Cory has been writing about mountain bikes, enduro, cyclocross, all-road, gravel bikes & bikepacking for over 25 years, even before the industry created some of these names. Prior to Bikerumor, Cory was a practicing Architect specializing in environmental sustainability, has designed bike shops & bike components, and worked as a bike shop mechanic.
Based in the Czech Republic for 15+ years, he is a technical mountain biker, adventurous gravel rider, and short & medium-haul bikepacker. Cory travels extensively across Europe riding bikes, meeting with key European product developers, industry experts & tastemakers for an in-depth review of what’s new, and what’s coming next.
Title: EU Tech Editor Location: Mountains of the Czech Republic
Expertise
Topics of Expertise: MTB, Enduro, Cyclocross, Gravel & All-Road cycling, Bikepacking & Adventure Touring, Technical Product Design & Engineering Development
Years in Expertise: 25+
Number of Products & Number of Hours Tested: 1000+ of new products in over 10,000 hours of ride testing
Education & Certifications
Education: M.Arch. in design & planning, Georgia Institute of Technology. B.S. in Architecture & Industrial Design, Georgia Institute of Technology & École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Paris-La Villette.
Years of Writing: 25+
Certifications: Registered Architect, MTB/Backpacking Instructor and WAFA/Lifeguard (previous)
Club/Association Memberships: Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme
Previous Publications: Ride Lugged, The Voice of Reason
A Word from Cory Benson
Serving as Bikerumor’s EU Tech Editor allows me to leverage my design & engineering expertise to provide independent in-depth analysis of the cycling industry’s latest technological developments here in Europe. Riding, testing, reviewing & writing about these innovations allow me to share my unique technical perspective, combined with my personal love of all cycling disciplines.
I started sharing my strong opinions about technical developments in the cycling industry while a fresh wide-eyed designer, and then as a bike mechanic starting around 1996, sharing musings through a series of blogs & occasional contributions to local mags like Dirt Rag, at the time. It officially evolved into a full-time vocation with Bikerumor starting in 2013.
After last summer riding Merida’s surprisingly plush short-travel One-Twenty trail bike, I wanted to see what a bit more travel in the same Float Link…
For the 20th anniversary of Basso’s Italian-made all-rounder carbon road bike, they given the Venta a complete overhaul. Taking lessons learned on their premier race…
The new Kona Libre AL is a more affordable 6061-alloy version of their popular carbon adventure gravel bike, and it’s coming exclusively to Europe this…
Rapha’s return to shoes kicked off again earlier this spring with two all-new variations developed in-house for either Classic road riding, or gravel & adventure…
Pros are ditching tubular to switch to the improved performance of road tubeless thanks to the premium construction of Specialized’s all-new Turbo RapidAir tires. Many…
Colnago updates their top-end monocoque carbon road race bike with the new V3Rs Disc. Mixing it up between the previous V2-R and Colnago’s Concept aero…
After 30 years of making components in the UK, U.S.E. introduced their first dropper seatpost late last season. Manufactured in-house in West Sussex and already…
thyssenkrupp’s Steelworks R&D team has won a Red Dot Award for a new automated technology shaping high-quality steel into complex shapes that are then machine…
Orbea’s XC news for this summer is affordability – thanks to a new aluminum frameset for their latest Oiz full-suspension cross-country bike. The new hydroformed,…
Hunt Bike Wheels have just doubled their mountain bike offerings with three new wheelsets covering XC racing to all-mountain & enduro, even to DH racing.…
Nordest Cycles has now released a more affordable steel version of their Albarda adventure gravel bike in 4130 chromoly steel. Designed for tough mixed-surface bikepacking…
Cannondale builds on almost 40 years of crafting Advanced Aluminum Design alloy frames for their 13th generation CAAD road bike. The new CAAD13 is more…
KTM has reshaped their carbon 29er Scarp cross-country race bike for 2020, getting out slightly more rear wheel travel and slackened geometry for more technical…
