Jared’s Favorite MTB Things of 2025

As the seasons change and daylight dwindles, our world not so subtly reminds us that the calendar year is starting to wrap up. With that comes an opportunity to reflect upon all of the wonderful rides, adventures, as well as bikes and parts that we have enjoyed over the last twelve months. 

I’ve been lucky enough to experience some of the latest and greatest that the bike industry has to offer and that privilege is not lost on me. One of my favorite parts of my job is trying all these new things and reporting back to the greater riding community if it’s actually worth splurging your hard earned money on whatever it may be, or if you should keep riding what you’ve got and wait for greater advancements to be made in order to justify a meaningful upgrade. 

Not everything in my list was introduced this year, or even last year, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth mentioning. With that said, here’s my favorite assortment of all things MTB that I’m fondly looking back on, plus a little of what I’m looking forward to next year.

Schwalbe Radial Tires

If there’s one thing in particular that has really changed the experience of riding a mountain bike for me it’s been Schwalbe’s new radials. Yes they came out late last year and yes I’m a tad late to the party, but that doesn’t mean I’m enjoying them any less. For all around trail riding, my favorite combo has been the Magic Mary Trail Super Soft up front with the Albert Trail Soft out back on my Yeti SB140.

I’ve always loved Schwalbe tires, but I first became enamored with these radials when I tried them on Yeti’s new MTe. I really fell in love with the grip and compliant feel on the trail and the way the casing conforms to the terrain, especially on technical climbs. It didn’t take me long to get used to the feeling of the tires as well as getting the tire pressure dialed in, and once I found the sweet spot I haven’t looked back. I’ve been liking them so much I also installed the gravity casing versions of the same combination on my SB165 for serious descending duty.

Shimano XTR Di2

Shimano came out swinging for the fences with their very first wireless mountain bike groupset, and I personally think they’ve hit it out of the park. I’ve put over 500 miles on this drivetrain over the last several months (not as many as I had planned due to an injury that sidelined me for a couple months) and I’ve honestly been thrilled with how it performs. The battery life is impressive, the shifts are lightning fast, and it seems as though the harder you pedal the smoother they are executed across the cassette. Sure it isn’t a full mount derailleur like T-Type, but that doesn’t really bother me much - I don’t mind using a derailleur hanger and it is nice to know that I can install this groupset on any bike out there, UDH or not. 

I’ve switched between the short cage & 9-45t cassette and long cage & 10-51t configuration a couple of times and I appreciate having the ability to do so when the application calls for it. Swapping out the lower cage can be a bit of a two person operation, but once you’ve done it once it’s not too bad. I’ve found the short cage with the 9-45 cassette shifts extraordinarily quickly and offers a wide enough range to get me up even the steepest of climbs, even with a 32t chainring up front. This setup probably wouldn’t be ideal for everyone out there, and I probably wouldn’t go for that option on a heavy enduro bike, but on a light trail or XC bike it’s great.

Update: I got a bit tired of pushing the 32t chainring with the 45t as the granny gear and swapped it to a 30t - the result is it feels like more of the gears are properly usable and now I'm as content as a bear with a big jar of honey.

SRAM Mavens

Another component that wasn’t introduced this year, but one that I’ve become quite familiar with in 2025 indeed. I’ve had the Maven Ultimates installed on my SB165 all year and have traveled with them to Tasmania and Whistler among other places and have become captivated by their peerless power delivery and predictable feel. 

There are some components on a bike that are truly confidence inspiring and these brakes absolutely fall into that category. Mind bendingly steep chutes into tight corners, massive rock slabs, bike park laps and more - these brakes have seen it all and their power on tap never ceases to amaze. It’s no wonder why you see them equipped as standard spec on bikes all over the world as well as on the bikes of the fastest downhill racers in the world. Even the Maven Base brakes give other brakes a serious run for their money.

Fox Neo Dropper Post

I’ve had the pleasure of running a wireless dropper post in the past in the RockShox Reverb AXS, but haven’t had one equipped on a bike in some time. The Fox Neo is the best dropper post I’ve ever run, electronic or not, full stop. Yes, you would hope so for a dropper that costs as much as it does, but let me explain. One thing that both wireless dropper posts and wireless drivetrains have in common is the ease of actuation at the lever. You don’t realize how truly easy it is to bang off shifts or raise/drop your dropper with an electronic version until you go back to mechanical. I know that probably sounds extremely jaded and out of touch, but it’s something you really get used to especially when you’re focused on the trail or deep in the pain cave and every body movement counts. At a certain point, the operation becomes truly telepathic and effortless.

Not only is the post lightning fast to actuate from the time your thumb touches the lever to full top out, but I’ve found that no matter where the post is in the travel, it returns to full height effortlessly - something I couldn’t necessarily say about every Fox Transfer I’ve used throughout the years. Another thing that Fox has absolutely nailed with this product is the design of the lever. While SRAM/RockShox has fully adopted the Pod for both shifting and dropper duties, I personally preferred the original RockShox Reverb paddle, and I feel as though Fox takes the point in this category because the lever is so ergonomically comfortable and natural to actuate. 

Yeti SB165

There’s something about a long travel coil sprung mountain bike that just gets my blood flowing. Earlier this year I was looking for a bike that would be the ideal tool for tackling big days and the gnarliest trails in places like Tassy and BC, and I landed on the 165 for its unapologetic descending capabilities - yet when it’s time to climb you aren’t completely SOL. This is my second SB165 - my first was when it was still a full 27.5 machine that I modified into being a mullet as well as a full on mini DH bike. This latest version feels as though it’s fully refined and grown into its own and is the bike that the SB165 was always meant to be. Sure it might be a little overkill at times, but I’ve found that this bike is actually so much more versatile than I was expecting and now I’m having a hard time coming to terms with the idea that it may not be in my quiver forever. From Whistler Bike Park laps to riding blind down double black tech trails, this bike has been an absolute joy to ride and might be my favorite long travel bike I’ve ever ridden.

KETL MTB Pants, NoFry LS/SS

I’ve been a fan of riding pants for a few years now, not only in the colder months but also when spring and summer roll around and our trails become ridiculously overgrown. I’m not a fan of extremely itchy legs after riding my bike, and on the plus side your legs stay much cleaner with pants on. Prior to our KETL Skid Mark Pants hitting our shelves, my favorite pant was Yeti’s Renegade pant. They’re super light weight and ventilated, but unfortunately have durability problems. Now I am stoked to have our very own pants that have perfectly blended durability with light weight, ventilation and comfort. 

I’ve also been basically living in my NoFry short sleeve and long sleeve tops. They are so light and breathable - they are the jersey I reach for 9 times out of 10 when I’m headed out for a ride or run. The 10th time that I don’t is usually when they are all dirty and I have to grab another jersey. As an extremely sweaty person, I highly value garments that are breathable and quick to dry, and these are just that.

Crankbrothers Mallet BOA shoes

I’m the kind of person that once I find something I really like, I want to have a version of that thing basically forever - especially when it comes to clothing and apparel. For me, Crankbrothers Mallet BOA shoes are that thing. These are the most comfortable riding shoes I’ve ever used and I’ve been using the very same pair for several years and thousands of miles now. For me, the blend of comfort and flex in the shank of the shoe give me the perfect amount of pedal feel for all mountain riding. For more XC type riding, I will hop into my Mallet Trails as they have a little bit of a stiffer platform for pedaling. Even when other, newer shoes come into my possession I have a hard time adopting them as my go-tos. I always come back to the Mallet BOAs even though they have definitely seen better days. I guess it’s time to get a fresh pair. 

Yeti MTe

Just because I don’t personally own an eMTB doesn't mean I don’t enjoy riding them. As the sort of default resident eMTB tester here at WC, I’ve had the pleasure of riding all the latest and greatest electrified bikes from brands like Yeti, Revel, Amflow, Crestline and others. Each one has their own quirks, features and so on.

I’ve put a solid amount of miles on the MTe over the last few months and it continues to amaze me every time I ride it. The motor and battery package offers a natural feeling with enough power and torque to help when you want it, but not enough to whisky throttle you off the trail like some other motors out there, or give you so much assistance that you don’t get a workout at all. The range is exceptionally impressive, especially for only having a 580wh battery, which really highlights how efficient the motor truly is. The handling of this bike is like no other ebike I’ve experienced. The relatively light weight combined with the absolutely dialed geometry, suspension platform and the weight down low make you feel like an absolute legend on the trail. This might just be the bike that converts me... eventually. 

MTB Trips

I could go on and on about my chronic bike part addiction and all of the components that make my head swirl, but what really fills my cup are bucket list mountain bike adventures like the trip we took to Tasmania earlier this year with All Mountain Rides and the BC trip we did with Chasing Epic. Traveling is such a privilege and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to experience such wildly different parts of our planet that just so happen to have some of the best mountain bike trails in the world. Derby, Tasmania was maybe the coolest place I’ve ever been, with bike shops and pubs being basically the only thing in the town and really the only thing a person like me could ever want. Oh and being surrounded by world class trails doesn’t hurt. Absolutely the coolest place for a mountain bike vacation ever.

After our week in Derby, Liam and I treated ourselves to a weekend in Maydena to ride the world famous bike park and the southern hemisphere’s home of Red Bull Hardline. Seeing some of the Hardline features up close made my jaw drop. The scale of the track that these guys are riding is just unreal, and the trails in this bike park are up there with the likes of Whistler and others. If you are even remotely considering a trip like this, absolutely do it, you won’t regret it! You truly only live once. We’ve teamed up with Phil from All Mountain Rides to put together some insanely dreamy MTB vacations for 2026, so check those out if you’re interested.