David Else from Road.cc takes in some of Hampshire’s highlights on the Mega Meon route and and interviews Martin Barden ukcyclingevents.co.uk organiser.

To place your entry follow the link

Wiggle Super Series Mega Meon Sportive Epic Route
Wiggle Super Series Mega Meon Sportive Standard Route
Wiggle Super Series Mega Meon Sportive Fun Route

17

Ford S-Max Advert

It seems a long time ago now that I got the call from Malcolm Holmes at Calshot asking if i’d be prepared to ride round the veledrome while someone took photos for an advert. But this week the finished article finally dropped into my inbox.

On a very cold February morning I met up with 3 other Wiggle riders. Ben Simmons, Rich Pearman and Paul Bolwell at the Calshot Activity Centre home of one of the county’s 3 indoor cycle tracks. The thing about Calshot is that, in Winter, the temperature is always 10 degrees lower inside than out. Ice really does form on the inside of the roof (and has been known to melt causing indoor rain). That February morning was no exception. It was freezing!

The guys from Wiggle had brought along a selection of fine cycling apparel. dhb shorts with either Castelli or Campagnolo tops. We met up with the photo crew and Malc and began to tuck into the coffee and biscuits provided (we needed to keep warm!) Like the good athletes we are, we turned down the bacon sarnies that were sent out for by the crew and opted for a ride round the track to warm up.

The camera crew were shooting an advert for the new Ford S-Max and needed some sporty shots to go with the image required of the car! They soon had some pretty flash looking gadgets rigged up and we began rolling round trying to look the “part”.

Paul, Rich and Myself had spent a few sessions at the track during the Winter and Ben is a national champion so we were soon up to speed and looking pretty impressive. Or so we thought. The trouble was that the camera guys needed us to look like we were going fast, but not actually go fast! Sounds like my sort of gig I thought. The reality wasn’t that easy. Anyone who has ridden on a veledrome can appreciate that speed is what keeps you upright (or centrifugal force if you’re splitting hairs). Trying to go at minimum speed on the steepest part of the track is not an option.

The camera crew de-camped and the process began again. We waited around whilst the experts had a re-think. Keeping warm had become the issue, but we were soon back on the track. The next hurdle to overcome was colour. We were all wrapped up in black leg warmers. The picture would not look good against the background with black leg warmers. They had to go! Now we were cold. Or we thought we were. We then realised that we were wearing black gloves. Yep you’ve guessed it, they had to go too. So now we were riding around a freezing cold veledrome in February in shorts and no gloves! Soon though the camera crew had the shots they were after. \ it was a “wrap”!

The advert will begin to appear in May to coincide with the launch of the new model. The finished article looks amazing! There is some good placement in there for Focus bikes and dhb, which is a fantastic bonus. Ben looks like the champion he is on the front with the rest of us tucked in like a well drilled pursuit squad. I’d like to say that we rode round the track like that, but I’d be lying. They managed to get good individual shots of us and use their box of tricks to do the rest.

We all had a good morning being models. Wiggle provided some great kit to make the experience even more enjoyable. I’m sure that I’ll bore Mrs Carter to death pointing out the advert every time we see it, but they say everyone must have their 15 minutes of stardom and this could well be mine.

I must end by thanking my good friend Malcolm Holmes without whom we would never have got the opportunity to do this and obviously once again to Wiggle for providing the dhb, Castelli and Campagnolo clothing and the Focus Pista track bike.

Look out for the advert, it looks fantastic!

Verenti Bikes Website Goes Live

Those who spend hours poring over bike websites will love the recently launched Verenti Bikes site. Packed with sharp, up close photos and enough info to satisfy even the biggest bike geek, the site is a perfect showcase for our unique brand of sportive bikes.

Check out the full range of bikes – from the alloy Kilmeston through to the top-end carbon fibre Rhigos.01; learn more about our background and the Verenti journey; find out about the componentry used on Verenti bikes including our exclusive Me range and have a read of our blog. It’s all there at
www.verentibikes.com/

You can even enter one of the many Verenti sponsored sportives too at http://www.verentibikes.com/events Verenti Bikes will be on show at all of the Verenti/Wiggle sponsored events taking place this year around the UK, so you’ve no excuses for not checking them out soon.

Like our bikes, we’ve enjoyed developing our website and hope you enjoy it too.

In Cycling Plus (Bike Of The Year supplement) Wiggle’s new brand Verenti was awarded with a “Best Debut” for the Rhigos 0.2 giving it a 9/10 in it’s rider test.

Check out what they had to say below.

Like Many Categories in this year’s Bike Of the Year, this is a hard-fought affair, with the Verenti up against the likes of Blue Monda and Red Bull. But the general feeling among the testing team was that Verenti’s Rhigos 0.2 takes the honours. It’s distinctive design , but it works. The Chassis on the Verenti shines, and if a lugged carbon construction is good enough for the likes of Colnago, then there’s nothing wrong with this design.

The plush ride is similar to that of the Time Speeder – and very welcome on the winter-ravaged roads. The long carbon lugs stiffen the structure, yet the thin walled carbon tubes soak up the bumps while still conveying feel. Our testers appreciated the ksyrium Equipe and Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX wheel and tyre combo too.

View the Verenti Rhigos 0.2

What a weekend for Team Wiggle!

Team Wiggle athletes have kicked off their seasons in style with some impressive performances this weekend.

Lee Williams and Matt Page were in action at the British Mountain Bike Series in Sherwood Pines. Lee proved he is definitely one to watch this season, racing superbly to finish second in the elite race. In fact, the only man to beat him was Olympian Oli Beckingsale.

Lee’s fine form is forcing scores of people to take note of what we’ve known all along – he’s a formidable rider. Here’s what British Cycling had to say about him:

“Lee Williams recorded his best result in the British XC Series, underlining his growing reputation in the XC ranks. Dubbed “Wales’s best kept secret” by some, he started his season early in Cyprus and showed the steady progression we’ve seen over the last couple of years has continued over the winter. ‘Watch out for Lee in 2010′ is clearly the message he’s sending out.”

After his mammoth effort last weekend cycling across Wales for Sport Relief, Matt Page also rode strongly to finish third in the expert category.

Team Wiggle triathletes Stuart Hayes and Jodie Stimpson were both in action at the first ITU race of the season, the Mooloolaba World Cup near Brisbane, Australia. Stu finished second while Jodie came sixth in the women’s race. Both of them are racing again in a fortnight’s time at the opening leg of the ITU World Championship Series in Sydney.

Closer to home, Team Wiggle roadie Jon Cannings returned to racing for the first time in almost five years and started how he means to go on – with a victory in the sprint race at Thruxton Circuit.

Sunday saw the first of the Verenti sponsored KILO TO GO events take place – the Verenti Cheshire Cat.
Wiggle’s very own CEO Humphrey Cobbold took part and rode strongly to complete the 100-mile route in under six hours. Team Wiggle staff riders Rich Pearman and his partner Nicky Wheeler also took part, riding the 70-mile route. Judging from their smiles together with the comments posted on Team KILO TO GO’s Facebook page since the event, it seems everyone had a great ride at an extremely well organised sportive. To find out how to enter the remaining races in the series, click here http://www.kilotogo.com

Wiggle staff Jason Sims, Doug Macgrain, Andrew Delahey and Rob Mort and his fiancée Kelly were all involved in the set-up, organisation and running of the Verenti Cheshire Cat, so huge congrats to them on their mammoth efforts (they feel as tired as the riders do – if not worse!)

And last, but by no means least, well done to Wiggle’s marketing and e-commerce manager Steve Mills who was in action at the masters trio Questars Adventure Race in the New Forest at the weekend. Against all the odds, his team finished 14th in a 50-strong field.

We’re off to rest our weary bodies now, but it won’t be long before we’re all back out there. Keep up the training – it always pays off!

Team Wiggle

Cycling Plus First Ride, Pg28 Issue May 2010

As Millook is the name of a climb in the Verenti Cornwall Tour Sportive, there’s no mistake who this bike is aimed at. As the middle-prices model in Internet retailer Wiggle’s three-bike own-brand Verenti range, the price is carefully targeted too, as £1200.

It’s certainly got the looks with white decals on smart black paint, and red detailing that’s matched by red brake hoods and excellent performing red Gore Ride-On cables – both of which come with the SRAM Rival drivetrain. Finishing kit is shiny black Wiggle own-brand, with the Me3 bar, stem and seatpost all made from 6061 aluminium. They all do their job well, adding to the efficient but always comfortably firm quality of the ride.

A closer look at the spec sheet shows some clever mixing and matching of materials and components in this build. Take the still aluminium bar and stem combo, which wastes little precious upper body effort through flex, while still managing to isolate your hands from uncomfortable road vibration with added gel padding under the bar tape. Likewise a first glance at the elegant but uncompromising-looking 31.8mm alloy seatpost might worry you about ride comfort. But the high-modulus carbon fibre seatstays and chainstays must be working together well, because despite the rewardingly direct power transfer for climbing and all-out sprints, the ride is still easily plush enough for you to be seated all day.

The triple-butted main frame triangle is working just as hard, as there’s no noticeable flex when sprinting, nor fore and aft frame flex in high-cadence seated sprints. Wiggle’s Paul Bolwell says the company looked hard for a frame material to reproduce the qualities of scandium Kiron bikes last year, and is more than happy with this 7046 aluminium tubing. The 7000 series allow is claimed to be 16 percent stronger than commonly used 7005, so less is needed for the tubing and weight is reduced by 12 per cent. Bold claims, but the Millook is surprisingly light, efficient to pedal and comfortable – suggesting this tubing and what Bolwell calls “a fortune on tooling” has let engineers put the right amount of metal in the right places, with the right results.

Despite the relatively low weight, the the Millook is wonderfully stable – sit up and take your hands off the bar and it’ll keep going straight, even through potholes (an accidental test – don’t try this at home!). Best of all, the extra tall head-tube – 45mm taller than the same sized Focus Cayo – combines with the shallow drop bar to give you a wonderfully commanding posture on the bike. Descending and fast cornering is a joy as you can easily reach the drops without throwing your weight forward onto the bar. It’s all very well saying that’s what you should do on every bike, but with this higher front end, it comes naturally.

It’s surprising how often comfort seems overlooked on ‘racing’ bikes. Surely anyone can go faster, for longer, when their body isn’t being beaten up or contorted?

“This setup is for people like me,”

says Bolwell,

“who don’t want to be bent double all day. Above all, it had to be great for descending”.

And it is. You get a head’s up riding position on the drops, one-finger braking capability with the competent Me3 dual-pivot brakes, confidence-inspiring steering from the all carbon-fibre fork and stiff, reliable Mavic Aksium wheels, not to mention superbly grippy Vittoria Diamante Pro tyres. The Millook is certainly not backwards in going forwards up mountains – but it positively begs to be hammered down the other side.

So how do you know if the Millook is for you? Well, if your current bike is unexciting, has a huge stack of spacers under a stem which is already flipped skywards – and you still can’t enjoy descending on the drops like a bat out of hell, then it is.

In conclusion...

Fast, comfortable, fun, dashing looks and good value too!

Rating: 9/10

View the Verenti range

Introducing the 2010 Team Wiggle Cycling kit.

Designed especially for our sponsored riders for 2010, the kit features exceptionally high quality fabrics and features that are crucial to everyday racing conditions.

The Jersey and Bib shorts feature Meryl / Lycra® − Performance Sports Fabrics consisting of 86% Polythene 14% Elastane.

Meryl / Lycra® fabric has the superior performance benefits of modern fibre technology with an exceptionally soft handle combined with the durability and robustness of nylon.

Lycra® is the branded Elastane from Invista (formerly DuPont) that stretches 5 times in length with full recovery to give enhanced fit and performance characteristics including four-way stretch. It is fully breathable and its moisture management performance keeps you cool and dry. Light and windproof, Meryl / Lycra® also dries quickly.

The comfort and stretch of this fabric cannot be beaten and it offers excellent protection to UVA and UVB rays from exposure to sunlight. To top this off Meryl keeps its vibrant colour and softness, wash, after wash, after wash.

The Bibshorts are designed on the exceptionally popular dhb Knowle bib shorts

The dhb Knowle Bib Shorts are the most advanced shorts dhb has ever produced, offering unrivalled performance and comfort. Designed for the cyclist who expects a lot from themselves and even more from their clothing, these bibs cannot fail to impress. Every stitch and panel has been intelligently designed and rigorously tested, often under race conditions, to create a product which compromises nothing.

Perfect anatomical panelling ensures a snug, great-looking fit created using three highly innovative materials: Fieldsensor, Lycra Power and Inter Power, which combined help draw sweat away from the rider to maximise comfort while increasing support to the working muscles.

The Knowle bibs really come into their own with their pad. Developed and race-tested for endurance cycling, the Multi-D Comp Carbonium pad, made by Cytec, is one of the most sophisticated yet. It uses four types of foam, all with different densities, to provide the best weight distribution on the saddle, which results in ultimate comfort – even after a long day out on the road.

Camberley, Surrey, 11th March 2010 – This weekend saw the launch and start to a successful 2010 road racing season for the newly formed Felt Colbornes Cycling Team. Colbornes Group hosted the team launch event at their Camberley Audi Showroom with an evening of drinks,cake, bikes, cars and lycra!

Colbornes Group, with Audi, VW and Skoda dealerships in Guildford, Basingstoke, Camberley, Walton and Woking have joined forces with Saddleback Ltd, importers of Felt Bicycles, SRAM, Zipp, Castelli, Vredestein and Accerlerade to create and support a UK cycling team who will target the UK’s elite road racing calendar.

The existing Felt Bicycles road team of five riders have been one of the most competitive small teams on the UK circuit in 2009. The Felt Bicycles road team will form the basis of the new Felt Colbornes Cycling Team. The new partnership and increased support will allow the team to flourish in the UK.

Andy Wigmore, Director of Saddleback Ltd said:

“Having seen the team grow over the last couple of seasons achieving some great results along the way it seemed appropriate to increase our investment in the Felt Colbornes team and take it to the next level.” “Elite road racing is something that everyone at Saddleback is passionate about and the Felt Colbornes cycling team is an excellent way of showcasing our brands in the UK’s most competitive races.

We are very pleased to have the Colbornes group join the team as they share the same ethos to sport and business as we do. Together I am sure we will have a great season”.

Check out the range of Felt Bicycles via Wiggle now!

Two members of Team Wiggle, Emma-Kate Lidbury and Jon Cannings pre rode the route for the New Forest Spring Sportive Yesterday, in perfect…if not a little chilly conditions. The ride will be featured in Cycling Weekly over the next 2 weeks.

The inaugural sportive in the Wiggle Super Series takes place on the 18th of April in the New Forest National Park. As you can see from the photos the course is set on very quiet roads with wild animals roaming at the side of the roads. The course and area is truly Stunning! To find out more visit www.ukcyclingevents.co.uk

The first event is the New Forest Spring Sportive which is only 5 weeks away on April 18; followed by The Ups and Downs on April 25 in Dorking.

Two of the 10 road sportives – The Long One, which is a 200km epic on June 26 in Chichester, and the Jurassic Beast on May 2 in Dorchester are billed to be 2 of the toughest and most stunning Sportives in the UK.

Entries can be made online via the Wiggle website (check out www.wiggle.co.uk) and Wiggle customer discount applies to all purchases, so platinum Wiggle customers will receive 12 per cent off entry.

With events scattered throughout the calendar from March until October, there promises to be something for everyone, to see the full list and to find out more. Visit: www.wigglesuperseries.co.uk or www.ukcyclingevents.co.uk

Team Wiggle & Team Wiggle Tandem have been provided with a superb range of Exposure lights for this 2010 season. This will no doubt provide the athletes with plenty of extra hours in the day to help fulfill their training needs. The Exposure range has been fully customised with Wiggle branding and individual member names which is a such great touch.

Huge thanks to Rory and the team at Exposure!

Each athlete has a set of the following:

MTB’ers
Exposure MaXx D
Exposure Diablo
Exposure Red Eye
Red Dot

Road Cyclists & Triathletes
Exposure Toro
Exposure Joystick
Exposure Red Eye
Red Dot

See the full range of Exposure Lights.