10 Products I Loved in 2023: Henry Quinney
Transition Spire
Yep, still good.
More information: transitionbikes.com
Canyon Neuron
Sometimes something can be good because it's comforting. Whether it's food or music or lying down on a comfortable mattress, the benefits are obvious. Othertimes, things can be spicy, challenging, or even hold a special allure as floorboards press into flesh and bone. The Canyon Neuron is in the latter camp. Was it the single most capable 130 mm travel bike I've ever ridden? Absolutely not, and to even compare it against something like a Forbidden Druid would be absurd. It is so much fun though, and I miss riding that thing around the dark blues of Squamish.
Price: £4,600 / €5,760 (as pictured)
More information: canyon.com
Scott Prospect Goggles
I don't really care for much when it comes to nice things. The cheap coffee is fine by me, and I don't need Kashima or wireless gears, thank you very much, but I do like to indulge when it comes to goggles. The comfort, optics, and wide field of vision on the Scott Prospect goggles are simply very good, and the novelty of wearing something very nice, almost luxurious to a prole like me, never quite wore off.
Price: $104.99
More information: www.scott-sports.com
Big Enduro Forks
I love riding "true enduro." What I mean by that is flat-out, horrible, long trails that brutalize both mind, body bike, and spirit. Over this last year I feel I've done more of this style of riding than ever and I am always so impressed by the latest generation of enduro forks. The Zeb is good, of course it is, but the Fox 38 and Ohlins DHX38 are simply exceptional. The composure and support combined with excellent tracking and sensitivity make me feel like the luckiest boy in the world every time I ride them. The Zeb feels just a bit more 'numb' to me compared to the keenness of the others.
Price: It depends.
More information: Check out the Ohlins review here, and a great article by Seb comparing the Zeb and 38. here.
Creekside Gondola
Don't come here. It's crap. Go to Whistler Village, all of you.
Price: Season and day tickets aren't available.
More information: whistlerblackcomb.com
Crankbrothers Mallet Shoes
2023 is the first full calendar year I think I've ever spent in clipless shoes, without riding flats once. A big part of that has been Crankbrothers pedals. The support, easy exit, and downhill-flat feel are so important to me. I genuinely think they're excellent and have just made my peace with wearing through cleats more often than I'd like. The shoes are excellent, and tick all the boxes when it comes to fit, features, quality, and dare I say, style. I love the little lace pouch, the adjustability of laces, the mid-flex sole, and the silicon grip on the heel. They just seem so well-considered.
I typically run the Mallet Es on everything but my downhill bike and I am as happy as a pig in shit.
Price: $150
More information: crankbrothers.com
Max Barron and Tom Richards
I work with a lot of great people at Pinkbike, but Max and Tom specifically this year have been a wonderfully fun presence in my life. At the start of the year, we decided to really have a run at videos, shaking up some aspects, and trying to commit to longer-form content, video essays, and a higher production value. It's been a huge learning curve for us all but they've dragged me along when I wasn't up to it, and let me explore my ideas with freedom and support, even if some of them were completely daft.
There's a special kind of person that you can tell the stupidest, silliest idea you can possibly imagine to and they just say "Well, let's try it". There have been some duds on my part, but there would have been 10 times more had it not been for the skill and care of these two.
I work with a lot of great people at Pinkbike, but Max and Tom specifically this year have been a wonderfully fun presence in my life. At the start of the year, we decided to really have a run at videos, shaking up some aspects, and trying to commit to longer-form content, video essays, and a higher production value. It's been a huge learning curve for us all but they've dragged me along when I wasn't up to it, and let me explore my ideas with freedom and support, even if some of them were completely daft.
There's a special kind of person that you can tell the stupidest, silliest idea you can possibly imagine to and they just say "Well, let's try it". There have been some duds on my part, but there would have been 10 times more had it not been for the skill and care of these two.
Price: Two fancy coffees from special baristas because I "don't have a palate."
BYB Telemetry
I came into the BYB Telemetry kit at the right time. I felt that I had boxed myself into a corner with regard to setup. After a few years of bike reviews, I had gone just harder and slower incrementally. This probably reached its zenith when reviewing bikes that I didn't like very much, or I felt had an aspect of mass transfer that I didn't enjoy. My response was often to run the forks stiffer in an attempt to at least keep something, anything, consistent. Telemetry testing helped me climb down from this position, and fast. I questioned it a lot at the start but now I trust it totally and love the insight it provides. In some ways, it's a whole hobby in itself.
It's not cheap but it's a great tool for truly nerding out.
Price: €1.749,00
More information: bybtech.it
Mechanical Drivetrains
There is something so wonderful about the elegance of SRAM's quite frankly amazing T-Type Transmission, but I'm also a Luddite who doesn't even know how to properly use my own phone. While I know that everything will go electric, I'm not convinced it's a better user experience. In 10 months of riding in all conditions, I changed my gear cable once on my Shimano drivetrain and it was great. For the record, SRAM's made some great non-electric drivetrains too, and I'm not that keen on Shimano's electronic ones.
Price: Varies
More information: Linkglide Review
Life at the Ice Cream Factory
When I was in my mid-twenties I was struck with the hardest year of my life. It was all very exciting. Since then, every year has been challenging but as I get older I realise that's just what life is. There is no "hardest" or "darkest" but just the rollover of water on rock. Eroding. Meandering. Doing as it pleases. The only question is whether you get angry at the sand washing away from your beach or thankful for the new sediment being deposited there.
I have a lot to be thankful for. Don't get me wrong, there are some things I would perhaps not have felt so keenly or have had slightly differently (ten million dollars and a Peoguet Bipper if you're reading Mr Thurston) but largely I live a life of enormous privilege and being a taster at the Ice Cream Factory is a huge part of that.
Every now and then I'll eat enough ice cream that I'm sick. Or I'll make somebody angry by telling them that their choc-chip is neither the choco-ist nor the chippy-ist of them all, but largely life is pretty good. Some things came to pass in the latter stages of the year that made me question whether it was all for me, this old life on the internet, and I'm glad I asked those questions, because with the freedom to never eat a single scoop again in your life should you choose, then you really enjoy the wonderment of sundaes, sweets, and gluttony in all its glory.
Bring on 24, you bunch of crusty ol' seadogs.
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journalists don't need fan boys, they need critics. it's what keeps them honest! Disagree, think the person criticizing is a moron(which by all accounts DCA is!), but maligning his critique for simply critiquing? no.....that doesn't help anyone that wants good writing, good jounalism and fair reviews. Henry, if he is capable, could and should, take all criticism and become better. Not all of it is valid of course, and likely most anything DCA says isn't, but it's not invalid simply because he said it.
(I also loved Kaz, Brian, Matt Beer, Seb’s articles, Cathro, the non-mainstream treats in the Enduro test, the entire PB Racing team and their media, a whole host of staffers and contributors, and finally Levy’s final pod with RC chipping in).
20 scoops of ice cream (4 1/2 pounds!)
1 fudge brownie
4 bananas
3 cookies
10 scoops chopped walnuts
2 scoops M&M's
Reese's
2 scoops chocolate sprinkles
4 big spoonfuls of hot fudge
5 scoops of Whipped Cream
Mmmm yes please
But no bananas. None of that healthy crap for my fat American A$$
Per Ben and Jerrys website: "We’re guessing most of you know by now that Ben & Jerry’s is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unilever, but we’re betting you’ve never met our independent Board of Directors…"
Per Wiki: "Founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, the company went from a single ice cream parlor to a multi-national brand over the course of few decades. It was sold in 2000 to the multinational conglomerate Unilever but operates as an independent subsidiary."
The Factory, HQ, and Origin story were American, but they are foreign owned now by Unilever(NL/UK).
So, much like the Dutch Bucks from PON bankrolling Santa Cruz, and the Belgian InBev keeping Anhaeuser Busch afloat, the Dutch own your American Ice Creamery there Chap.
Sorry, Eh.
I’ve been fooled into buying expensive goggles in the past on the promise of better optics, less misting, etc, but having tried most of the big brands I’ve realised that there is virtually no difference between cheap and expensive ones in this respect. They all mist up and get scratched in exactly the same way, 100% even uses the same lens in its various MTB goggles; only the frame differentiates them.
OTOH I guess that doesn't always correlate to price, but it often does - I've seen some cheap glasses with great vision quality, but not typically. In the ski world I've definitely noticed bad optical quality in goggles.
The only caveat is that I only ever use clear lenses - it’s rarely light enough in U.K. woods to use a tinted lens.
Smith Cascade classic (right?)
www.smithoptics.com/en_US/p/goggle/cascade-classic-snow-goggles/CASCADE-CLASSIC-GOGGLES.html
Double lens for 1/4 price
Made our way over to Creekside, and although I have no interest in the flow trails, the tech was fantastic
Actually, scrap that, it was absolute misery, and everyone should avoid at all cost.
That first paragraph in the last section about ice cream, very well written
I look forward to reading yours, and everyone’s ramblings next year.
Merry Christmas to all you wonderful bastards
Just kidding, I haven't actually seen Henry on the trails as he has already jumped into the bushes successfully.
www.canyon.com/en-gb/gear/accessories/transport-and-travel/bikepacking-and-bikebags/canyon-framebag-long-bracket/10008082.html
Not sure about the spire, maybe a Wolf Tooth B-rad?