With plenty of kit coming through the Wideopenmag door, we pick the cream of the crop from a strong showing in 2020.
We get an awful lot of top-quality kit passing through Wideopenmag for test, and some of this kit really does manage to stand head and shoulders above the rest. Often the ingredients are broadly similar, but the way they have been mixed and baked turn them into a much nicer cake.
We’ve added a few humans into the mix for good measure.
Pete gives us his top picks from the Bikes, Components, Soft Goods, Protection, Venue, Service, Tech, Maintenance Product, Outstanding Performance and Athlete.
Bike
Specialized Stumpjumper EVO
Having ridden a ‘Standard’ Stumpjumper the year previous, I knew fine well what the Big S’ do-it-all machine is capable of. Dialled suspension, geometry that puts in a good show everywhere as well as being light and efficient enough to get your around the big laps of the mountains.
The Stumpjumper EVO has added yet another feather to the Stumpjumper hat, retaining its title as the aggressive all-mountain machine that most similar bikes will be measured against. If you ride steep or fast trails, then you simply won’t tire of the suspension performance or that 63 degree head angle. If you simply want more capable travel, then you have that option but can wind in the slackness to suit.
Components
Formula MOD shock
I can honestly say I haven’t ridden a rear shock this good in years. If I was building a bike tomorrow, I’d buy a Formula Mod. The performance is that good, I’d overlook the weight penalty over any air shock.
It’s hard to get across just how much grip this shock offers, especially when it comes to small bump tracking, and the tuneability for those at extreme ends of the weight range, or those who like to tinker, is a real bonus.
If I was going to be really picky, it would be nice to have separate high and low speed rebound adjustment to put the shock in a class of its own.
Soft Goods
Ride 100% Brisker Winter Gloves
I paid my own money for these gloves, and they were that good, I felt it sensible to review them.
The 100% Brisker gloves are still the winter glove to beat for me and remain an excellent winter glove for all conditions that mean you can still ride the way you want to and have warm, dry hands throughout. They even put in a good showing when soaking wet.
Solid construction means that if you look after them, they’ll last forever and they’ll always live in the car so you don’t forget them. They’ve remained in one piece and show no signs of wear despite going through the ringer multiple times.
Protection
Fox Speedframe Pro helmet
Overall, the Fox Speedframe Pro has become the standard by which I’ll likely judge other helmets by, it’s really very good indeed. You don’t look like a Stormtrooper while wearing it too.
I have a large, square head and this is one of the few helmets I can wear as tight as it will go and still not have a sore head. It is the helmet I hope I’ve remembered to dry out so I can wear it. I’d even consider buying a second for that very reason.
The price isn’t anything daft either.
Venue
Ben Venue
I didn’t actually ride any bike-specific venues in 2020, so my pick is slightly left field.
Ben Venue’s summit is a 21-mile round trip from the house and combines pretty much every kind of surface and trail style. The views from the summit are the ones I would sit and spend hours soaking in during lockdown with the mountain pretty much to myself.
I would come home happy, relaxed, while being both physically and mentally exhausted. Shower, food, bed. Repeat.
Service
Killearn Country Cycles
The old adage goes that you should support your local bike shop. Sometimes that is easier said than done, but sometimes, it’s like walking into a room full of bikes and some friendly faces. Killearn Country Cycles is definitely the latter.
Keith and the team at Killearn Country Cycles are solid gold. They even put some of my photos 10′ by 9′ on the walls. Always keen to help and always happy to help me keep a wheel turning. If they can’t get you what you need, or fix what you’ve broken, then I doubt anyone else can. Legends.
Tech
Nikon D850
A tool of my trade. Yes the Nikon D850 came out in 2017, and yes, there are now second generation mirrorless cameras available from Nikon and numerous other options from numerous other companies. I started on Nikon cropped frame cameras though, and graduated through the ranks to this full frame beast.
It feels the same in the hand as my D90 and all the lenses fit the same. Simples. The full frame sensor lets all the light in, handy in the variable weather of Scotland and I know it’ll produce the goods.
The Nikon D850 lets me capture what my eyes see, and that’s all I ever needed from a camera.
Maintenance Product
Juice Lubes Bike Maintenance Spray
There’s plenty of options for general maintenance bike sprays out there and everyone has the one they go to every time.
For me, Juice Lubes’ JL69 Bike Maintenance Spray is the business. Two different nozzle sizes on offer with the flip of the hinged top is a nice touch, it doesn’t stink, does a good job of not having all the trail debris stick to it and keeps things running sweet even when we had 27 consecutive days of rain in November.
Juice Lubes even do a 3 for 2 offer so you’ll never be without it.
Outstanding Performance
Isla Short
Having gone for a lap of Aberfoyle’s greasy delights earlier in the summer with Isla Short, there was a way she quietly went about navigating the root-infested mess I am lucky enough to call my home trails… On her XC bike, on bald tyres. While I know fine well you can’t just have a big set of legs and rock up at a World-level cross country event anymore, this showing on that soaking wet August day was impressive.
It should come as no surprise that Isla revelled in the madness that was the Leogang World Championships, but the performance on the day still needed ticking off. She’d see off Jolanda Neff and only miss out on fourth by 31 seconds, with consistent laps while everyone else bar the front two had guff offerings.
Fifth in the World, World’s fastest privateer and a ball rolling for young Scots to up their game both in Austria and Portugal.
Athlete
Brook MacDonald
Brook MacDonald…
Already high on many peoples’ lists as their favourite rider, his physicality on the bike and his outright speed is as impressive as it is terrifying.
What made Brook MacDonald the obvious pick for this list is the way he’s gone about the journey from a broken back at the World Championships in 2019, re-learning how to walk, getting back on a bike, to bagging a 23rd in Maribor before heading home and running a half marathon in his quarantine hotel room.
Legend gets thrown about a lot these days, but Brook MacDonald is just that.
