Cycling Plus

Cycling Plus is the manual for the modern road cyclist. Whether you're cycling weekly, an occasional new rider or a Tour de France fan you’ll find everything you need. Each issue is packed with buying advice and tests of essential cycling gear - everything from bikes to bags! Cycling Plus is the place to find training advice, nutrition secrets and practical tips guaranteed to improve your bicycling. It's also full of inspirational rides, real-life cycling stories and entertaining riding-related features.

WELCOME… • Issue 415 • March 2024

The Big Picture

What’s on • The best media, entertainment and events from the cycling world

Energising the elites • Ed Clancy is heading up British Cycling’s elite road racing task force. Can he invigorate a moribund scene?

Eddy Merckx • Generally recognised as the all-time greatest cyclist, in anyone’s language

One Shop Stop • Every issue, Cycling Plus gives some love to Britain’s best independent bike shops

Through the keyhole • Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council ripped up a traffic filter at the expense of cyclists. Then the people fought back…

Elves Vanyar Pro Disc • £3,999 Custom-bike spec for off-the-peg money

Yorkshire Dales

The route

LET’S GET TO WORK • To kick off the new year, we test four functional flat-bar commuter bikes that will double up for leisure riding and even off-road forays

Need to know • What are the key features you should look for in a versatile commuter?

Bike tech explained • Your quickfire guide to bike jargon

Bikes on test

Specialized Sirrus X 3.0 • £769 Single-ring aluminium machine with all-road and gravel ambitions

Genesis Croix De Fer 10 Flat Bar • £1,099.99 Cyclocross-influenced flat-bar bike for commuting and more…

Trek FX 3 Disc Equipped • £1,100 Another 1x hybrid with Shimano Deore and all the extras as standard

Ridgeback Expedition • £1,349.99 Adventure-flavoured machine for tough commutes and big adventures

Specialized Sirrus X 3.0 • Well-equipped commuter and much more at a modest price

SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE • Via Francigena, Caminos, Cathedrals – pilgrimages today are as likely cycled as walked, and they’re not all about saints now either. Rob Ainsley, veteran of several odysseys, selects 10 soul-stirring rides…

FOR THE RECORD • From online platforms to paper notebooks, training diaries can be powerful tools. We asked three riders to share a page of their training diaries to show how a daily check-in can deliver invaluable cycling insights

THE PRO RIDER • Talent, dedication, adaptivity… there are countless reasons why pro riders make it to the very top. But what can we learn from their elite journey? Over to Hayley Simmonds, the 2018 Commonwealth TT champ

THE ELITE AMATEUR • Targeting a multi-day event such as Haute Route? Here’s what you can learn from accountant and top amateur Rod Archibald’s indoor set…

THE CENTURY RIDER • Set your sights on doing a 100-mile ride? Read on to pick up some valuable training tips from Nigel Morgan’s tech-led approach, as prescribed by his cycling coach…

HIGH RISE • Tenerife’s Vuelta al Teide sportive blends oxygen-starved altitudes with spellbinding volcanic terrain for a breathtaking ride. Mark Bailey heads to the playground of the professionals for an explosive adventure

ICONIC VOLCANO RIDES

CYCLING PLUS SAVE 33% Subscribe & receive a Cube Tour Bike Helmet

Ridden & Rated • The UK’s best tests for over 30 years

Cannondale SuperSix EVO 3 • £4,000 A more keenly priced EVO with 105 Di2

Cannondale Topstone LAB71 frameset • £3,000 The gravel frameset gets special treatment

Commuter trousers •...