Singletrack Staff Blog

Unbelievably, the magazine went on time! Yes, I know, hard to believe isn’t it?

Chipps and I went to the Core Bike show on Tuesday and saw loads off new shiny stuff… and people horribly injured from fighting in Sumo outfits the night before. What’s really amazing is that year after year there is still new stuff to see, mainly refinements but new nonetheless.

Next thing on our calendar are the Singletrack Reader Awards. Which looks like being a great night out. The last few have always been drunken rowdy affairs with an eclectic clothing style being the norm… there’s still a few places left and it would be good to see more Singletrack readers there. So grab a ticket find an ill-fitting suit and come along!

Andy pushing the limit of “smart casual”…

http://www.singletrackworld.com/article.php?sid=2695

I’ve not really been doing much blog-worthy riding lately. Pretty much just been doing midweek night rides. Well, a couple of weeks ago I experienced the grimmest ride I’ve ever done but you can read all about that in the new issue of Singletrack (issue 40 on sale Feb 7th folks).

It can be a tricky business trying to balance riding bikes with having a life outside of bikes - especially when your work is related to bikes.

The last thing I want mountain biking to be is to become another chore. So my current semi-abstinence from bikes is actually because I love them so much. I know The Desire will return presently. No need to worry or rush.

I’ve actually rediscovered my fervour for finding new music. If you like Godspeed You Black Emperor or Mogwai then check out This Will Destroy You. If you like soul-y hippity-hoppity stuff than have a look at Lupe Fiasco’s new album. For all you M.I.A. fans out there have a listen to Santogold.

http://www.myspace.com/thiswilldestroyyou

http://www.myspace.com/lupefiasco

http://www.myspace.com/santogold

Well there are working here… That’s another weekend of my life I won’t get back. It’s a pity that this job seems to be all feast and famine. Three weeks ago I was in Japan, which was great. I then return and don’t venture further than the office and home, and only going home to sleep at that. It’s all very well saying ‘This year, I’ll ride more and be at work less’ but it’s only at 10.30pm on a Sunday night that I can leave, knowing that the 5% of the magazine we have to do tomorrow is doable in the limited time we’ll have. It does seem that I only appear on here to whinge - but I’d much rather be boasting of great rides I’ve done to be honest. My last ride, of any persuasion is already a fading memory…

Expect me to arrange to be out riding a lot next issue. And then expect me back again this time next issue complaining that I haven’t had time… Don’t get a job editing a mountain bike magazine if you want to ride bikes, y’hear kids?

As Chipps said we’ve all been slack at blogging this year.

My first bit of news should be really that I got engaged to Tanya over Christmas, who agreed to have me (so to speak)…
And as if to celebrate, my Orange is starting to come together!

Thanks for Michael at Orange with his help on this.

Next The lovely Elayna from Fox really really helped me out with some forks….

FOX 36 TALAS RC2 forks (Yes I’m incredibly lucky!) to be exact… Which means it should pedal uphill a whole lot better than the Alpine5 we had on test and still fly downhill.

More in the ‘how spoilt?’ vein here..

That is a very light hub! Kindly provided by Chelmer cycles my old shop. for all things bling they can help www.chelmercycles.co.uk
These are being laced into Stans No Tubes Flow rims, so it’s just drive-train brakes and cockpit left. The thing is I actually want to keep it light and useable not silly overbuilt, So light cranks, Big but light bars, and brakes… More to follow.

A belated happy New Year.

Sorry we’ve been lax in posting. It’s hectic land here as we have to get this next issue finished effectively a week earlier in the cycle than the last one. It’s kind of going OK, though there’s still 3000 words that I need to get written in between editing everyone else’s stuff.
So what else has been going on? I had flu/overdoingthingsitits, Sim’s bought a new/ish car, Mark’s nose exploded with snot, Bert the dog went mental, but that’s not new. Ben came in extra early for Morrisey tickets that aren’t even for him. Matt like the Japanese denim jeans I got him in Japan, I keep buying guitars, no one reckons they ride bikes enough - they might be right. Let’s see what we can do about that last one. Oh and I’m 40 in three weeks! Yay! Big party time… Everyone welcome, email me for details…
Chipps

Right, I need a car. I’ve not had much luck with AutoTrader so thought I’d try here and blatantly abuse the staff blog for my own ends.

Wanted:
Ford Focus Zetec 3 door. 1.6 or 1.8 engine. Must have Quickclear windscreen and air-con. Mileage in the region of 60,000.

or

Ford Mondeo Zetec MK3, 1.8 engine (but open to ideas) again about 60,000 miles.

Mileage should give you an idea of price region. Anyone got a nice clean example for sale in the North West or seen one for sale?

Reward for any information that leads to a purchase!

sim(at)singletrackworld(dot)(com)

Well, it’s been a busy couple of days since my last post. We’ve had the factory tour, an interview with Mr Yozo Shimano, a preview of 2008 products that even the bike manufacturers haven’t had yet… Then there was dinner with Mr Shimano at a top-class sushi restaurant and a traditional night of Karaoke (Mr Shimano wisely went home before this, sparing himself Paul Burwell’s ‘My Way’…)

Our welcome at the CNC factory… (About the only pic we were allowed to take there, sorry…) and a look at the Shimano staff bike shed…

Today we get to go riding - which will be great after a couple of days of factories and meeting rooms and museums. The weather is surprisingly mild and I hear we’re also doing a spot of fishing afterwards too - so that we can see the quality of Shimano’s other business - fishing reels…

Secret 2009 stuff? Nope, original Deore XT from the early ’80s… And here’s yesterday’s lunch for you too… It’s all in the presentation.

Happy New Year all! It’s been a while since I’ve posted, mainly due to being in a bit of blessed internet-shadow and not being able to get online.

Now, however, I’m in a completely different world… I’m in Japan visiting Shimano for a few days. I’m in the land of Pocari Sweat water drinks in vending machines and cool looking trains. I’ll let you know how I get on. So far, it’s been great…