The UK’s number one cycling exhibition will take over the NEC offering something for fans of all two-wheeled pursuits. An outdoor demo track will be set up to test the latest mountain bikes, or you can sit back and watch how the pros do it with dirt jumpers and trials riders in action.

Simply head over to www.cycleshow.co.uk/book and enter the discount code WMB to get a ticket for £11.50, instead of £13 in advance.

Now you get to ask the man himself. To celebrate the premiere of his new Imaginate riding clip, Danny will host an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session on Reddit on Tuesday 18th June from 5pm (GMT).

If you haven’t got one already, sign up for a Reddit account http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/, and get involved.

You can see the teaser for Imaginate here http://imaginate.redbull.com/, then tune in on the 18th to see the final cut.

The short-travel 29er is bang up to date, with confident geometry and future-proof fittings and details. Its outstanding ride, excellent spec and high value all conspired to shoot it into an easy first place, while strong upgrade potential (and a lifetime bearing warranty) will keep you happy for years to come.

For a chance to win your own (worth £2000), simply go to www.futurecomps.co.uk/wmbtboty and answer the following question:

Question
How much rear suspension travel does the T-129 have?
A 100mm
B 120mm
C 130mm

You can text your answer to 87474. Type WMBTBOTY followed by a space, your choice of A, B or C, another space and your name and address. Text entries cost £1 plus your standard network tariff rate for one message. By texting your entry you are agreeing to receive details of further offers from Future Publishing Ltd. If you do not wish to receive this information, text NO INFO to 87474.

The closing date for all entries is midnight on 6 May 2013.

For full competition terms and conditions, go to www.futuretcs.com

For more information on this bike and the rest of the range, visit www.whytebikes.com.

The Trek Remedy 9, Ghost AMR Lector 9500 and GT Zaskar Elite 9R get the first ride treatment.

If you want to cram as much singletrack and as many summits into every ride, we test six long-distance, high-speed trail bikes that will do the job.

Short on stopping power? We test 15 of the best disc brakes for 2013

For this month’s ride guide, we’re checking out the manmade trails of Queen Elizabeth Country Park and beyond.

Fi Spotswood ponders the place of women in mountain biking.

Plus a look behind the scenes of Orange Mountain Bikes, the usual mix of news, opinions and in-depth reviews from our team of WMB testers.

The March (145) issue is in the shops now!

First rides: We’re in the saddle of the big-wheeled Scott Genius, Genesis’s first full susser – the Grapil – and Trek’s Cobia to bring you our first impressions

Do materials matter? We consider how what your frame’s made from, whether it’s steel, titanium, aluminium or carbon, affects your ride.

Bike test: We test six 26in-wheeled full sussers that won’t break the bank

Group test: Want to build your own truly custom steed? We test 10 tasty hardtail frames

Ride Guide: We’re discovering the delights of the South Downs on three rides to suit all abilities.

Plus the usual mix of news, reviews, tech advice and loads more… On sale now!

We’re testing the new generation that are getting ready to take on 2013 and win! Our test of big-wheeled trail full sussers include the Giant Trance X 29er 1, Santa Cruz Superlight and Specialized Camber Carbon Comp.

Confused about what wheels should grace your next steed? We ask what the heck is going on with wheels, chatting to industry figures to find out where there wheel size loyalties lie.

We ride the local trails of Yeti Cycles to find out how the routes help inspire its designs.

If you want to keep your toes toasty on the trail, check out our winter riding boots grouptest.

Three routes to inspire and encourage you to get out and ride in the Surrey Hills.

Plus the usual mix of news, reviews, opinions and more. On sale 18 December

The Cannondale Trail SS goes head to head with Trek’s 4500 in First Rides, plus the new Marin Mount Vision XM8, Swift’s first foray into mountain bikes with the Detritovore and a spin on Cotic’s Soul.

We’ve tested six carbon framed superbikes to find out if spending £6000 really makes you faster. If you prefer going back to basics, we also test five rigid forked steeds ranging from £350 to £1250.

The Yorkshire Dales is our ride guide location this month, with three awesome routes for all abilities.

Plus the final part of our skills guide shows you how to tackle technical climbs and clean them, tips to protect your bike from the perils of winter, waterproof jackets and winter shorts group tests and loads more!

What Mountain Bike 142 (December 2012) on sale now!

If you’ve already got your 2013 diary, we’ve got some dates for you to put in it now! January 17-20 will see London’s Excel play host to the London Bike Show, alongside The Outdoors Show, The Active Travel Show and the Tullet Prebon London Boat Show.

Brands confirmed to attend include Genesis, Ridgeback, Schwalbe, GoPro and more. Once you’ve checked out what the exhibitors have to offer,  take a look at the DMR Pump Track Challenge, where some of the UK’s best riders will race head to head, or get advice from the BikeRadar Training Hub. You can book a session to get a personalised training plan designed here. Use code TRAIN to get your session for £69! Code is valid until 31 December, but book early as there is a limited number of sessions available for this price.

Book your ticket now and save money by entering the discount code WMB12. For more details and to book go to www.thelondonbikeshow.co.uk

You can get the chance to see her on the Trek stand at The Cycle Show to be held at Birmingham’s NEC on September 28th. Check out a selection of new stuff from Trek and Bontrager, get the opportunity to receive a signed poster and enter into a competition to win a signed jersey, or just swap energy food recipes!

As lucky readers of What Mountain Bike, you can also save money on the ticket price by heading to www.cycleshow.co.uk/book and using discount code WMB. Advance tickets will cost £11.50, on the door price is £16.

You can read about our Team GB contenders hoping to go for gold, Annie Last and Liam Killeen, the best places to watch the thrills and potential spills at the venue or from the comfort of your own sofa and more. Here we bring you the full interviews with the people who are responsible for building that all-important course and overseeing that the event goes smoothly.

As part of its promise to deliver the best games possible LOCOG has employed a key number of personnel to ensure that promise is delivered. For mountain biking those specific personnel have been chosen because of their great understanding and affinity to the sport and passion to help drive the Olympic project and the sport in general forward.

Martyn Salt, mountain bike manager
A key figure in the organization of a number of important events in the UK over the past decade, he was appointed mountain bike manager, joining the games back in October 2010. He explains what his job entails.

“My role really is to deliver a great race and a great experience for the athletes and all that goes with that. Now that might sound a really small aspect of the games but you’d be surprised at the amount of detail you have to work with to deliver that goal.

“Our aim has been to showcase the sport and make it look exciting to inspire a new generation and I think with this course we have that cracked. The race will be fast and dynamic and certainly not straightforward!”

Martin Seddon, course designer and builder
Martin’s exemplary qualifications as an elite mountain bike racer who competed in many World Cup races in the ’90s combined with his day job as a ground work constructor, held him in good stead as the UCI went on the hunt for the man who could take on the job of transforming, what on paper seemed like a most uninspiring venue into a fantastic showcase for the sport. He was incredibly underwhelmed when he discovered the venue was planned for the flat lands of Essex.

“To be fair when I was first asked to visit the site I was very skeptical, there are no hills in Essex! It was only when we actually got to the ridge that we could see straight away what the potential was. After a year of working on designs, contracts were signed just two weeks before we started building way back in July 2010.

“The brief was to get a 5km loop and make it difficult enough to be an Olympic course on a budget of just £80,000. In the end it turned out quite an easy task to complete in that venue. When we were scouting it out we had to ensure we could make it look good for spectators and and for TV.

“The hardest bit about the build had to be the weather. It was awful. We experienced the wettest summer since records began followed by a winter of heavy snow. But despite this we got it built in time. Over the build we manhandled 3500 ton of rock. 500 ton went into making all the rock features, while the rest we used for base stone and top grade for the track itself.

“It nearly broke me. All those late nights we put in to make sure we got it finished on time… Now I’m really looking forward to seeing the result! The most satisfying aspect of the whole job was the turn around of riders’ opinions of the course. Every one admitted it was so much harder to ride at race pace than they ever imagined. It’s brutal!”

Paul Davis, technical operations manager

Paul has over 30 years of experience in the cycle industry, with a background of racing along with organizing a number of his own successful cycling events, he was the perfect man for the hands on role as technical operations manager.

His role is a perfect balancing act of coordinating man and machine, making sure everything from the start to the finish and all the marshals in between run smoothly on the day. This includes co-coordinating a staggering 230 volunteers, 176 of which will be marshaling 88 points on the course ensuring both spectator and rider safety.

You can see coverage of both the men’s and women’s events on the BBC and live coverage on BBC red button – www.bbc.co.uk/sport

You can also check out what Bike Radar thought of the course as James Costley-White went along to Hadleigh Farm for the test event back in March last year – http://bit.ly/gTL2bi