Bicycle Quarterly, Issue 64 Summer 2018

In our biggest adventure yet, we traversed the breathtaking Copper Canyons of northern Mexico.

You’ll be amazed by the incredible rides of Tokyo’s Yama Sai Ken (Mountain Cycling Club). These pioneering Passhunters explored every mountain pass in Japan, whether it was accessible by road or not. They built their own bikes years before mountain bikes became a thing. Their story is as inspirational as their photos are beautiful.

More than a decade ago, we coined the term Allroad Bike for a new breed of bikes we envisioned: racing bikes with ultra-wide tires, for more grip on pavement and more speed on gravel. Now these bikes are becoming ever-more popular, and we’ve tested two of the most exciting ones. The 3T Exploro (above) is an all-carbon, superlight, aero gravel bike. How does all that technology hold up in the unforgiving terrain of the Copper Canyons? We pushed the bike to the limit to find out.

Bringing the same bike genre down to earth, we rode Surly’s brand-new Midnight Special. Can it offer similar performance and fun as the 3T, at a fraction of the price?

Few bikes have seen as much success in national and international competitions as Harry Havnoonian’s iconic machines. Marvel at this amazing builder’s first and latest bikes in beautiful studio photos, and learn why Havnoonian always mounts the rear brake in front of the seatstays. Mark Hallinger’s article is a beautiful tribute to this American legend.

Going back further into cycling history, we feature the French cartoonist Pellos, who brought the ‘Heroic Age’ of the Tour de France to life. Travel to a time when stages were long, roads were rough, and human drama matched sporting achievements in this incredible race.

Aldo Ross explores why dozens of racers switched to bar-end shifters during the 1949 Tour. Why did they use bar-ends only for their front derailleurs, but operated the rears with downtube shifters?

In our ‘Project’ series, we show you how to mount a front rack, with clear instructions and useful hints that will help you with your next bike project.