Some Bicycle Things I’m Stoked About On A Friday, December 19th, 2025

I experienced a couple of really sad moments today. Here, I don’t mean sad like unadopted pets at the SPCA or 1.3 million folks in B.C. experiencing food insecurity, but, rather, sad like a two-bike mini tailgate pad on a full-sized pick-up truck or a single-bike tray rack on a 7-seat SUV. Yeah, so, in light of that other stuff, I’ve moved on. 

I mention it because if you saw me today at any point of my solo Fromme Friday ride, you would have noticed tears streaming down my face. Something about the temperature and moisture, my eyes watered the whole way down the trail. Something about my current fitness level and forcing a single-speed uphill, my eyes watered the whole way up the trail. 

{Above photo: North Park Bike Shop}

A little state-of-MEAT here as well. It seems that Pinkbike and the rest of my competition* for your hard-strained eyeballs have understandably decided not to do a series of gifting guides this year and rather, have expediently bumped ahead their best of 2025 pieces instead?! 

We’re traditionalists here at MEATengines, so our best-of crap, ‘The MEATengines Awards,‘ will run between Christmas and New Year’s, as the gods of bicycle media intended. The format this year will be a significantly reduced number of longer-form entries. 

*{Drewitors note: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA}

{Above photo: Cooper ‘Rapha is Quinntessential’ Quinn}

Trails For Weather

As my favourite The Zolas song, ‘Bombs Away‘, notes, “I’m in a city full of buildings where my friends used to live.” Okay, okay, that’s a bit over-dramatic, but I do know a lot of folks who’ve rolled out of the North Shore trail network and are finding new favourite lines in other locales. 

And what everyone of those folks has noticed is just comparatively how well many of the trails here manage water. Even epic amounts of water. I’m not even talking about trails armoured against heavy year-round use {rock work, wooden features, etc.} but rather the fantastic drainage on many of our dirt tracks. 

Whether it’s NSMBA–supported volunteers & trail crew, or any number of other talented shovel slingers, their hundreds of hours making Trails For Weather are well appreciated. Both by the folks stoked to be riding here year-round, who know what you put in, and the folks living elsewhere now who are lamentatiously rocking the full-diaper chamois action. 

The Wednesday Night Lights Run

I cancelled the Wednesday Night Lights ride this week, just down to how much H-2-L’eau was on the trails. It’s amazing how fast my preferred trails dry out, but in the eye of the pineapple, it’s still expressly a good idea to leave them alone. Now, with both Christmas eve and New Year’s eve falling on a Wednesday, that’s that for 2025. 

I’m not stoked to have cancelled, but I am stoked on the run of Wednesdays that we put together. I love riding at night, and I love riding alone, but I love those two things combined a lot less than I used to. It’s so nice having great company on a night ride that sometimes ends pretty close to tomorrow.

We’ll be back up and running in January. If you’re North Shore-adjacent and would like to join the mountain bike bus, even just once for the novelty, drop me an e-mail.

{Above photo: Ben Hos}

DNV Bike Lane Clearing

It’s easy to criticize the DNV when it comes to their mobility strategy, gaping holes in their safe{r} cycling network, construction signage erected in their bike lanes, and a historic failure to remove snow or detritus from the same.

But, it should be equally easy to compliment them when they do something rad. Tuesday night’s storm was epic. Power outages all over the place. Trees down, everywhere. And the DNV had their mini street sweeper out the very next morning, with the driver popping in and out of the vehicle to shift larger branches out of the lane. Awesome work.

Akta Weatherproof Vest

I’ve never used any Akta gear, so this isn’t a commentary on the quality, fit, or finish of their weatherproof vest, but rather, an acknowledgement that it exists and that alone is awesome. The Akta Trail Vest is made of 100% recycled nylon and has a fairly standard, amongst mountain bike rain jackets, 20k/20K waterproof and moisture permeability rating for CA$190. 

I’ve been preaching the weatherproof vest and hacking the sleeves off rain jackets for a lot of years now. And, yes, I’m aware that I’m not the only one. And, yes, I know, Mission Workshop had a production NeoShell option some number of years ago. But a production option under CA$200 is certainly going to open the experience up to more riders. 

Anywho, this one made Pinkbike-Mike’s top 10 things for 2025 list, and fellow vestoholic Cooper ‘No Cables’ Quinn liked it as well. I can’t remember the last time I wore a rain jacket for mountain biking {long sleeve Merino and a weatherproof vest for me, thanks}, and if you run hot and ride in the rain a lot, you’ll likely find you feel the same.

{Above photo: Akta}

{Above photo: Hardtail.Life}

Fresh Pedal Guts

Sloppy, floating, binding, dragging, creaking, argh. Do yourself a favour. Grab the body of your pedals, still attached to your cranks, and give them a wiggle. Now a spin. If they’re not smooth, tight, and quiet, then it’s time to take action. 

Often it’s just a matter of pulling a pedal apart for a clean & grease and putting it back together. Other times, fresh bearings and/or bushings are called for. I did both bearings on both sides of my Outlier Void pedals this week, and what a difference it made. I mean, am I totally noticing those extra watts on the trail, or are they simply accumulating in my mind? Who knows, but I’m stoked either way.

Out Viking* Vik

*{Pronounced Vick-ing}

I’m building a new around-town ATB rig at some point in the new year. Waiting for a few parts, have to build a front wheel, still haven’t figured out tires, but for the most part it’s bits coming off my V1 and onto an either awesome or abominable blending of all my non-mountain bike needs. 

Anywho, I purchased a pair of SKS B75 fenders for it. They’re my favourite strut-style full-fender of all the ones I’ve used and installed, so it’s an easy choice. 

But then, I started having ideas. Crazy ideas. About mounting those fenders on my Arcturian Voyager. Not a new obsession, mind you, I ran a full strut-style fender on the back of my Honzo for a while, but the SR Suntour Durolux I’m riding actually has mounts for these!?!

My first pedal around on pavement, gravel, and the lightest trails was amazing. The coverage is legendary. On a mountain bike, no less. But on a real trail, I quickly discovered just how well the SKS failsafe system {with the strut retainer torqued to 1nm}. There was no damage to anything, and with a 2.5mm hex key, I had it all back together, but the dream was ruined. I can’t be resetting my fenders every time my knobby rubber grabs a rock or stick. 

I’m stoked to put these on my commuter, but I’m ruling them out for aggressive mountain biking and have returned to my Mudrocker setup. Still, for just a moment there, I had managed to out-Vik Vik. Amazing. 

MEC Mochilero – The PREVIOUS Generation

What once was could be again. It’s what I think every time I pull on my one pair of current-gen Mochilero Stretch pants. The ones with the front thigh pockets rotated to the side a la f*cking cargo pants. I knew deep down that I wasn’t going to like the new-new, but I bought a pair anyway because I needed pants and the Mochilero has been my go-to for a while now. 

Now I’m adrift in a sea of mediocrity, in need of at least one fresh pair of cut-down knickers, and uncertain where to even start. Oh, the previous generation Mochilero pants were magnificent. And they could be again. Please. Pretty, please?

And I know that some folks don’t give two shakes where those pockets are located, but I use mine all the time. And whether it’s spinning to groceries, or work, or going on a test ride, being able to stick stuff in the front rather than the sides works much better for pedaling. 

I was thinking quite a bit about how great these pants, now knickers, are on my ride today. Stoked to have bought a couple of pairs, and they’re holding up well, so hopefully they’ll last until MEC sees the error of their ways. 

Larry Talker Tunes

I love the Small Town Titan’s version of The Grinch, but I’ve shared it before, and, well, it’s not an album. Rum Ragged has a freshly released Christmas album, ‘All The Bells And Wassails‘, but it doesn’t jump and jive like their past effort, ‘At Christmas‘. 

Anywho, the seasonal music that I’ve been spinning the most is Gregory Porter’s Christmas Wish. The man can sing. 

Model-T, if you’re in the mood, jump into We Have All The Time In The World, and then Everything’s Not Lost. 

And that’s a wrap for the second-to-last SBTISAOAF piece for the year. The snow is creeping down, but I barely saw any of the white stuff on my ride today. I’ve been loving my Ultra Soft Schwalbe Radial front tire, but I’ll be going back to a 3″ XR4 on the front of my Arcturian Voyager, or only riding my Freeride BMX {Banshee Enigma} if the snow hits hard, the big tire makes such a difference. 

Happy Trails,

---

 

Final blurb goes here:  

Welcome to MEATengines! Whichever way you rolled here, I hope you enjoyed this piece. If you did, donations to the site are always appreciated but never expected. Any questions, concerns, or comments; feel encouraged to drop me an e-mail, or join us at r/MEATengines.