Wiggle has signed an exclusive deal with Lightweight Wheels, one of the world’s finest manufacturers of carbon wheelsets.

The deal makes Wiggle the UK’s only distributor of Lightweight Wheels, which are renowned for their high build quality and seemingly impossible balance of stiffness, lightness, aerodynamics and toughness.

If you fancy a pair, you’ll be in good company. Having always proven popular with the pro peloton – and ridden by several Tour de France champions – the Focus Milram team will be riding Lightweights in 2009 (find out more about which pros enjoy the Lightweight ride). There will be five different wheelsets on sale at Wiggle, including Standards, Obermayers, Lightweight Clinchers, Ventoux 190 and 240’s.

A recent test in German cycling magazine RoadBike saw the Lightweight Standards go head to head with seven other carbon wheelsets. After being put through their paces by World Championship time triallists, the results were clear: the pro riders voted the Lightweights “top dog on the block”, praising their lightness, stiffness and acceleration, labelling them “exceptional” and “willing and direct at every move”. Aware it has often been difficult in the past to get hold of Lightweight wheelsets, Wiggle is also boasting plentiful stock levels so that availability should no longer be an issue.

To find out more, visit www.wiggle.co.uk/m/Cycle/7/Lightweight for the ultimate upgrade!

A couple of weeks ago we had the pleasure of going up to Birmingham to help out on Channel Five’s Gadget Show! Myself and fellow Bloggle editor Simsy took part in a ‘Focus group’ testing out the latest bike gadgets to find the best bit of bike bling on the market today. Last night (Monday 17th Nov) it was on the telly and you can see it online here

The 3 gadgets on test were:

Bicygnals

Garmin Edge 705

The Cy-Fi wireless iPod speaker

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Last year we ran a competition giving away a complete Shimano XT groupset. We asked people to tell us why they deserved to win and then picked what we thought was the most worthy winner. Sarah Burl was the lucky winner (and one of the only people that didn’t want the prize for herself!) and you can read what she said here. Now a year later Sarah’s excellent and thoughtful plan has come into fruition and we are so delighted to be involved with the project. Read on….

Eliman Jammeh, Captain of Gambia Cycling Team
By Sarah Burl and Martin Holland
November 2008

Cycling in The Gambia is not well supported or recognised by the government departments responsible for sport or is it popular with the general public. It is an alien concept that you would ride a bike for pleasure, recreation or sport; the main reason to ride being because you can’t afford a car. To ride our bikes for several hours when we actually own a car has given us the reputation as ‘odd toubabs (white people)’. However there are group of men who have taken to racing bikes on the roads for fun. This loose association of cyclists make up The Gambian Cycle Team that consists of, on average, 15 cyclists that take to the roads whenever they are not working and have a working bike to ride.

Eliman Jammeh has a story typical of Gambian life, struggling to survive, making efforts to better himself only to be brought down with the reality of a culture that supports communities but at a cost of individual success. Often the scenario reminds me of Trainspotting where Renton desperately tries to make something of his life only to realise that in order to do this he must escape his previous life which is hard when the people he turns his back on are those he cares about.

Eliman was born in 1969 in Banjul, The Gambia. His father was a business man who sold fruit but died in 1992 and Eliman became head of the household. One of his sisters died during labour and left 7 children. His other sister has 5 children. Eliman’s mother now lives in Senegal and so he rents a property in his aunty’s compound in Banjul (who he also calls his mother). He has 11 years of schooling in total where he learnt to read and write English but then his father was unable to pay for any further education.
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I’d like to say a HUGE THANK YOU for all the great entries for sponsorship received. We’ve had literally 1000’s of entries and it is going to be so tough picking the 5 athletes to race for Team Wiggle 2009 next season. Every application will be read but apologies if we are unable to contact and reply to every person individually. The lucky applicants will be contacted over the next few weeks and will be invited down to Wiggle HQ for a chat to make sure we are the right match for each other. Once contracts have been signed the new Team Wiggle for 2009 will be announced right here on the Bloggle.

Please note that application for sponsorship from Wiggle is now closed. Details of how to apply for our team in 2010 will be announced in due course.

Thanks again for such a great response and we are looking forward to great season next year with plenty of great posts and pics here on the Bloggle!

We are delighted to announce that Wiggle has been voted a top sports and leisure site from renowned consumer magazine Which?

In Which? magazines biggest ever online shopping survey they covered 51 websites across eight categories. it included everything you need to know about returns policies and your rights when shopping online.

In the Which? survey of more than 8,000 members, skincare website Lizearle.com received the highest customer score of 95%. Other retailers that came top in their categories were Abebooks.co.uk, Amazon.co.uk, Figleaves.com, Virginmobile.com, Johnlewis.com and Wiggle.co.uk.

They said:

“Our survey found that specialist websites are worth a serious look. Sports and leisure shoppers love Wiggle.co.uk, which sells cycling, swimming and athletics gear.

Sport and leisure enthusiasts clearly rate Amazon.co.uk and Wiggle.co.uk – both score 81%.  But Wiggle.co.uk customers still love its ‘excellent customer relations, excellent website, excellent stock and very good prices’. “

Full details on how each of the 51 online retailers performed are available at http://www.which.co.uk/onlineretailers

Own a stake in a pro cycling team for as little as £1!

Swift Racing was the UK’s first professional women’s cycling team in 2006 and has grown every year since, developing and showcasing the best talent in women’s international cycling. Their palmares speaks for itself: European Track Champion, National Cyclo-Cross Champion, National U23 Road Race Champion, National Criterium Champion, World Cup Medals. 2008 has been their most successful year to date, but they need your help to continue winning.

With the credit-crunch talked about in the news and in the papers every day, Swift Racing is also feeling the pinch. Thier lead sponsor is cutting expenditure and ceasing the support they have previously offered the team.

This is the bit where you come in.

In order for Swift Racing to continue next year, they have come up with a unique way of funding the team.

Just as facebook, YouTube and MySpace are all about user-generated content, they’ve decided to create a user-generated cycling team. Offering supporters the opportunity to donate money to purchase a part of their squad for 12 months, giving them a share of what will soon become ‘Team You’.

Until they find their next title sponsor, they will be called Team You, reflecting your input to your new team. You can become a part for as little as £1 - and YOU can make a difference!

For more details and information about how to sponsor them see: www.ownourteam.com/

Wiggle are supporting Steve Colligan’s 1000km trek across the roof of the World to Everest on a Unicycle and he just sent us his latest update!

Just completed 4 days of riding and arrived in Gyangtse (4000m) today. So far the riding has been on good roads. The hardest thing so far is having enough energy, due to loosing tons of sleep. The beds in Lhasa (acclimatising) were rock hard (Chinese style), then I had problems sleeping due to the altitude and now I have a bad cough. Got a ‘flat’ 65 miles to Shigatse tomorrow where I stay two nights in a hotel (I have a rest day).

The days are fairly long ones, but doing well considering I’m riding a unicycle. I’m riding with some mountain bikers. They go faster on the flat and down hill, but I really come into my own going up these mountains. Had some snow on yesterdays high pass, but apart from that the weather has been very good. Things are also getting colder in camp as there was frost on the inside of the tent two days ago.

I am receiving masses of attention from the Chinese, Tibetans and foreigners alike. Practically every car that passes me will slow down so they can take photos out of the window.

The uni (and me) coped very well on its first big pass, climbing a continuous 1200m to a height of 4800m (the height of Mt.Blanc) and beating the two-wheeled ones!! Yes the air was thin, but not too much of an issue on long cranks (170’s).

Scenery is breathtaking - very barren mountains, with snow-capped ones in the distance.

Not sure if and when I’ll be able to post next.

Steve

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For More info on Steve and his charity visit www.unicyclesteve.com

We are offering you the chance to become a Wiggle Sponsored Athlete with a complete sponsorship package for one year worth over £3500! This is your only chance to apply for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as entry to join Team Wiggle 2009 closes on October 31st 2008.

We are on the hunt for a male or female (aged 18 and over) for each of the following:

Mountain Biking
Road Cycling
Triathlon
Running

As well as one person under 18 from any of the above disciplines.

You could be any aspect of the disciplines above. Whether you are involved in MTB enduro, cross country, road racing, sportives, Ironman, sprint distance tri’s, marathons or club running, this is your chance to be even more competitive for 2009!

The athletes that we pick will each receive this amazing package for a full year:

A Focus Training Bike for the season worth up to £1000
A Focus Race Bike for the season worth up to £2000
A clothing and equipment package including your Team Wiggle 2009 kit
An amazing discount on any other pieces of kit available from Wiggle

Full details of the package and details of how to apply can be found here

Wiggle exclusive bike brand Focus will be the new bike supplier of Team MILRAM for 2009.

The best selling Focus Izalco frame has been modified through in-depth development with Team Milram with a stiffer rear triangle, bottom bracket and headset to pro rider specification. This has been carried through to all the production models in the Izalco road range available from Wiggle!

Since Focus was founded in 1991 racing at the top level has been one their major objectives. The essence and core beliefs of the company are still living: racers building bikes for racers. From the very beginning Focus worked with well known pro cyclists and took their advice in developing high-end mountain bikes and road racing machines. So for five years racers like Hanka Kupfernagel rode the national title in cyclocross on Focus bikes. Not to mention the three world champion titles.

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If anyone has tried taking a bike on a train recently they will know it’s a bit of a lottery as to whether or not you will be allowed on, or if you can, get a secure place to store your bike during your travels.

Currently there is no minimum requirement for train operators to carry bicycles and each operator has a different set of rules and booking procedures. This makes the system extremely complex to use, especially when you are travelling between different trains. It’s not possible to book bicycle reservations online and hence you do not know whether there will be room for a bike on a train when you buy your ticket (note, advanced tickets cannot subsequently be altered to a train with available bicycle carriage space). Some operators have extremely poor provision.

In short cyclists are regularly being told they will not be allowed on the train because “there’s only room for two bikes.” last year it was four bikes, 3 years ago it was 6 bikes and before privatisation there was a bike carriage… not a very green trend.

There is now an official petition in place to raise awareness of this issue: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/bikes-on-trains/

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