Cycling

Best cycling gilets 2024: Vests to keep you warm and protect you from the wind

From CyclingNews.com

By Tom Wieckowski

A cycling gilet or vest can add warmth on changeable days and keep you warm if you want less bulk on the bike

A cycling gilet, or a vest if you are in the US, can provide a really useful addition to your cycling wardrobe. The lightweight, sleeveless design of a gilet means that it can be packed down small for jersey pocket storage and pulled on and off multiple times on a ride to keep the wind at bay or just keep you that little bit warmer. Heavier weight gilets can also do an excellent job of keeping your core warm and comfortable but allowing you to wear less and stay a little more aero, less restricted and faster feeling on the bike.

Image courtesy of Endura

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The Cost-of-Cycling Crisis: Why Bike Brands Need to Shift Gears for the Greater Good

From LBBonline.com

We’ve just had a summer of cycling. Worldwide, billions watched the Olympics, the Tour de France, and Tour de France Femmes. Many will be inspired to jump on two wheels and reap cycling’s health benefits. Cycling has increased in England by 46% from 2016 to 2023 (Statistica). If it continues, the UK cycling industry will be worth £1.5 billion by 2028 (Mintel).

Yet, the cycling industry is suffering. UK bike sales slumped to a 39-year low this year (Bicycle Association). Major bike manufacturer Giant reported a 38% loss in profits in the first quarter of 2024. The reasons are complex but, in short, prices have skyrocketed during a cost-of-living crisis. The same bike in 2019 cost you £1,000 in 2019 but £1,400 in 2022, a rise of 26% (Bicycle Association).

Cycling is notoriously expensive and elitist. Brands have prioritised pushing high-end gear to affluent buyers, pricing many out of a sport that should be open to all. BHS Extras recently found that almost half (49%) of Brits can’t afford a bike outright. Bike brands are in danger of losing the next generation of cyclists and this could have a wider knock-on effect; from makers of energy bars, to coffee shops, masseuses, and even the NHS.

 

Photo by Munbaik Cycling Clothing on Unsplash

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American becomes fastest woman to cycle globe

From BBC.com

By Ben Derico

A US “ultra-endurance” cyclist has claimed a new world record for fastest woman to circumnavigate the globe by bike.

Lael Wilcox took 108 days, 12 hours and 12 minutes to cycle 29,169km (18,125 miles), starting and ending in Chicago.

She beat the 2018 record held by Jenny Graham, from Scotland, whose journey took 124 days 11 hours.

Wilcox, 38, of Alaska, set off on 28 May, crossing 21 countries on four continents before arriving back in Chicago around 21:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

Photo by NASA on Unsplash

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The Latest Active Travel Trend: Cycling Escapes At Top Luxury Resorts

From Forbes.com

By Larry Olmsted

Exercise can work up an appetite, so a group of cyclists who also love food are heading to Maine’s culinary superstar, the White Barn Inn, this September to ride, eat and luxuriate.

The White Barn Inn, an Auberge Resort, is one of New England’s most acclaimed luxury boutique resorts, a Forbes 4-Star property with a Forbes 5-Star restaurant. It has been famous for its hospitality and cuisine for 150 years, but the “Autumn Cycling Retreat on the Coast,” is a new kind of adventure for travelers.

Photo by Luca J on Unsplash

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Why Is Cycling Making People So Angry?

In this week’s show, we take a closer look at a recent news article suggesting that cyclists are to blame for making roads dangerous. Conor & Si also react to new laws being passed against cyclists and question why cycling is so often antagonised and why it makes people so angry! We also cover the latest cycling news, including a lycra shorts controversy, delve into the latest bike tech, get excited about Rebound, and much more!

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All Your Beginner Cycling Questions—Answered

From Bicycling.com

If you’re thinking about getting into road cycling, you probably have a lot of questions—and you might not even know some important questions to ask. Yes, the internet offers a wealth of information, but online forums aren’t exactly known for their friendliness or objectivity.

So we talked to experts to address all the beginner cycling questions you’re likely to have as a newbie, including no judgment whatsoever. Read on to find out everything you wanted to know about all things cycling, from bike snacks to gearand more.

1. Why is everyone using clipless pedals (and do I need them)?

Designed to transfer power more efficiently from your muscles to your pedals, clipless pedals attach to a cleat on the bottom of your shoe, allowing you to ride faster without exerting more effort as you can both push down and pull up on the pedals, and smooth out your pedal stroke for more efficiency. While most road cyclists use them, they’re certainly not necessary, especially if you’re still getting comfortable with the skills of cycling, like bike handling or shifting.

Photo by Dário Gomes on Unsplash

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Cycling’s Silent Epidemic

From Bicycling.com

TOO MANY WOMEN STOP RIDING THEIR BIKES BECAUSE OF LABIAL SWELLING AND PAIN. HERE’S WHY IT HAPPENS, WHAT THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT, AND HOW TO PREVENT IT IN THE FIRST PLACE.

BY

When Caroline Worrall discovered cycling at the age of 40, it was like discovering a superpower. On group rides, she was faster than others to the point where she sometimes wondered why everyone else was going so slow. Riding flat pedals on one of her early outings, she beat a group of men in a sprint. About five years in, after she’d progressed to regular 50- to 60-mile rides, she began to notice pain and swelling in her labia that forced her off the bike for stretches of time, even as long as a month. She tried at least 30 saddles over the course of a decade—none helped. Meanwhile the tissue grew thicker until she could no longer wear padded shorts on long rides. She briefly contemplated surgery. She rode mostly with men in Gainesville, Florida, where she lived. She had no one to talk to about it.

In 2009, Jacqueline McClure, then 26, got on her mom’s old steel Panasonic with down-tube shifters and rode 100 miles on California’s Highway 1. Her first elite racing team gave her a men’s Specialized S-Works saddle, which she rode for almost two seasons even though she was plagued by sores. She eventually switched saddles, but her problems persisted—and the sores progressed to permanent swelling on one side. When she told bike fitters, who were almost always men, they stared at her wide-eyed. Once a gynecologist asked, “What happened to you?” She responded, “I ride a bike all day.” Now 40, McClure hasn’t raced for three years, and rides much less than before, but until recently her labia remained lopsided. “As a woman,” she says, “it makes you feel a little damaged.”

 

Photo by Coen van de Broek on Unsplash

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Best bike brands: Bicycle companies we trust

From CyclingNews.com

Choosing the best bike brands is a tough ask. A quick brain dump here at Cyclingnews identified close to 100 different bike brands. There are some very large players, with global networks of bike shops. Others are niche, specialising in one type of bike. Some are so desirable and produce their bikes in such limited volumes that you’ll wait months or even years for a bike.

A local bike shop may not have in stock the bike that you’re interested in, while some of the best bike brands only sell direct over the internet. That makes it tough to narrow down your selection.

Fortunately, we get to ride many of the best road bikes and best gravel bikesavailable here at Cyclingnews, so we’re well positioned to help. Although we may not have ridden exactly the bike that you’ve shortlisted, and probably not in precisely the spec that you want, there are some brands the majority of whose products tend to score well in our reviews.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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Paris to showcase what a real bicycle city looks like during Summer Olympics

From MomentumMag.com

Written by:

The Paris Olympics presents a unique opportunity to inspire not only athletes but people worldwide by showcasing a sustainable city.

The Olympic Games inspires young athletes around the world. But, this year is different. This year, with the Summer Olympics arriving in Paris from July 26 to Aug. 11, it’s an opportunity to show a city that has decided with some serious authority to put people and the planet first. And an opportunity to inspire cities around the world to do to same.

Embracing a vision to become a cycling city of unparalleled excellence, Paris has embarked on a transformative journey that is already resonating far beyond its borders. As the world’s attention turns to the spectacle of the Olympic Games, Paris’s steadfast commitment to promoting sustainable mobility could spark a global movement.

In the lead-up to the Games, at least 415km of cycle routes are due to be added and available for locals and visitors in time for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and as a legacy for the city following the completion.

A major feature of Paris 2024’s legacy has moved closer to its realization. Leading up to the games in 2023, the Ministry of Transport unveiled the map of the 415-kilometer cycling network set to be completed for the Games.

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‘You Can 100% Focus on Cycling Now.’ Elisa Longo Borghini on the State of Women’s Cycling

From Velo.OutsideOnline.com

The Italian national road race champion joins the Bobby & Jens podcast this week.

By

ot long ago, to be professional cyclists, most women had to simultaneously take on second careers.

Luckily, things have changed considerably in just a handful of years.

“It’s a bit a sign of the times,” says Italian national road race champion Elisa Longo Borghini on the latest episode of the Bobby & Jens podcast.

“Most of the time in the past, you had to have a second career, because you didn’t have minimum salary, maternity leave, and so on. So you had to create your own second chance if you couldn’t be the best in cycling.”

Thanks to those developments and guarantees for athletes in the top level of cycling, they can now focus solely on one job.

“Right now, with the minimum salary and everything being settled, you can 100 percent focus on cycling,” Longo Borghini says.

That’s had a direct impact on the quality of racing.

With the ever increasing quality of competition and professionalization of the sport, training now takes up most of the remaining time for female cyclists, as it does for men in the sport’s top levels.

“In between races we are always a bit busy,” Longo Borghini says.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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