Editors’ Choice

EDITORS’ CHOICE

Introduction: My name is Dave. I like bikes. I like riding. I like riding bikes.

Bikes Of The Year: Santa Cruz Jackal. Anyone who says the sea is a harsh mistress obviously hasn’t ridden a Jackal. It’s too short to pedal effi ciently even with a 440mm seatpost, it’s heavy for a hardtail, some might say it’s ugly (though I have a soft spot for its quirky looks). But it’s the bike that has put a smile on my face every time I’ve ridden it, it makes me fi nd reasons to need to ride it, and it makes that snatched quick hour of riding feel like it’s been much, much, longer.

Pace 405 Free Floater. A very capable bouncy bike both up and down. A pleasure to climb right up to the point that it made you admit that traction wasn’t going to be an issue, your legs were. And made the climbs worthwhile by being so very, very good when heading back down. It falls happily into whichever role you want it to; mile eater or hooligan.

Best Bits of the Year: Icebreaker Bodyfi t150 Atlas T. I was lucky to get an Atlas T to test back in February and I haven’t stopped wearing it since (well occasionally it’s been prised off me to wash it but you know what I mean). Light enough to wear year-round, warm enough in spring/autumn and an ideal base layer for winter. It’s the most versatile item of clothing I own.

Hope Pro-II Singlespeed Hub. Reliable, easily serviced and lets everyone know when you’re not trying.

‘You chopped the hard bit out of the pic’

Photo: Simon D Barnes

Howies Outback Jacket. Schoeller 3XDry and merino, genius. Allows you to laugh in the face of winter as you head out on yet another sub-zero nightride.

Event Of The Year: Dyfi Enduro. I’m a sucker for the community feel of this event. It’s how all events should be; gruelling climbs, cheerleaders, great descents, cheerleaders. Of course this year had the added bonus of watching Matt suffer on the tandem.

Trail Of The Year: The 2007 Singlespeed World Championships race course, near Aviemore. Tight, twisty, technical, testing, erm, treelined. A course that tested fi tness and bike handling skill. A sublime riding experience in the middle of proper scenery. What more do you need?

Looking Forward To In 2008: Building up ‘Project New Black’. My new/old Kona Kilaeau singlespeed. A new interpretation of an old faithful. It’s just back from having the Paragon Machineworks dropouts and some hose guides fi tted. Now begins the tricky job of choosing the ‘just right’ bike parts in time for spring riding.

Adventure riding. Multi day rides with suitably rugged stopovers. I’ve got a couple of caves and other scenic spots in mind. Of course half the fun is poring over the maps to plan the route.

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Photoshoot trackstand position 36

Job: Publisher/Director/Confectioner

Bio: Born and bred within 20 miles of our offi ce means my entire mountain biking life has mostly been spent riding the hills and moors of Northwest England. The conditions are so changeable that to really get the most of riding round here you need to change your kit a lot to suit the conditions. Unfortunately I really can’t be arsed with all that and so I am the All Conditions King. I prefer one bike that will do it all. One set of tyres to ride on all year and I have one pair of shorts that I wear as often as possible. I want to be able to climb like a mountain goat and ride down the steep valleys here like a DH god. I have yet to come close to achieving either but it’s the journey that counts... apparently.

Born and bred within 20 miles of our offi ce means my entire mountain biking life has mostly been spent riding the hills and moors of Northwest England. The conditions are so changeable that to really get the most of riding round here you need to change your kit a lot to suit the conditions. Unfortunately I really can’t be arsed with all that and so I am the All Conditions King. I prefer one bike that will do it all. One set of tyres to ride on all year and I have one pair of shorts that I wear as often as possible. I want to be able to climb like a mountain goat and ride down

Bike of the Year: Specialized Enduro. How long have we waited for this bike to arrive? It looks the dog’s bollocks and it rides uphill amazingly well and is almost completely point and shoot in the way it rides downhill over anything. It’s lighter than it looks and heavier than it feels. This bike is not going back to Specialized without a fi ght. Tranquillisers may be necessary. (See next issue for a full review)

point and shoot in the way it rides downhill over anything. It’s lighter than it looks and heavier than it feels. This bike is not going back to Specialized without a fi ght. Tranquillisers may be

Best Bits of the Year: Shimano XT Rapidfi re shifters. I’ve only ridden one bike this year that had them on and all the others had SRAM shifters. All I have done is pine for those XT shifters and look around for someone to sleep with who can get me some.

. I’ve only ridden one bike this

year that had them on and all the others had SRAM shifters. All I have done is pine for those XT shifters and look around for

EDITORS’ CHOICE

Giro Xen Helmet. It’s still my favourite helmet of all time and if you look at all the other manufacturers you will notice they all have a Faux Xen in their ranges now. Apart from it looking like a hat and not a mushroom it is functionally perfect. Complete wraparound shell means there’s no delicate polystyrene bits to get scuffed up as soon as you pick it out of

Giro Xen Helmet. It’s still my favourite helmet of all time and if you look at all the other manufacturers you will notice they all have a Faux Xen in their ranges now. Apart from it looking like a hat and not a mushroom it is functionally perfect. Complete wraparound shell means there’s no delicate polystyrene bits to get scuffed up as soon as you pick it out of the box and the straps that come out of the shell and not from inside the helmet mean you can put it on with one hand (you won’t understand how good that is until you have a go). And it comes in the most amazingly tasteless colours that seem to clash brilliantly with everything, and I say that in a good way.

most amazingly tasteless colours that seem to clash brilliantly with everything, and I say that in a good way.

Brooks leather grips lumpy and heavier than the bars you put them on but they look bloody fantastic on my mantelpiece and everyone who comes to my place picks them up and goes ‘Oooh!’. Does an Editors’ Choice HAVE to actually work?

Brooks leather grips. Utterly shite as grips. Too fat... too lumpy and heavier than the bars you put them on but they look bloody fantastic on my mantelpiece and everyone who comes to my place picks them up and goes ‘Oooh!’. Does an Editors’ Choice HAVE to actually work?

Looking forward to: There’s a new Xen helmet I saw at Interbike. It’s got a fabric covering over the hard-shell! How useless is that? I so desperately want one. And in terms of bikes, I rode the new was quite amazed at how much better than the 07 version it was. And I reckon the ‘07 version is one of my bikes of the year already.

Looking forward to: There’s a new Xen helmet I saw at Interbike. It’s got a fabric covering over the hard-shell! How useless is that? I so desperately want one. And in terms of bikes, I rode the new Trek Fuel EX at interbike and I was quite amazed at how much better than the 07 version it was. And I reckon the ‘07 version is one of my bikes of the year already.

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