Latest articles by Guy Kesteven
Best XC mountain bikes 2025 – the fastest bikes we’ve tested for cross-country, downcountry and trail
Buyer's Guide We select the best XC mountain bikes for flat-out cross country and marathon racing, as well as fast, efficient recreational riding
Specialized S-Works Epic 8 review – ultra high-tech, superlight but trail-tough XC race superbike
Review With an Olympics to win 2024 is going to be a big year for XC bikes. Specialized has thrown down a serious challenge to the rest of the pack with its ultra-tech, ultra-fast, and freaky fun S-Works Epic 8
Specialized Epic 8 Evo Pro review – "the mixture of lightweight speed and middleweight control blew me away"
Review Specialized’s cult favorite rowdy XC winner jumps up a whole weight category to burly downcountry. Our expert tester, Guy Kesteven, still absolutely loved it though
RockShox SID Flight Attendant review – the smartest and fastest XC MTB suspension ever?
Review RockShox's latest 'Ride Adaptive' Flight Attendant has already won several XCO and XCC World Cups, but what’s it actually like to ride and do you really need it? Guy Kesteven has his expert opinion dialed in already
Best mountain bike pedals – our favorite clipless and flat mountain bike pedals
Buyer's Guide Check out our pick of the best mountain bike pedals, covering all the options from trail and cross-country to enduro and downhill mountain biking
Trek is slashing the number of bikes it offers by 40%. This is what that means for your favorite brands in the future
Opinion In part one of a new ‘What Happens Next?’ series, Guy Kesteven has some dark warnings about what’s going to happen to a lot of bike brands in the next few years
Endura MT500 Thermal L/S II – this MTB and gravel top has been our go-to choice for riding this winter
Review It’d be easy to pass over the MT500 Thermal Long Sleeve II top in Endura’s vast clothing range, but you’d be missing a top performing multi-purpose winner
Best budget MTB wheels – performance boosting bargain upgrades
Buyer's Guide These bargain MTB wheelsets will make your bike faster and more responsive – whatever your style of riding
Best tubeless tire sealant for bikes – expert choice for MTB, gravel and road tires
Buyer's Guide Buying the best tubeless tire sealant means less time fixing flat tires and more time riding your bike. Find out everything you need to know to pick the right sealant for your riding needs
Best mountain bike knee pads – we review and rate 8 top knee pads for all kinds of MTB
Buyer's Guide MTB knee pads will protect your legs from the inevitable crashes and falls. We've taken the hits to find you 10 of the best
Chain Reaction has finally run out of Wiggle room, but will we learn any lessons from the death of the 'world's biggest bike shop'?
Opinion What impact will the collapse of Wiggle and Chain Reaction really have? In this week's Bespoken Word column, Guy Kesteven sifts through the wreckage of cycling’s biggest retailer collapse disaster
Does the power, versatility and real life practicality of Lezyne’s Macro Drive 1400+ make it the new after dark mountain biking benchmark?
Review Lezyne’s new bike light range majors on practical performance and the Macro Drive 1400+ seems like the absolute sweet spot
Rab Vapour Rise Cinder review – does fluffy teddy bear tech make Rab’s softshell jacket the ultimate lightweight all-rounder?
Review Rab’s Vapour Rise Cinder softshell adds a biking cut and features to one of their most popular fast moving mountain designs
Lewis LV2 Brake Set review – are these new stoppers the most powerful lightweight XC/trail/enduro bargain brakes you can buy?
Review If you want a lot of power for not much money or weight there’s a lot to like about Lewis's look–a–like LV2 brakes
Bespoken Word – maybe we should stop taking mountain biking so seriously and remember that riding is supposed to be fun
Opinion Guy Kesteven has a lot on his mind when it comes to mountain biking, but are we all taking things too seriously and losing sight of why we started mucking about on bikes in the first place?
SRAM’s new Maven brakes are the most powerful mountain bike stoppers we’ve ever tested. What are the secrets behind these ultimate anchors?
First ride SRAM’s new Maven brake is a totally new design, created to deliver ultimate stopping power for the most demanding riders. There’s a big change to their usual approach too, so what are the details that make this the most powerful one finger chaos controller we’ve ever used?
Canyon Spectral CF 7 KIS 2024 review – the best affordable trail MTB I’ve ever ridden
Review This entry-level model of Canyon’s evolved all-rounder is a brilliant value, full feature trail MTB with pop and play for endless days. Guy Kesteven has been testing the Spectral CF 7 and is several weeks deep into a love affair with it, so what makes this bike so good?
Specialized's new spring 2024 MTB clothing just went on sale. I've been testing it and here are my first impressions…
News Specialized have been producing excellent clothing for a while and the latest drop for SS24 turns performance up another click. Guy Kesteven has been riding in it for the past couple of months
All the best new MTB tech coming your way this year – we report from the first major bike show of 2024
News Guy Kesteven spent two days prowling the labyrinth of rooms at the Core Bike Show to ferret out the latest bike and equipment news he can tell you about and line up a lot more to get a jump on when it’s released later in the year
Bespoken Word – Is the bike industry basically toxic? The damaging effects of new product hype, personal hypocrisy and lessons in sustainable behaviour
Opinion Mountain biking certainly isn’t alone in having a dreadful track record of hyping new things and herding people forward with rapidly obsolete ‘must have’ tech. Guy Kesteven reckons we could and should do much better to be a more sustainable sport
Best mountain bike saddles 2024 – the top 6 most highly rated MTB seats we've tested
Buyer's Guide Whether pounding out the miles or winching back to the top of the trail is your thing, here is our round-up of the best mountain bike saddles
Truvativ Atmos Carbon flat bar and Atmos 7K stem review – Truvativ’s lightest conventional cockpit combo is XC light but trail tough
Review Truvativ have slipped off the radar of a lot of riders but this really well thought out XC/Trail cockpit combo shows they still produce great components at a decent price
