Who is Jack Noy?
Your average mountain biker and road rider (don’t hate)

Where do you live?
Guildford

What’s your job title?
UK Events and Community Coordinator. I take care of Canyon’s ever expanding UK event program, and occasionally play with bikes to keep our demo fleet and marketing bikes in tip top condition.

How long have you worked for Canyon?
2 years 2 months

How did you land the job?
I finished 2 years working as mechanic on a DH team, then applied to work for Canyon UK’s Technical and Service Department. After 16 months there, I applied for this role.

What are you riding?
Strive AL 5.0 Race

Why that bike?
I rode a few Canyon MTBs before settling on this one. When they introduced the XL ‘Race’ size in 2017 that decided it. A roomy 658 Top tube and 487 reach suits my lanky limbs. The Strive is one of those bikes you can just get on and ride – you don’t need to ‘get used’ to anything.

Where’s your favourite place to ride it?
For a 160mm bike, it’s lively enough to ride around Peaslake, especially with ‘XC’ mode on the shapeshifter.

I’ve only really ridden the bike locally, but I’ve had some good fun on the tracks off Gibbet Hill lately. I would love to get this bike out to somewhere like Pila – those turns!

What was your scariest moment on the bike?
Nothing on this bike…yet.

Too many to remember since I started riding.

What’s your favourite thing about it?
Playful, balanced and stealthy silent.

What changes have you made to it?

• Made it even quieter—Heat shrink tubing on the cables and slapper tape on the rear end.
• Added volume spacers front and rear.
• Changed the front tyre since the weather turned.

What makes you angry?
Other riders not waving back when out on a ride – we’re all friends here…

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Keep the chain tight.

What was your luckiest escape?
Snapping a chain on a Boris bike in Paris at full sprint. Hit the ground so hard and somehow got up with not a mark on me.

What’s the most important lesson that you’ve learnt?
Keep learning. Every day’s a school day.

If you could have dinner with three famous people (dead or alive) who would they be and what would you eat?
Curry with Ozzy, Steve Mcqueen and Steve Irwin – I reckon there’d be some stories!

Who is your favourite rider?
Eliot Jackson – he does a load of wild stuff on track that goes by unnoticed. Nice bloke too.

What’s your favourite bike product of all time?
Dropper posts.

What’s your least favourite bike product of all time?
Front mechs on MTB.

What are you listening to at the moment?
Literally at this minute- Big Shaq is playing in the office….errm yeah…

What does the future hold for mountain biking?

That’s a broad question! I’ve had a little go at 3 areas of mountain biking:

– For DH and Enduro racing I think it will continue to develop into an even more professional scene – the training, the team support and bike settings will become even more decisive.

– For mountain biking in the UK I expect we will see more ‘official’ bike parks and trail centres opening up due to the increasing numbers of land owner disputes shutting down illegal trails.

– For the future of bikes- you can start to see the geometry ‘arms race’ settling down a little- I think now there are some nice sweet spots established for each MTB ‘category’. The engineering will continue to refine things- and who know’s? Maybe the next big innovation is right around the corner.