MY MASON RAW "...LOVING IT"

We checked in with a friend of MASON John Read to see how he was getting on with his MASON RAW, and he replied

...Loving it, it’s super comfortable, excellent on climbs and I was grinning like a maniac when I was dropping into steep-sided sketchy Exmoor valleys and absolutely flying on shallower descents.…

He’s been putting his RAW to the test with several muddy rides in Sussex, a 120km day out, going further afield to the West Country Way with a 60km ride over Dartmoor and Exmoor.

“Super comfortable over the longer day, which was the main thing I wanted. Still in awe at the frame, flicks around nicely and surprisingly nimble.”

“It’s quite pragmatic praise but the internal cabling makes it a lot easier to clean as well. Excellent on climbs. A grippy 2.5” Maxxis Minion & Aggressor dealt with (almost) all the sloppy mud I threw at it. I plan to switch to 2.25” Mezcals in the dry as I feel there is more pace to unlock on drier or less muddy trails. Its limits downhill exceed mine but I was grinning like a maniac dropping into steep-sided sketchy Exmoor valleys and absolutely flying on shallower descents."

“The Selcof bar with a loop has given me more real estate upfront and a different hand position so that’s worked out well. HOPE brakes are great stoppers, I’m getting my head around the way to bleed them, a little tricky, a matter of practice makes perfect - the pads they ship the brakes with are probably amazing in the dry but for a UK winter they seem to be wearing quickly so I’m getting sintered pads already, maybe a handy tip for others.”

“Can’t wait to load it up a bit more and do some bikepacking later in the year. It’s perfectly built for fast and/or light bikepacking.”

Here’s more on the MASON RAW.