Cycling Plus UK 02.2022

The greatest
mile-munchers
you can buy

BEST BIKES FOR WINTERfor£1000P30

THE UK’S BEST-SELLING CYCLING MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2022

FITNESS

STRONGER ON TEST

The ultimate advice for building JACKETS
strength and staying injury-free The best thermal tops
for beating the cold
P114 P88

No.1
FOR NEW GEAR

OVER 40 PAGES OF
EXPERT REVIEWS

INSIDE!

I N S P I R AT I O N

GET OUT & RIDE!THEUNMISSABLEEVENTS,ROUTES&DESTINATIONSOF2022

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ISSUE 388 FEBRUARY 2022

HIGHLIGHTS

EVENT HORIZON

44 The best events and rides to get
you excited for the new season

BESPOKED HARROGATE

50 Highlights from Britain’s biggest
handmade bike show

THIN END OF THE WEDGE

58 We examine a hidden health
crisis in our sport

John Whitney
joins the Lincoln
Wheelers on their
125th anniversary

P122

BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 9

ISSUE 388 FEBRUARY 2022 74

30 Kask Wasabi WG11

Best winter
bikes

82

Gloworm X2 (G2.0)

GEAR & BIKE REVIEWS… INSIDE EVERY MONTH…

VIB NEW GEAR Rob Ainsley HUB TRAINING ZONE
has his mind
24 Leaning heavily on its 74 Upgrades including on the gap 14 In The Spin we assess 105 Is an indoor bike that
performance road Kask Wasabi WGII lid, Tour winner Tadej tilts the future of turbo
Sungod Airas sunglasses 22 training? Plus nutrient-
pedigree, Wilier reveals and Gloworm X2 gravel Pogačar’s dominance rich dishes to boost
its Rave SLR all-road/ Norman in the context of an immunity, Andrew
trail front light Lazarus Salmon’s London-to-
gravel bike on ‘V’ only interview he gave to rival Paris experience and
BUYER’S GUIDE: JACKETS Geraint Thomas, plus we a look ahead to 2022’s
BIKE TEST way Gravel Epic events
88 Windproof jackets 110 profile three testing
30 £1000 doesn’t get you might not keep rain out, routes in the Lancashire MASTERCLASS: RECOVERY
as much bike as it once Ned
could, but it remains an but cold, blustery Boulting is town of Clitheroe 114 In our pursuit to ride
weather is what we ride cross at the faster, it’s odd to think
important buying marker. in the most. We test 12 THE BIG RIDE we can achieve this by
We test four of the best internet slowing down. Active
130 122 The Lincoln Wheelers
SUBSCRIBE TODAY & turned 125 this year, recovery is vital to
GET 3 ISSUES FOR £5! which makes them a progress, so we show
you the best recovery
Try 3 issues for £5, then save 36% British-club-scene elder. routines to supplement
We went to meet them
on the shop price, paying £22.99 on their own patch to your road miles
celebrate the occasion
every six issues p102 with bike riding, beers

NEW BIKES BIKE TEST and BBQ

68 Tests of the Cervélo 96 Road-racing legend
R5 Force AXS road race Greg LeMond is back in
the bike business, but not
bike and Felt’s FR with the bike that you
Advanced 105 Disc
might expect…
all-rounder

10 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM



SUBSCRIBE!

NEW SUBSCRIBERS
TO CYCLING PLUS RECEIVE
THEIR FIRST THREE ISSUES

FOR JUST £5 AND
CONTINUE TO SAVE 36%.

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competitions and offers.
Turn to p102

HIGHLIGHTS… IMAGE REMY WHITING

using marker pen on the calendar WISE GREG
just yet. But here’s to a more
expansive year of riding in 2022. A triple Tour de France champ
and victor of the most exciting
Matt Baird, Editor race of all-time. Greg LeMond
is a Mount Rushmore figure of
cycling. And, at 60, the great
innovator is continuing to do just
that in unexpected directions.
We ride his new bike on p96.

RECOVER STRONGER

Given I largely spend my time
sitting on a chair, bike or settee,
it’s no surprise my posture rivals
Quasimodo’s. 2022 will be the
year I correct this, starting with
memorising our Recovery
Masterclass on p114 and actually
warming down after a ride.

GET IN TOUCH…

If you have anything you want
to say, you can chat with us
via @cyclingplus on Twitter,
CyclingPlusMagazine on
Facebook and cyclingplus
on Instagram. And, of course,
you can always email us at
[email protected].
And don’t forget to visit
cyclingplus.com!

Have you ever faced, blurry eyed, into the depths of your wardrobe at stupid AM wondering what
the hell to wear on that cold, wet, drying fast, maybe getting warmer later, cloudy, chance of sun
type day in the knowledge that whatever you end up picking will either be too hot or too cold, or
both, depending whereabouts in the ride you are or how many punctures in a row your mate gets?

Anyway, remove all this unnecessary stress from your daily decision making and just put on the Pro SL
3-Season jacket incorporating a detachable PrimaLoft™ inner gilet – warm enough for all the starts,
stops and re-starts and cool enough, thanks to the Gods Of Serious Venting, to regulate your body

temperature for the entirety of your ride.

endurasport.com

EDITED BY JOHN WHITNEY

14 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM

IMAGE ANDY MCCANDLISH STARMAN

THE BIG PICTURE With the big bike lights’
test in our previous
issue, it got us thinking
about the practical side
of night riding. So we
tasked photographer
Andy McCandlish and
writer Sean McFarlane
to head to the Galloway
Forest Park in southern
Scotland – recognised
by the International
Dark-Sky Association
as a ‘Dark Sky Park’ –
and report back. On a
cold, clear late-autumn
evening, they were
treated to a spectacular
light show on their
gravel ride. A full report
follows next issue.

BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 15

“The conversation
moved into Pogačar
explaining to
Geraint Thomas
how we could
beat him”

THE SPIN that serves as a readying for battle. All that said, every
so often comes an athlete so physically and mentally
FLEX AND EXTEND gifted that all such accoutrements to the business
By revealing how rivals can beat him, Tadej of performing are superfluous complications and
Pogačar underscores just how untouchable he is unnecessary distractions. It’s clear by now that one
such athlete is the 23-year-old, two-time winner of
any of the great rivalries in sport have JOHN WHITNEY the Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar. ILLUSTRATIONS DAVID MAHONEY, MICK MARSTON

M been stirred by the bad blood between DEPUTY EDITOR The UAE Team Emirates rider’s extraordinary
the antagonists. This is the same across physical and mental talents have been demonstrated
all sport, regardless of whether it’s a The longtime Cycling by his two very different yellow jersey wins; the first,
team or solo endeavour. It might be Plus staffer offers his a come-from-behind, last-gasp victory in 2020, and
between two individual sports people, such as in take on all the comments the second, last summer, a lead-from-the-front,
tennis where two compatriot stars of similarly volatile and controversy on demolition job that achieved the back-to-back wins
temperaments, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, that so few first-time winners manage.
erupted over a 14-year, on-court rivalry. In the case the frontline of the
of football’s Barcelona vs Real Madrid ‘El Clásico’, cycling scene Such was his preternatural ability and assuredness
their historic team grudge isn’t carried so much by that in November he appeared on the podcast of
geographical proximity but by a sense of entitlement Geraint Thomas, who remains one of his chief rivals
to a league championship that they’ve both won, a at the Tour de France, with conversation moving
lot. Some of the most bitter feuds in sport have come into Pogačar explaining to Thomas how we could
from within the same team, and are often the most beat him.
damaging. Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome’s feud
at Team Sky festered as a result of very different I’d pay good money to hear what Roy Keane,
personalities chasing the same goal: leadership at the born-again as the world’s most plain-speaking sports
Tour de France. Every so often you simply get sports pundit, would make of it. He’d likely bridle at the
people such as Irish footballer Roy Keane, who chuminess of it all, but Keane watchers know he likes
seemed to operate on a default setting of hostility to all his winners and would have respect for such a brazen
his opponents, a rare but effective method that clearly show of strength. Pogačar’s appearance was one of
served him well throughout a trophy-filled career. playing down his copius abilities – easy to do when
Such rancour, whether real, imagined or you’re untouchable.
manufactured, is fuel for the fire and grist for the mill,
“I was last in my first-ever race,” he said, before
adding that he was three years younger than
everyone else there. “I’m not the best one-day racer
for the Classics,” said the reigning Il Lombardia and
Liège–Bastogne–Liège champion, the two toughest
one-day races for climbers of his ilk. “I can crack
really fast actually,” said the guy who’s scarcely
semi-cracked twice in the last two Tours de France,
both ultimately costing him nothing. “If it happens
that I have a not-so-strong team, then long-range
attacks makes it more difficult for us,” suggested
the leader of a team which has continued to add
talent to its roster for 2022 and has won two
Tours with lesser teams than it will have in the
upcoming season.

Pogačar saved his greatest line for the end of the
interview, when the questionee turned questioner.
“I have a question for G: when are you going to win
something again?” It was said with tongue firmly
in cheek, with cackles all around, but only added
to the sense that this is a rider with a talent and in a
headspace that makes it tough to imagine, barring
a heavy crash or illness, anybody else emerging as
the winner the next time the Tour de France passes
through the Champs-Élysées.

16 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM

TOUEXRPDEERFIREANNCECETHATEMUNOISQPUHEEPRraEgue, June 11, 2022*according to 27K readers of the Time out magazine FullICGpnoradouciupvkpiladegssueaaRstsnlhuaosdfecrfrelogeolrcoiuakfrnolegcdrea:liuonpbugrssos.coitryjuasntdriidt'esthhilrloyugh

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18 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM

WHY YOU NEED

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A compact, classic-looking
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Bergamo-based Limar 04 TORQBLACKFOREST
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BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 19

RIDES

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

CLITHEROE
Rewarding hills and descents
on surprisingly quiet roads

The Forest of Bowland falls mostly in
Lancashire and its open landscape is
wonderful road cycling country. You can
explore Pendle Witch Country, and feel
remote, yet there are pubs, cafes and trendy
bistros just a downhill away. Characterful
Clitheroe, with easy train access, an
indie-shop vibe and a castle, is our base.

ROUTE ONE

TROUGH OF BOWLAND 58 MILES
SCENERY SHOWCASE
Super day of varied views and pleasant
climbs. Visit GB’s centre at Dunsop Bridge
(phonebox), then up the dramatic Trough
over moorland. Ridgetop back south with
vistas (Blackpool Tower in distance!) to
Chipping (cafe, pub). Jeffrey Hill’s summit,
and lanes back.
GET THE ROUTE komoot.com/
tour/551662513

ROUTE TWO

FOREST OF BOWLAND 52 MILES
MOORS MAGIC
Fabulous out-and-back moortop delight
with great views. Through Gisburn Forest
(cafe, bike hub) to Bowland Knotts then
pretty Clapham (pubs, cafes) and back
parallel over moors on more empty roads
(selfie at Great Stone) via Slaidburn.
GET THE ROUTE komoot.com/
tour/551663018

ROUTE THREE

PENDLE HILL 31 MILES
WITCH COUNTRY HALF-DAY
Short, sharp ups and downs on little lanes
with big views in the often wild, intense
cauldron of 17th-century witchcraft trials.
Over Pendle Hill’s nick (panorama) and
along ridgetop before series of witch
villages (statue in Roughlee, shop in
Newchurch, pubs).
GET THE ROUTE komoot.com/
tour/551663659

INSIDER TIPS

STOP FOR CAKES GET SPARE TUBES FANCY A PINT? HAVE BREAKFAST WITH FAMILY? ILLUSTRATION TOM WOOLLEY
PUDDLEDUCKS TEAROOM GREEN JERSEY NEW INN BLUEBERRIES CAFE GISBURN FOREST

Britain’s most central cafe! Excellent local bike shop in By castle: trad-local pub Near castle: well-kept Family-friendly bike trails
Cyclist favourite with good centre. Workshop, quality with good real ale, firesides. cafe with wide, enticing (plus challenging ones) and
coffee, cakes, etc. bikes, club, cafe, bar, etc. Side gate to covered back menu. Open from 8am. hire. Welcoming, good-value
Open 7/7. Open 7/7. courtyard. Open 7/7. Closed Sun, Mon. cafe with bike spares.
WHERE Dunsop Bridge WHERE Clitheroe WHERE Clitheroe WHERE Clitheroe WHERE Gisburn Forest
BB7 3BB BB7 1LY BB7 2JN BB7 2JW BB7 4TS

20 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM

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“A friend skidded
on leaves and
smashed his wrists,
stymieing his
family’s round-the-
world sailing trip”

LIFE CYCLE missed a year’s work. Another was off the bike six
months with head and shoulder injuries after a
TRIP HAZARDS mystery roundabout crash, apparently vehicle-
A recuperating Rob Ainsley wonders about the free; no witnesses, no CCTV, no memory of what
stats on non-traffic-related cycling injuries happened. Another skidded on leaves and smashed
his wrists, stymieing his family’s round-the-world
ou know how they tell you to Mind the ROB AINSLEY sailing trip. Another makes more Strava posts about ILLUSTRATION DAVID MAHONEY, JOE WALDRON
his post-fall physio than most do about rides. All
Y Gap at railway stations? Well, I didn’t. WRITER & JOURNALIST these happened in winter. Ouch.
It wasn’t impatience or carelessness.
I’d stepped off the train with my bike Rob wrote The Bluffer’s It makes you wonder how dangerous road or
to let another cyclist off, and I was Guide to Cycling and gravel-trail cycling is – and I’m talking only
jostling to get back on. The vestibule was packed 50 Quirky Bike Rides, where no vehicles are involved. Skids, tumbles,
– this was the notorious North Wales Coast Line, mechanicals, wheel contact, over-enthusiastic
avoided by sardines because it’s too crowded for and collects international braking, or that one for the road that unfortunately
them. The door beepers were going, the train was End to Ends. Check out proved literal.
running late, staff were shouting to get a move on. his new website:
In the chaos, I slipped. My right leg crashed down e2e.bike I can’t find figures on this. Each year about 10,000
the mystic void between train and platform edge. cyclists are non-seriously injured in road accidents
The protruding step ran a mighty gash down my reported to the police. But as for non-reported ones,
shin, as if a brutal centre-back had tackled me studs- it’s anyone’s guess. So here are mine. Fate, please
up behind the ref’s back. My blood smeared the look away now. In 40 years of more-or-less daily
vestibule like a toddler with a jar of blackberry jam. cycling, I’ve only had scrapes once or twice a decade.
The excellent first-aid guy said an ambulance All were minor: no worse than my Mind-the-Gap
would be six hours. I didn’t fancy cycling to A&E, fail. I’m assuming that actually counts. I wasn’t even
so I continued travelling. The adrenaline and riding. What about ricking your back using those
paracetamol then kicked in so I thought better of stupid new vertical-storage bike-hook closets on
overstretching the NHS (also, the first aider was an trains? Is that a ‘cycling accident’? If so, that would
Afghanistan veteran, which rather put my injuries skew the stats.
in perspective).
Some friends haven’t been so lucky. One slid off Anyway, it suggests a rate of about one incident per
on black ice during a club run, shattered his hip, and 30,000 miles. Not too bad. My casualty rate for other
activities is worse. Kitchen knife mishaps: about one
sliced finger per 1,000 onions. Twisted ankles hill-
walking: about one per 500 miles. Broken bones
playing football: about one per goal scored (not
counting own goals). The organisation Cycling UK
says gardening’s more dangerous per hour than
cycling. I wouldn’t know; I’ve never done any. Best
steer clear of ladders, horizontal rakes or secateurs.

My friends’ tales of woe were distressing. Not now,
obviously. They’re fully recovered, so we tease them
about it: tragedy plus time equals comedy. But hang
on: in my circle, there are at least a hundred regular
day-ride or about-town cyclists and almost all do it
without incident. So the nasty-injury-per-year rate
for cyclists of regular mileages looks only a few per
cent. That’s pretty low. Or is it? I’m not sure.

What I am sure about is that I get steadily more
cautious as I get older. No more downhills that bust
40mph. Now I back off at 30. Once I blasted through
deep puddles for fun. Now it’s the wary option round
the side. Avoiding ice was something I did only in
whisky bars. Now I take a frost-dodging route in the
afternoon thaw. Minding the Gap next time might
help too. Safe cycling this winter, everyone.

22 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM



VERY IMPORTANT BIKE

Wilier Rave SLR

£8,680 Classic Italian marque’s new carbon all-road-
cum-gravel machine

he Wilier Rave SLR is an all-new, great deal heavier than the Filante SLR’s claimed

T highly versatile bike designed frame weight of 870g.
for all-road and gravel riding. When it comes to geometry, Wilier says
Heavily inspired by the Italian
it started with its established road race bike

brand’s performance road bikes, geometry then introduced aspects of its gravel

the Rave SLR ups tyre clearance to 42mm and and endurance geometries. The result is a

blends racing with gravel geometries. 71-degree head tube and 74-degree seat tube

It will be available in three all-road setups – for a size medium. Compared to its road race

with Shimano’s new Dura-Ace R9200, Shimano bikes, Wilier has also increased stack height and

Ultegra R8100 12-speed or SRAM Force reduced reach on the Rave SLR to provide

eTap AXS – and three gravel builds, a more comfortable fit.

giving you the choice of 1x SRAM SPECIFICATIONS At 42mm, the Rave SLR’s tyre clearance
XPLR eTap AXS, Campagnolo’s 13-speed isn’t super generous. This doesn’t strike
Campagnolo Ekar and a 2× Shimano GRX WEIGHT 7.87kg (L) us as abnormal considering the emphasis
Di2 setup. FRAME Carbon is on the faster, racier end of the gravel
monocoque HUS Mod

The least expensive bike, shown here, FORK Carbon spectrum. If you’re looking for more
is built with Campagnolo Ekar, a carbon monocoque HUS Mod tyre clearance, Wilier’s Jena gravel bike
bar and Campagnolo Shamal wheels, GEARS Campagnolo overall has greater clearance.
and will set you back £8,680. The priciest Ekar 1x13, 40, 9-42
model, with Shimano Dura-Ace R9200, BRAKES Campagnolo Beyond construction, the Rave SLR
Ekar hydraulic disc, frame has other nods to Wilier’s top race

costs £11,350. 160mm rotors bikes, including internal cable routing,

All of them feature the same carbon WHEELS Campagnolo a D-section seatpost and the same clamp
fibre frameset. Wilier says the Rave Shamal Carbon 21 design as the 0 SLR.
frameset uses the same construction FINISHING KIT J-Bar
as Wilier’s Filante SLR aero road bike integrated carbon The bike is built around Mavic’s Speed
and its lightweight 0 SLR, which sees bar and stem, Rave Release thru-axle System. This means
carbon fibre mixed with liquid crystal the thru-axle doesn’t have to be removed
SLR custom completely from the hub body and is
seatmast, Prologo

polymers to create what the brand claims Dimension AGX said to reduce wheel-changing time by
is a lightweight and reactive frame. The saddle, 700x38 seven seconds. Speedy wheel changes
result is a claimed weight of 950g for the Vittoria Terreno Dry and less hassle with thru-axles isn’t to be
frame and 415g for the fork. This isn’t a folding tyres shrugged at, even if you’re not racing.

01 02 03

Named after Mt Ekar, Campag’s Wilier’s Rave SLR has the The Rave SLR’s Mavic Speed
1x Ekar is claimed to be the same D-section seatpost and Release thru-axles make wheel
world’s lightest gravel groupset clamp as its 0 SLR road bike changes seven seconds quicker!

24 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM

WILIER RAVE SLR VIB

“The frameset uses the
same construction as the
Filante SLR road bike,
mixing carbon fibre with
liquid crystal polymers”

BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 25

CAFE CULTURE

CAKE STOP

SPOKE CC,
STEVENAGE

A quirky rural cafe and wonder what the pigs would think of it all… SATISFIED CUSTOMERS “Best bike place
spokecycles.cc there is! Great
workshop where the atmosphere and
SIGNATURE DISH great food/drinks”
staff ooze enthusiasm Sourdough cheese toastie £3 C Patrick P

and expertise SHOWSTOPPER “Quirky and
Weekend special homemade cake very friendly...
ention Stevenage and most (varies) £3 super-friendly
staff and lovely
M people think of the New I’M A COFFEE SNOB, HOW’S THEIR hot chocolate
Town’s 1960s urban- FLAT WHITE? brownies!”
cycleway network, and its Top class, from Campervan Coffee Co M Ramandaj
underpasses. But the gentle £2.70
Hertfordshire landscape around it is fine “Spoke is unique
cycling territory. A destination stop for KEY STRAVA SEGMENT and a great find”
many club- and day riders from Luton, Climb to the Sue Ryder turn, 1,260 Bomb Bay
Hitchin, Watford and north London is yards (1,152m), average grade 3.6%,
Spoke CC: a countryside cycle cafe a couple elevation gain 135ft (41m), 58,002 “Amazing staff,
of miles out of town, with a workshop that attempts by 10,182 people superb coffee and
does fits and builds as well as repairs. the best lemon
It’s not bad for a former pig shed. Cafe KOM Douglas Coleman 1.57, drizzle cake”
manager Poppy’s family own the farm of 20/07/2014 Uta Jenny
which Spoke’s spacious hut is a part. It
started as a bike shop in 2017; the cafe QOM Bethany Hayward 2.13,
was added in 2019, and lockdown was an 10/09/2014
opportunity to expand the cafe and
workshop space.
They’re proud of their workshop
(“probably the largest and best-equipped
workshop in the area”) and of their van-
bar. This vehicle sits inside the cafe,
supplying Belgian beers next to the
counter, but sometimes heads out, serving
coffee at events such as the Smithfield
Nocturne. Poppy and co also wax lyrical
about their locally supplied bread, milk
and cheese, and events such as their
regular Wednesday gravel rides. We

GOT A FAVOURITE CAKE STOP? Let us know on [email protected] WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY Rob Ainsley

26 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM



WE ARE IMMENSELY PROUD TO LAUNCH JK9
Our new cycling collection in partnership with
Jason Kenny, winner of 9 Olympic Medals
and Britain’s most decorated Olympian.
The kit is designed with the aim of
making cycling more accessible
and enjoyable to all!



30 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM

BIKE TEST

GRAND
DESIGNS

BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 31

ast month we looked rim brakes. But Cannondale has Any of these bikes in Coventry, and the price also
plenty of experience of building will provide includes a personal bike-fitting
L at four electric aluminium frames and its racy weekend fun as session and Oxford Bike Works’
bikes for those of us 105-equipped Optimo has to be well as daily duties comfort guarantee, so you can
returning to work. fast, it’s red after all, so after a change the contact points if you’re
This time around, week of sharp commuting you can YOUR TESTERnot getting on with them. It’s also
we’re putting human-powered join your weekend chain gang or available with a flat bar, plus it
bikes to the test. All of them are club run, where its mudguard- can double as a light tourer.
suitable for commuting, but each compatibility may come in handy.
can also be used for much more SIMON WITHERS
than the daily grind to work. Their Spa Cycles’ Wayfarer is a full-
aspirations take in leisure riding, on tourer that will cope when SENIOR TECHNICAL WRITER
fast fitness and perhaps even racing the tarmac runs out. So if your
ambitions, plus loading up for trips commute is predominantly Simon has been
away. But which is right for you and unsurfaced, this one may be for testing bikes for 25
the sort of cycling you do? you. You can also load it up for years and he reckons he has
Our first bike, Forme’s Monyash holiday adventures. It’s weighty, something like 250,000
2, is modestly priced but is every yes, but low gears help counteract riding miles in his legs. He has
inch – or millimetre – the modern this and super-wide tyres promise toured extensively in Asia
aluminium road bike, from its grip and comfort. and Australia and used to
thru-axles and full-carbon tapered compete in time trials
fork to its clearance for 35mm tyres. Last, but not least, the Oxford and triathlons.
Our second entry is the most Bike Works Model 1E is perhaps
familiar, or would have been a the most dedicated commuter
decade ago, when aluminium road bike here and, while it may look
bikes cheerfully sported calliper slightly modestly specced for its
price, its steel frame is handmade

32 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM

BIKE TEST

JARGON THE BIKES ON TEST...
BUSTER
FORME MONYASH 2 CANNONDALE CAAD
FILLET BRAZING £899.99 OPTIMO 1 £1200

Most of today’s steel Forme’s Monyash 2 promises Cannondale has been making
bike frames are TIG a balance of comfort and its CAAD – Cannondale
(tungsten inert gas)- performance from its aluminium Advanced Aluminium Design –
welded, a process that frame, carbon fork and 28mm bikes since the early nineties.
heats the filler and frame tyres – with room for 35mm tyres. This model comes with a slightly
tubes. Brazing is a lower- Its all-round and commuting sloping top tube, dropped
temperature process credentials are boosted by three seatstays and an 11-speed
that uses a bronze or sets of bottle bosses and rear Shimano 105 groupset with an
silver rod that creates a rack mounts. It has internal cable 11-30 cassette. But traditionalists
fillet. A brazed joint will routing, cable disc brakes and an can take heart from the calliper
weigh slightly more but eight-speed Claris groupset, and rim brakes, cabling that isn’t all
is arguably stronger and, its handmade wheels are paired internally routed and tyres that
when sanded down, it with Schwalbe tyres. are a fairly modest 25mm width.
can look very smooth.
SPA CYCLES OXFORD BIKE WORKS
DUAL PISTONS WAYFARER £1400 MODEL 1E £1440

Disc brakes work by This is a full-on tourer with This simple, commuter-
pistons pushing a brake a handmade Reynolds 725 cum-light tourer has an
chromoly steel frame, a triple elegant, handbuilt steel frame
block against the chainset – rarely seen outside the with super-smooth brazing, a
rotating disc rotor. In touring firmament – full-length powder-coated finish and
a dual-piston design, mudguards and front and rear internal rust proofing. Gearing
Tubus racks for trips away. comes courtesy of 1x 10-speed
both pistons push Shimano Sora is at the heart of Shimano Deore with a bar-end
independently against the gearing and TRP’s familiar shifter while braking is via
the rotor; in a single- Spyre C cable disc brakes do the Shimano V-brakes. This
piston design only one of stopping. Handbuilt wheels and promises comfy commuting
the pistons is actuated. wide Panaracer GravelKing tyres over poor roads with some
The dual-piston design can handle unsurfaced roads. added touring chops.

is likely to offer BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 33
better braking.

CHROMOLY STEEL

This high-tensile steel
is stronger and lighter
than standard ‘1020’

carbon steel.

THE RATINGS
EXPLAINED

+++++

EXCEPTIONAL

A GENUINE CLASS LEADER

++++

VERY GOOD

ONE OF THE BEST YOU CAN BUY

+++

GOOD

IT’LL DO THE JOB VERY WELL

++

BELOW AVERAGE

FLAWED IN SOME WAY

+

POOR

SIMPLY PUT, DON’T BOTHER

FORME MONYASH 2 WE SAY...

Try it if you want to
upgrade from a pure
commuter bike to a

speedier model

£899.99 Budget aluminium all-rounder with a fine range of features

n contrast to the Cannondale family-owned distributor Moore Large. After a

I that’s coming up, Forme’s quiet spell it has launched some new bikes for
new Monyash 2 is much more
representative of a 2022 all- 2021-2022 and it describes the Monyash as “the
round road bike costing around a
grand. It has an aluminium frame, a full-carbon machine to reach for when heading out on an
fork, cable disc brakes, front and rear thru-axles
and a 34x32 bottom gear. Its all-rounder epic, a Sunday club run or even a fast commute”,
credentials are evident in its clearance for
35mm tyres – or 32mm with mudguards – plus so it’s absolutely spot on for this test.
its three sets of bottle bosses and rear rack
bosses. Fittings for mudguards mean you won’t Of the four test bikes, this
be fiddling around to mount them either.
The sub-£1000 price means you’re only SPECIFICATIONS is the one that surprised me
getting Shimano’s eight-speed Claris groupset most. Forme has less pedigree
and quite modest Tektro Mira brakes but Forme WEIGHT 10.18kg(56cm) than Cannondale and Spa and
does spec a better set of wheels than you’ll find FRAME 6061 less exclusivity than Oxford,
on many bikes at this price, and the handbuilt aluminium but it has still put together a
own-brand hoops are paired with some quality bike that’s a real treat to ride.
tyres too, in the form of 28mm Schwalbe One FORK Full carbon,
tubeless-ready rubber. tapered steerer
Forme – pronounced ‘form’ rather than ‘for
me’ – is the bike brand of the long-established GEARS Shimano It’s a pretty firm ride, but not
Claris 50/34, 11-32 uncomfortable, and you could
BRAKES Tektro Mira easily build in more plushness
cable disc, 160mm by upping the tyre width, as the
Schwalbes only measure a shade
rotors over 26mm when fitted. If I was
WHEELS Forme alloy,

24-spoke

TOP The Tektro Mira cable disc FINISHING KIT Forme buying this I’d go to 30 or 32mm
brakes are powerful enough alloy bar, stem and tyres to soften the ride a little,
ABOVE The handlebar tops are seatpost, Schwalbe and maybe go for something like
a little skinny front-to-back One 700x28c tyres Schwalbe’s G-Ones for extra grip

34 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM

BIKE TEST

The full-carbon fork with
tapered steerer delivers

precise handling and
accurate steering

HIGHS

on unsurfaced tracks, while still allowing you Pleasing handling; The brakes are Tektro ALSO CONSIDER...
to fit mudguards. fittings for bottles, Mira cable discs with 160mm
racks and ’guards rotors. They are only a single-
You do feel rougher road surfaces through the
frame and the handlebar tops, which are quite LOWS piston design but I found the
skinny front to back; I prefer fatter bar tops braking smooth, consistent
ideally with a bit of ovalising for long-distance Skinny bar tops;
comfort. But the Monyash is pretty light for the
price and you only really notice its 10kg weight average brakes; only and powerful enough, with A LITTLE MORE
when things start to get steeper. The full-carbon
fork with tapered steerer delivers precise four frame sizes only the merest whisper of a FORME MONYASH 1
handling and accurate steering, but this has a £1299.99
shallower head angle than a full-on road bike so BUY IF... squeal on occasions. And the
it never gets too lively. The result is pleasingly other advantage of disc brakes Add £400 and you’ve
neutral handling that’s ideal for long commutes, You want a over the rim brakes on the jumped up the Shimano
fitness and social riding (with mudguards commuter-cum- Cannondale and Oxford, is groupsethierarchy to
fitted, of course…). fitness bike that your rims should last 11-speed105,though the
frame,forks, brakesand
I’m a big fan of Shimano’s budget groupsets a good deal longer. wheelsarethe same. Shame
and the Forme’s eight-speed Claris gearing the brakesaren’tdual-piston,
worked as well as I’ve come to expect. The shifts I had no complaints about quality of ride but the price is still fair.
across the cassette to a smaller sprocket (higher
gear) are clunkier than you’ll find on Shimano’s either. It’s a little heavier than the Cannondale, A LITTLE LESS
higher-spec groupsets, and it’s also a bit more
of an effort shifting to the big chainring, but it’s but once you’re up to speed, it rolls smoothly, FORME LONGCLIFFE
a groupset that should give you years of hassle- £674.99
free service. With only eight ratios, there are comfortably and confidently. Forme’s Monyash
some quite big jumps between gears, especially The Longcliffe hasthesame
with the lowest gears, but the 34x32 bottom gear would make an excellent choice if you’re drivetrain with wide-ranging
is much lower than you’d have got a few years gears asour test bike, but this
ago. I’d still prefer a one-to-one ratio 34x34 for upgrading from a bike-shaped object and one’s very much the entry-
that bit more help on hills. level roadbike ratherthana
looking for your first ‘serious’ bike, whether wider-tyred all-rounder. The
claimedweight of10.4kgisn’t
for commuting, fitness riding or more. It looks bad for a bike at this price.

pretty good too for a budget bike, with the BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 35

designers not going overboard with the paints.

THE VERDICT

Well-priced, versatile all-roader for
commuting, fitness riding and more

CANNONDALE CAAD OPTIMO 1 WE SAY...

Add mudguards to
this road bike and
you’ve got a speedy

commuter

£1200 Race-ready road bike with a mudguard-ready frameset

n many ways Cannondale’s we tested in issue 385, with the Cannondale

I CAAD Optimo is a throwback being marginally the racier of the two. The
to bikes from a decade or so ago
– an aluminium frame and a 54cm frames have similar head and seat tube
carbon fork accompanied by a
predominantly Shimano 105 drivetrain. Disc angles close to a classic 73 degrees, and similar
brakes? Nowhere to be seen. But look a bit
further and the newest incarnation of the length top tubes – 546mm
Optimo road bike has followed at least a few
more recent trends in road-bike design. Gearing for the Cannondale, 552mm
is lower than you’d have found a while back,
the tyres a fraction wider and the seatstays SPECIFICATIONS for the Specialized – but the
have inevitably been dropped for extra rear-
end comfort. WEIGHT 9.3kg (54cm) Cannondale’s head tube is more
Just a couple of years ago, a 105-equipped FRAME SmartForm than a centimetre shorter and
road bike from Trek, Specialized or Cannondale its stack 15mm lower. In spite
was yours for a grand. Sadly those days are now C2 aluminium of this racier edge, the Optimo
receding in the rear-view mirror, and the £1200 FORK CAAD Optimo does have fittings and clearance
cost of the Cannondale is actually £50 less than full-carbon tapered for mudguards – with a very
you’d pay for similarly equipped road bikes with GEARS Shimano
rim brakes from both Trek and Specialized. 105, 50/34 FSA
When it comes to geometry, the Optimo is
pretty similar to that of the Specialized Allez chainset, 11-30 neat chainstay bracket – though
BRAKES Tektro with the 25mm Vittoria tyres
Quartz rim callipers actually measuring 26mm, any
WHEELS RS 2.0 rims, mudguards will be a tight fit.
Formula hubs
FINISHING KIT The riding position still
Cannondale 3 stem, isn’t that extreme – you’re not

TOP The 11-30 cassette should give bar and seatpost, riding nose to the stem – but
you an adequate choice of gears Cannondale Stage CX the Cannondale’s handling is
ABOVE It’s rim brakes for this bike, saddle, 25mm Zaffiro pin-sharp and the acceleration
plus dropped seatstays for comfort decent, even with quite modest
Pro Slick tyres

36 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM

BIKE TEST

The Canondale’s handling
is pin-sharp, and the

acceleration decent, even
with quite modest tyres

HIGHS

wheels and tyres. And I reckon those dropped Fast-handling used to feature on its Optimo ALSO CONSIDER...
seatstays really do help the riding experience frameset; decent bikes. Not now. The 2022
as I had no discomfort through the saddle, even Optimo bikes come with an
when riding on unsurfaced grit tracks. I also comfort
found the own-brand saddle itself comfortable
and unobtrusive, which is exactly what you LOWS FSA MegaExo threaded bottom
want. This bike’s certainly comfortable enough bracket that will be easy for
for commutes on tarmac where, once you hit Basic wheels and
your cruising speed, you’ll be able to keep it
with minimal effort. The stiff frame proved a tyres; not a complete the home mechanic to replace, A LITTLE MORE
good climber too, either in or out of the saddle.
105 groupset was free of squeaks and squeals CANNONDALE SYNAPSE 1
While Shimano’s excellent 105 components £1500
are at the heart of things, in keeping with a lot BUY IF... during testing and is likely
of bikes at this price, you don’t get quite the full to stay that way. I would like Thisendurance road bike has
groupset. This Optimo has an FSA chainset and You want a quality, to have seen Cannondale go afull-carbonfork with athru-
Tektro calliper rim brakes. Shifting across the sharp-handling modern with a wide-ranging axle. The 10-speed Tiagra
chainrings was accurate and the R741 brakes road bike with 11-34 or 11-32 cassette, but the groupsetincludes hydraulic
are one of Tektro’s higher-end offerings and disc brakes with 160mm
around 40g per brake lighter than 105, and the rim brakes rotors. You also get a wide-
braking was very good: up there with the power ranging11-34 cassette and
and control of the 105 equivalents. There was no 11-30 still offers a lower bottom 30mm tyres.
flex from a skeleton design that resembles that
of SRAM’s rim brakes, with a bracing triangle gear than you’d have found a few years ago. A LITTLE LESS
providing extra stiffness. The braking may
not be as powerful as disc braking – especially There are a lot of riders who don’t want disc CANNONDALE CAAD
hydraulic discs – but if you’ve had decades using OPTIMO 4 £800
rim brakes, these are absolutely fine. brakes or the option of fitting 35mm tyres on
Theentry-level CAAD
As for the bottom bracket, well, Cannondale their road bikes, and Cannondale’s Optimo Optimo has the same frame
was one of the drivers behind the far from andforkas ourtest bike
universally loved BB30 bottom bracket, which is a fine choice if that includes you. None of and the same eight-speed
Claris groupset as the
us knows how much longer manufacturers Forme ontestwhile the
rim calliper brakes are
will even make bikes with rim brakes, but Promax RC-452s.

in the meantime we’ll still be able to enjoy BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 37

the likes of Cannondale’s dynamic, fast-

handling Optimo.

THE VERDICT

A fine all-rounder that would make
a great first fast road bike

SPA CYCLES WAYFARER WE SAY...

A quality, comfy
tourer that’s perfect
for commuting on
rougher surfaces

£1400 A day-to-day bike and tourer in one well-equipped package

long with Thorn, Spa is probably gear, which you’ll need if you’re hauling kit

A Britain’s leading supplier of over hills. And if its 28x34 bottom gear isn’t low
touring bikes. It flogs tourers
from the likes of Ridgeback enough – and for loaded expedition touring you
and Surly, but also its own Spa-
designed tourers, including the ‘expedition- can never go too low – Spa can
focused’ Wayfarer that ‘provides the ultimate in
luggage-carrying capability’. But the qualities spec your chainset of choice.
that make it a touring bike – comfort, racks,
full-length mudguards – are equally handy SPECIFICATIONS I tested the Wayfarer over my
when it comes to commuting and leisure riding.
The Wayfarer is based around a very well- WEIGHT 14.29kg former commutes – 12 miles
finished Reynolds 725 frame, with three sets of
bottle bosses and handbuilt wheels. Gearing is (54 long) mostly on towpath and 16 miles
from nine-speed Shimano Sora, which is one FRAME Reynolds 725 on a surfaced Sustrans route – as
of my favourite groupsets, with Spa’s own well as longer, loaded days out.
triple chainset. chromoly steel It proved an exceptionally able
Triples are rarely seen outside of touring these FORK Chromoly steel companion at all times.
days and while there will be some redundant GEARS Shimano Sora,
ratios, the small gaps between gears mean you Spa XD-2 48/38/28,
can keep a smooth and consistent cadence,
which is what you want for distance riding. It 11-34 Apart from dynamo lights and
also gives you a high top gear and a low bottom
BRAKES Tektro TRP a kickstand, either of which you
Spyre cable discs could go for, the Wayfarer has
WHEELS Kinlin XR26 pretty much all you could need
RTS rims, Bitex for touring – or commuting, or
getting half a week’s shopping.
106 hubs
FINISHING KIT FSA

Wing Compact bar, Yes, it is a bit of a weighty

TOP Brooks’ rubber-topped FSA Omega 168, beast, but a little extra weight
Cambium C17 saddle works well Brooks Cambium C17 is really neither here nor there
ABOVE There are plenty of gears, saddle, 700x50c on a touring bike, and we rated
thanks to the triple chainset Panaracer tyres Genesis’s similarly weighty Tour

38 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM

BIKE TEST

The Spa’s tubeless-ready
wheels are an absolute
highlight, handbuilt to
a high standard

HIGHS

de Fer 30 very highly when we tested it recently. Quality steel frame; and comfortable. The riding ALSO CONSIDER...
Far more important when carrying kilograms of comfort; quality position is upright and the FSA
kit are comfort and reliability. If you’re halfway Wing bar – with its slightly
across the Gobi desert, you don’t want your wheels
frame failing.
LOWS flattened tops – is excellent
Reliability and ease of servicing are also the for long-distance comfort.
thinking behind the TRP Spyre C brakes. They Slightly weighty;
don’t have the power and ultra-light action of
hydraulics, but I know what system I’d feel more limited clearance You’re not going to fly up hills, A LITTLE MORE
comfortable fettling in Faisalabad or repairing
in Rawalpindi, and it’s not the hydraulic system. with 50mm tyres but drop into the bottom gear SPA CYCLES TI TOURER
The Spyres are a dual-piston system and braking £1850
is controlled and powerful enough, and better BUY IF... and you can sit in the saddle
than the Tektro Mira single-piston discs on and spin. Upthe ante a little and you
the Forme. You want a bike for can get yourselfone ofthe
everyday transport The Spa’s front and rear Tubus mostaffordable titanium
The Spa’s tubeless-ready wheels are an plus big adventures racks will take more weight touring bikes around. Other
absolute highlight, handbuilt to a high standard than I could comfortably haul, than that it’s a very similar
and paired with quality Schwalbe tyres. The build to the steel tourer, from
50mm-wide rubber coped well with broken and if you’re using the Wayfarer for the daily the handbuilt wheels to the
road surfaces, towpaths and gritted surfaces wide-range gears and brakes.
and would be ideal if your riding regularly commute, you could lose the front rack, keeping
takes in such terrain, as well as for touring in A LITTLE LESS
the back of beyond. For day-to-day riding, I’d it for bigger adventures. The saddle is another
probably drop down to slightly narrower tyre, SPA CYCLES 725 STEEL
especially as the Schwalbes are a very, very tight touring classic: a Cambium C17 from Brooks. TOURER £1225
fit with the mudguards, even if the front guard
is designed to pull away from the hub if a foreign I’ve never been a huge fan of Brooks’ leather This isvery similar to our test
body is trapped between the tyre and guard. bike, with a Reynolds725
saddles, but I got on very well with the rubber- steel frame,Soragears and
The ride is everything you’d expect from Spa’s owntriple chainset, but
a steel tourer with ride rubber: sumptuous topped, nylon-hulled Cambium, which I found this hasmuchslimmertyres
thantheWayfarer,and Tektro
supportive without being overly firm – exactly RX6mini V-brakes, rather
than disc brakes.
what you want.
BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 39
In fact, there’s very, very little that I could

fault the Wayfarer on.

THE VERDICT

High-quality steel tourer that copes
with poor surfaces superbly

OXFORD BIKE WORKS MODEL 1E WE SAY...

The 1E is iightweight
and comfortable
with an upright
riding position

£1440 Handmade, light steel tourer with all-round aspirations

xford Bike Works’ Model 1E is and the Oxford’s braking was actually very

O the company’s least-expensive good, with excellent power and control and no
model and one of two steel bikes
in this test. And while Spa’s squealing, in both the £1299 flat- and drop-
frame is made in Far East, Oxford
proudly claims that its chromoly steel frames bar configurations the bike is
are made in the UK, by Coventry’s well-
respected Lee Cooper Cycles. This ups the cost of offered in.
the bike, but the frame is lovely, foregoing the
usual TIG-welding for a super-smooth fillet- SPECIFICATIONS Richard from Oxford Bike
brazed construction. The frame and fork have
fittings for racks and mudguards and there’s WEIGHT 13.28kg Works says he uses V-brakes
also a kickstand plate.
Steel, that most venerable of frame materials, FRAME Fillet-brazed because it means you don’t have
is paired with a mix of components that chromoly steel to overbuild the fork and lose the
spans the last few years. There’s a modern 1x FORK Steel springiness and comfort of steel.
chainset with a choice of chainring sizes, but BRAKES Shimano If you’re set on disc brakes, these
gear changes come courtesy of an old-school are available for an extra £200.
bar-end shifter and braking is taken care of by BR-T4000 V-brakes
the now rarely seen V-brakes. I set off on my GEARS Shimano Deore
first ride with a sense of trepidation. But then
I remembered that even within my lifetime, 36, 11-42 Don’t worry about the length
V-brakes were once seen as a genuine upgrade,
WHEELS Zac 2000 of our bike’s steerer. Oxford
front rim, Exal LX17 doesn’t have a huge fleet so we
rear, Shimano RS-300 didn’t cut the steerer, but if
front, Deore LX rear you were to buy one, it would
FINISHING KIT Cinelli be cut to length after a bike-
bar, RaceFace stem,

Ergotec seatpost, fitting session that is included

TOP The saddle is more padded than Terry Fisio Gel in the cost. Being such a small
many, but wasn’t a problem saddle, 700x32c company – Richard tells us it has
ABOVE The head tube has a metal Panaracer Pasela ‘one and a half’ staff – means
badge, but it’s stickers for the frame ProTite tyres Oxford can’t offer some of the

40 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM

BIKE TEST

It’s everything you’d
expect of a chromoly steel

bike with wide tyres and
touring-friendly geometry

HIGHS

services that multinational manufacturers can, Handmade British a larger chainring, for loaded ALSO CONSIDER... A LITTLE MORE
but it can provide a few personal touches. frame; quality touring I’d go smaller still. But
wheels; well- for the great majority of my OXFORD BIKE WORKS
In addition to the bike fitting, you get some chosen kit testing, the gearing was fine, MODEL 1 £1589
limited kit choices on the 1E, with much more
customisation possible on Oxford’s more LOWS just occasionally spinning out This is verysimilar tothe
expensive bikes. But you do get a year-long Model 1Einits flat-barguise,
‘comfort guarantee’, so if you don’t get on with Slightly weighty; on descents. but instead of our testbike’s
the saddle, stem or bar, you can swap them. stripped-back1xsetup,it has
And while Oxford can’t offer a Bike2Work tax limited gear range; The components are well aShimanotriple chainset.
break, it does offer its own high-interest Choose the44/32/22version
savings scheme. budget decals chosen throughout, with little and you’ll getasuper-low
touring-friendly 22x34 ratio.
But what of the ride? Well, it’s everything BUY IF... sign of cost-cutting. In addition
you’d expect of a chromoly steel bike with to the brakes, chainring and A LITTLE MORE AGAIN
supple 32mm-wide tyres and slack, touring- You want to do a Deore rear derailleur, both hubs
friendly geometry. It’s smooth, comfortable and wide range of riding are also from Shimano and, OXFORD BIKE WORKS
shock absorbing with an upright riding position MODEL 2 £1889
that put no strain on our back. This regal with the cabling all externally routed, even the
position is great for both seeing and being seen, TheReynolds 525-framed
with the slightly ovalised handlebar tops comfy vaguely competent home mechanic should be model 2goesfurther upthe
for long commutes and big days out. I thought Shimano hierarchy to Deore
the Terry men’s saddle would feel overly padded, able to cope with most of the spannering. And XTwitha triple10-speed
but actually I got on with it very well. chainsetor withan 11-speed
rounding out a well-considered package are doublechainsetas aspecial
I’d say the tyres are just about the right width order.A braking option is
for light touring, commuting and general riding, a kickstand – very handy for loaded touring Magura’s hydraulic V-brakes.
offering comfort on smooth and unsurfaced
routes and decent grip on towpaths, light gravel – full-length mudguards and a beautiful- A LOT MORE
and broken country lanes. The single chainring
will always offer a limited gear range and our sounding brass bell. One of my very few OXFORD BIKE WORKS
36-tooth chainring and 11-42 cassette offer a EXPEDITION BIKE£2359
23-88in range; for flatter, faster riding I’d go for criticisms is that, while the head tube sports a
Wantto explore the world?
proper metal badge, the frame decals are just Oxford’sExpedition machine
is availablewith itsfavourite
clear sticky plastic, but that’s aesthetic rather V-brakesor you can upgrade
todiscbrakes. Itcomes with
than practical. front andrearracks, tough
26inwheelsanda Shimano
THE VERDICT 8-speed triple drivetrain.

High-quality, British-built light BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 41
touring steel all-rounder

Spa’s Wayfarer will
carry kilos of kit for
adventures, or a change
of clothes and your
laptop for commuting

AND THE WINNER IS...

SPA WAYFARER

Quality steel bike that will expand your riding horizons

t’s hard to choose a winner when Forme’s Monyash is similar in many ways THANKS TO
but is more of an all-roader than a full-on OUR SPONSORS...
I each of the bikes has slightly road bike, and it will appeal to a wide variety
different riding aspirations and of riders, thanks to its comfort on tarmac and
there’s quite a difference in price the clearance for wider tyres that will let you
between some of them, but any explore further afield. This was the surprise
of the four would make a fine commuter bike, package for me.
so it’s more about your needs. Since both the
Forme and Cannondale are recognisable as Oxford’s bike is a real treat, a regal commuter-
aluminium-framed road bikes, there’s probably cum-light tourer with a beautifully understated
the biggest Venn diagram crossover between steel frame, quality wheels and tyres and very
these two. well-chosen components. And disc brakes are
The Cannondale is for those of us who want an option if you don’t fancy V-brakes.
a bit of speed on our ride. It’s the lightest bike
here, has the most aggressive geometry and But our top dog is Spa’s Wayfarer. Nominally
sharp handling to match. Shimano 105 is also a beast-of-burden touring bike, you could easily
the go-to groupset at this price and the bottom have this as your only bike for commuting,
gear is lower than would have been the case touring, shopping or more. It will carry kilos
a few years ago. And if you’re happy with rim of kit for adventures or a change of clothes and
brakes, I’d happily recommend the Optimo. your laptop for commuting; and the steel frame
should last a lifetime.

42 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM

BIKE TEST

FORME MONYASH 2 CANNONDALE CAAD OPTIMO 1 SPA CYCLES WAYFARER OXFORD BIKE WORKS
£899.99 £1200 £1400 MODEL 1E £1440

SIZE TESTED 56cm 54cm 54 long M
SIZES AVAILABLE 52, 54, 56, 58cm 44, 48, 51, 54, 56, 58cm S, M, L, XL
47, 50, 54, 58cm long;
WEIGHT 10.18kg 9.3kg 47, 50, 54, 58cm short 13.28kg
FRAME 6061 aluminium SmartForm C2 aluminium Double-butted steel
FORK Full UD carbon, CAAD Optimo full carbon, 14.29kg (with rack) Steel
tapered steerer 1 1/8-1 1/4in steerer
FRAME ALIGNMENT Perfect Perfect Reynolds 725 chromoly steel Perfect
TRANSMISSION
CHAINSET Chromoly steel fork,
straight steerer
BOTTOM BRACKET
CASSETTE Perfect
CHAIN
DERAILLEURS Shimano Claris 50/34 FSA Gossamer alloy 50/34 XD-2 Touring Triple 48/38/28, Shimano FC-T3010, 36t
GEAR LEVERS Zircal rings
WHEELS
FRONT AND REAR Shimano BSA threaded, 68mm FSA Mega Exo First F-2001 Neco cartridge

TYRES Shimano HG50 8-speed 11-34 Shimano 105 11-34 Shimano HG400 11-34 Shimano 10-speed 11-42

WHEEL WEIGHT KMC 8-speed KMC X11 11-speed Shimano HG601 SRAM PC1031 10-speed
COMPONENTS
STEM Shimano Claris Shimano 105 Shimano Sora Shimano Deore rear

HANDLEBAR Shimano Claris Shimano 105 Shimano Sora Shimano bar-end

HEADSET Forme alloy, 24 spoke, sealed RS2.0 rims: 24h front, 28h Kinlin XR26 RTS rims, Zac 2000 front, Exal LX17 rear
bearing thru-axle hubs rear. Formula RB-56 front hub, Bitex 106 hubs rim, Shimano RS-300 front
SADDLE Formula RB-5711 rear hub hub, Shimano Deore LX rear
SEATPOST Schwalbe One 700x28c
Vittoria Zaffiro Pro Slick 700x50c Panaracer GravelKing 622x32c Panaracer Pasela
BRAKES 1490g (f); 1880g (r) 700x25c ProTite

1530g (f); 2100g (r) 1810g (f); 2320g (r) 1720g (f); 2420g (r)

Unbranded alloy Cannondale 3, 6061 alloy FSA Omega 168 RaceFace (non-test bike gets
Deda Zero)
Forme Compact alloy
Cannondale 3, 6061 alloy FSA Wing Compact Cinelli (non-test bike gets
Integrated tapered Deda Zero)

Selle Royal, Forme branded CAAD Optimo 1 1/8-1 1/4in FSA Orbit Equipe sealed Ergotec threadless
Forme alloy 27.2mm bearing

Tektro Mira cable disc, Cannondale Stage CX Brooks Cambium C17 Men’s Terry Fisio Gel
160mm rotors
Cannondale 3, 6061 alloy, Deda RSX02 27.2mm 27.2mm Ergotec aluminium
27.2mm

Tektro R741 Quartz calliper rim Tektro TRP Spyre cable discs, Shimano BR-T4000 V-brakes,
160mm rotors Tektro levers

SPECIFICATIONS & Forme Monyash 2 56cm50cm Cannondale CAAD 53.5cm45.3cm
MEASUREMENTS 71.5˚ Optimo 1 71.5˚
Cockpit 67.5cm
Geometry is probably the most important Standover 79cm 74˚ Cockpit 68.5cm 74˚
factor when buying a bike but, as you can see BB height 26.9cm Standover 75cm
from these tables, even bikes nominally the same Fork offset 45mm 43cm BB height 26.1cm 31.4cm
size can vary considerably. All reputable bike Trail 67mm Fork offset 49mm 100.4cm
retailers – high street and online – should ensure Trail 63mm
the bike fits you.
103.6cm

Oxford Bike Works 57cm 71.5˚ Spa Cycles Wayfarer 57cm 72˚ NEXT ISSUE
Model 1E 72.5˚ 72˚
Cockpit 67.8cm £4K ROAD MACHINES
Cockpit 64.2cm 45cm
Standover 80.5cm 49.4cm Standover 81.5cm 48.5cm Next month (issue 389, on sale 20
BB height 27.6cm January) it’s the turn of four grand road
Fork offset 50mm BB height 30.4cm machines, with the Lios Bullet, Tifosi Auriga,
Trail 63mm Vitus Vitesse AXS and Wilier Garda put
Fork offset 56.5mm through their paces on the asphalt.

Trail 59mm 45.7cm BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 43

106cm 108.9cm

With a bit of luck, it’ll be all systems go
in 2022 and we’ll be back doing all the things we
love best in cycling. We’ve scoured the calendar and
picked out the key dates to look out for - the unmissable
experiences and blockbuster events at home and
abroad that you need to make an appointment with

through the coming year

Words Main image
John Whitney Angus Sung

44 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM

2022 EVENTS

01_

Ride the
closest thing
to the original
1903 Tour
de France

Okay, so the equipment and
navigation at our disposal in
2022 are radically improved
from over a century ago, but in
terms of spirit, accessibility to
enter and a stripping of all the
bells and whistles of bike racing,
Transcontinental Race, the
self-supported solo bike race
across the roads of Europe, is
a magnificent echo of those
early Tours de France. After two
editions lost to the pandemic,
race number eight returns on
24 July with its now traditional
start in Geraardsbergen,
Belgium and a finish in Burgas,
Bulgaria, over 4000km away.
The race, says the organisation,
is “rider against rider, living
by their wits alone, without
caravan or entourage guided
by personal integrity, mutual
respect and a collective
commitment to equality. At the
sharp end it is a beautifully hard
bicycle race, simple in design
but complex in execution.”
transcontinental.cc

BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 45

2022 EVENTS 02_ 03_

Below Try the new Get stuck into
You’ll pedal past RideLondon multi-day
some of the gravel rides
capital’s iconic Make a date with the all-new
landmarks during RideLondon festival. It’s got a We’ve been a big fan of the
RideLondon new date (Sunday 29 May), a multi-day Haute Route road
new partner (Surrey is out, Essex sportive series. Just last
46 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM is in) and a new format (all events month we featured the 10th
take place on the same day). anniversary of their definitive
The future of the sportive, the Alps event. Welcome, then,
RideLondon 100, looked to be in to the gravel version. Gravel
doubt following Surrey council’s Epic (gravelepic.com) is
withdrawal of support, but Essex organised by the same folks
has stepped into the breach. The who, for 2022, have two events,
route is still to be revealed, but in Marrakech (31 March-2
the sportive will start in central April) and Switzerland (23-25
London, head out into the Essex September). Like the road
countryside for 60 miles and events, Gravel Epic will have a
return to the capital, and will be focus on point-to-point racing,
accompanied by a three-day high mountains and gruelling,
women’s WorldTour pro race if sporting, daily distances, with
(27-29 May) and closed-road fully supported off-the-bike
family rides. The first 10,000 logistics meaning your bags are
entries for the sportive have sold transported between stages.
out but you can still enter the Entry, accommodation and
ballot, which closes on food for the events is 799 euros
20 January. Entry is £89. for the Marrakech event, while
ridelondon.co.uk entry alone for Switzerland
is 449 euros. If three days of
gravel racing doesn’t scratch
the itch, take a look at Desertus
Bikus (23 April-1 May), a 1250km
route through Spain from the
Bay of Biscay in the north to the
Costa del Sol in the south. This
ride, like the Transcontinental
Race, is self supported and
self guided, with 90 per cent
navigated by road. But while
you start and end by water,
three of the four checkpoints to
be visited, hence the name, are
in different deserts.
desertusbikus.com

Enjoy spectacular
views of the Atlas
Mountains as you

navigate 335km
in Morocco

2022 EVENTS

©Jan Kruger, Getty Images (RideLondon); Leo Patrizi, Getty Images (Copenhagen); Joseph Branston (Dartmoor Legend) 04_ 05_ Above 06_
What better
Experience For distance place to start Relive two of
the Tour de rides closer to this year’s Tour the stormiest
France in the home, head than bike-friendly rides in pro
world’s greatest to Dartmoor Copenhagen? cycling history
cycling city
“Princetown is renowned Below Former German pro Jan Ullrich
Foreign starts of the Tour have for taking prisoners,” say the The Dartmoor resurfaced last year after a
become increasingly common organisers, referring to the Legend is billed troubled period in his private
since the 1970s and, on 1 July town’s Dartmoor Prison. as ‘the toughest life, and finished the 312km
2022, Denmark (Copenhagen) “The Dartmoor Legend will cycling challenge Mallorca gran fondo in October.
becomes the ninth country to be no exception!” in the South West’ It’s timely, then, that pro-
host one. That means it’s Grand cycling journalist Daniel Friebe
Départ bingo for what are The ride (9 July) certainly will release his biography of
widely regarded as the three matches that billing with a Ullrich. Twenty-five years since
best cities to cycle in the world 200-mile (323km) multiple ‘Der Kaiser’ won the Tour de
(Amsterdam held it in 1954, traversing of the national France, the book – provisional
Utrecht in 2015). park that, by the end, will title The Best There Never Was
have seen you climb 18,000ft (Pan Macmillan) – will delve
In fact, the Copenhagenize (5500m). The distance deep into the backstory of
Index, a comprehensive ranking is matched by the cap on one of the great enigmas of
of bike-friendly cities from the participants, which is limited modern cycling.
eponymous urban design to 200. You also have a time
company, ranked Copenhagen limit of 20 hours! One month Also confirmed for 10 March
as number one at the last count before the ride, you will receive publication is Rouleur editor
in 2019. An impressive 44 per a detailed manual as to what’s Andy McGrath’s God is Dead:
cent of all trips to work and in store for the ride, which costs The Rise and Fall of Frank
education in the Danish capital £100. You’ll start in Princetown, Vandenbroucke, Cycling’s
are by bike, with 673,000 bikes and pass through here three Great Wasted Talent (Bantam
in the city alone. So yes, go to times before the finish. Press). The Belgian could ride
witness the world’s biggest bike dartmoorlegend.co.uk a bike as fast as he lived life off
race set off, but stay to it and was a talent ultimately
experience cycling that’s truly lost to his addictions before his
integrated into a city. premature death in 2009.
letour.fr
BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 47

2022 EVENTS

08_ Above 09_
Grab your gravel
Explore new bike to tackle the Tackle an
parts of the 148-mile West American
country with Kernow Way gravel race
Cycling UK
Below The US is where gravel cycling
Charitable membership Head west to as we know it now was born,
organisation Cycling UK has the Flint Hills of but differences in terrain and
been mightily busy in the last Kansas for four road-network design makes
few years creating multi-terrain, days of adventure, gravel riding over the Atlantic
circular bikepacking routes, American style largely very different to here.
including Cornwall’s West In the US, gravel roads are
07_ Kernow Way (pictured above) so extensive and so free of
and King Alfred’s Way in the highway-bound traffic, that
Pedal in south of England. huge races can be plotted
Europe’s most exclusively on dirt and gravel
captivating It’s launching a couple more roads. Travel-restrictions
range routes in 2022, in Kent and permitting, 2022 could be your
Norfolk, but rather than vast, chance to try one.
Journalist and author Peter multi-day circular or point-to-
Cossins lives in the Pyrenees points, routes in these two The 200-mile Garmin
and he’s used his local locations will be based around Unbound Gravel on 4 June
knowledge to produce his ‘hubs’, or cycle-friendly places (unboundgravel.com, formerly
latest book, A Cyclist’s Guide that have all the accoutrements the Dirty Kanza) in Kansas’
to the Pyrenees (£16.99, cyclists need to enjoy a day or Flint Hills remains the most
Great Northern Books). more of a riding break. Think prestigious, but there are so
Cossins details all the climbs multiple options based out of many more. The countrywide
made famous by the Tour the same place, plus bike shops, Belgian Waffle Ride series
de France and plenty other eateries and the like, a lot like (belgianwaffleride.bike) are
more obscure ones that the our Local Knowledge page at mixed road/off-road races,
world’s biggest bike race could the start of the mag. The inspired by the terrain of
never contemplate squeezing exciting Kent and Norfolk the Northern Classics pro
down, and links them together projects are a pilot for future races. The ‘Black’ course of
to create routes that can be hubs across the country. SBT Gravel (sbtgrvl.com) in
tackled in a day or tour. cyclinguk.org Colorado on 14 August is a
huge day out too: 229km and
48 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM 2743m of elevation starting at
over 2000m above sea level.

Remy Whiting (West Kernow Way); Tony Adamson (Revival 2021); © Ryan Pierse/Getty Images (Geraint Thomas) 10_ Top Above 11_
You may even Geraint Thomas
Go retro at bump into a wins the 2014 Witness an
the Eroica cycling legend at Commonwealth international
Britannia Eroica Britannia Games road event in Britain
festival this year race in Glasgow
The export of vintage bike For the third time this century,
festival Eroica, from its home the Commonwealth Games
in Tuscany, around the world returns to Britain, this time
has been a huge success in Birmingham (28 July-8
story, not least with the British August). The competition in
version. But the festival, which track cycling is strong, with
is centred around a bike ride Australia, New Zealand and
that participants do on bikes Canada all big contenders at
and in gear and clothing that international level.
pre-dates 1987 has a change of
owner and location for 2022. There’s also the quirk of
seeing riders who usually
It was announced in the compete under the Union Jack
summer that the Goodwood instead of competing under
Estate in West Sussex had different flags, with Geraint
bought the festival and will Thomas and Mark Cavendish
stage it in the South Downs. riding for Wales and the Isle
“The stories of heroism from of Man respectively. The track
cycling’s glorious past will events are taking place in the
come alive as we create a London Olympic velodrome.
festival that will delight cycling
fans from around the world,” Road-race fans can, as ever,
said the Duke of Richmond, enjoy ticketless viewing if they
who owns the estate. It takes head to Warwick, where riders
place from 6-7 August. will tackle laps of a 16km course
eroicabritannia.co.uk (7 for women, 10 for men).
birmingham2022.com

BIKERADAR.COM FEBRUARY 2022 49

Words & images
Joseph Branston

Britain’s biggest Bespoked was
handmade bike conceived by Stroud-
show returns for based frame builder
a 10th year with Phil Taylor who, in
a new location 2009, having built his own
in Harrogate. bike, wondered why there
Photographer wasn’t a handmade bike show
Joseph Branston in the UK to rival NAHBS, the
reveals his North American Handmade
favourite finds Bike Show, so that British
of Bespoked 2021 builders could showcase their
wares and share ideas. So
alongside his wife Tessa, he
set about organising one, and
they created the first show in
Bristol in 2011.
“We started Bespoked to
celebrate the work of
independent framebuilders
and the wider cycling
community,” says Phil. “But it’s
been amazing to witness how
interest has grown over the
years. We’re proud to have been
part of creating a new culture
for handmade bikes and help
connect pioneering builders
with adventurous riders.”
Aside from 2014’s edition at
the London Olympic velodrome,
it had resided in Bristol until its
move up to Harrogate for the
10th anniversary. Here are some
of the favourites that we found…

50 FEBRUARY 2022 BIKERADAR.COM