Josh Watson (@westonjosh81) is our Reid Riders of the Month for August
Josh from St.Louis, Missouri, USA, has become our Reid Rider of the Month for August on our Granite 1.0 after catching our eye on Instagram over the last few months using #reidbikes! We caught up with Josh, to find out a little bit more about him and his experience with our bike…
Introduce yourself…
Hello, I am Josh Weston from St. Louis Missouri. I’m 37 years old and a professional MMA fighter.
When and how did you get into bike riding?
I started bike riding in September of 2016. I wanted to increase my conditioning for MMA and thought it would be a great way to do it. I figured if my commute shifted to a bike, I could make condition part of the day. After about 6 months, it became part of my lifestyle and not seen as part of a workout. I do roughly 150 miles a week for commute then any other fun rides I do to enjoy myself.
So what made you choose Reid and why the Granite 1.0?
I chose the Reid Granite 1.0 because I was shopping for a new bike and was leaning towards the gravel bikes due to the roads being rough on a bike in many areas.
I went to my local bike shop (Big Shark Bicycle Company) and was looking at my options and nothing really was popping out to me then the sales associate showed me the granite. I really liked it and leaned heavily towards it. Then I was told the price and instantly knew I was getting it, because it's $400-600 cheaper than anything else and I liked it much better than anything else.
Is this your first Gravel bike?
This is my first gravel bike. I had an ok big box store bike and a nice giant escape before but neither quite performed the way I wanted.
So, how has the Granite 1.0 treated you?
The bike is treating me fantastic. I love the range of terrain I can hit and the ease in which I move on the roads. It is very durable as I have had a few wipeouts when riding in bad conditions (probably too fast some of those time lol) and the bike even took no damage other than scraped paint when a car not paying turned into me. The car took more damage as part of its front bumper got damaged. The only thing that has needed replacing so far are the tires.
Do you have any other future adventures planned?
No adventures planned yet but I am looking at hitting some fun trails this fall once the summer heat dies down. As of now, the big adventure is riding as much as possible to help get myself ready for an upcoming fight.
Finally, what advice would you give to those who have never been on a biking adventure or even a bike?
The advice I would give is to just get on one and ride and see how it goes, even if it's not very far. Then do it again and again because it makes you feel great each time. It can be relaxing and exhausting at the same time. Plus, anything that moves you in a healthier way of life is awesome.
Josh also wanted to tell us the following about a friend of his who is now also riding the Granite 1.0!
A friend of mine who also only uses a bike to get around was shopping for a new bike a week or two after I got the Granite 1.0 (she is a personal trainer at the gym I train MMA at), and said she thinks she found the bike she wanted. She had a touring bike but said the St. Louis roads tore it up so was looking at gravel bikes. She said after looking at quality and cost that she was really leaning towards the Granite 1.0, not knowing that is what I just recently got. I told her I have it and let her test ride mine, she fell in love with it and she also now has one as well.
Another Reid Rider on the road we love it!
Tempted to go Gravel?
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