Dear Readers, Industry Friends & Riding Buddies,
From everyone at Bikerumor, we wish all of you a very merry and happy holiday season! As the year draws near its end, it marks approximately 7-1/2 years that we’ve been writing about bikes, components, tech and the people behind them. And it’s blown by. At times, I feel like we’re only getting started. I am amazed at the hospitality we’ve been shown by everyone in this great industry from day one. I’m also amazed and honored by you, our incredible global audience…thank you for sharing your time and comments with us day in and day out. Really, thank you! It’s a tremendous challenge keeping up with all the excellent products being pumped out from big manufacturers and small startups. But finding the next big thing keeps us fired up, and we hope our enthusiasm shines through in all of our stories and keeps you stoked to ride!
Over these years, I’ve also been honored to have excellent riders and writers from around the world join our team. Above, clockwise from top left are myself (North Carolina), Zach (Ohio), Cory (Prague), Steve (British Columbia), Trey (Georgia), Saris (California), Doug (Spain), Jayson (Florida), Wil (Australia) and Anna (Minnesota). Not shown are Kristi, Scott and Watts (NC), who help keep things running behind the scenes or just provide comic relief. Bikerumor wouldn’t be much without all of them, and I’m eternally grateful.
It’s this time of year that many of us are planning ahead for the new year, thinking through what we want to accomplish. For me, it’s always a goal of riding more, knocking out my reviews in a more timely fashion and always, always, always getting the scoop on new bike stuff out ever faster. I’m also reflecting on what went right, what went wrong over the past couple years. Opportunities in front of us, managerial lessons learned (some from reading or talking to peers, some from the school of hard knocks), and a lot of boringly technical back end stuff that seems to change just when I think I’ve got it figured out. But the result is, I hope, a much better website for all of you.
At the risk of rambling on, I’m excited to say we’ve got some new stuff coming. I’m counting down the days until the switch is flicked and Bikerumor will be a brand new site that’ll be both familiar and better. As in, mobile friendly, faster loading and a way better commenting system. We’ve been working on it for more than a year, and I think it’s been worth the wait to get it right.
I want to finish with thanks. Thanks to my writers. Thanks to you, our readers. And thanks to everyone in the industry that’s shared their time and news with us so we could share their story with you. Here’s to a great ride in the new year!
Cheers,
Tyler Benedict, Founder
