The instructions that come with the Crud RoadRacer Mk2 mudguards are not for the faint-hearted.  And the video tutorial at Crud’s website is even scarier. If, like me, you have the mechanical aptitude of a tree, you might want to consider smiling sweetly at your local bike shop owner and offering to leave him your entire collection of CyclingPlus magazines in your will.  But he’ll probably still end up char ...

Louis Garneau is a retired French-Canadian racing cyclist whose career spanned 13 years, 150 victories, a Canadian national title in the individual pursuit and the 1984 Olympic Games. But his most notorious achievement was asking the Queen if he could have his photo taken with her when she paid a state visit to Canada in 2002 – and then putting his arm around her as if she was one of the Spice Girls! Off wi ...

The WingBar is the latest (and best looking!) in the range of Thule's load carrying roof mounted bars. Like all of Thule's roof bars, the WingBar is a modular system made up of a pair of bars, a foot pack (in this case only the Rapid System can be used) and roof fitting kit (when roof rails are not fitted to the host car). If your car has roof rails fitted as standard then you only need to buy 2 items - Win ...

The Timbuk2 Classic Messenger bag is a product that has evolved into the current version over a period of 20 years. Looking back into the Timbuk2 archives reveals that the same tricolour design hasn't changed at all either. Even the colours used way back in 1992 could quite easily be a representative of today's palette. What a fantastic endorsement for the 1992 original that it has undergone only a number o ...

I once worked as an English language teacher in a former sanatorium on the outskirts of Moscow.  At 11 every morning, white-uniformed nurses would march our Russian students down to the basement where they were served “oxygen cocktails”.  These sweet-tasting concoctions of foam and gaseous oxygen were supposed to give them an “energy boost”.  They certainly returned to their classrooms stimulated, though no ...

Now, this is a fantastic new product. How about a seatpost with integrated LED lights for your city, commuter, mountain, road or even folding bike? Available in all of the popular seatpost sizes - 25.4mm, 27.2mm, 30.8mm & 31.6mm - and in BLACK, SILVER or WHITE. Winner of a prestigious Red Dot Design Award in 2010, this nifty little integrated rear light eliminates clutter and illuminates your bike. It's ...

I first came across Rotor's innovative Q-Rings a couple of years ago when they first sponsored the Cervelo Test Team - a set-up legendary for their thirst for innovation and proven performance improvements. I was intrigued by the concept: an oval shaped chain ring, replacing the traditional circular rings seemed like an interesting step forward. From an engineering standpoint, the Q-Rings stand strong. The ...

Anna Meares might have broken Victoria Pendleton’s heart in the Olympic sprint final, but we won’t hold it against Australia if her compatriots Knog keep banging out great products like the Blinder 4V. Knog always take an original approach to design, producing distinctive looking products such as the Strongman lock I reviewed in April. As with the lock, the Blinder 4V backs the style with impressive perform ...

When I think of roofboxes, I think of people carriers full of excited kids and a raft of bikes strapped precariously onto the rear hatch. Step forward the Thule Motion 800 in all of its silvery slippery sleekness and you immediately think about prestige German estate cars and skiing trips to the Alps. We tested the Motion 800 on the latest incarnation of Thule's ever trusty roof bars, the WingBar, but the b ...

Schwalbe Ultremo DDs are a hybrid of slick road racing tyre and high mileage dependable training tyre. The tyres themselves are made of Schwalbe's Racestar rubber compound which draws on the lessons learnt making the Durano tyre range, making the tyres almost indistributable. Schwalbe claim that cuts by glass shards and other sharp objects have little or no effect on the tyre, allowing you to ride puncture ...