30 years of MBUK
This is a very special issue of MBUK as we're celebrating 30 years of publication. The magazine was launched way back in 1988 and has been going strong ever since. So we've decided to have a quick flick though our archives (all 357 issues!) and pick out the highlights from those 30 years. How much of the kit, names, events and crazy things we got up to on mountain bikes will you remember?
£9,000 bike giveaway
We've teamed up with three of the biggest brands in mountain biking to give you not one but THREE CHANCES TO WIN a brand new bike. DMR, Specialized and YT Industries have all given us the latest models of their most popular bikes – the DMR Sled, Specialized Stumpjumper and our Trail Bike of the Year 2018, the YT Jeffsy. All you have to do is follow the link in the magazine and answer a very simple question and one of them could be yours!
Heritage Heroes
We've gone for a slightly different approach with our biketest this month and picked bikes from the brands that featured in our first ever biketest and are still going strong today. It's a broad selection from those companies' latest rides and we've compared them to their offerings from three decades ago to see what's changed and what still holds true.
Quantocks blasting
One of the very first routes we published back in the '80s was a challenging ride across the Quantocks. It was put together by Tim Flooks, who's a longstanding friend of MBUK, helped organise some of the first UK MTB races and has worked in various roles across the industry over the years – more recently as SRAM's race technician. We invited him to revisit the ride with our current routes guru Max Darkins and they had a proper blast picking out some of the classic spots in that original ride. Definitely one to try this summer!
Fort William and the Malverns Classic
Two of the biggest events of the year might have been and gone but we're still buzzing from them. First up, we asked downhill legend Steve Peat to ride the Fort William World Cup track for us as we tried to understand more about what makes it such an iconic race venue and such a brutal course – is it still the best on the circuit? Then we headed to Eastnor Deer Park for the return of the Malverns Classic after 20 years away. Could it recapture the spirit of old and is it now back for good?
Minty fresh
One of our most long-standing members of the team is everyone's favourite mountain biking sheep, Mint Sauce. He's been in MBUK nearly as long as we've been around, so we caught up with his creator, Jo Burt, to find out more about how he makes the Minty magic happen and where his inspiration comes from.
Special anniversary gift
There's also a very special Mint Sauce keyring/lucky charm on the front of the issue for you to hang on your bike/your keys from/on your ear… it really is up to you.
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