Madison cycles very kindly flew fifty of their UK Cervelo dealers to the Canary Islands and presented their new bikes to us in the sunshine, and then gave us the opportunity to ride them. More about this later.

What did I ride?

1.  Cervelo S5 Team with SRAM Red groupset and Mavic Cosmic SR wheels

2.  Cervelo R5 VWD with Campagnolo Super Record and Fulcrum wheels

3.  Cervelo S5 with Dura-ace Di2 and 3t carbon wheels

4.  Giant TCR composite with Ultegra (I stayed out for a couple of days extra, and this is the hire bikes that the hotel has.)

I could talk about the differences between all these bikes all day long, please pop into the Leatherhead store and ask me about them. I will summarise my thoughts about the groupsets here, but please realise that these are all very top end bikes, and all of them worked really nicely, choosing between them is a personal thing, and what I like may not be to everyone’s taste. I would be happy to own any of them (except the Giant:))

Ergonomics

This is the main thing that sets the groupset manufacturers apart, how the shifter fits into your hand. They are all really really similar, Shimano and SRAM feel quite large in the hand, and failry similar, Campy just ‘fits’ the way the horn is curved feels lovely to hold.

Method of Shifting

All the gears worked well and were indexed correctly. Both Shimano groupsets were the smoothest shift by far. The Di2 being the fastest and crispest. The SRAM Red up-shift was lovely and fast, but personally I really can’t get used to the double tap down shift, doesn’t feel intuitive and smooth to me, much more ‘clunky’. Campy Super record, fast, accurate, separate buttons to perform each shift, and you can really feel the chain snaking smoothly across the cassette into gear, just lovely gear shifting. Front mech shifting on the Shimano groupsets was sublime, far and away better than the others, with SRAM lagging way behind.

Braking

All the bikes were set up with the front brake on the left, wrong way round for me, so I wasn’t totally happy with the braking on any bike.

This is really highlighted when doing 75 kph with Canary Island side winds on deep carbon wheels! I felt that the SRAM brakes had great power but were a little wooden. The Shimano 105 brakes/Ultegra levers were lacking power, and I really dislike the brake lever swinging left and right as well as fore-aft. The dura-ace Di2 brakes and levers were really good, powerful and accurate (and the levers move in and out in one plane only). The Campy brakes were not as high power as the Shimano, but had loads of feel and modulation.

So what was my favourite? Can you guess? Campagnolo all the way. I love the feel of the gear shift, the ergonomics and the braking. Add to that the look and aesthetics of the groupset and I would feel happiest spending a lot of money on Super Record/Record/Chorus. A very close second is the Di2, precise and perfect shifting. SRAM, works well, but just not for me, Tom and Carl disagree with me, but as I said earlier, this is all my personal ride feelings. Ultegra, yes it is good, but not as good as the others, the top end groupsets really are better, you pays your money…you makes your choice.

Written by Dave Farmer

With registrations now open, you can set a goal for your new years’ training and you’ve no need to feel guilty for eating that extra mince pie or roast potato this Christmas!

Epic 100 miles, 7320ft of climbing

Challenge 59 miles, 4073ft

Sport 38 miles, 1970ft

For more information and to enter the event, please click the link below to be taken to the Little Lumpy website;

www.littlelumpy.co.uk

We have arranged with Mole-Valley crime reduction team that we can offer to register your bike on the national bike database.

The details can be found here www.bikeregister.com this is a service that is completely endorsed by the Police service, and all Police forces nationwide are easily able to use the database.

All you have to do is come into the Leatherhead store, and we can mark you bike with a subtle serial number, that will not affect your bike’s warranty, or rub off. then fill out a small form and your bike is registered.

In the event that your bike is stolen, then recovered by the Police, they can easily find out who owns it and return it to you.

Normally this will cost £15, but the local Police force and Cycleworks Leatherhead are offering this service free of charge.

The bike is a lovely finish, nude carbon with beautiful finishing touches that make the whole bike appear really well thought out.

29″ wheeled bikes are starting to appear from every brand that we sell, and they have really ‘come of age’. In the past they have been overly heavy, flexy and slightly sluggish feeling.

A few things have changed; Carbon frames/oversized BB’s/tapered forks/direct mount front mechs, all help to make the bike lighter and stiffer/sharper. also modern thinking about geometry has been worked out to make the bikes handle really well. Some of the above specs have allowed geometry changes, the front mech allows a really short chainstay, the tapered front allows a low bar height that doesn’t flex.

In the past I have made the decsion to use a full suspension bike for my race bike (usually a Specialized Epic). I now may re-think this, a 29″ wheeled bike really holds speed well, and helps the rider to feel less stressed and tired while riding the bike, all the reasons why I chose to ride full suspension rather than a hardtail in the past. A hardtail is also a simpler, and this day and age an important consideration is that a light hardtail is significantly less expensive than a full suspension bike. This bike is still a very expensive model (£2500), but it weighs only 23lbs, to get a 29″ wheeled full suspension bike that would weigh this little would cost nearly double!

I am amazed at how smoothly this bike rides over rough terrain, the big wheel, combined with the tiny seatstays really works to take the edge off bumps. This bike really feels like it has 0.5″ of suspension, and the big wheels really hold speed well.

Whyte design their bikes with a long front centre, this means that all their bikes have a fairly slack head angle and a lot of length in the top-tube, to use a short stem. This increases the stability of the bike, and gives the rider confidence descending, and it really works. If you were to jump off a £2500 23lb carbon hardtail with 26″ wheels, then on to this, the extra stability would be immediately noticable. BUT, the perception that a lot of people have is that 29″ bikes will be rubbish around tight corners, this is simply not true.

Pop into the shop any time and I can show you the bike, and arrange a test ride for you.

Dave Farmer

“I was searching for a lightweight jacket which would take the edge off of the winter cold and the Phantom jacket is a superb piece of clothing to have for the colder months of the year.

When i visited Cycleworks Petersfield to fill the void in my winter cycling wardrobe I was steered towards the Phantom Jacket and I must say honestly, I’m glad I parted with my cash, its WINDSTOPPER® construction is very good, clearly a well made item fit for purpose. It fits well and is comfortable to wear even on long rides, it has reflective patches to increase your visibility and three elasticated pockets on the rear for your bits and bobs.

I would advise if you wish to wear it for the really cold periods of the year, go a size up (theres not alot in it) so you have the option to layer up using technical base layers or fleeces. [The jacket] comes in h- vis and looks great in blue oh and I nearly forgot when it gets warmer you can zip the sleeves off- genius!!.”

So there you have it- Cycleworks recommended and customer approved, perfect.

I visited Cycleworks Petersfield on the hunt for a bag that could meet the needs of enduro cross country cycling events and cross country racing and chose the Evoc 10 Litre backpack after looking at other variations on offer.

I’m glad to say I made the right choice, it is very well made and a lot of thought has gone into the design.

I trialled it for the first time on the Randonnee South Downs Way 100 mile MTB Cycle, I managed to get everything I needed for a long ride inside the bag without much persuasion.

In main body:

2 x Litres of water in the impressive Evoc folding bladder, with a separate camelback with 1x Litre of SIS GO hydration fluid, 3 mule bars, 3 x SIS Go Gels, 3 x torq Gel, 2 x deli wraps, 1 x light windproof jacket and 1 x long-sleeved HH lifa top.

In main front pocket:

1 x inner tube, 1 x pump, 1 x CO2 canister, 1 x Pair brake pads, 1 x rear hanger 1 x Top peak survival tool box and emergency blanket.

In top front pocket:

1x GPS, 1 x wallet and car keys.

I had this bag on my back for 15 hours over the 100 mile course and I must say I was extremely impressed, comfortable with good ventilation well balanced and most of all it did not let me down. A must buy.

Benjamin

We now have just one bike left from our demo bike sale, this bike hasa  few scratches and scrapes, this means that we have decided to reduce this bike even more than 35%. Please call the Leatherhead store to discuss on 01372 363665

• Specialized Camber Expert MedRRP £1899.99 now £1234.99, NOW EVEN CHEAPER, £999!
  

The Cycleworks Demo Day has been a regular event for some years now, and we find that nothing tells you whether a bike is right for you like riding it through a variety of trails that test every aspect in order to help you decide. We have demo bikes in all our major models and on special occasions our fleet more than doubles so that we can cater for any bike related craving you might have, ranging from a timeless Orange, even to a fully carbon rigid Niner!

Our test route consisted of a trail-packed loop which enabled customers to test two, three or even four bikes back to back giving a unique opportunity to see how different bikes react to the trails at hand. Starting with a gentle climb we soon got into some swooping corners and then a climb back up to the very popular ‘yoghurt pots’ before venturing back up some more and finishing with a combination of ‘telegraph’ and ‘secret squirrel’. We are lucky that such good riding is on so many of our doorsteps and this meant that whether you were riding a flat-out XC bike like the Epic or a trail-eating Yeti 575, there were sections to find every limit.

All this riding got us hungry and I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of everyone who was in attendance to thank Pauline and Anita for providing mountains of homemade sandwiches and cake and making sure there was never a cup without tea or coffee in it!

Despite the mist and then the rain everyone was in good spirits and seemed keen to get the bikes muddy; from there the day progressed. Our persistence paid off and we were eventually rewarded with some welcome sunshine. All in all a very successful day filled with riding bikes, talking about bikes, riding them some more and it goes on from there… What more could you ask for!

Thank you to all those who came along on Sunday, I hope you enjoyed the day as much as we all did and remember this is the first of our demo days this year, so be sure to keep an eye out for future events, whether you are looking forward to repeating the experience or are kicking yourself for missing this one.

The full range of pictures accompanying the video can be found on our flickr.

Thanks again go to Adam from Orange, Morgan from ATB and Stu from Evolution for travelling further than all of us to make sure there were plenty of bikes to go around. Also to Tom Grundy for all his work capturing the day on film, feel free to have a look at more of his work at www.tomgrundy.co.uk

Photos and Video: Tom Grundy

Words: Aaron Budd

Full details can be found here, but for a quick summary;

The start is again in the centre of Haslemere and again we take you through the prettiest parts of the Sussex and Hampshire Weald to the South Downs at South Harting where the Challenge and Epic routes take you over some testing little climbs.

Three distances / events to account for all levels:

	Fun 38 miles (61km) with 1,970 ft (600m) of climbing including the tough but georgous Blackdown as a last hurrah. One Feed-stop at South Harting.
	Challenge 65 miles (105km) with 3,840 ft (1,170m) of climbing, four times over the Downs and finishing over Blackdown and down Tennyson’s Lane. Two feed-stops.
	Epic 108 miles (172km) with 6,560 ft (2,029m) of climbing. Twelve climbs and three-stops.

2010; what’s being kept and what’s being improved:

Routes; we are tinkering again to take account of your feedback and to try and ensure that your day in the saddle is as enjoyable as possible. Last year the Epic and Challenge routes included three testing climbs right at the end which, on reflection (and your comments), we decided was a bit sadistic. We have, however, kept the last climb over Blackdown with a long run back down Tennyson’s Lane to Haslemere.

Same fabulous food; as regular sportivists ourselves we know the importance of good food and plenty of water filling opportunities. As the event has gained in popularity we have striven to continue with our original manifesto of feeding you on the best home made cakes and flapjacks etc so that what is a hard day remains a pleasuarable experience. Your feedback has persuaded us to continue with this approach and we have asked the locals of Haslemere to contribute.

Signing on; we want to make sure that you get away in a timely and fuss free manner, notwithstanding our obligations to log full details in case of accident, mishap or just plain ‘got lost’.

Mechanical back-up; Cycleworks will again be providing mechanical back-up and will have a tent at South Harting as well as roving van for major problems. We will provide an emergency number.

Signposting & marshalls; we continue to try and improve the sign-posting and particularly around the main feed-stop at South Harting which seemed to confuse some riders. Where we feel the sign-posting is at risk of pranksters we will have a marshall.

Haslemere Festival; the Festival has been expanded this year to include a Fringe festival, so why not check out the web-sites, to see whether you can combine your day in the saddle with some culture (high-brow or not so).

Hotels; we are also arranging special rates for Festival goers (and that includes you) at various hotels in the area – see News for further details. For accommodation generally in the area; www.haslemere.com/vic

Having been a dedicated Orange five rider for the past five years, it was going to take something special to tempt me away from my faithful northern work horse, and this is it- a Specialized Epic Expert Evo.

I love my Five, we’ve had many adventures together both home and abroad, but over the years the old girl’s put on  weight which doesn’t help getting to the top of the hills. I’ve always liked the way Specialized FSR bikes climb, but none of them have come close to the Five for singletrack fun until now.

The Expert Evo, is an E5 aluminium framed Epic, with 120mm travel Rock Shox Sid forks, 2×10 Sram gearing, Roval Control wheels and a Command Post adjustable seat post. All of which has given the well established cross country race machine a seriously aggressive attitude, and I like it.

The bike climbs like a mountain goat on acid to the top of the trail and then behaves like a hooligan when you show it something twisty and techy, encouraging you to explore where its limits might lie.

Buying a new bike in January is always going to mean that the first few months are going to be some of it’s toughest. So to bed it I took it for an epic 44 mile blast along the North Downs, taking in Box Hill and some of the muddiest trails in the area. Plenty of climbing on which the bike proved its’ cross country speed and comfort. Not much singletrack unfortunately, but what I did ride down certainly put a smile on my face and gave me a glimmer of what it can do. I can’t wait to test it down some technical trails.

To summarise, it rides a bit like a hard tail in terms of efficiency and you can feel what you are riding over, but it cushions you from the shock of the bumps while maintaining momentum, traction and control, unlike a hard tail. The longer forks and dropper seat post inspire confidence and encourages you to misbehave on the downhills that can be a lively ride on other Epics.

This can now possibly be described as the ultimate trail bike for the Surrey Hills.

Personal Modifications:

Specialized Storm 2bliss tyres

Thomson X4 90mm 0^o rise stem

Easton EA70 low rise bars

Crud catcher and RRP mudguards