Matthew Fairbrother

Matthew has risen to fame by doing things slightly differently. His decision to ride between each race in the global Enduro World Series created an adventure that helped put bikepacking with a mountain bike on the map, and he aims to recreate the feat for 2023. And that’s just the start. His thirst for pushing the limits of what you can accomplish on a mountain bike makes him the perfect addition to the R&D Division and for helping develop the next range of MTB-specific bikepacking kit.

R&D Division

Matthew Fairbrother

Age: 18
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Bike: Deviate Claymore & Deviate Highlander
Preferred Discipline: Enduro Mountain Biking and the occasional pedal suffer-fest.

Other sponsors: Deviate, World Wide Cyclery, Trail One Components, POC, Ergon, Fox, RaceFace, Shimano.

Why ride with Tailfin

Because it works and works well! I was getting sick of flimsy bags, moving around all the time causing damage to my bike. Tailfin’s setup just makes sense and couldn’t be any easier to use.

Notable Achievements

13th Overall U21 EWS 2022 whilst bike-packing between all of the rounds

Youngest to climb 10000m vertical in a single ride on a MTB at age 15

2022 PinkBike Performance of the Year nominee

Additional Information

Music playlist of choice

I don’t really have a go to play-list or genre of music. I just listen to whatever comes up first until I get sick of it and move on to another one!

What do you carry with you on every trip

Patch Kit/spare tube

One luxury item you take on a Trip

Sleeping bag!

Favourite country to ride in?

New Zealand

If you could only ride one route, what would it be?

The classic Cragieburn figure 8 route – Located just outside of Christchurch, New Zealand