♻️ Stage 99: Drop bar mountain bikes
This week’s newsletter takes a look at Mark Cavendish’s newest team, as well as a little round-up from the racing in Australia. There are also MTBs with drop handlebars, a guide on what to do with your old bike bits and a review of this year’s best power meters!
Hello,
Welcome to another N+1 Newsletter from Idle Hands in Girona. I have a flat white and a small cake next to me and have just sat down to work after spending the morning doing the classic coast loop. Life isn’t too bad!
My training is ramping up, and I’m starting to feel like I’m on the verge of racing fitness. At the end of this week, I’ll be launching my personal racing plans for 2023 over on my own Substack. I’m so excited.
In the meantime, enjoy this week’s newsletter. Bike racing is back!
Happy Pedalling,
Joe
Feel free to email me at joe@nplus1.cc if you have any questions, or feel I’ve missed something that is worth putting in the Newsletter.
N+Read 🗞
Mark Cavendish is still a pro
The biggest transfer saga perhaps in pro-cycling history is finally over. Mark Cavendish was announced last night to have signed with Astana-Qazaqstan. The sixth team of his pro career, in search of one more Tour de France stage win.
⏱ 5-minute read
A gravel docu-series is coming
The aim of the series is to “focus more on the characters and to glorify the races a bit less.” With a Tour de France Netflix series coming too, could this be cycling’s ticket to the mainstream?
⏱ 3-minute read
What to do with all your old bike bits
We all have that box full of random stuff in our garage. Whether it be punctured inner tubes, old chains or hole-y lycra. We just never want to let go of it.
In this article, Cyclist magazine looks into everything you can do with all of that stuff. Recycle and reuse!
⏱ 5-minute read
The best power meters of 2023
Power meters are quickly becoming a feature on all modern-day bikes, but which is the best? While they have rapidly dropped in price, there is still a great variation in the accuracy and reliability of the units.
⏱ 5-minute read
Drop-bar mountain bikes
What the hell do we call a drop-bar mountain bike, surely it’s just a gravel bike?Who knows, maybe we don’t have to define it.
Anyway, I digress, this list of 29” MTBs with drop bars is a thing of beauty… and the ultimate N+1.
⏱ 3-minute read
What is HRV?
With the growing popularity of Whoop and Oura, real-time fitness trackers are becoming more and more common on the bodies of athletes, but how do they work?
The key measuring point behind all these is Heart Rate Variability, read more here.
⏱ 6-minute read
N+Tweet 🎲
You can’t park there. I feel I can include this crash as EF’s Sean Quinn is a close friend of mine. The wet Tour Down Under prologue caused a few crashes…
ㅤ
N+Listen 🎧
Alex Dowsett is leaving the World Tour. The former Hour Record Holder and multiple Grand Tour stage winner has taken the step into retirement, but he might not be done just yet. In this podcast, former World Tour rider and now gravel pro, Nathan Haas, takes Alex on his first off-road ride…
⏱ 37-minute listen
N+Watch 👀
Have you ever seen promo photos for a new kit and wondered where they come from? In this video, Keira McVitty takes us behind the scenes of a Gobik shoot in Iceland, perhaps the most scenic riding location in the world. Enjoy.
⏱ 16-minute watch
N+1 Introducing 👋🏻
In this part of the Newsletter, each week we introduce one of the brands we work with at N+1.
This week we are introducing… The Shoe Dr.
With over 20,000 followers on Instagram, The Shoe Dr. has a reputation for painting the coolest kicks in cycling. Not only that, but they refurbish old worn-out shoes too, even those with crash damage. Take a look at our app for their DIY Repair Kit.
Be sure to download our app and browse their products!