From folding e-bikes to dozens of MTBs – here’s what we’ve been riding

BikeRadar's week on two wheels

Published: January 30, 2017 at 5:00 pm

Here at BikeRadar we like to welcome the arrival of a shiny new week by celebrating everything that was good about the previous one, namely all the bike riding we did in it. Over the past seven days we’ve covered the full spectrum of riding, with everything from folding electric commuters to getting knee deep in the dirt.

Jamie Beach – Deputy Editor

It’s a fold-E bike!

Credit

This week I’m swinging my leg over something new and a little bit naughty – an ~~electric motorbike~~ electric folding bike. I’ll be adopting the new Tern Vektron for my daily commute to see how it gets on with rush-hour traffic and packed trains. You can read all about it soon.

Joe Norledge – Videographer

Making the most of the grimness

Reuben Bakker-Dyos / Immediate Media

With the weather looking pretty grim over the weekend, Reuben and I decided to hit the roads and head for the hills. All our usual South Bristol favourites were ticked off, with plenty of half wheeling and making each other suffer throughout the ride. Sunday was really grim, but we still managed some productive KMs and even stumbled across a motorbike trial. As ever no ride is complete without a trip to Parsons bakery, and this weekend was no different.

Moto trials you say?

Reuben Bakker-Dyos / Immediate Media

Ben Delaney – US Editor in Chief

Is Raleigh’s Steve Westover (on the gravel bike) laughing at me (on the Ridley behind) as I struggle to stay on his wheel? Yes, I believe he is

Courtesy Road Press Camp

I spent a few days in California at Road Press Camp, test riding FSA’s electronic K-Force WE group, the new Ridley Helium SLX and other new goodies. Where stuff is made was a hot topic, with talk of US and UK protectionist taxes in the news.

Jon Woodhouse – Technical Editor

You meet some strange people in the woods

Jon Woodhouse / Immediate Media

It’s that time of the year when all of our print titles go into overdrive for their massive Bike of the Year tests, so it’s been all hands on deck to get as many bikes ridden as possible. I headed out to the Forest of Dean with the What Mountain Bike crew as they did their best to get some serious testing time on the 20 bikes they’ve shortlisted for the test.

We even managed to coax reclusive Northern tester-man Guy Kesteven out to play ‘dahn sarf’, though he insisted on wearing camouflage in order to keep a low profile. After a load of laps over two days, more swapping than one of ‘those’ parties, almost endless setup tweaking and light arguing, we’d managed to thin the herd out to a top ten that’ll be taken to the far flung shores of Spain for the final shootout.

Matthew Allen – Senior Technical Writer

Hot dam!

Matthew Allen / Immediate Media

I spent two days in deepest, darkest Wales with Rob Moxon of Cycling Plus magazine, trying to find out if an e-road bike can coexist with a regular one. (Conclusion: yes and no, watch this space…) We were riding around Llyn Brianne reservoir and although it was hideously cold, the views were stunning – it’s like a miniature version of the Alps in places, with a side order of Canadian forest.

Russell Eich – Technical Writer

It was seriously chilly at the unofficial fat bike World Champs

Russell Eich / Immediate Media

I went to the second annual Fat Bike Worlds in Crested Butte, Colorado. It was a very unofficial Worlds event with no licensing, lots of beer, and few rules other than racers must be on at least a 3.5-inch tire and roll pressures under 10 psi. Despite brutally cold temps (-27 C / -17 F) in the morning, riders and racers had fun trying out all sorts of fat bikes. I raced both the short track on Thursday and the unofficial Worlds event on Saturday, and am pleased to report that I wasn’t the guy who rode off the groomed track and fell in the creek.

Josh Patterson – US Tech Editor

Getting hassled by salespeople isn’t something I usually look forward to, but like everything else in life, there are exceptions.

On Sunday I returned home from a long road ride to find an army of neighborhood Girl Scouts standing guard outside my house. They were armed with cookies for sale and ready to strike.

These clever girls knew when I couldn’t say no to cookies

Josh Patterson / Immediate Media

Their timing was good, maybe a little too good. They knew when I’d be at my most vulnerable — could they be keeping tabs on my rides with Garmin Live Track?

More likely than hacking into my Garmin, they simply knew an easy mark when they saw one.