Editor Manager

I’ve had a few peaks of riding this year, and a bunch of time off the bike with stupid injuries. Or rather, injuries caused by stupidity. But the highs have been high, or steep. It’s been hard to pick my Editors’ Choices for this year as it’s been less about the gear and more about the fun, and some of the fun I’ve had I don’t want to publish in a magazine because half the fun is the lack of people on the trails I’ve ridden. Sorry. But I’ve come up with a list of products and places that have brought highs to my year, so I hope you’ll forgive me for the secret-ish locations I’m not telling you about. You’ll just have to go and do your own exploring and see what you can find.

Bird Aeris 120 LT

This bike comes as quite a contrast to the others I’ve ridden over the last 18 months or so, mostly because it’s got 27.5in wheels. But it’s the bike that made me feel that I don’t necessarily need more. By the time I got to ride it, it had been thoroughly thrashed and even had a tooth missing from one of the rear sprockets – so it’s not the lure of bling, or shine, or even a luxury launch that has this bike catching my attention. It’s not even the paint job. My favourite colour is grey, but looking at this bike I was a touch underwhelmed.