THE TESTER
Tom rode hardtails throughout his formative years of mountain biking, learning the skills necessary to ride smooth on a bike with no give at the back. During his eight years as a bike journalist, he’s kept his eye in – including with this year’s Marin El Roy long-termer, one of the raddest hardtails around. Tom loves going flat-out on super-stretched bikes, but his varied test loops – from the Cairngorms to South Wales – mean he’s always looking for machines that are nimble on the steeps, too.