The Autumn 2021 Bicycle Quarterly is coming off the press this week. We're preparing the mailing lists on Monday – to get your copy without delay, please make sure your subscription is up to date.Sometimes the best stories are rides where things don't go according to plan,...
The Summer 2021 Bicycle Quarterly is another action-packed edition. We test one of Fern's dreamy creations, a pure adventure bike equipped to handle everything from fast road riding (with aerobars) to ultra-steep technical terrain (with a dropper seatpost). Outfitted with a full complement of custom-made Gramm_Tourpacking bikepacking bags, it's made...
We found another box of BQ 61, our 15th anniversary edition. Originally, it was so popular that it sold out quickly. The 128 pages were packed with special stories. (How can we top this when BQ turns 20 in a few years?)The incredible ride over Kurakake Pass in Japan remains...
The Spring Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer! It's our 75th edition, and we've put together a very special magazine for the occasion. We visit an amazing framebuilder in Japan. Makino-san shows us how his small workshop builds frames of amazing quality and beauty, for professional Keirin track stars, road racers...
The Winter Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer! It's another fun-filled 104-page edition with a great variety of stories. (more…)
One of the most amazing bikes I've ever seen is Natsuko's Alps. It converts from a cyclotouring bike...... to a passhunter in less than 10 minutes: just remove fenders and rack, and swap the bars. To disassemble it for Rinko, you need only a single 6 mm Allen wrench for...
The Autumn 2020 Bicycle Quarterly is heading to the printer soon. We're especially excited about this edition, with great stories and adventures, plus a renewed focus on ground-breaking technical research. (more…)
The Summer Bicycle Quarterly has been a favorite of our readers. They were gripped by Peter Gaskill's report from the incredible Atlas Mountain Race. They enjoyed shop visits at Fern Bicycle in Berlin and with the pioneer of American constructeurs, R. T. Jansen. They marveled at beautiful bikes, from a refurbished...
The Summer 2020 Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer. It'll be mailed at the end of the month, but we just learned that due to staffing shortages at our printer, we need to complete the mailing list tomorrow morning (Thursday). To get your copy with the first mailing, please make...
Everybody needs a good read right now! We all know what to do to keep ourselves and others safe. We all know what is going on in the world. There is a time when it's important to turn off our screens, make a cup of tea, and enjoy a...
Sometimes, it's good to take a break from the news, turn off our screens, and immerse ourselves in a good read. Now this need is more urgent than ever, and so we're preparing a second mailing of the new Bicycle Quarterly this week – sooner than originally planned. Before you even...
It's always exciting when a new Bicycle Quarterly goes to print. After months of work, we finally see the magazine take shape on paper, and soon our readers will enjoy their copies. We're doubly excited about the Spring 2020 edition with its mix of engaging stories. Karen Yung reports...
To celebrate International Women's Day, we selected four Bicycle Quarterly covers that show extraordinary women cyclists. (more…)
When we got one of the first prototypes of the new Crust Canti Lightning Bolt for testing, we decided to really take it to the limit: How would it perform on a 36-hour adventure in the Cascade Mountains? We took it from Seattle to the highest roads on Mount St....
Readers have been asking about our four-pack with the 15th anniversary Bicycle Quarterlies. When we streamlined out back edition catalogue, we had removed it. By popular demand, it's back. (more…)
Make a cup of hot chocolate (or tea or coffee), sit down with a good magazine, and enjoy the evening! That's what readers have done with the Winter Bicycle Quarterly. Before even opening the magazine, they've savored the beautiful cover painting by Myoshi. (more…)
The most common comment we get from Bicycle Quarterly readers is "I wish the magazine came out more often." Publishing more often would be nice, but it's not possible: It takes three months to create each edition. With more than 100 pages of stories – all original contents...
The Winter 2019 Bicycle Quarterly is back from the printer. The cover continues our tradition of featuring original artwork: Myoshi's gouache painting shows the Crust Lightning Bolt during our test ride in the heart of the Cascade Mountains. (more…)
Adventures in all their forms are the theme of the Winter 2019 Bicycle Quarterly. Lael Wilcox and Rugile Kaladyte tour Kyrgystan in preparation of the Silk Road Mountain Race. Three friends attempting a new route on the border between France and Italy. Two riders enter The Japanese Odyssey, a ride so...
When we started putting together the Autumn Bicycle Quarterly, we realized that, for each article, we had more material than planned – longer stories, more photos, and new angles. Usually, we test two bikes, but for this edition, we had the chance to ride five: two OPEN all-road bikes, plus the...
https://youtu.be/HwQEO5eZUYw For the Autumn Bicycle Quarterly, we tested two amazing OPEN all-road bikes. The brand-new WI.DE. can run 60 mm-wide tires – wider than many mountain bikes. The ultralight U.P.P.E.R. is a true racing machine – and yet it handles even rough trails with confidence. Which would you prefer? Enjoy the video...
If Bicycle Quarterly was a 'normal' magazine, the Autumn edition would look quite different. Which 'normal' publisher would add 25% more pages just because there are so many great stories? We simply felt that we had no choice... When OPEN told us that they had a new bike for ultra-wide tires...
For the Summer Bicycle Quarterly, we test the incredible Calfee Bamboo show bike from the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Not only does this bike feature Calfee's new bamboo tubes – lined with carbon for lighter weight and greater strength – it's also equipped with Rotor's brand-new hydraulic shifting. When I admire bikes...
The Summer Bicycle Quarterly is back from the printer! In this edition, we test two bikes that wowed visitors at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. How do they ride? The Calfee's latest bike uses carbon-lined bamboo tubes for an even lighter and stronger frame. The show bike is equipped with Rotor's long-awaited...
[youtube https://youtu.be/BTb4xIu4nr8?rel=0&w=640&h=360] The Summer 2019 Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer. It's an another exciting edition, full of bike tests, adventures and great stories. As a preview, we made the little video clip above of Natsuko riding the Frances All-Road. Perhaps you admired this beautiful bike at the North American Handmade Bicycle...
Every BQ test bike that arrives at our office is greeted with enthusiasm. When OPEN hinted that they had a revolutionary, top secret, new bike they wanted us to try, we were even more excited than usual. Until now, we've had to keep the new bike under tight wraps, but...
[youtube https://youtu.be/hI_p9uSSwz4?rel=0&w=640&h=360] Each edition of Bicycle Quarterly is more than just a magazine: It's a small book with more than 100 pages of timeless contents. The most common complaint we get is: "It doesn't come out often enough!" We can't produce more than four editions a year, but we do offer past editions in convenient four-packs....
If you've been curious about Bicycle Quarterly, we offer an easy way to have a look at the current edition: Simply add it to your Rene Herse Cycles order. You'll see a prompt when you check out. For just $ 7, we put the current edition in the box with...
The Spring 2019 Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer. We are finalizing our mailing lists – subscribe or renew today to get your copy with the first mailing. You don't want to miss this edition! One focus of the Spring BQ is women in cycling. More women enjoy cycling than ever...
BQ readers care about their magazine, and we get feedback each time a new edition comes out. And yet we were surprised by the sheer volume of comments, and by the enthusiasm they expressed. There is no doubt: The latest BQ is our readers' favorite edition yet. Many readers love the cover...
The cover of our Winter edition is one of my favorites. It illustrates the story of Natsuko buying her first bike, when she was a college student. Read how she struggled to figure out what it meant when bike magazines listed the price for "frame+fork only," and how she finally decided...
[youtube https://youtu.be/MBUSuXHhsBQ?rel=0&w=640&h=360] How do you test a bike like Mitch Pryor's latest MAP All-Road? With its 48 mm-wide tires, fenders, racks and full lights, this is a bike designed for epic rides. How about taking it on a 30-hour, non-stop ride that traverses four mountain passes and crosses the crest of...
The Autumn 2018 Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer and will be mailed soon. It's another action-packed edition that will bring many hours of reading enjoyment. What better way to test the Masi Speciale Randonneur and the Frances Farfarer trailer than to take them on a real adventure? For our third attempt...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czyAPChY9xg&feature=youtu.be The Autumn Bicycle Quarterly take you on a trip across the Sawtooth Range. Long-term BQ readers know that it's been a bit of a holy grail for us to find a passage across this mountain range, with our first attempts ending in washouts and snow. This time we take the...
The history of cycling has brought us many useful things. If old randonneurs hadn't talked so fondly about the supple, wide, handmade clinchers of the 1940s, we might never have developed our Compass tires along the same lines. Without photos of mid-century riders scaling unpaved passes in the Alps, we...
Glancing at the photo above, you might think that I am turning right (seen from the rider's view). Actually, I am beginning a left turn. What you see is countersteering – literally the only way we can lean a bike into a corner. (more…)
With Bicycle Quarterly celebrating its 15th year, it's been fun to look back over the decade-and-a-half of publishing the magazine. A lot has changed, most of all the size: The first issue was a slim 20 pages, the latest one is more than five times as large! As BQ grew and resources became...
The Summer 2018 Bicycle Quarterly is off the press and will be mailed to subscribers soon. To cap our 15th anniversary year, we've put together a 112-page edition filled with truly remarkable stories. In our biggest adventure yet, we traversed the breathtaking Copper Canyons of northern Mexico. It was an amazing...
One of the hardest parts of bike fit is the width of the handlebars. There are many recommendations, but not all make sense. For decades, racers have been told that handlebars should match the width of their shoulders – but nobody seems to agree how to measure shoulder width! Let's...
The Spring 2018 Bicycle Quarterly celebrates how past, present and future have come together to enrich our cycling enjoyment. As we venture off the beaten path into amazing landscapes and toward memorable adventures, we take inspiration from the past, benefit from current technical developments, and shape the future of cycling. Take the...
[youtube https://youtu.be/R37xixiGsX0?rel=0&w=640&h=360] To put our Caletti Monstercross test bike through its paces, we took it passhunting in the middle of winter. Watch the video for a sneak preview, and enjoy the full adventure and bike test in the Spring 2018 Bicycle Quarterly. Make sure to view in 'full-screen' mode! Subscribe today...
Bicycle Quarterly back issues always are popular, and a number of magazines have run out in recent months. Recently, we found a box of magazines that we had put aside in case we needed to replace copies that were lost in shipping. This means that all but two Bicycle Quarterlies (BQ...
"Raise your handlebars, and you'll be more comfortable." It's one of those almost self-evident 'truths' of cycling. And yet the reality is not that simple... (more…)
To celebrate 15 years of Bicycle Quarterly, we are examining myths in cycling – things we (and most others) used to believe, but which we have found to be not true. Today, we'll look at frame stiffness. (more…)
To celebrate 15 years of Bicycle Quarterly, we are looking at ‘Myths in Cycling’ – things that aren't quite what we (and most other cyclists) used to believe. Part 3 of the series is about fenders. Many cyclists here in Seattle install fenders when the rainy season starts,...
The new Bicycle Quarterly is shipping now – subscribers should have their copies in a few weeks. Many of our readers already have enjoyed the video of our tandem trip to the French Alps. Taking an unrestored 70-year-old bike on a challenging tour was full of...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKo2aDuTZ2g The Winter Bicycle Quarterly features the story of a remarkable adventure: Touring unknown mountain roads in the French Alps on an unrestored, 70-year-old René Herse. To bring you right into the action, we made a little video about the ride. Click on the image above to watch, before reading the full...
We aren't models! Anybody who has looked at our photos will have noticed this... but what I really want to say is that every photo you see in Bicycle Quarterly, on this blog and on the Compass web site is totally authentic. It's not a posed shot with – yes...
The Autumn Bicycle Quarterly marks the 15th anniversary of the magazine. To celebrate, we assembled a very special selection of articles into our largest issue yet. Many readers have written to voice their excitement about the latest edition. Here are a few examples: "Issue no. 61 is absolutely the greatest I...
With the Autumn issue, we celebrate 15 years of Bicycle Quarterly! Fifteen years is a long time, and much has changed in the bike world since 2003. Most of those changes – wider tires, compact cranks, Allroad bikes – have been for the better, and BQ has played at least...
The long days of summer see us heading far into the mountains. Often, our ambitious plans push the limits of even the longest days... Above, Natsuko descends the incredible chain of passes in the Cevennes mountains of France. This amazing tour is featured in the latest Bicycle Quarterly. Just in time...
The new Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer. It's our biggest issue yet – well over 100 pages filled with exciting adventures. Here are a few of them: Renowned framebuilder and constructeur Peter Weigle joins us on a trip to Japan. Read his experiences with Rinko-ing his bike, riding the incredible Japanese mountain roads,...
We are always excited when the final files for Bicycle Quarterly go to the printer. We think that our readers will especially enjoy the Spring 2017 issue. We tested no fewer than three really amazing bikes. The Open U.P. (above) promises the performance and feel of a modern carbon racing bike and the...
During our Bicycle Quarterly adventures and travels, we generate hundreds – sometimes thousands – of photos. Only a fraction of them make it into the magazine, and there are many great shots that linger in the archives forever. Now Bicycle Quarterly has its own Instagram account (@bikequarterly) to...
Over the last few years, Bicycle Quarterly has tested quite a few titanium bikes. There is a simple reason for this: Titanium is a great material for an up-to-date, thoroughly modern bike. In recent years, the pace of innovation, especially with respect to tires, has been incredibly rapid. Just a few years ago, "gravel grinders"...
We recently decided not to reprint Bicycle Quarterly back issues any longer. In the past, we've reprinted issues as they sold out, because we wanted to keep the great content available: amazing bike builders like Alex Singer, Charlie Cunningham, Jack Taylor, Reyhand, Hetchins, Charrel; the incredible French technical trials; original technical...
Recently, I cleaned out old files on our computers, and came across this treasure trove of unpublished photos from Bicycle Quarterly's "Secret Pass" adventure. It took me back three years, when Hahn and I headed into the Cascade Mountains to test the MAP 650B Randonneur. Like all of Mitch's bikes, his latest machine...
The Winter 2016 Bicycle Quarterly will be mailed soon. Winter is when many cyclists review the year's riding season and think about a new bike. If we were to order (or even build) a new bike, what we would do differently? In the Winter BQ, we look at this question from many...
With a tumultuous election season in the United States, we sometimes lose sight of the bigger worries that exist in many parts of the world, even as the news highlight armed conflicts and refugee crisis. One of the ways Compass Bicycles has chosen to make a difference is with a special 24-hour charity...
The Autumn Bicycle Quarterly went to the printer today. It's always a great sense of satisfaction to complete another issue. A lot goes into each BQ: organizing trips and scheduling test bikes; photography on the road and in the studio; writing, editing, copy-editing and proofreading; photo selection and layout; color corrections...
Bicycle Quarterly is the inspiration for everything we do. It's the basis for our research and development: The all-road performance of Compass tires was developed through Bicycle Quarterly's testing of tires. The supreme comfort of Compass' Randonneur handlebars became apparent as we rode many bikes across varied terrain for BQ features. But more than that, Bicycle Quarterly...
When our readers receive the Summer 2016 Bicycle Quarterly, they'll have a hard time putting it down. We embarked on our most ambitious adventure to date: A ride from Cholula to Mexico City via the 4000 m (13,100 ft)-high Paso de Cortés. We rode on rough gravel roads, past the majestic...
Where is the best place to test an Enduro Allroad bike? That is what we asked ourselves as we planned the Summer 2016 Bicycle Quarterly. It had to be a ride that went beyond the capabilities of the Allroad bikes we usually ride, with their 42 mm-wide tires. And yet we...
The popularity of our 4-packs of Bicycle Quarterly back issues has surprised us. They provide a neat way of reading up on a topic that interests you, whether it's tire performance, American framebuilders, or tandems. Especially popular has been "Our best interviews", which includes Grant Petersen; the legendary builders at TOEI; a...
The Spring 2016 Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer and will be mailed in a few weeks. In this issue, we focus on the sense of exploration and discovery, from a trip across the world to a trip to get groceries. Mark Eastman explored a sense of history with his classic...
We want to celebrate a great year with our 10 favorite photos from Bicycle Quarterly. Tom Moran's article about fatbiking to the "Magic Bus" in Alaska was not only a great story, but it also was accompanied by great photos (above). Paris-Brest-Paris is full of captivating images, with riders from all over...
The Winter 2015 Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer and will be mailed in a few weeks. It's another fun-filled, action-packed issue. The Winter issue's theme is "Riding with Friends". We test the Elephant National Forest Explorer, a bike made for gravel roads (above) by riding it to the Bicycle Quarterly Un-Meeting....
All Bicycle Quarterly back issues continue to be popular, because their content is timeless. Our historic articles are well-researched, with interviews of the people who were there, plus detailed research in the contemporary literature. If you want to know the story of Alex Singer or Jack Taylor, or how the...
A few weeks ago, I was working on the third-ever issue of Bicycle Quarterly: Vol. 1 No. 3, a slim volume of 24 pages. We are reprinting this issue as part of our commitment to keep all this timeless content available. And many of the articles are...
We seem to be at the apex of Summer: Jan and Theo and other randonneurs experienced Paris-Brest-Paris, and we see many of you on great cycling outings. Yet, we all notice how the sun sets a bit earlier, and Labor Day is not too far away if we look...
The Summer 2015 Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer and will be mailed next week. This summer's theme is a "Journey of Discoveries". We test the Breadwinner B-Road that won last year's Oregon Outback. We take it on a journey to the ghost town of Monte Cristo. Join us as...
The Spring 2015 Bicycle Quarterly picks up where the 50th issue left off: After reviewing the progress of "real-world" bicycle over the last decade, we are looking into the future. How can we improve our riding experience further? Could we fine-tune the tubing configuration of our...
"Stop the Presses!" is a term you really only understand once you have seen these gigantic machines churn out sheet after sheet in rapid succession. They do seem almost unstoppable. Yet here they fell silent again, after just a few sheets had been printed. It was time for the...
We just signed up our 4000th current subscriber to Bicycle Quarterly. The response to our 50th issue has been overwhelming – both from long-time readers who considered it our "best one yet" and from new subscribers. We received even more feedback than usual, with comments...
From its beginning more than a decade ago, Bicycle Quarterly was intended as a timeless resource, rather than a magazine you read once and then recycle. Most of our content is still relevant and interesting, and our back issues continue to be popular. We are glad that new readers...
Most of the 5800 copies of Bicycle Quarterly are mailed directly from the printer. Then there are those that go to local newsstands and bike shops, and I greatly enjoy delivering them by bike. It's also an excuse for a ride on my Urban Bike. A box of magazines...
Can a 650B randonneur bike climb as well as the best titanium racing bikes? It did climb as well in a Bicycle Quarterly test, and that raised a few eyebrows. After all, the randonneur bike weighed 10 pounds more... Theoretically, assuming equal power output on each bike, the lighter bike...
I love my work. A few years ago, I was concerned that editing Bicycle Quarterly might eventually become a "job" rather than a passion. As it turns out, I am still excited about every issue of Bicycle Quarterly, especially this 50th one! To celebrate the occasion,...
The Autumn 2014 issue of Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer. It will be mailed soon. We are excited to share a variety of topics with our readers. The Oregon Outback was an exciting gravel event, and we bring you right into the action with two features. One brings...
When Bicycle Quarterly did an article on Tullio Campagnolo, you knew it wasn't going to be another fluff piece re-hashing the same old stories and myths. We did some real research, and we were surprised by what we uncovered. Cyclists who know their history have heard how in 1927, Campagnolo...
The Summer 2014 Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer. We spent most of April in Japan, where we found cycling, culture, and bicycle manufacturing that were even more amazing than we ever imagined. This issue features our first reports. For our tour of the Shinshu Mountains (cover), we set out...
"You don't want to give people what they want. Give them something they didn't know that they wanted." Ruth Reichl, former editor of Gourmet. This quote really resonated with me. When I pick up other cycling magazines, I am often disappointed. They talk about the trends of the moment. Right now...
The Spring 2014 Bicycle Quarterly came off the press earlier this week. It's another exciting issue, full of inspiring stories, useful technical articles and beautiful bikes. We tested a new semi-production bike from Mitch Pryor (MAP). This was a perfect excuse for us to embark on a "fast camping...
Gravel Grinding is the new "hot" trend in cycling. I am very excited about this. Riding on gravel is great fun. A friend who was a telemark skier had a T-shirt: "Free your heel and your mind will follow." I get a similar feeling when my tires are freed...
When we started Bicycle Quarterly almost 12 years ago, I got a phone call from Frank Berto: "I give you two years max. I've seen all the others fail. In the mean time, I'll give you all the help I can." Similar enthusiasm from numerous people enabled...
Whew! The Autumn 2013 Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer. The team hears me complain about how much work it can take to publish a magazine, but they seem to cheer up when I have my moment of "This really is going to be the best issue ever!" Indeed,...
Whether you ride fast or slow, being able to stop quickly is an important skill. Your ability to stop also depends on how well your brakes perform. In Bicycle Quarterly 37, we tested brake performance to determine:How do you brake most effectively? Do brakes with different stopping...
The 100th Tour de France started today. Wherever you look, there are retrospectives: in magazines and newspapers, on TV and the radio. Winners get to write history, and so the role of cyclotourists in the development of the most famous bicycle race in the world remains almost unknown. The Tour...
The Summer issue of Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer and will be mailed next week. This issue features: Cycling in Mexico, at the intersection of tradition and fashion. A fascinating variety of bicycles and tricycles carries anything from construction materials to mobile food stands. In Mexico City, these utilitarian...
The cycling cultures of Paris in the 1940s and early 1950s were varied and interesting. A few years ago, Bicycle Quarterly Vol. 5, No. 3 used this culture as a starting point to explore cycling for transportation. The porteurs were a particularly fascinating mix of transportation and sport. They...
Some stories are too big for a regular magazine article. They could just about fill a book! In those cases, we dedicate almost an entire edition of Bicycle Quarterly magazine to a single topic. The Jack Taylor story in Vol. 7, No. 4 is a good example. My friend Mark...
Our readers eagerly anticipate each issue of Bicycle Quarterly. The wait is almost over: The Spring 2013 issue will be mailed this week. Many of us want to know: What makes your bike significantly faster? Perhaps the most influential research in over ten years of Bicycle Quarterly has been on...
In the last issue of Bicycle Quarterly, we compared the performance of a 17-pound titanium racing bike and of a 26-pound steel randonneur bike. We were surprised when both bikes climbed at the same speed in a set of controlled experiments. Others shared our surprise, but added: "That cannot be...
We are grateful that we can ride beautiful bicycles, both for enjoyment and for transportation. We discuss things like performance, handing and the advantages of aluminum fenders. Much of the world is much less fortunate. Even in the United States, there are many people whose most basic needs aren't met....
The Winter 2012 edition of Bicycle Quarterly magazine has returned from the printer and will be in the mail shortly. In this issue, we focus on titanium racing bikes and modern shifting systems. A titanium bike shoot-out in Bicycle Quarterly? We look at the best modern bicycles to establish...
The Autumn 2012 issue of Bicycle Quarterly will be mailed next week. This issue celebrates 10 years of the magazine. That's right: Ten years ago, the first issue of what was then Vintage Bicycle Quarterly was mailed. It's been a long journey from a magazine that focused mostly on...
Suspension losses often are overlooked, but they are an important factor in tire performance. When we first tested the performance of tires in a roll-down test, we found that very high pressures offer almost no improvements of performance. This contradicted the testing done in laboratory...
If there is one single topic that summarizes Bicycle Quarterly, it is the search for the best solutions. The Summer 2012 issue focuses on the "ultimate" bicycles. Note the plural form: There seem to be as many "ultimate" bikes as there are individual riders, so we examined a few...
Even though Daniel Rebour retired almost 40 years ago, his drawings remain recognizable to many cyclists today. Rebour's drawings distilled the essence of components and bicycles better than photographs ever can. He managed to make even the most mundane bicycle appealing, and his drawings greatly added to the allure...
Wind resistance is one of the most important resistances a cyclist has to overcome (together with the rolling resistance of the tires). Most wind tunnel testing has been done for time trial equipment, but aerodynamics are important for real-world riders as well. Without any data, many people assumed that fenders...
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