Its important to remember why we all got into cycling in the first place because it's fun. Regardless of the purpose of your riding whether thats commuting, cycling to lose weight or training for a big ride riding your bike should be a joyful experience that brings a smile to your face. If youve found the sheen has worn off your cycling, try out any of these five tips to get your time on two wheels tickling a 10 on the funnometer again. Got any tips of your own? Leave your thoughts in the comments. 1. No Garmin, no rules It's okay to go without your computer from time to time. Liam Cahill / Our Media A friend of BikeRadar once quipped that, if they rode without a power meter, they wouldnt be able to measure how much fun they were having. Jesting aside, even the least performance-minded cyclist can get caught up obsessing over numbers while riding its difficult to shut out the anxious caveman part of your brain if your average speed drops unexpectedly and a late finish is looming. By all means, record your ride, but consider pocketing your bike computer the next time you head out. Rather than fretting over figures, ride at a natural pace that feels right for you, your route and the weather conditions simply enjoy whats around you. Smiles not miles; #nogarminnorules; a Strava detox whatever you want to call it, we promise youll be surprised by how much of a difference it makes to your mood. 2. Ride somewhere new Why not look online for inspiration, throw a dart at a map or simply take a road you've never travelled before? Jack Luke / Our Media Tired of the same old local loops? Is every pothole in a 10-mile radius of your home ingrained in your muscle memory? If that sounds familiar, its time to up sticks and lay down tracks somewhere new. We suggest seeking inspiration through the likes of Komoot Highlights, which recommends roads, trails and landmarks as curated by the apps community. Strava and other cycling apps feature similar functionality. Analogue inspiration should not be overlooked. Jack Luke / Our Media Alternatively, its always worth trying a good guidebook. While guidebooks might seem old school, the best will provide you well-researched and inspiring rides. Many will even include route maps, which will help if you wish to combine a new adventure with some GPS downtime. Going by public transport can also be a pleasant experience with a bit of pre-planning. After choosing an area you want to explore, we recommend taking a train (and hey who doesnt love a trundle on the ol' iron horse?) somewhere with a view to riding back home, rather than relying on catching a service at the end of a ride. With no return leg to worry about, you can in effect double your distance over ground on any given ride, greatly increasing your chances of enjoying new vistas. That said, wed still always plan a modest distance as the crow flies to keep a day manageable if all goes pear-shaped you can always add in a few cheeky wiggles if you fancy a longer excursion. 3. Turn your ride into a trip Even a two-day overnight adventure can really help spice up your riding. Scott Windsor / Our Media Its hard to beat the heady mix of endorphins and smugness brought by starting a big day on the bike after waking up al fresco. Even the interior gloom of some anonymous plantation forest will take on a new charm with a good days ride in the legs and a bowl of porridge in the belly. While its possible to spend an extraordinary amount of money on a fancy bikepacking setup, its definitely not a requirement. When split among willing friends, even the affordable family-friendly camping gear left languishing in your garage can become a manageable load. If you dont mind waking up with a slug moustache, a well-pitched tarp can also be almost as comfortable as a tent. Riding to stay overnight in a bothy is one of the best ways to get into bikepacking. Katherine Moore If you are just starting out with snoozing outside and want to invest in the minimum amount of kit, an overnight trip to a bothy an unmanned free-to-use shelter will usually only require a sleeping mat and bag. Hostels can provide a low-stress overnight jolly (and, more importantly, an opportunity to dry out your clothes). Jack Luke / Our Media Finally, if you prefer silky sheets to damp down, youth hostels are another affordable (and often family-friendly) option for the itinerant cyclist. Most will have facilities to lock up your bike and old-school sites will also allow you to cook your own food, bringing down costs. If youre shy about sharing with strangers, block-booking a bunk room with friends can make the whole experience more pleasant (just make sure you have friends who dont snore). 4. Go outside your comfort zone There's nothing stopping you from venturing off-road on whatever bike you already own. Andy Lloyd / Ourmedia Trying something new doesnt necessarily mean buying a new bike, or taking part in a different racing discipline. The bike you already own is most likely perfectly suitable for modest adventuring beyond your norm. For the pebble-phobic road cyclist, you only need to look at the likes of the Rough-Stuff Fellowship to remember that, not so long ago, daring cyclists werent afraid to take road bikes into what many would consider wildly inappropriate terrain. Theres nothing stopping you from following in their footsteps, with modern disc brakes and (comparatively) wider tyres making gentle off-road jaunts a lot more pleasant. Sure, you might not be able to rattle along gravel roads as fast as you could on a dedicated gravel bike, but even 25mm tyres are perfectly okay on smoother off-road surfaces (you just may want to increase your tyre pressure a little to avoid pinch flats). If you prefer to keep things paved, less competitive events such as an audax are a great way to see new places and meet riders. If youre a mountain biker and fancy a charmingly old-school challenge, why not try something like Cycle Quest or mountain bike orienteering? Both will teach you new skills and get you into new places in a low-stress environment. 5. Build a parts bin special Put your parts bin to good use and build the bike you never knew you needed. Jack Luke / Our Media If youre anything like the component magpies that make up the BikeRadar team, youll have a big box of just in case parts taking up room in your life. Putting these neglected and often outmoded components to good use on a new low-effort bike is a great way to make something useful out of your clutter, and up your mechanical skills in the process. Unless you already have an old frame hanging up in the rafters, we recommend starting with a careful assessment of what you have and considering what would work with this lot, rather than what you would have. Dont allow perfect to get in the way of good let your lot dictate the shape of the build and go from there. Once done, buckle up and prepare for many nights spent trawling eBay for a used frameset. Be patient, set yourself a hard price limit and try to buy local if possible. Builds put together in this spirit are some of the most characterful and fun bikes on the BikeRadar team, and we guarantee youll enjoy the process just as much as we have. Read more: 10 essential bike maintenance tips for beginner cyclists

Dublin City Council has signalled its clearest intention yet to replace the DublinBikes scheme with a different system by the time the current schemes contract ends next year.A briefing note to councillors ahead of their mobility committee meeting next week outlines that the current DublinBikes contract ends in September 2027, and the council wants to initiate market sounding a preliminary engagement process with bicycle share operators in advance of a formal procurement process.DublinBikes launched in September 2009 with widely expressed expectations that the system would flop and the bikes would end up in the Liffey and the canals. The opposite happened it was widely sucessful and became a symbol of hope for the normalisation of cycling in Dublin.Although some of its high usage per bicycle was due to the lack of expansion. To much disappointment, the planned expansion stretching from near DCU never materialised. Disruptions have also come in the way of the city-licensed stationless bicycle share run by Bleeper and Moby, and Covid changing commuting patterns. The current system is run by the French advertising company JCDecuax, which owns the docking systems and bicycles. It currently has 1,600 bikes with 115 stations, mostly within the canal cordon. It costs 35 per year for annual users, with different fees for short-term passes, and 30-minute free trips for all users.The system is subsidised by a mix of on-street advertising space licensed to JCDecuax, direct council funding, and sponsorship of the bikes, currently held by insurance company RedClick.While nothing has been decided about how the new system will work, the briefing note to councillors outlines that the council is considering a system with one operator across the city, with a fleet of around 4,000 bikes comprising a mix of standard and electric-assisted bicycles. Jennifer McGrath, Dublin City Councils senior executive engineer with responsibility for micromobility, said: Dublin City Council (DCC) intends to provide a new city-wide bike share scheme across the city council area post September 2027, and so DCC intend to enter a procurement process to ensure that shared bike services will continue post 2027.DCC believe that in a new bike share scheme, the city council should own the bike stations and potentially the bikes themselves, with a model where there is an operational, maintenance and upgrade contractor appointed, she wrote in the briefing note to committee members. McGrath said; It is intended there would be one operator across the City and that there is a combination of classic (non-powered ) bikes and e-bikes with a fleet of around 4,000 bikes. It is not intended at this stage to operate an e-scooter. DCC will be involved in market sounding engagement with various bike share operators prior to engaging in the formal procurement process.She added that, to assist with this process, it is proposed to hold a workshop for councillors on bike share to gather the views of the elected members.

Quietly rolled out to dealers earlier this month, brake maker Trickstuff just debuted a limited edition Special Series of their popular & powerful Direttissima mountain bike brakes in a vibrant new forest green. Plus, the brakes get a sweet howling wolf and forest scene laser-etched onto the caliper bodies, likely in a nod to their Black Forest origins. Trickstuff Direttissima brakes Forest Green Wolf Special Series(Photos/Trickstuff)The whispering of the wind between the trees, a distant howl, and a rush of adrenaline. Through the woods and mossy paths our Direttissima will now accompany you with a limited Special Series Direttissima Forest Green featuring a dark green caliper and reservoir cap. The forest is calling, can you hear it?Trickstuffs tagline for their most powerful Maxima gravity brakes is Poke the bear, which never seems like a good plan. So maybe these slightly lighter, more versatile all-mountain to enduro brakes are thinking you should Poke the wolf? In any case, this is the first vibrant new anodized color weve seen from Trickstuff in over a decade. And the addition of some decoration is an interesting design choice. Any way you look at it, though, it hints that maybe more color and more Special Series limited-edition models could be in the brands future. Fingers crossed.Review: Tons of manageable bring power!(Photo/Cory Benson)Trickstuffs Direttissima is one of the most unique and powerful mountain bike brakes you can get. They feature and incredibly light touch and excellent modulation. Their precision construction and progressive leverage ratio at the lever means that the brakes move very quickly to the bite point. But then the further you pull the lever, the less distance the pads travel, creating dramatically increasing brake force at the rotor. The end result is that these are brakes that feel almost too soft in the parking lot, but offer some of the easiest high-powered braking you will ever experience on the trail.(Photo/Cory Benson)Having ridden more with the Maximas in all-black (which are the same design, just slightly longer lever and bigger 16/17mm caliper pistons), after a year and a half, Im still amazed at how easy it is to control the immense power of the Trickstuff brakes. And how even on extremely rough and super long descents, I never experience arm pump, meaning I can ride bike park laps all day without my arms or hands getting tired. Definitely not something I can say about most other high-power brakes. Direttissima Tech DetailsCan you pick out all the Direttissima parts? (Photo/Cory Benson)CNC-machined 7075 aluminum construction9mm polymer pump piston and progressive toggle joint linkage ball-bearing brake leverC42 4-piston calipers with balanced 14mm & 17mm stainless steel pistonshigh-pressure Kevlar brake hosetool-free reach adjustnickel-based organic Power+ brake padsproprietary low viscosity Bionol vegetable oil brake fluidfully user-serviceable520g total brakeset weight 252g front & 268g rear (claimed)Trickstuff Direttissima Forest Green Pricing, options & availabilityOnly 250 sets of these shiny Direttissima Forest Green special edition brakes are on offer. In a pleasant surprise, they dont cost any more than a standard set of Direttissimas. And thats good, because at 1100 for the pair (without rotors) these are already some of the most expensive mountain bike brakes in the world. But my own personal experience with the Maximas (which share the same architecture as these Direttissimas) does confirm that these are also some of the most powerful brakes you can buy. Their unique feel all but eliminates arm pump, under even the most relentless braking.The special series Forest Green brakes only are offered in one configuration with silver levers & pump body, Kevlar brake hoses, and traditional left/front brake configuration. Brake rotors will cost you about 40-60 a piece extra, as will brake mount adapters if you need them for your bikes setup.You can pick up a set while they last directly from Trickstuffs website. Or order a pair through any of their regular dealer bike shops.Trickstuff.comThe post Green Trickstuff Direttissima Brakes with Howling Wolf Hint of Limited Special Series appeared first on Bikerumor.

The newest edition of the much-loved aero helmet from Specialized is 2.4 per cent cooler than its predecessor

Damiano Caruso initially announced his retirement from professional cycling in 2025. Much to the request of Bahrain - Victorious (and Antonio Tiberi, has he told CyclingUpToDate this winter), he delayed it for 2026. He is now experiencing another dream Giro d'Italia, but confirms it will be his last...

The Tour de France is perhaps the most hotly contested race in professional cycling and in order to reach it with chances of taking good results, all riders need their best form. Over the past few years a new altitude camp location has become the overwhelming destination for most top riders in the p...

The 2027 Santa Cruz Tallboy drops weight and gets increased rear travel with an all-new four-bar suspension layout. Santa Cruz claims it climbs with less compromise and delivers more composure and traction when the trail points down. To mark the launch, Ben Hildred and Ruth Holcomb took it deep into New Zealands iconic Old Ghost Road. Watch the video and find details hereThe post 2027 Santa Cruz Tallboy and Old Ghost Road Testing Video appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

If youve been waiting for the right moment to upgrade your road bike drivetrain, this could be one of the standout deals of the season. Shimanos Ultegra R8170 Di2 groupset can be had with up to 53% off, down from its RRP of 2,399 to as low as 1,091.59, depending on the setup. Thats serious money off one of the most desirable performance groupsets on the market. The deals can be yours from Merlin Cycles and Sigma Sports, with the latter offering the low price of 1,091.59 for a 175mm cranked 52/36t chain-ringed variant. If you want more choice in crank length, cassette and chainring size, then Merlin Cycles appears to offer all sizes available for 1,125. Sigma Sports also has similar options available priced at 1,149. Buy Shimano Ultegra Di2 from Merlin Cycles Buy Shimano Ultegra Di2 from Sigma Sports Shimano's Ultegra Di2 offers very similar performance to Dura-Ace Di2. Andy Lloyd / Our Media Positioned just below Shimanos flagship Dura-Ace range, Ultegra Di2 delivers much of the same fast, precise shifting and refined braking performance without the eye-watering top-tier price tag. When we tested Ultegra Di2, we praised the groupset for its crisp shifting, dependable braking and overall ride quality, questioning whether many riders would genuinely benefit from spending more on Dura-Ace. At this price, if youre looking to upgrade your bike's groupset, this could be a no-brainer.

Greeces ENABags recently rolled out the Nano Pannier, which features a five-liter capacity and a quick-release Kickflix attachment system that mounts to a standard pair of bottle bosses. Find details on the slim new ENABags Nano Pannier hereThe post The ENABags Nano Pannier Offers Five Liters of Quick-Release Storage appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

The latest example? Cannondale Factory Racing (CFR) showed up to Nove Mesto with a LAB71 Scalpel supporting a set of Reserve gravel wheels. Deep-section gravel wheels. On a World Cup XC bike. At one of the fastest short-track courses on the calendar. You can see all the details on the RideCannondale Instagram. View this post on Instagram According to CFR, theyre the first team to race the Reserve 48/53 GR wheelset in short track, possibly the first in top-level XC racing altogether. The wheels in question are paired with Shimanos new XTR Di2 drivetrain and an aggressively fast Schwalbe Thunder Burt 2.1 tire setup, which tells you pretty quickly what the goal was here: outright speed.(Photo/Instagram)Gravel Wheels on an XC Bike?At first glance, the Reserve 48/53 GR wheels look a little ridiculous on a mountain bike. Deep carbon rims usually belong on aero gravel bikes or road bikes built by people who know exactly how many watts their socks save (Im that guy and its 2-12 watts, sock-dependent). But short-track XC has changed, and its all about the demands of race day. (Photo/Instagram)Teams cant swap frames between events, but they can change almost everything bolted onto them. Narrower bars, shorter-travel suspension, firmer setups, and even gravel tires are becoming increasingly common. Chris Blevins won Nove Mesto short track last year, running a Specialized gravel tire, so the line between modern XC and gravel equipment is already getting blurry.(Photo/Cory Benson)Todays short-track courses are smoother, faster, and much more draft-heavy than traditional XC racing. Riders are spending long stretches above 20mph, and once speeds reach that level, aerodynamics start to matter, whether mountain bikers like it or not.Thats what makes this setup interesting. Reserve didnt design the 48/53 GR wheels specifically for XC, but modern gravel racing and modern short track are starting to ask for similar things:high sustained speedsquick accelerationssmoother terraintight packsand efficiency over outright forgivenessXC keeps drifting toward gravel, gravel keeps drifting toward XC, and somewhere in the overlap, you get bikes like this.The Wheel Choice Is the StoryThe wheel setup itself is the headline:Reserve 48/53 GR wheelset48mm front rim / 53mm rear rimSchwalbe Thunder Burt 2.1 SPEED tiresThat combination isnt about surviving rough terrain. Its built for fast laps, rapid accelerations, and carrying speed once the course opens up.And visually? It works way better than it probably should.The deep rims tucked into the LAB71 Scalpel make the bike look equal parts futuristic and slightly questionable I love it. Plus it feels pretty close to where elite XC equipment is heading anyway. View this post on Instagram Cannondale Factory Racing Nove Mesto BuildCFR rounded out the build with:Shimano XTR Di2Fox Float SL rear shockFox Transfer SL 75mm dropperFSA KFX carbon cockpitPrologo Nago 3D saddleReserve 48/53 GR wheelsetSchwalbe Thunder Burt 2.1 SPEED tiresThe slammed -12 FSA KFX stem really finishes the look for me. Combined with the deep wheels and low-profile tires, the whole bike gives off a very clear we are absolutely not wasting watts today vibe.(Photo/Cory Benson)Aero Is Just Part of XC NowThe bigger takeaway probably isnt the wheelset itself; its what it says about where XC racing is going.For years, aerodynamics sat pretty far down the mountain bike priority list. Weight mattered, and suspension needs to be dialed, same with tire choice. Aero was mostly road-bike territory. Thats changing.As XC speeds keep climbing and courses keep getting smoother, teams are becoming much more willing to experiment with equipment that wouldve looked completely out of place only a few seasons ago.This wont seem weird for very long.Because once a factory team shows up with deep-section gravel wheels and proves they work, somebody else is going to copy it. Thats usually how these trends start. Im guessing its about 3-4 weeks out from hitting your local short track series. The post Cannondale Factory Racing Shows Up to Nove Mesto With Deep-Section Reserve Gravel Wheels appeared first on Bikerumor.