Tag

guides

28 poststagged with “guides

Essential Cycling Skills Every Rider Should Master
guides

Essential Cycling Skills Every Rider Should Master

Master road cycling's core skills, braking, cornering, descending, group riding and pacing, with step-by-step drills and a 2-week practice plan.

·9 min read

How to Build Endurance Without Overtraining
guidestraining

How to Build Endurance Without Overtraining

Learn how to build cycling endurance without overtraining using a practical load, recovery, and adjustment system. Includes Zone 2 tips, warning signs, and weekly templates.

·10 min read

Common Cycling Mistakes Beginners Make
guidesbeginners

Common Cycling Mistakes Beginners Make

Avoid the 12 most common beginner cycling mistakes, from saddle height and gear choice to route planning and wind timing. Fix them fast with our guide.

·7 min read

What to Wear for Every Season
guides

What to Wear for Every Season

The no-guesswork cycling clothing guide for UK riders. Hot, cold, or wet, find the right kit for every temperature with checklists and layering tips.

·8 min read

How to Improve Your Climbing
guidestraining

How to Improve Your Climbing

Climb faster on your road bike with structured FTP, threshold, and VO2 max training, plus smarter pacing, cadence, and route-specific wind planning.

·10 min read

Should you ride today or tomorrow?
guides

Should you ride today or tomorrow?

You checked the forecast on Sunday night. Looked fine. Mild, a bit of wind, no rain until evening. You set off at 9am feeling optimistic, turned onto the exposed section past the reservoir, and spent the next 40 minutes grinding into a 20km/h headwind that the weather app on your phone showed ...

·6 min read

Clipless Pedals vs. Flat Pedals
guidesbeginners

Clipless Pedals vs. Flat Pedals

Clipless or flat pedals for road cycling? Compare both options across safety, efficiency and skill level to find the right choice for your riding stage.

·8 min read

14-day weather forecast for cycling routes
guides

14-day weather forecast for cycling routes

If you've ever checked the forecast on a Monday, felt confident about Saturday's club run, then watched the wind swing 180 degrees by Friday morning, you already know the problem. A generic weather app tells you what's happening at your postcode. It says nothing about whether that south-wester...

·5 min read

How to Ride Safely in Traffic
guides

How to Ride Safely in Traffic

Learn how to cycle safely in UK traffic with step-by-step guidance on road positioning, junctions, dooring, group riding, and your legal obligations.

·13 min read

Best cycling app for rain along your route
guides

Best cycling app for rain along your route

You check the forecast on Saturday morning: 20% chance of rain, sunny intervals, looks fine. You roll out at 8am. By the time you're 30 miles in and cresting the back climb, the sky opens. Not because the forecast was wrong exactly. Because the rain arrived at mile 38, not at the postcode you ...

·7 min read

Road Cycling Maintenance 101
guides

Road Cycling Maintenance 101

Learn basic road bike maintenance at home with this step-by-step guide. ABC checks, chain care, brake inspection, torque specs, and a printable schedule.

·11 min read

Best app to avoid headwinds on a bike ride
guides

Best app to avoid headwinds on a bike ride

You checked the forecast. Fifteen kilometres per hour, southwesterly. Fine. You rolled out at 8am and spent the first 40 minutes of your club run absolutely nailed into a headwind, legs burning, group splintering, any chance of a decent average gone before the coffee stop. Then you turned nort...

·10 min read

How to Fuel Before, During & After Long Rides
guidestraining

How to Fuel Before, During & After Long Rides

Build a simple, evidence-based nutrition plan for long bike rides. Learn exact carb, sodium and protein targets to fuel performance and recover faster.

·8 min read

How to Choose the Right Road Bike
guidesbeginners

How to Choose the Right Road Bike

Endurance, race, gravel or aero? Use this practical guide to choose the right road bike category for your riding style, terrain, and goals.

·11 min read

The Ultimate Bikepacking Packing List
guides

The Ultimate Bikepacking Packing List

Everything you need to pack for an overnight bikepacking trip. A practical UK-focused checklist covering shelter, layers, food, repair kit, navigation and safety.

·9 min read

Draw your own cycling route in minutes
guides

Draw your own cycling route in minutes

Most cyclists have been there: you find a suggested route online, load it onto your Garmin or Wahoo, and ride it, only to realise halfway round that the headwind bashing you into the ground for 30 km was entirely predictable. The route wasn't the problem. The timing was. And the tool you used ...

·10 min read

Tubeless vs. Inner Tubes
guides

Tubeless vs. Inner Tubes

Tubeless or inner tubes on your road bike? Compare both systems across puncture protection, cost, maintenance and performance to find the right setup for you.

·10 min read

Smart cycling route planner for weekend rides: a step-by-step guide
guides

Smart cycling route planner for weekend rides: a step-by-step guide

You've checked the forecast, chosen a familiar loop, and set off, only for the whole ride to feel like grinding through treacle. The weather app said it was fine. So what went wrong?

·6 min read

How to Train for Your First 100 km Ride
guidestraining

How to Train for Your First 100 km Ride

A complete 8–12 week 100km bike ride training plan with pacing targets, fuelling schedules, and route-timing tips to make every long ride count.

·9 min read

Must-Have Gear When Getting Into Road Cycling
guidesbeginners

Must-Have Gear When Getting Into Road Cycling

New to road cycling? Here are the essential items you actually need to start riding safely and comfortably in the UK, plus what to skip until later.

·10 min read

Best cycling route planner 2026: why wind scoring beats maps
guidescomparisons

Best cycling route planner 2026: why wind scoring beats maps

You've got an hour's window this evening. The route you want to ride could be glorious or it could grind you into the tarmac. The map looks identical either way. So what's the "best" cycling route planner actually supposed to tell you?

·5 min read

The Ultimate Road Cycling Starter Guide
guidesbeginners

The Ultimate Road Cycling Starter Guide

Everything you need to know before buying your first road bike, fit, gearing, tyres, brakes, budget, and how to make every early ride count.

·11 min read

Cycling route planner with a free trial: try wind scoring before paying
guides

Cycling route planner with a free trial: try wind scoring before paying

You already know the feeling. You check the weather the morning before a ride, it says "light winds", and you head out only to spend the first 20 kilometres grinding into a headwind that the forecast never mentioned. The wind was there all along. It just wasn't on *your* route.

·5 min read

Best route planner for cyclists in 2026: stop guessing, start scoring
guides

Best route planner for cyclists in 2026: stop guessing, start scoring

You've checked the weather. The app says 18 mph winds from the west. Fine, but is that a tailwind for the first half and a brutal headwind home, or the other way round? Generic forecasts don't answer that. Your actual route heading does.

·8 min read

Best cycling route planner that takes GPX: a 2026 UK guide
guidescomparisons

Best cycling route planner that takes GPX: a 2026 UK guide

You've got a GPX file. Maybe you downloaded it from Strava, exported it from Komoot, or a friend shared a sportive route. Now you need a planner that actually accepts it, does something useful with it, and ideally helps you decide when to ride it.

·10 min read

Tailwind GPS free plan: how many routes can you save?
guides

Tailwind GPS free plan: how many routes can you save?

The short answer: on the Tailwind GPS free plan, you can save up to 3 tracked routes. Each saved route gets a full Tailwind Score 0–100 for every departure hour, so even with three routes you're getting genuinely useful, route-specific wind forecasting, not a generic weather widget.

·3 min read

Best route planner for cyclists in 2026: stop guessing, start scoring
guides

Best route planner for cyclists in 2026: stop guessing, start scoring

Most route planners draw great maps but can't tell you which loop feels good at 9am vs 7am. Why wind-aware route scoring is the missing piece — and where Tailwind GPS fits.

·6 min read

Best route planner for cyclists 2026: compared
guidescomparisons

Best route planner for cyclists 2026: compared

Strava, Komoot, Ride with GPS, Garmin Connect, and Tailwind GPS — an honest comparison of every major cycling route planner category and who each one is actually for.

·9 min read