Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard are back! But what have we learned from their first races of 2025? 🤔 They both took wins, but in two very different ways! Is Pogačar afraid of de-training? What’s going on with Vingegaard? Dan Lloyd breaks down all the action from the UAE Tour, Volta ao Algarve, Vuelta Andalucía, Classic Var, Tour des Alpes-Maritimes, and the women’s Clásica de Almería. Check out all the details!
From TheGuardian.com
By Jonathan Maus
Sam Balto took the idea from a local school to the White House and beyond, inspiring a global movement in which children feel the benefits of cycling together.
t’s a movement, not a moment.” That’s the mantra from Sam “Coach” Balto, a former school teacher from Portland, Oregon who quit his day job to stoke a revolution called the “bike bus” – groups of kids and families cycling to school together.
How did one person in a mid-sized American city turn a weekly bike ride into something of a phenomenon? He leaned on the power of social media. In the past two years his videos have been viewed by hundreds of millions of people.
Riding bikes to school shouldn’t be a big deal, but it nearly became extinct in the US after decades of helicopter parenting, automobile-oriented cities and the epidemic of dangerous and toxic car traffic that accompanies them.
Like a scientist restoring a threatened species, Balto turned his passion for the benefits of physical activity in young people into a trend that has gone from his current home town in the Pacific north-west to the White House in Washington DC (where he was invited by former president Joe Biden to attend a holiday reception), and beyond. Today, Balto estimates there are more than 200 bike buses across the US.
They have been around for a while. In Portland, a “bike train” movement kicked off in 2010 when a 24-year-old bike advocate named Kiel Johnson began organising what he referred to as “bike trains” at an elementary school, where riders would join a mass of cyclists at various stops along a route to school. It caught on and in just a few months Johnson had signed up six other schools, won a grant, and had been interviewed by a national television show.
From Bicycling.com
BY TARA SEPLAVY
DEPUTY EDITOR TARA SEPLAVY AND TEST EDITOR DAN CHABANOV CHAT ABOUT EVERYDAY ITEMS YOU MIGHT HAVE AROUND THE HOUSE TO USE FOR BICYCLE CLEANING, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR.
In this episode of Bicycling’s Bike Shop, Deputy Editor Tara Seplavy and Test Editor Dan Chabanov chat about Tara’s story, “Cyclists Should Keep These Super Useful Products Around the House.” We discuss a few of our favorites from the list and give you a few tips you might not know.
Could riding less—or even not at all—actually make you a better cyclist? How much can you really improve with rest? After finding a study showing someone improved their VO2 max more after taking a long break from exercise, Dan Lloyd and Si Richardson got curious.
From Electrek.co
By
I’ve spent countless hours here at Electrek doing detailed hands-on testing of hundreds of electric bikes. Through thousands of miles of riding, I’ve been fortunate to learn these e-bikes inside and out, top to bottom and front to back. That long-term experience with real-world e-bike testing has helped me find the best electric bicycles on the market for just about any budget.
Below are some of the top e-bikes I’ve hand-tested for every price range, current as of February 2025. It may still be cold and snowy in much of the country, but that doesn’t mean now isn’t a great chance to start the year off with a fun and efficient electric bicycle! So check out the awesome e-bikes below, any one of which could become your next electric bike.
Images courtesy of Ride1Up
The Coastal Rail Trail is part of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail Network Master Plan, which 20 years ago envisioned a continuous and separated bicycle/pedestrian path spanning the 32-mile length of the Santa Cruz County coast.
There are 20 Coastal Rail Trail segments altogether that are planned and managed by the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission. Coastal Rail Trail Segments 7 and 8 and part of Segment 9 run through the city of Santa Cruz and Segment 5, also known as the North Coast Rail Trail, runs from Wilder Ranch State Park to Davenport. Segment 7 Phase I is a paved multi-use trail that runs 1.2 miles from Natural Bridges Drive to Bay/California streets and is 12-16 feet wide. It includes 10 green cross bikes from Natural Bridges Drive to Bay/California streets — these are roadway crossings that allow cyclists to remain mounted and ride through the intersections with high visibility.
Alex Paton LOVES cycling—but he absolutely hates riding in the rain. So how does he keep training and improving his fitness, even in the UK, where it always seems to rain? ☔🚴♂️ In this video, he shares his top tips on staying dry while still getting faster!
From LongBeachIze.com
The Orange Avenue Backbone Bikeway is Long Beach’s largest biking infrastructure project. Revisioning the arterial from Ocean Boulevard in the south to Jackson Street in the north, it will be one of the city’s largest continous bike paths once completed. Of course, community input is required. And the stretch of the project between Wardlow and Bixby Roads in Bixby Knolls/Cal Heights will be the focus on a community meeting at the EXPO Arts Center on Thursday, Feb. 13 from 6PM to 7PM.
From BikeRadar.com
By Warren Rossiter
Why the custom bike of your dreams doesn’t have to cost more than off-the-peg
Over the years, I’ve tested thousands of off-the-peg bikes, and while some have come close to perfection (I’m talking about you, Giant Defy Advanced SL 0), there’s always something – even if it’s the smallest element – that’s not quite right.
By building your own bike, you’ll get exactly what you want, and every element of it will be right for you. Plus it can work out significantly cheaper if you go DIY rather than buying an off-the-peg bike.
Photo by paolo candelo on Unsplash
Road bikes have evolved dramatically over the past century—gearing has shifted from cable-actuated to electronic, and frame materials have progressed from alloy to cutting-edge carbon fiber. But one thing has remained almost unchanged for over 100 years: the design of the handlebar. While materials have improved, the shape has stayed largely the same. Why? Alex investigates the history, function, and possible future of road bike handlebars.
