Author: Sean Leckey

Cannondale have entered the realm of Aero bikes with what they say is the fastest road bike in the world. The all-new SystemSix is a culmination of years of research, testing and real-world input that Cannondale say is the fastest UCI-legal road bike on the market today. The SystemSix is a complete bicycle system – not just a frame and fork – designed without sacrificing any of that classic race bike feel.

EF Education Drapac rider Alex Howes described the SystemSix as the fastest bike he’s ever ridden – “In races I feel like I’m cheating. It’s an absolute weapon. The stiffness while sprinting is next level yet it handles just as well as the SuperSix Evo. Cannondale nailed it.” The SystemSix isn’t just the fastest bike based on feel, Cannondale say they have the data that proves it.  For example, a rider cruising along a flat road at 30 km/h would save 17 Watts in aerodynamic resistance when riding a SystemSix compared to a modern road bike with low profile wheels. And this saving only ramps up as the rider goes faster – at 32km/h the saving is 20W and at 35km/h it’s 26W.

Aero bikes are often seen as being the reserve of elite riders like Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish, but Cannondale has sought to break that pattern and bring aero to the masses. The SystemSix is designed to minimise the aerodynamic drag on all elements of the bike and from their research, Cannondale have determined that at just 15km/h on a flat road, 50% of a rider’s effort is going towards resisting drag, meaning just about anyone can benefit from aerodynamics.

The SystemSix comes equipped with disc brakes only, there is no rim option on this bike. Cannondale have made this decision in order to optimise the frame around the more powerful braking option and means there’s room for wider tyres. One of the most striking features of the SystemSix are the new Cannondale KNOT 64 Hollowgram wheels which, as the name suggests, are 64mm deep and weigh in at 1,600 grams. The KNOT wheels feature an extremely wide rim (30mm external and 21mm internal) and are based around a HED patent which defines the relationship between the rim and tyre. The bike has room for up to 30c tyres but is optimised for aerodynamics when fitted with 23c wide tyres.

Coming in a range of builds starting with an Ultegra model at £3499.99 and a range topping Dura-Ace Di2, which comes equipped with a Power2Max power meter at £7999.99, the SystemSix is now available to order.

On Monday evening we took a fleet of the brand new Trek Powerfly LT’s for a test ride over some of the Lake District’s finest terrain. We headed up and over the challenging Gatescarth Pass which rises out of the Longsleddale valley and descended via Nan Bield Pass which brought us back into the Kentmere valley.

We were lucky enough to be one of the first in the UK to demo these bikes. Equipped with a plush 150mm of travel, stable geometry and powerful Bosch eBike Systems CX motor, the bikes were able to tackle the steep, loose and super tech ascents and descents with ease, just showing what these bikes are capable of.

The new range of Powerfly’s combine intuitive pedal-assist power with Trek’s decades of expertise in trail bike frame and suspension design. The new Powerfly opens up new riding, allowing the rider to cover more ground and tackle previously unassailable climbs while retaining bags of fun on the descents.

Each Powerfly model comes equipped with the latest Performance Line CX motor from Bosch and is operated by an easy-to-use Bosch Purion controller with a long-lasting 500wh battery supplying the power.

There are major spec upgrades throughout the new Powerfly lineup, including more robust forks, more powerful 4-piston brakes, and tougher tyres. With Trek’s proven mountain bike frame technology, these pedal-assist bikes ride like true performance mountain bikes for more confident handling on the trails.

Ilkley Cycling Club will be hosting an evening of crit racing on Wednesday, as the Ilkley Cycle Races takes over the town centre. The racing gets underway at 5 to 6 with the Under 14s race, followed by the U16s, the Women’s Elite race and finishes with the Men’s Elite race. All races cover laps of the same challenging 1.5km circuit around Ilkley town centre, starting outside Betty’s Tea Rooms on The Grove and taking in a tough 200m ramp up Riddings Road which could be a defining factor in deciding the outcome of the races.

Our Wheelbase Castelli MGD team will be there and will be expecting a strong performance in front of the Ilkley crowds. The races will be run on closed roads and are likely to attract a packed-out crowd along the course. Town centre crit racing presents a very unique and entertaining spectacle, as riders race flat out around narrow streets and tight corners at speeds up to and above 50kmh in front of big crowds who cheer on from the roadside.

The Ilkley course is a more compact version of the well-known Otley Town Centre Races, with many similar elements – an uphill drag early on and a fast downhill return into the finish. The weather is forecast to be wall-to-wall sunshine so we’re expecting the town centre to be full and an electric atmosphere for the evening. 

EVENT 3 REPORT – THE REDWELL INN– ARKHOLME:  TUESDAY 19^TH JUNE

106 riders turned out for the 3^rd Lakeland Lanequest, based at The Redwell Inn, Arkholme. Planners Andy and Sarah Crozier with  Martin Oglesby provided lots of head scratching amongst many of the regulars with several deviously placed controls which included a finger post on the shoreline near Carnforth, urban streets around Carnforth, riverside tracks and even the spectacular Aqueduct carrying the Lancaster Canal over the River Lune. Expert navigator and 2^nd overall in the series so far David Heffernan found route plotting an efficient route particularly tricky. “What a challenging plan this was. I spent so long trying to work it out and really had no idea whether my route was any good when I set off.  It was nice to be able to ride on familiar roads from my Lancaster University days and it can’t have hurt having a bit of local knowledge! “

The top of the Male Solos was hotly contested with Tom Gibbs imperious as always. All the top riders gained lateness penalties, Gibbs Included, proving this to be the hardest event so far. Dave Sproston also bagged all 30 controls but was a further 3 minutes in arrears. Dave Heffernan was a close third to retain his 2nd overall in the series, still within touching distance of Gibbs for overall honours and the chance to cut the cake with the eventual ladies’ solo champion at Wilfs Café, Staveley after the final event on Tuesday 10^th July.

In the Women’s Solos Jo Cleary scored highest on 244 points to maintain her class lead over Helen Jackson, with Iona Wilson and Angela Brand-Barker equal 3rd on the night, each on their first event of the series. For Jackson it was an interesting evening, having arrived at the start with shoes that didn’t match the pedals cleats on her bike!

The Generation class was won again by the Winnards plus Tony Watson, with the Brooks 2nd in class.

In the Pairs another high score from James Annan & Julia Hargreaves put them ahead of Sally Ozanne who teamed up with Kieran Hodgson this week after her great solo score at Oxen Park. Bringing up the rear of the popular 23 strong Pairs class were Chris Swift & Graham Hamilton who blew all their 190 points due to an extended exploration of the Lancaster Canal towpath which they apparently enjoyed immensely!

It was all smiles at the finish as competitors tucked into the excellent Redwell Inn food and re-hydrated, with complimentary comments about the event.

At the series half way point, Gibbs and Heffernan lead yet again, with the ever-consistent Dave Hollingham in third place. Notable in 11^th place is veteran rider Rod Carter, whose finely honed navigational skills have put him ahead of many riders less than half his age.

Jo Cleary holds a narrow advantage over Helen Jackson in the women’s solos with Heather Meek a distant 3^rd

The Generation teams of Gerard Winnard, Toby Winnard & Tony Watson lead Mike and Henry Brooks, whilst in the Adult Pairs, it looks like a three-horse race between Richard Davies & Julia Richardson, Rachel and Mike Toyn and Garry Thomson and Ian Ramsay. Previous series winners the Toyns have both been plagued with niggling injuries this series, and despite competing “just for fun”, they remain competitive as ever

This weeks’ chosen chosen charity: Fix the Fells ( https://www.fixthefells.co.uk/)

 

Remaining events:

Tuesday 26^th June- Ford Park, Ulverston LA12 7JP. Charity: Ford Park Community Group

Tuesday 3^rd July- The Station Inn, Oxenholme LA9 7RF. Charity: Bendrigg Trust

Tuesday 10^th July- Wilfs Café, Staveley LA8 9LR. Charity: Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue

Entries on line or on the day.  Full series details:  https://www.wheelbase.co.uk/about-us/events/lakeland-lanequest-2018/

CUBE AGREE HYBRID C:62 SL DISC – ELECTRIC ROAD IS HERE

The popularity of eBikes has grown exponentially over the past few years and German manufacturer Cube has been right there at the forefront of the evolution. A motor-assisted bicycle opens up many avenues –  for existing cyclists an eBike provides an opportunity to venture further, extend ride time and conquer previously insurmountable terrain. An eBike can also be an avenue into the sport for newcomers, with constantly evolving smart technology and lower price points bringing motor-assisted pedalling to a wide reach of riders.

Up until now the vast majority of eBikes developed have been mountain bikes, commuters and leisure cycles. Cube are one of the first manufacturers to release an electric bicycle exclusively for the road, and the Agree Hybrid adopts its non-electric namesake’s frame geometry, positioning riders in a true road-ready setup. The carbon frame and fork are designed in an endurance-orientated fashion to ensure comfort on the longest rides, and the enclosed drive unit is neatly positioned into the down tube to retain the road bike aesthetic.

Concealed within the frame, the Fazua drive unit and battery offers 250wh of power assistance, weighs around 1kg and is completely removable, giving the option to ride the Agree as a non-powered road bike. The drivetrain is a mixture of a Shimano Ultegra rear mech, a 105 cassette and FSA carbon cranks, which work seamlessly with the Fazua drive unit and offer a good spread of gears for riding on all gradients.

As with most eRoad bikes the Cube comes with wider tyres in the form of 32mm Schwalbe Durano’s and with clearance for up to 35mm wide rubber. Hydraulic disc brakes from Shimano provide the ultimate stopping power and the Shimano Ultegra shifters and brake levers are comfortable and effective.

The Cube Agree Hybrid C:62 SL Disc is available in-store and online now.

 

The best Dad and kid picture wins an ultimate service!

Simply post us a pic of you Dads enjoying a ride with your kids and our panel will judge the winner who will receive an ultimate service at either Wheelbase Lake District, Yorkshire or North East.

Another Gibbs and Jackson win in solo classes.  

EVENT 2 REPORT – THE MANOR HOUSE INN– OXEN PARK:  TUESDAY 12^TH JUNE

This week’s planner Carol McNeil, known to all Lanequesters as the series originator, devised a testing and hilly course centred around the Manor House, Oxen Park. With the dreaded climb of Brandrake Head and the open slopes around Great Burney to the west, and the Rusland Valley to the east- including 10 gates to open and close, there was as usual plenty of head scratching at the start as the 124 competitors sought to find an optimum route linking as many of the 30 control points as they could visit inside the 2-hour time limit.

It was a beautiful summer’s evening in prospect, in classic lanequesting territory- quiet wooded lanes, narrow unfrequented and often gated roads. Rachel Toyn summed it up:” the cotton grasses up on the moors and the beautiful sky were just sublime. Amazing views out to sea and north to the Coniston range of hills as well. Wow aren’t we lucky to get to ride our bikes in such a wonderful place!”

For winner Tom Gibbs it was a perfect evening- “great views, nice hills and impeccably placed controls. Best part was the woodland road with the sun out, worst part the drag into the headwind to get there! For those with the event map, this was Tom’s winning route: 6,7,5,3,1,2,4,9,8,11,12,10,30,29,28,24,26,24,23,22,20,19,25,18,17,16,15,14,21,13

Last year’s series champion Helen Jackson proved her racing pedigree once again with victory on the women’s’ solo class- leaving Sally Ozanne and Jo Cleary tied in second place, Haverthwaite resident Cleary using her local knowledge to good effect: “I headed west first, for two reasons. I wanted to get the dreaded Bandrake Head (which wasn’t easy to avoid if you were going for 15+ controls) out the way early on”, she commented afterwards.

Event 2 results:

Solo Men- Tom Gibbs 302 points; David Heffernan 290, David Sproston 286

Solo Women-: Helen Jackson 252 points;  Jo Cleary 250/ Sally Ozanne 250 points

Generation Pairs- Ben and Sam Oldham 140 points

Adult Pairs/3’s-Gareteh Thomas/Mark Fishwick 262 points; Ben and Lee Proctor 260 point

For full results and series details:  https://www.wheelbase.co.uk/about-us/events/lakeland-lanequest-2018/

This week’s chosen Charity was Oxen Park Reading Room, with funds going towards its total refurbishment to create a community venue to benefit the residents and visitors to the area .

The annual Sam Houghton Mountain Bike Challenge was once again a huge success on Saturday, running from WHEELBASE Lake District in Staveley. The sold-out mountain bike challenge saw 500 riders tackle a short 25km or a long 46km route taking in the valleys of Longsleddle, Kentmere and Troutbeck, all in aid of Cancer Research UK. The challenge, organised in memory of keen mountain biker Sam Houghton who sadly lost his battle against cancer and died aged only 22 in May 2006, has raised over £140,000 for the charity.

Both the long course and the short course headed out from our Lake District store in Staveley and over into the Longsleddle valley where the first checkpoint of the ride was placed at Sadgill. Out of Sadgill the riders climbed back over into the Kentmere valley via the testing switchback climb. All riders descended down into the Kentmere valley where the routes spilt at the second checkpoint, as the long course riders ascended up and over Garburn Pass while the short course riders turned south before tackling the climb of Green Quarter. Both rides offered up outstanding Lake District riding and some stunning views, with a short burst from a rain shower the only blip on an otherwise flawless day.

After the riding was done and dusted everyone headed to Wilf’s Cafe for a post ride meal before the presentations at Hawkshead Brewery. Live music and celebrations then followed with many staying on into the night.

All riders deserve huge congratulations on taking part in a testing challenge and for helping to raise funds for such a great cause. We’d like to say a huge thank you to the organisers of the event, to all of the marshals and volunteers that manned the feed stations and each of the 42 gates along the route! Kudos to all involved.

Photography from Sport Sunday

Buy a selected Trek or Cannondale bike with Cyclescheme and get £50 of free accessories!

Redeem your Cyclescheme certificate with WHEELBASE and choose £50 of accessories to go with your brand new bike. Certificates can be redeemed up until July 28th, so move quick to get the bike you want!

We have a broad range of Trek and Cannondale bikes available in the offer – from hardtail mountain bikes to full-on gravel bikes. There’s the Trek Marlin 6 for keen trail riders and the aluminium frame comes with Trek’s lifetime warranty. The Cannondale Trail 4 is another option for those looking to venture off-road and is packed with features to introduce the rider to the world of mountain biking. For aspiring gravel riders there’s the Trek Checkpoint ALR, available in men’s and women’s frames, a do-it-all versatile bike which will ride great whether commuting on or off road. For riding through the city look no further than the Cannondale Bad Boy, with its eye-catching lefty fork it’s sure to turn heads on your morning commute.

All bikes available in the offer are listed below.

Trek Bikes 

Trek Marlin 6

Trek Marlin SL WSD

Trek FX 2 Disc

Trek Domane AL 3

Trek Domane ALR 3

Trek Emonda ALR 5

Trek Checkpoint ALR 4

Trek Checkpoint ALR 4 WSD

 

Cannondale Bikes

Cannondale Bad Boy 3

Cannondale Quick 2

Cannondale Quick 3

Cannondale Quick CX 3

Cannondale Womens Quick Althea 1

Cannondale Womens Quick Althea 2

Cannondale Trail 4

 

 

 

 

 

EVENT 1 REPORT – THE SMITHY INN HOLME – TUES 5TH JUNE

Gibbs and Cleary triumph in 1^st Lanequest of 2018

A sunny evening, maps and lots of cyclists around the lanes radiating from Holme on Tuesday 5th June signalled the first Lakeland ’Lanequest’ of 2018. The 23^rd consecutive year of these ever-popular cycling orienteering events saw 130 people with bikes descend on The Smithy Inn at Holme, with the aim of planning an efficient route and visit as many of the 30 controls within the 2-hour time limit.

Planner Neil Hazlehurst had laid out a challenging course that presented many choices: which way round to tackle the flatter roads around Arnside and Storth or the hiller ground around Hutton Roof?

For eventual winner and 2017 series’ winner Tom Gibbs it was case of leaving the hiller ground to last, and this paid off handsomely- Gibbs being the only rider to visit all 30 controls with 47 seconds to spare. For Ulverston’s David Heffernan, it was never say die – finishing in 2^nd on 280 points, with Ben Turner on 270.

The solo womens’ class started off as it finished in 2017   with a two-way battle between lasts years’ winner and runner up-  2018 champion, Kendal’s Helen Jackson just pipped to the post by last years’ runner up Jo Cleary-  258 for Cleary and 250 for Jackson. Heather Meek was 3^rd on 230.

Elsewhere, Ben and Lee Procter tied for first in the Adult pairs with Gareth Thomas and Mark Fishwick both with 260 points, followed in third place with Rachel and Mike Toyn on 210 points. The Generation pairs saw Gerard and Toby Winnard and Tony Watson triumph with 185 in first place, and in second place Mike and Henry Brooks tied with Mike and Matthew Fell both on 140 points.

Riding for the Disabled (Westmorland Group) is the charity for the first event; all event proceeds are to charity. http://westmorlandrda.org.uk/riding/

Further event details –  https://www.wheelbase.co.uk/about-us/events/lakeland-lanequest-2018/