Spending time in the bike shop and seeing the best and worst of the industry, it’s hard not to run into a few “who thought this was a good idea” and “if only they did it this way” moments. Historically, it has always been a helpless frustration. Things could be better but there was nothing I could do about it. It wasn’t until I met my now business partner, Emory Rempel that I felt empowered enough to search for solutions instead of waiting for fixes.

My time on Forbidden started out on the Druid, their inaugural bike. Although short(ish) in travel, and not overly aggressive in geometry, the Druid rode like a bigger bike than the numbers suggested. The rearward axle path and chainstay growth as the suspension compresses, absolutely makes the bike feel like it wants to go faster and find more bumps to gobble up. I had a ton of fun on this platform and it definitely whet my appetite for what a bigger version of this beast might do. When Forbidden dropped the Dreadnaught in the spring, my interest was piqued.