Chasing Trails

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve reviewed a few books published by Vertebrate Publishing and been impressed by all of them. Steve Peat’s book is different, in that it’s an autobiography rather than a guidebook. ‘Essential reading’ is a common phrase but often just hype. I reckon this book is genuinely essential reading if you’re a mountain biker. I was going to add ‘over a certain age’, but actually, if you’re interested in the history of the sport it’s for you. Steve Peat is a genuine legend of MTB, even if ‘legend’ is overused these days. Читать дальше...

I’ve reviewed a few books published by Vertebrate Publishing and been impressed by all of them. This one’s a guide to cycling as a whole which seems an ambitious idea! This isn’t a personal review, mainly as I’ve cycled forever and the book is more aimed at those new to cycling – someone who may be deciding which branch of the sport will suit them best or who wants a guide to getting the most out of their riding. So the rest of this post is mostly from Vertebrate’s write up of the book. I’ve had... Читать дальше...

Great British Gravel Rides by Markus Stitz is another book from Vertebrate Publishing. I have to say up front that I’m not a gravel rider, I don’t even own a gravel bike. However lots of mountain bikers do ride gravel bikes these days, so hopefully this is of interest. Author Markus Stitz might not be as well known outside of cycling as some, but he’s a remarkable rider, probably his biggest achievement being 34,000k around the world on a singlespeed mountain bike. Because, why make it easy by using gears? Читать дальше...

Review of Extreme Lakeland – ‘A Photographic Journey Through Lake District Adventure Sports’ Authors and Contributors I notice these days that most ‘average’ social media photos look a LOT better than similar people’s efforts years ago. Filters and all that… However, in Extreme Lakeland, Nadir Khan and Tom McNally absolutely transcend the help that phones, filters etc give the rest of us. It might be worth mentioning that Leo Houlding has written the foreword to Extreme Lakeland, so on that alone... Читать дальше...

Pennine Bridleway Route Guide Author Hannah Collingridge has been riding bikes for over forty years and has a background in history, archaeology, landscape studies and language. Vertebrate Publishing I’ve been aware of their guidebooks for a long time. I’ve always liked looking at guidebooks, for inspiration and for an idea on whether something I’ve seen on a map is actually worth riding. Years ago a lot of books had hand drawn maps and almost no photos! Vertebrate were really noticeable in breaking... Читать дальше...

Revgrips – a different take on grips Do you really need a new kind of grip? Well, maybe. I have Dupuytren’s (don’t ask how to pronounce that) which apparently this proves I have Viking DNA! Annoyingly it also causes weird lumpiness in the palms which can make fingers bend at the ends as it develops. I’ve avoided that bit so far with various stuff I’ve worked out, but it does make my hands ache, some days more than others. It’s never stopped me riding, but I thought more comfort has to be good... Читать дальше...

Why replace a pump head anyway? hat’s wrong with whatever connection’s supplied on a track pump? Well, they sometimes break or wear out, and some aren’t easy to use. I needed to replace a broken connector that had always been a pain to use. I did the usual thing – checked online to see what worked well and would hopefully last the longest! Bike forum users were recommending 3 or 4 different brands and I’m reviewing 2 of those. Silca HIRO Or ‘Silca Hiro Side Lever Locking Presta Chuck v2’ as the website officially calls it. Читать дальше...

We Are One Composites Convert rims on Industry 9 Hydra hubs The first thing to say upfront is that Chasing Trails is proud to supply We Are One wheels. So you’d expect a good review! Chasing Trails being small means the stuff we sell is the stuff we ride and aprove of. Once I’d seen the quality, design and attention to detail in these carbon rims they were the on list! I’ve been riding the Converts for the last six months. The Converts are the ones you want if you ride medium to plus tyres as... Читать дальше...

New (or new-ish) MTB Stuff Pipdream Moxie | Starling Murmur | MSC Tyres | CushCore Tyre Inserts | Smoove Chain Lube | Wolf Tooth Components | PNW Components | Revgrips | Stan’s Dart | Pragmasis Security   With the last post covering brands that have stood the test of time, it seemed to follow to cover some that are new (or new-ish) ones. Very loosely these are a few I think stand out, they might be new on the scene, new to me, just not very well known in MTB circles or they work for mountain biking... Читать дальше...

Long Term Brands at Chasing Trails This is the first post a good while, I got very out of the habit..! It’s not exactly a New Year’s resolution to start posting again, but it seemed a good time nonetheless. Starting the new decade I was considering what was appropriate and wondered if there any brands I’ve used for the the whole of the last decade or for a good chunk of it’. So in order of length of time used: Shimano Mountain bikers seem to often be either SRAM or Shimano people. I’ve always... Читать дальше...