Rides(Photo Mountain Bike Connection Winter/Mirror Media)In that setup, the bike felt great. A solid starting point. Super capable when things got steep and slippery (the trails and rocks were extra greasy for my test rides). But still plenty agile for climbing technical trails too. This is a pretty burly (read: heavy) bike, so it doesnt zip up the climbs. The new alloy frame is said to be 200g heavier than the shorter travel/older Alpine Trail Carbon frame. But it was composed and slowly but steadily kept going back up the hill so I could bomb down again. It feels lighter than it actually is. (Photo BCA/Mirror Media)Marin describes this more stable setting mode as Fast and it seemed perfect for the bermy trails interspersed with big chunky rocks. (Photo BCA/Mirror Media)I could imagine swapping to the higher BB/shorter chainstay position on my steeper, more technical local trails. And would definitely like to try out a full 29er setup. (Which manages to keep geo the same, only slightly slacking the seat angle.) These two changes are super simple (assuming you have a spare 29 rear wheel). And would be fun to play with. Headset adjustment is a bit messier. Im happy with the 0, and changing means swapping upper cups which takes a bit more time. But the routing is all old-school internal through the frames, so cup swaps are pretty easy too.2024 Marin Alpine Trail Pricing, availability & optionsThe new Marin Alpine Trail comes in three complete bike builds specd around performance suspension, and in one frameset. All feature the same Series 4 Aluminum MultiTrac 2 LT frame, all in 4 highly adjustable stock sizes (S-XL).The alloy frame kit sells for $1850 / 1900 with a custom-tuned RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate coil shock (size-specific spring weights). And it surely will be the starting point for the most custom builds.2024 Marin Alpine Trail 1If you want ready-to-shred out-of-the-box, the $3200 / 3500 Alpine Trail 1 is a solid enduro starting point. This brown & blue bikes gets a Fox 36 Rhythm fork & custom tune Fox Float Performance air shock, plus a Shimano Deore 12sp drivetrain and TRP Slate EVO 4-piston brakes with mega 203mm rotors.Marin Alpine Trail XRStep it up to the $4600 / 5060 Marin Alpine Trail XR that I test-rode in bushed aluminum silver and black for a slightly more gnarly build. Here you get the killer RockShox Zeb Ultimate fork paired to a Super Deluxe Ultimate coil shock out back. A no-nonsense SRAM GX Eagle mechanical groupset rounds out the bullet-proof build with SRAM DB8 Stealth 4-piston brakes & 200mm rotors.Marin Alpine Trail XR AXSOr go full enduro race in Marin team pink & blue on the $5400 / 5945 Alpine Trail XR AXS. Which has a real weight of 37.14lb/16.88kg. Here you get the same RockShox Zeb & Super Deluxe Coil Ultimate suspension, but upgraded to a SRAM GX T-Type AXS Eagle electronic drivetrain and Code Bronze 4-piston brakes.(Photo BCA/Mirror Media)All three bikes and the frameset are available starting today through your local Marin dealer bikeshop. Although immediate availability is a bit limited on some sizes.MarinBikes.comThe post Marin Alpine Trail Reshapes All-New, Super Adjustable 160mm Alloy Enduro Bike: 1st Ride appeared first on Bikerumor.

From the 14th to the 19th of May we've got the 4 Jours de Dunkerque on the road. This six-day race, taking place in northern France, is one of the many French events at this time of year and usually provides spectacular finales where the sprinters and the classics riders shine. We preview the stage...

Sam Bennett has his first win of the season and his first since joining Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team with a brilliant sprint performance on stage 2 of the 4 Jours du Dunkerque 2024.With a three-man breakaway ofMaxime Jarnet (Van Rysel - Roubaix),Robin Plamondon (CIC U Nantes Atlantique) andCyr...

From the 16th to 19th of May the women's peloton tackles another high-level stage-race in Spain. This time around it is in Burgos... The Vuelta a Burgos Feminas takes the riders through four days that provide opportunities for several types of riders in a busy moment of the season. We preview the st...