Innehållsförteckning för Issue 64 från Cyclist Australia

Hello readers, and we’re very happy to welcome you to another massive issue of Cyclist magazine. As ever, issue 64 is a smorgasbord of stunning rides and photography, gear and bike reviews, pro interviews, training advice and more. Here’s just a small selection of what you’ll find in the pages ahead… We’ve been jetsetting all over the globe of late, enjoying the return of travel after those grim Covid years, and we certainly have no plans to stop – look out for rides in Switzerland, the Canary Islands and the US of A in upcoming issues. However, it was nice to get stuck into some quintessentially Aussie gravel this winter as we tackled the Linville to Nanango loop in Queensland’s Brisbane Valley. Starting (and yes, ending) at the historic Linville…

We all love marginal gains, but Poc has taken it to the next level with the Elicit Ti sunglasses. The Swedish brand’s top-tier ‘frameless’ design uses 3D printed titanium arms instead of the previous version’s plastic to save a whole gram, meaning a pair of these new shades weighs just 22g and, as a result, are Poc’s lightest-ever sunglasses. Yet Poc says weight-saving wasn’t its biggest priority. ‘Our basic development principle was that sustainable materials and performance can and should live side by side,’ says Poc eyewear product manager Tilda Håll. ‘We wanted to challenge conventional thinking and show that there is no need to compromise one for the other.’ To that brief, the Elicit Tis are made from recovered medical-grade titanium, which Poc says can be recycled again and…

Goodyear has forged ahead following its 2018 return to the cycling market with a suite of four new high-performing road tyres. The new range is aimed at riders seeking either ‘ultra-high performance’ or ‘high performance’ (we’ll let you decide what you need) and is the biggest single drop of new tyres from Goodyear. To summarise the new models (in 700x28), there’s the Eagle F1 Supersport (267g, time trial-suitable), Eagle F1 R (290g, road racing), Eagle (313g, all-round road) and Vector Sport (342g, durable). All are tubeless ready or tube-type and with this optionality plus width and colour choices, there are 47 variations across the four models. Australian consumers will first get their hands on the Vector Sport, which the local distributor believes helps to fill a gap in our market.…

As the 77 starters of the 39th Tour de Suisse assembled in Baden on 12th June 1975 for an uphill prologue to Baldegg, there was one key question hanging in the air: how would Eddy Merckx go? It may be surprising that observers would be questioning the prowess of the most successful cyclist of all time before any race, let alone one that he had claimed the previous year. He was also the reigning World Champion, having secured his third rainbow jersey the previous August in Montreal, and had enjoyed one of his finest spring Classics campaigns, winning Milan-San Remo, Amstel Gold Race, Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, as well as claiming podium spots at Paris-Roubaix and Flèche Wallonne within a single month, on top of winning the six-stage Setmana…

Queensland actually gets pretty cold in winter, especially west of Brisbane, where howling, bitter sou’westers freeze dry grass paddocks crisp and white overnight. Camping at Linville, two hours west of the capital, over the June solstice probably wasn’t my brightest idea, especially when it turns out that my $8.50 Kmart blowup mattress has the thermal properties of a block of marble. I’m here with my buddy Eve Conyers, a top MTB and gravel racer, as well as epic adventurer, to take on one of Southeast Queensland’s most revered gravel routes – the Linville-Nanango loop – known for throwing a little bit of everything at riders with plenty of incentives along the way. Having driven a couple of hours from Brisbane on Friday afternoon and had dinner at the historic Linville…

‘We see more and more in modern cycling that there are people capable of doing amazing things in both the Classics and stage races,’ says Elisa Longo Borghini. ‘For me, Tadej Pogačar is one in a million, a born champion. Then you see Wout van Aert – he goes more for stages than the GC, but he still wins a bit everywhere: up Mont Ventoux and then in cyclocross.’ And what about herself? ‘I mean, I’m average in everything, so I’m not a good one.’ Add self-deprecation to her repertoire. Few other riders can compare with Longo Borghini, who has Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders and Strade Bianche at the top of her palmarès. She has stood on the podium at the women’s Giro d’Italia and challenged for the Tour…

For seven years after it launched in 2007, the Scott Addict went largely unchanged. The American/Swiss brand had little reason to tinker with the design as its top-tier race bike kept racking up win after win, first with Columbia-HTC and later with Orica-GreenEdge. Even now, the latest-generation Addict RC ridden by Team DSM is not wholly dissimilar to the original from all those years ago. Throughout its 16-year history, the Addict has been focused firmly on light weight, and the foundations were laid with Scott’s previous super-light race machine. ‘The Addict is a direct result of the CR1, which was 880g in its lightest configuration,’ says Frank Oberle, road product manager at Scott. ‘The road teams were asking for a lighter version, the market was asking for a new version…

First thing’s first: this is the Colnago C68 Road Disc, not to be confused with the C68 Allroad or the soon-to-be-released C68 Gravel. As such, it replaces the C64 (there was only ever one C64) in spirit, although it is quite a departure in design. Each frame is still made in Italy, but tyre clearance jumps from 28mm to 32mm and the famous lugged construction is now more like ‘lugged monocoque’. ‘There are six parts of the frame as opposed to the eight parts in the C64,’ says Colnago’s head of R&D, Davide Fumagalli. ‘Splitting the frame like this meant we could increase the stiffness of the front end, which was compromised by having a junction in the most stressed area of the frame – the top of the down…

One of my darkest moments as a cyclist came years ago on the slopes of the Col du Tourmalet. The struggle that ensued just a few kilometres from the summit was less noble suffering and more undignified scrum. My nemesis was a 10-year-old French boy, whose youth and cunning overwhelmed the supposed wisdom of my middle-age when we found ourselves in pursuit of a cheap plastic keyring that had just been dispensed from the Tour de France publicity caravan. My wife and I had slogged all the way up the mountain on foot from our gîte outside Sainte-Marie-de-Campan (a crack in my top tube putting paid to any thoughts of cycling up). Our strategy for getting the most out of the caravan was simple: pick a stretch of road steep…

When Tadej Pogačar won back-to-back Tours de France in 2020 and 2021, it was aboard a Colnago V3Rs. It would therefore be easy for Colnago to claim that it already has a world-beating bike and that any changes in the next-generation V4Rs would only be minor tweaks, but that’s not how Colnago works. ‘We’re creating bikes for one of the best teams in the world with one of the strongest riders,’ says Colnago digital manager Gabriele Sirtori. ‘It’s not enough to have a great product. We have to keep evolving to try to create the best.’ Such was the desire to provide for Pogačar that it would be fair to say the V4Rs was made first and foremost with the Slovenian in mind, with his input proving essential to the…

The Bike Rakz Ezi Fold is a wall-mounted bike rack (the clue’s in the brand name) designed to hold your bike while contacting nothing but the tyres. All you need to do is roll your bike onto its rear wheel and guide it in. The swivelling arms move 60 degrees in each direction – ‘like turning pages in a book,’ the brand tells us – allowing you to move the bike closer to the wall to save all-important space, and doing so without messing up your nice wall paint. It also comes with five levels of height adjustment, so you can mount the kids’ bikes as easily as your own. The Ezi Fold comes in Small (for tyres less than 2.1” or approximately 53-54mm), Medium (2.1” to 2.8” or approximately…

Published in April last year in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, a study by researchers in Norway has shed some interesting light on training in the heat. A group of cyclists was split into three cohorts: Control (cycling at 19°C in normal kit); Chamber (cycling in a 35°C heat chamber in normal kit); and Suit (cycling in 19°C in heat loss-limiting kit). Each underwent a five-week protocol of 5x 50min training sessions per week, and by the end Suit’s max power had increased by 7.6% and Chamber’s by 1.4%, while Control had maintained. Next, Suit and Chamber were pooled and split into two new groups, heat training cessation (normal kit, 19°C; ‘Heatstop’) and heat training maintenance (heat loss-limiting kit, 19°C; ‘Suitmain’). Both underwent a three-week protocol comprising three sessions…

Why do we breathe? Simply put, we breathe to exchange gases. Oxygen – specifically molecular oxygen, O2 – is key to the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in cells, the energy-carrying molecule responsible for delivering chemical energy to fuel everything from cell division to nervous system signalling to muscle contraction. ATP is the reason you can grow muscles, command chains of kinetic movement and, ultimately, power a bicycle. However, ATP production creates a byproduct – carbon dioxide, or CO2 – which must be expunged, since while CO2 is not toxic to humans per se, it is an asphyxiant, meaning it leaves no room for oxygen molecules. Breathing, and hence our respiratory system, is the key to getting oxygen in and carbon dioxide out. How does breathing work? Oxygen enters the…

The Wahoo Elemnt Roam is everything you’d want in a bike computer. It’s the brand’s most powerful and accurate device yet, and thanks to its powerful smart navigation, is perfect for adventure riding. The colour screen shines brightly even in direct sunlight, and has an extremely long battery life. The button placement is intuitive, navigating between pages is super fast, and the massive 32GB memory means you’re unlikely to have to delete anything off the device, ever. We also love that the Roam comes stock with an integrated out-front mount, which looks very sleek and is super easy to install.…

2007 The Addict launches and is the lightest production frame in the world at 790g. The CR1 is equipped with Campagnolo Record and a Ritchey WCS finishing kit. 2009 Mark Cavendish wins Milan-San Remo, three stages of the Giro d’Italia and six stages of the Tour de France. The Addict racks up 87 wins. 2010 Cavendish wins five stages of the Tour de France and the green jersey at the Vuelta a España on an Addict RC. 2014 The Scott Addict SL is introduced as the world’s first sub-1kg mass-production frameset. A size 54 weighs a claimed 995g. 2016 Launch of the Addict Premium Disc. The addition of disc brakes marks the biggest change since the first iteration, with a new fork and rear triangle. 2016 Scott makes a special…

To download this route, scan the QR code. We started on the edge of Pau on the N134. It’s a major road but not unpleasant. If you’d rather skip it, begin at Gan, 4km south, where the route splits onto the N2134 side road and then the D934. At Louvie-Juzon continue on the D934 for faster progress or take the parallel D240, which is always deserted. Pass through the centre of Laruns and follow signs for the Col d’Aubisque on the D918. Cross the Aubisque and Solour and descend to Argelès-Gazost. Follow signs for Cauterets and Luz-Saint-Sauveur onto the D921. At Luz-Saint-Sauveur follow the D918 over the Col du Tourmalet and descend to Ste-Marie-de-Campan. Turn right and go over the Col d’Aspin, then turn right into Arreau, taking the D618…

The Breed Carbon is Felt’s first carbon gravel bike, and while the brand says it maintains some of the features and ideas learned from the bike’s aluminium predecessor, it would be accurate (if a little cheesy) to say that the new bike is a breed apart. Visually it is vastly different, with its chunky tubes hinting at its premise to prioritise aerodynamics and stiffness over light weight. However, while it may look specific in design, the Breed Carbon is meant to be versatile. To achieve this, Felt has lengthened the chainstays and specced a T47 bottom bracket, which is fast becoming an industry favourite, and whose extra shell width here helps create space for up to 700c x 50mm tyres, or more besides with 650b wheels. The flexibility is there…

The past decade or so has seen a revolution in the way cyclists hone their fitness. We used to ride outdoors in all weather, grimly suiting up with waterproof jackets and booties, and owning a wet-weather bike with entry-level components – cheaper to replace following the inevitable wear from wet days in the saddle. How lucky we are now to have applications that see us ride in controlled environments that resemble and – when it’s raining – surpass riding outside. Any cyclist who loves riding has a smart trainer, and we’re better for it. Rouvy is one of the latest applications helping to bring droves of cyclists indoors, encouraging us to swap the tarmac for a smart trainer. A Rouvy user will see their cycling avatar ride on real roads…

It’s crazy to look at the Vento Omna as a mid-level shoe. Its elegant design, low weight (238g), single Boa system and perforated upper makes it look like it belongs in the top tier of Fizik’s footwear. The nylon outsole provides the biggest clue that the Omna is a slightly more budget-conscious model than Fizik’s other offerings. Nylon has a bit more flex in it than the more expensive carbon-soled shoes, which is a slight performance detractor, although it provides a huge boost in comfort. Pair that with the sole’s large air channels and the Omna is the perfect pair of shoes for those who are geared not towards max speed but rather max comfort – and in that category, the pricetag makes it incredibly appealing.…

Have you been welcomed into the warm, often bearded embrace of gravel? By now you’ve no doubt felt the joy of getting into the great outdoors. From feeling the warm sun on your back to hearing the crunch of dirt under your tyres, finding solitude or bonding with mates, riding gravel can offer a wholly different experience to road. If only the bikes weren’t so sluggish and slow rolling! Here at Cyclist we have reviewed numerous wheelsets across our issues, and you’ll be familiar with the fact that a wheelset upgrade is a key change to add some spring to the step on your steed. And this holds just as true for a gravel bike as it does for a road bike. Lightweight has been the master of incredibly light,…

You can try our Linville to Nanango loop for yourself on FulGaz! Sign up for FulGaz today to access many of our Big Rides, as well as thousands of other routes and climbs from Australia and around the world. Visit fulgaz.com to get started The route we took Scan the QR code to see this ride on Strava. The route is straightforward, heading north-west along the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail out of Linville for 40km, just a couple of clicks outside Yarraman, where you have to have your wits about you to take a right-hand exit from the rail trail onto Noora Road. After a couple of hundred metres you take the first left onto Din Din Road, where you’ll start to see special cycling road signs to Nanango –…

I rode Trek’s carbon gravel bike, the Checkpoint, in the mid-range SL5 model with Shimano GRX mechanical 2x11 componentry. I ran my custom EIE carbon wheelset (1,380g) with 40mm Maxxis Ravagers, silk shield, set up with Tubolight gravel tyre liners front and rear, each weighing just 40g, plus sealant. I kept most of the stock Bontrager parts on the Checkpoint, but swapped out the saddle for a Specialized Power Pro Expert Mimic, 3D printed for all-day comfort and weighing just 230 grams. Overall bike weight was approximately 9.5kg with XTR pedals and ultralight Mt Zoom bottle cages.…

There is no more famous a chain of mountains in cycling than the Circle of Death. More a jagged line than a circle, the chain connects the Col d’Aubisque, Col du Soulor, Col du Tourmalet, Col d’Aspin and Col de Peyresourde, running through the heart of the French Pyrenees. It totals over 5,000m of climbing and a version of this route has featured in the Tour de France an incredible 45 times. To a great extent, the creation of this five-piece was geographically determined – the Pyrenees is a narrow mountain range and if you want to go over the high points, as opposed to around them, this is the only way. Indeed, the Col du Tourmalet made its 90th appearance in the Tour de France this summer, explaining its…

The Timemachine Road 01 is BMC’s dedicated aero-road racer. While the high mountains are usually the preserve of its sibling, the Teammachine, this bike can still hold its own. Think of it as a GC contender in the Bradley Wiggins mould: you’ll buy it for its aero speed, but you’ll be happy to take it on big climbs. To keep things aero, the bottle cages blend into the frame, and the space between them is filled to help with airflow and also provides a handy storage compartment. Naturally, all the cables are hidden, and the cockpit and tube shapes are wind-tunnel-optimised to prevent the air being such a drag. All this focus on aerodynamics hasn’t come at too much of a weight penalty. At 7.88kg the bike is light enough…

1 Colnago C68 Road p134 The legendary Italian marque has given its flagship road bike a thoroughly modern makeover. So is it still classic Colnago on the road? 2 Felt Breed Carbon p138 While Felt’s first attempt at a carbon gravel bike may look extreme, it’s well-rounded with some neat touches that will keep it relevant. 3 Basso Diamante p142 The Italian brand’s new Diamante opts for a classic, rounded shape when so many other bikes are going boxy and chunky. And it rides as good as it looks.…

A Diamante is not forever. This is now the eighth generation of Basso’s climber’s bike, which has been at the heart of the brand for more than 20 years. The latest Diamante’s classic appearance alludes to its heritage, perhaps more so than previous versions, for this newest frameset – despite the switch to exclusively running disc brakes – has been slimmed down, smoothed out and rounded, where many competitors have become more angular and bulky. Basso says this comes out of its own research on how to achieve the best structural performance from the carbon composite to maintain torsional rigidity while reducing weight. An aggressive variant of the Diamante design, the Diamante SV, takes care of the aero road category, so the regular Diamante is free to focus on more…