Off-road riding

Hydraulic brakes are excellent for many reasons, but one of the main ones is that since they're a closed system they need very little maintenance. But like everything, eventually they're going to need a tweak or two and the main bit of maintenance hydraulic brakes need is a re-bleed.  Bleeding brakes essentially means flushing the hydraulic system to try and remove any air that's trapped. Any air trapped will cause the levers to feel spongey and means that your brakes wont be as powerful and reactive as you want or need them to be. Bleeding isn't a difficult thing to do, but it can be a hard skill to master so here Park Tool's Calvin Jones shows to you how to bleed Shimano hydraulic brakes for both flat and drop bar bikes. 

Just like sneakers in every day life, bike shoes are a practical bit of kit that have morphed into a fashion statement over time. In some cases, they've even become a bit of an obsession, and if you browse through Instagram you'll find hundreds of people who have gone one step further and made their kicks one-of-a-kind by getting them customised.  But for most of us, bike shoes are simply what we use to ride in because they're more practical and comfortable for riding than normal shoes (even if a lot of them are infinitely less practical the moment you're no longer clipped into pedals). With stiffer soles and a much closer fit, bike shoes are much more suitable for riding in, and this here is our guide to some of the shoes that Shimano offers for road, gravel and XC riding. the best part is, you dont have to spend a fortune to get a set of shoes that are really rather nice...

Protecting your eyes while you ride is really important, here's our guide to picking the right eyewear for you

When it comes to bike racks Thule are one of the most respected names in the business and for good reason, their racks are innovative, reliable and go about keeping your bikes safe during transport in a way that nobody else can match.  No matter what vehicle you have, there’s a Thule rack that will meet your needs. From small hatchbacks to large vans, there’s a solution to every problem and their award-winning ProRide carriers in particular can fit almost any car on the market with the right foot packs.  Here’s our guide to Thule’s bike racks to give you an idea of what’s available and what might be the best solution for taking your bikes with you. 

Checking your bike regularly will make sure that it stays working properly for as long as possible. Here are some things to keep and eye on

Keeping your bike safe is important. Here's Kryptonite's guide to choosing the right lock for you bike

Getting started with commuting by bike can be a little overwhelming, so here's our guide to what you need to get started

Variety might be the spice of life but it can also be a right pain when you're trying to make decisions. There are so many helmets on the market now that trying to figure out what makes one different from another can end up being rather confusing, so we've put together this quick guide on Lazer's helmets to give you an idea of what some of the main models are and what type of riding they're made for. 

Servicing DT star ratchet hubs is suprisingly easy. Here's a guide to how to maintain your DT freehub at home. 

Genesis is a bike brand that's become synonymous with two-wheeled adventure. Their bikes have been ridden almost literally all over the world, from the tops of mountains, to deserts, to the Transcontinental race right down to the roads, lanes and trails near you.  For nearly 20 years now Genesis has been making bikes for people that just love bikes. Back when they started the range was an eclectic mix of do-it-all machines and not much has changed two decades down the line other than now you'd call their core range 'gravel bikes'.  But the best thing about a Genesis gravel bike is that it;s a machine designed to do much more than fit one category. When you buy a Genesis you're opening yourself up to a world of possiblities no matter where you live or where you want to ride. Here's a guide to the four core bikes than make up Genesis's 'adventure/gravel' range, and if you want to look at all the bikes Genesis has to offer,

Just like your normal hex or torx keys, but much, much nicer...

Sometimes choosing new bits for your bike is difficult because you can’t choose what you want. That’s a good type of decision. But there are times when you just can’t figure out what you need – like which brake pads work with your calipers – and that can be really frustrating. Fortunately, if you’re running Shimano, there’s an online resource that can help you solve all those little problems and it’s called si.shimano.com. On there you’ll find more information than you could ever possibly need about what works with what. There are even compatibility charts showing you which groupset parts will work with each other.  

100% are not messing about for SS20. Check these out and tell us we're wrong. We dare you. 

If you're thinking now's the time for indoor training, you might be right. Here's our guide to Elite's smart trainers

Polly Clark is one of the unsung heroes of the cycling world, and she clocks up more miles in a month than most riders do in a year. To celebrate International Women’s Day, we spent some time with Polly to discuss her love of mountain biking, how the sport can attract more female riders and why mid-Wales is a must-ride destination...

Think riding inside is boring? Think again...

Thinking of buying on of our Ex-Display or Sample Bikes? Here's what you need to know.

Looking after your bike is even more important in winter when the elements can take their toll. Here are a few areas to check regularly if you want to keep riding outside through the bad weather.

If you didn't ride your bike in bad weather, you'd never ride it at all. Here are a few things to think about now that the climate has reverted to type and getting yourself out the door isn't as easy as it was for those two beautiful weeks we called summer. 

There are many different kinds of mountain bikes out there, all suited to slightly different off-road disciplines. Picking the right bike for the type of riding you plan on doing is therefore quite tricky, especially if you’re new to the world of mountain biking.

Setting up disc brakes isn't all that much fun. It's not that it's particularly hard, but it can be quite time consuming and there are a few fiddly bits that, if we're honest, we'd rather do without. Like adding the inserts into the end of the hoses, that's always a pain. Fiddling with vices, small yellow clamping blocks and still managing to push the hose around rather than add any kind of inserts is a recipe for an afternoon of frustration. Well Park Tool feel that pain too, and their new HBT-1 is a device designed to not only make adding inserts to hoses easier, but to make cutting them a simpler. Two for one, that is.   It might be one more for the workshop than the home mechanic, but the HBT-1 will save you plenty of time as it makes setting up and cutting your hoses a much simpler process. Plus, like most of Park Tool's stuff, you can replace parts - the blade and the push pin tip here, specifically - so this one will last as long as you want it to. 

In case you hadn't heard, Genesis has just announced its 2020 range and while it's stuffed full of fantastic bikes there's one that stands out a little brighter than the others - both literally and figuratively: the Fugio.  Updated and upgraded for 2020, the Fugio now uses Reynolds 725 tubing paired with a full carbon fork making for a lighter bike that rides with even more quality. The Fugio is basically a Croix de Fer with an extra dose of imagination, and a bike that really comes into its own when you point it down that seldom-trodden path - it doesn't come with 47c tyres as standard for nothing!  Better than that, the Fugio 30 is adorned with Shimano's brand new GRX gravel drivetrain, the first gravel-specific groupset ever made, and one that pairs a 40T front ring with a 11-42T Deore XT

When DT Swiss decide to do something there's no messing around, they do it properly. Don't believe us? Check out the new GRC 1400 gravel wheels.  The rims are 24mm wide internally, making them perfect for large volume tyres, and the 42mm depth has been optimsed to give you the best aero advantage with 35mm tyres. Think aerodynamics doesn't matter when you're racing off-road? Think again. As soon as you're past about 10mph, aerodynamics are the main thing holding you back so any improvement will help you ride faster. They roll really well, too. Tested with a 35mm tyre against the CRC 1400 cyclocross wheels, the GRCs came out with a 5% reduction in rolling resistance with the tyres at 3.5 bar, and a 7% reduction at 4.5 bar. Told you they designed these to be fast... They're also tubeless-ready (naturally) and have 130kg max system

New firmware (version 3.4.3) for the Shimano STEPS e7000 and e8000 systems will let riders customise their Eco mode, as well as Boost and Trail modes with High, Medium and Low settings.  The STEPS eMTB system gives you three pre-set modes to choose from: - Dynamic is the default mode with Boost level set to high, Trail on low and Eco on high. The high Boost offers maximum assistance when you're trying to nail a difficult uphill, low Trail offers control through the tricky bits while still packing a punch when you're pressing hard, and High Eco delivers the perfect balance between extending your range while still being fun and responsive.  - Explorer has both Boost and Trail set to medium. That means you'll feel like you're riding faster than usual, but with improved technical control. Eco is set to high to give assistance on all terrains.  - Custom does exactly what you'd expect - lets you

After years of thinking that the sun will come out if we just wait until tomorrow, it’s finally here. Now that the weather’s looking up, it’s the perfect time to get out on the weekends and go for a long ride. You know, the kind of ride you spend all week looking forward to while sat at your desk, in fact the sort of ride that you’re probably thinking of right now after reading that sentence. But while long, sunny rides are fantastic, it’s not easy to keep your skin protected over such a long time and the last thing you want is to come back sunburned – it’s horrible, uncomfortable and potentially dangerous to your long-term health. That’s why the guys at Premax made their Sports Sunscreen, designed to keep athletes protected from the sun during exercise. First off, the Premax Sports Sunscreen is SPF50+. That means it provides