All you wanted to know about Mpora Gear but were too afraid to ask!

The bright eyed and bushy tailed amongst you will have noticed the Mpora Gear banners on the homepage recently and probably wondered what exactly Mpora Gear is.

Well, with that in mind we fired over a few questions to Mpora Gear’s Senior Editor, David Jaquin, to find out more…read on!

So Dave, in layman’s terms what is Mpora Gear?

It’s a website designed to give riders information about MTB components, bikes and kit. Delivered by people they can trust, from the Dirt guys, the Gear Team and Mpora Experts. Direct information from the brands themselves, context about how to get the best out of a product or bike and information about maintenance, set up and riding skills will also be included. We have around 90,000 products from all the top retailers that will ultimately be on the site, we are working to develop content for the brands that you want to see. If there is anything you want to see then post on the Mpora Gear Facebook page and we will get on it.

So how will it benefit the average rider on the hill?

We all like a new set of grips, fresh tyres or a shiny new pair of pedals, what you often don’t get is anything more than the technical info from a manufacturer. Although this is useful to make basic comparisons, say between a sealed bearing or bush in a pedal, it doesn’t tell you how it performs on a muddy November ride in Wales. That’s where Mpora Gear will help; we will go to that muddy hill with a bunch of the latest pedals and tell you which ones work the best.

Are the products shown the guaranteed cheapest price?

We are a product comparison site, not a price comparison site. If there is more than one retailer with the same product we will show you how much it is from each, but who you buy it from is up to you. The site is updated constantly so you will get the best price if you search it out.

So then, what else does Mpora Gear do?

All sorts! You have the ability to share information within Facebook and Twitter to keep your mates up to date with what’s fresh and make sure you all have the those spikes ready for the rain coming at the weekend. The product pages are open for you to upload videos and photos of the products you own and inform others how they are performing. Exclusive deals will be linked through the Gear site and you will be able to pick up bargains on a weekly basis through retailer offers.

Can anybody review products?

Yes! We were hoping that the offer of winning £500 ($800, 600 Euro) for the best review would be a good incentive! This will be awarded to the best review each month. We will also be offering spot prizes for the best creative content that really catches our attention, that could be the best photo of you riding or a short video talking about the product you are reviewing. Each review equals one entry; so the more you do… the more new kit you can buy!

Who are the Mpora Experts?

The Experts are a group of riders with particular interest in shooting videos or stills and writing about their sport. They are not employees but are committed to their sports and have applied to the Gear team to prove their capability. We share products we need testing with experts and bring them together on test days to review bikes, components and clothing to feed into the site. If you think that you could be part of this team then click Mpora Gear.

Who is running the site?

Apart from myself, we have a team of MTB product focused editors and admin staff to keep the site working smoothly. We also work with staff across our print titles, obviously including Dirt. We also need your input, there are over 17,000 products in MTB Gear alone and this is growing all the time. It would take years to add review information for every product so we need you to help, posting reviews about your favourite products, most innovative bikes and interesting developments… £500 prize hint hint!

When will we see 2012 products?

2012 products are appearing in the site already but many retailers are in the process of integrating their products into the site over the next few months. We are prioritising 2012 products and will be developing content based on the products you need most. We will also keep products from the last couple of years so you will be able to pick up older models of something you need.

So then Dave, what’s your background in biking?

I have been pretty close to bikes all my life and always had a bike or two in the garage, I grew up riding locally with a Chris Akrigg who taught me a lot about riding, and recently more about filming.
I studied Product Design and after working freelance in the design industry I took a job as a lecturer in Product and Transport Design. After writing for Dirt in a few different sections of the mag I applied for the job I am in now. It’s a dream job! Having wanted to move into the bike industry my role now is to develop the best online content around bikes and products for Mpora Gear. My experience in Product Design will help give you all the tech you need!