Taming the dragon
Running from north to south down the middle of Wales, the Welsh coast-to-coast route is a 215-mile off-road ride with 8,000m of ascent that takes between 24 and 30 hours to complete, if ridden non-stop. Joe (one of BikeRadar's videographers and a Marathon XC World Cup racer) and friend Tom (XC racer) rose to the challenge of completing the long, arduous and quite frankly bonkers coast to coast in one go, unsupported. And they tried to hit as many Welsh trail centres as possible! Find out how the lads got on in the mag...
Filthy bikes and rad attitudes
Forget factory rides and clean-cut living, we take a look at mountain biking's renegades who are keeping the original spirit of our sport alive – and having more fun than most! The forefathers of our sport stuck their middle fingers up to the square, conformist attitude prevalent in 1970s America and went out searching for adrenaline-fuelled antics in the mountains on their klunker bikes. Grab a copy of the mag to find out more about their modern-day equivalents...
On the Rampage
We went to Red Bull Rampage in Virgin, Utah, to find out what it's like riding, building, judging and documenting the wildest freeride contest on the planet! We spoke to Rampage rider Conor Macfarlane, digger Emmerson Wilken, Nico Vink, who was judging 2017's contest, and Ian Lean, who made the trip over from the UK for his very first Rampage visit to document all of the action. Flick to page 70 to read all about it.
Eastridge Woods, Shropshire
MBUK's monthly Wrecking Crew made the trip to the heart of the Shropshire countryside to sample some awesome natural and manmade trails at this classic venue. Joined by locals, Sandy Plenty, Luther Griffiths and James Flanders MBUK's Ed and Al had a great time being shown around Eastridge Woods.
Christmas gift guide
Want to know what to give your mountain bike loving mate, other half or secret lover for Christmas? We've got your back! Turn to page 66 for ideas for every type of rider in your life...
Biketest, How To and much more
We review £500 entry-level hardtails to find out if you can still get a great ride at this price. Your first proper mountain bike is an important purchase because if you have a crap time you're probably not going to stick with mountain biking, so read the review and find out where you should be spending your hard-earned cash.
In our How To section we've got top tips on how to ride plus bikes, the best way to embrace the winter slop and how to nail off-camber sections. Not only that, we've reviewed 15 handlebars and give final verdicts on our 2017 long-term test bikes.
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