{"id":47937,"date":"2025-06-11T16:02:42","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T15:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/?p=47937"},"modified":"2025-06-12T12:59:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T11:59:01","slug":"get-to-know-merlins-staff-lucas-and-his-nukeproof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/get-to-know-merlins-staff-lucas-and-his-nukeproof\/","title":{"rendered":"Get To Know Merlin&#8217;s Staff: Lucas and his Nukeproof"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_3829-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47967 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_3829-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_3829-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_3829-1.jpg 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/683;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As both a blog writer and a keen mountain bike rider, I decided to interview myself as part of our Get to Know Merlin\u2019s Staff series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-got-you-into-riding\"><strong>What got you into riding?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_4080-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47968 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_4080-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_4080-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_4080-1.jpg 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/683;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>My first balance bike at three started my love for bikes but it was inspirations like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/danny_macaskill\/?hl=en\">Danny Macaskill<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/wibmerfabio\/?hl=en\">Fabio Wibmer<\/a> who really made me want to continue riding. I first began BMX racing at around five which I continued until I was 15. While I had always ridden mountain bikes alongside BMX to some extent, it was once I stopped BMXing that I really started to enjoy MTB the most. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-favourite-bike-you-ve-had\"><strong>Favourite bike you&#8217;ve had?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_3835-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47960 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_3835-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_3835-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_3835.jpg 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/683;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>My current Nukeproof Mega would have to be my favourite bike; it\u2019s great for both hitting big jumps and enduro racing. I would say the gold colour really makes it stand out too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-dream-place-to-ride\"><strong>Dream place to ride?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_4083-3-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47964 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_4083-3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_4083-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_4083-3.jpg 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/683;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For me, it would have to be Queenstown in New Zealand. In the off season, this place is a mecca for bikes and full of awesome trails. One of its most famous jump lines is Dream Line which is known for having some of the biggest jumps open to the public. I would love to be able to ride there one day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-the-toughest-ride-you-ve-been-on\"><strong>What is the toughest ride you&#8217;ve been on?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my trickiest days out on the bike was probably racing at the BMX World Championships in Belgium. The 40\u00b0 heat made it difficult to keep cool however, I still really enjoyed the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-your-biggest-achievement-on-the-bike\"><strong>Your biggest achievement on the bike?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For me, it would have to be when I landed my first backflip to dirt. I remember having practiced it lots of times into a foam pit and finally having the courage to take it to a proper jump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To find out more about our Get to Know Merlin\u2019s Staff series, click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As both a blog writer and a keen mountain bike rider, I decided to interview myself as part of our Get to Know Merlin\u2019s Staff series. What got you into riding? My first balance bike at three started my love for bikes but it was inspirations like Danny Macaskill and Fabio Wibmer who really made [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[4675],"class_list":["post-47937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","author-lucas-smith"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Get To Know Merlin&#039;s Staff: Lucas and his Nukeproof - Merlin Cycles Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lucas is Merlin&#039;s blog writer, however he is also a keen MTB rider. 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