MTB Egypt rider of the month: January 2013

Name:  Nader Mahrous

Age: 27

Where are you from?: Maadi, Cairo, Egypt

What do you do for a living? Owner of an interior and woodwork company

When and why did you start cycling?

After the revolution (everything seems to be related to revolution now?), it was a method of commuting around Maadi. Then the odd morning ride. It wasn’t fun enough riding between traffic and through pollution. I run often in the Wadi so decided to start biking there. Went twice, on the third time met a nice fellow who told me about MTB Egypt and haven’t looked back since (or down in the case of some our trails).

Road, off-road, or both?

At the moment strictly off-road. But still the odd commute around Maadi I would do.

Tell us about your bike(s)!:

I bought a silly Egyptian Rodeo bike that didn’t last more than a couple of months.

Then decided to upgrade to a Bianchi that again lasted less than a handful of months until I decided I wanted bigger gear.

Spring 2012, after more than 5 months of research, finally acquired a Yeti SB66 medium in it’s most flamboyant color. A beast of a bike:

A 150mm travel up front and back, with Switch suspension platform technology aired by Fox RP23
2011 Fox 32 Float fork 150DT Swiss Tubed X1600 wheels (soon to go tubeless)
Truvativ Boobar 780mm handlebars
Schwalbe tires – Hans Dampf
Full SRAM X7/X9 drivetrain
Kindshock i-950 dropper seat post
Shimano DX flat platform pedals

Favorite ride(s) (road or off-road):

What’s dubbed the Advanced Corporate Loop and Puppy Canyon

Do you practice other sports?:

Squash, football, basketball and running

Tell us about your cycling-related injuries/accidents:
I am glad I don’t have any nagging injuries from all my sports (knock on wood, please). I have had one spectacular biking accident where I lost a chunk of my stomach to it and picked up a dozen of scars all-over.

I have had several other accidents that haven’t really left much scars behind.

Anything else you want to tell us about yourself?

Getting into mountain biking has been some sort of transformation. It’s a great sport, albeit a dangerous one, and very addictive. I would love to somehow one day be involved in expanding it in Egypt and promote it.

A deserved mention for MTB Egypt as a great group of help, ride partners and people in general.

My motto in MTB: Go big or go home.