There’s all sorts of good stuff in MBUK 287. Here’s a few highlights…

Best buy full suspension bikes – which gives you the best performance at a bargain price?

First rides on the Ragley Marley, Scott Gambler 10 and Giant Anthem X 29er 1.

How to stay in control – be a pilot, not a passenger, with these skills and drills to keep you in charge on the trail.

New rides! Big Ride route around the Malvern Hills, and a Wrecking Crew ride around Kinlochleven.

Best holiday ever? Cal Jelley takes the ultimate tour of Northern California to ride the birthplaces of mountain biking!

Snow Patrol! Ric puts fat bikes to the test in the wintry Scottish Highlands.

The Coastal Crew – you’ll want their jobs once you’ve read our feature!

We meet the Coastal Crew – the mountain bikers, film-makers and photographers with the most enviable jobs in the world!

The plans for BikePark Wales are revealed – we’ve spoken to the developers and it’s looking amazing!

Awesome shots of the Athertons going massive on home turf!

15 sets of disc brakes tested – which are the superior stoppers?

Plus you get a free karabiner keyring and pull-out route maps!

MBUK 287 is in the shops now – or why not subscribe so you never miss an issue?

Fat bikes – just another fad? Ric finds out in the Highlands

Hannah Barnes shows the Wrecking Crew around her favourite Kinlochleven trails

Brendan Fairclough’s Scott Gambler is the latest bike to be crowned an MBUK Super Bike.

As ever, there’s not enough room in the magazine to fit in all the close-up shots we have, so we’ve collated them here for you to feast your eyes upon.

Read the full story in MBUK 286, on sale on Friday 11 January.

So without much notice we fired it about on Twitter and the MBUK Facebook and asked him a bunch of questions you guys wanted asking- and here’s his answers…

Sven Martin (World Cup photographer): Can you still whip hung over, after the World Cup finals?

Is this a genuine question? You’ll have to ask him how much money he got for the photoshoot that I got up for especially early in the morning to help him (laughs)

Gareth Bates: Beef or Chicken in your Burrito?

Actually, Carnitas- Pork. It’s the most tender and tasty.

#s4bp @MissionBurritoHQ

Will Minton: What are your tips for Winter training?

Winter training for me is about Cross Country, Dirt Jumps and a lot of action on the motorbikes with the S4P team. I like to get out and do stuff- that’s what motivates me. Whatever you do, you have to want to do it. If it becomes a chore or too regulated you can lose that passion. You need to find what works for you.

Luka Novak: You were third at Pila in 2005- will this happen again?

Hopefully first race back next year! I’ve had five or six third places in my career so far, so I’m hoping to upgrade straight to a first place.

Tim Sadler: Have you got one of those Honda frames hung up in your garage?

No. I bloody wish! Greg (Minnaar) has though- he’s got one hanging up in his own bike shop. I don’t know why I didn’t try harder to get one.

King Harvey: What age did you start being successful at riding?

I guess when I was about fifteen. I was doing English Nationals at the time, and things started coming together. I was in Juvenile category and really had no interest in racing back then, but remember doing pretty well at Combe Sydnenham- and was just bitten by it.

Keith Valentine: Best W/C position? Is it speed, strength or stamina that’s stopped you getting higher?

Well, my best World Cup so far is a third place.

I think it’s been strength at times that’s held me back- it’s a hard one as I think I have most of the skills I need and my heads normally in a good place. There are a lot of elements I guess.

Sometimes after a run I might feel I didn’t push as hard as I can- and other times it can end in a crash. Maybe from not having the strength, maybe from having too much speed in that area.

Mission Burrito: Is Habanero salsa too hot for a first time Burrito?

Definitely too hot for a first timer! I spend a lot of time in Southern Cali at various Burrito establishments so I’m pretty down with my Burritos- but Habanero is too hot for me still!

Smokey Chipotle is perfect for Brendan. Habanero is too much...

James Gould: Skids or wheelies?

(no hesitation ) Definitely skids. Definitely. (looks at me like it was a stupid question).

Robert Chadwick: 29in or 26in?

This is a trick question or what? Obviously 650b all the way (laughs).

Nah, 26in all the way.

A Kinesis, a DMR Bolt, A rusty chained 650b Scott and a mean ass Scott hardtail

 Andrew Neethling (World Cup racer): I hear you’re clipping in next season…

That’s absolute rubbish!

* clips on clip on tie *

We’re actually just bringing out my signature flat pedal with DMR- the DMR Vault Brendog Edition. It’s matt black with gloss graphics and special pics. It’s amazing- really happy to have my own pedal.

Absolute rubbish Needles, you’re wrong.

(laughter)

Brendog's signature pedal...

Ricky Crompton: How was Morzine this year? See anything shocking?

(laughs) What!

Am, I supposed to answer that? Erm, yeah.

 Sami Poutianen: Which size Gambler do you ride?

Size large- it looks a little smaller at a glance as it’s low slung, but it’s good and long.

Ben Baker : How old were you when you were my age?

(laughs)

I reckon about 22.

Tom Hault: Who taught you to whip?

Just practice. I’ve always ridden trails and love jumping- it kind of just started coming on from when I was learning tabletops.

I love them though- they feel as rad as they look.

 Back in issue 269, I wrote a piece in Out Front called ‘Pushing the boundaries’ which basically tried to highlight the increased use of carbon fibre when it comes to constructing the worlds fastest DH bikes.

The black shiny stuff is back on the agenda as far as DH frame builders are concerned. Better production methods (well, they do use the odd bit of it in something called ‘F1‘) and an industry push to produce more entry-level/price-tagged machinery has resulted in the top of the line kit becoming even faster and dare I say it, flashier.

If you take a look at the top twenty ranked men in the world according to the official UCI rankings,  as many as 11 of the top 20 riders will be on carbon fibre-framed machinery come the Pietermaritzburg start-gate in six weeks time.

Now, bear with me here, this is making a couple of assumptions… Firstly, that the rumours of Monster Energy Specialized (Troy Brosnan in this case) are testing a carbon fibre framed Demo. Secondly, that you count the extremely hard-worked backends of the Lapierre DH 920‘s of Cameron Cole and Sam Blenkinsop.

However, forgive me those assumptions and consider that Sam Hill isn’t within those rankings (currently 36th) but could be on the same machinery (IF it exists) as Troy and also that there are extensive rumours that ex-team-mate Brendan Fairclough will also soon be running a prototype black and shiny all-new Scott DH bike.

Look outside the top twenty teams and Intense (still a staunch privateers favourite) have long pondered a carbon fibre framed DH bike too but, as with everything else, are striving to produce it as in-house as possible. That said, the arrival of their Carbine SL could be the precursor to something along those very lines.

Also rumoured to be popping wonderment out of steaming hot moulds are Yeti Cycles with their team allegedly set to be lining up on full carbon fibre machinery at Pietermaritzberg. That would fit in well with the fact that the alloy version of their new 303 DH looks set to arrive in February, every Yeti of course gets two years of race R+D before launch.

With weight limits dropping all the time, will we one day see a road race style UCI weight limit that bikes can not dip under? The questions are (reasonably) endless.

But what does all this hypothesis and supposition mean in the more immediate future? A move away from the time-hounoured world of bits of metal welded together with glorified strings and glue leading the way? For the top-whack machines it would appear so but hopefully companies like GT can shine a bit more light on the future for the rest of us. They produce their Fury in a more wallet-friendly alloy version with the top-whack machine coming in full World Cup spec carbon fibre (they’ve yet to confirm that this one will be available in the UK though). Whatever the answer, the future looks fast!