Testers

Paul Stone

Paul Stone is our latest test rider and like the others on this list is another bike fanatic that breaths and lives bikes. Riding is a passiion for these guys and I can't really say more about them. Here is a brief description of Paul from Paul

"Dave said that I am "techincally gifted". I guess I am probably in the top half of mountain bikers in that regard. :-) "Not hard on equipment" is less clear; I hardly ever crash and hardly ever break stuff but I ride a fair bit (a few times a week all year long) so I have had my share of cracked frames over the years (11 by my count) and broken Shimano freehub bodies (over 20). I've dabbled in the past with hucking but I am not much of a hucker anymore.

I've been riding for ~18 years and have done quite a bit of racing (worked my way up to Ocup 30-39 Expert category and in my prime was in the top 1/3 to top 1/4 in that category). I've also did some 24hr team and 8 hr solo races.

I have two very different styles of riding. One is to ride the roughest rockiest trails I can find (Hilton and Sweet Weed) and the other is to ride the steepest climbs I can find (Waterdown). I appreciate the challenge in both. I am still happy riding "normal" trails and even the occasional road ride (when the trails are muddy) - but it's just not the same."

Exactly the kind of rider we need to test out our latest Project Bike

 
Photos by Marc Landry

Dave Llewellyn

Dave has been testing our Project bikes for a few seasons now and if you've read the reviews he's done for us, you'd know that he knows his bikes. We're extremely happy that Dave is testing these bikes for us and giving us his honest opinion of them.

He's an accomplished rider and anyone who has ridden with him will attest. Dave "who needs to ride up the hill if I can hop up it" Llewellyn can do some pretty amazing things with his bike and is able to push the bikes he rides.

Jack Pittens

Jack has also been a long time customer of ours for many years now.  He's a no nonsence rider with an extensive mechanical engineering background so he knows his materials and mechanical designs.  He can cut through the marketing hype pretty quickly because he's probably forgotten more about mechanical design than the most of us know.  He has a background in dirt bikes for recreation and road raced motorcycles so he's been around bikes in all forms for many years.  When he was road racing his motorcycle, he won an Ontario as well as a Canadian national championship and established a number of lap records.  His extensive knowledge makes his reviews and opinions invaluable.

 

Age: 41 years old, 6' 2" (188 cm) and 195 lbs (87 kg).

Ride: Pivot Firebird, Mach 5.7, Titus SuperMoto, Whyte PRST-4 that started as a frame only and built up with a good mix of quality parts.

Mountain bike history:  I've been riding since 1994, though the late 90's were lean years for riding for me.  I originally started riding off road as a means to improve my fitness, but soon found that I loved the challenge as well as the social side of group rides.  I did my first race in 1999.  It was the 24 Hours Of Adrenalin at Hardwood Hills on a nine person corporate team.  It was all I could do to get two laps in on the shorter corporate course.  We didn't finish well, but it was fun and I was hooked.

Since then, I have participated in most of the team relay races in southern Ontario.  I also enjoy some of the more unique races around like the spring All Weather Challenge at Hilton Falls and of course, Lost in the Rocks & Trees 100 km epic for the past 3 years.  I've also participated in one 8 hour adventure race, and would like to do more.  One of these years I would like to up the challenge and do the Trans Rockies, Trans Alps or La Ruta de los Conquistadores.  I also plan on trying one of the shorter relay races solo.  My goal in racing is to have fun and hopefully do my personal best.  I have not illusions of standing on the podium.  For me, the biggest enjoyment in riding though is exploring new trails with some good friends.

 

Marc "Sure I'm In" Levesque

Marc's been another good friend and customer of ours for a very long time. As long as I can remember in fact. His latest accomplishment was doing the Trans Alps in 2004 and now looking to do the Trans Rockies in 2006! If you do rides like that, the components better perform or its history and that's just the training leading up to the event. His no nonsense approach and knowledge of parts and bikes have always impressed us so what better than to have him try and test parts for us.

He's currently riding a Marin Mount Vision, a Moots VaMoots road bike and a Trek XO1 cross.