Dan Milner photo from Lavaredo
Dan Milner

Dan
Milner

Adventure / Photographer

I first threw my leg over a mountain bike the same year as Yeti were born, 1985. Thirty nine years later I'm still finding the same stoke, albeit with fatter tires and a big old dose of suspension.

Since that first game-changing day, I've been using the mountain bike as a tool (and an excuse) to travel, endlessly searching out remote singletrack in some of the world's wildest, and often unridden places -from Afghanistan to North Korea- to come back with a story or two to share.

Those stories have been read by countless readers of some of the world's most iconic media, and I hope, have been a catalyst for people to go find their own bike adventures. After all, wherever you do it, or how you do it, riding is never "just" riding.

Yeti bike of choice - why?
The SB135 is the Swiss army knives of bikes. Playful, chuckable, but forgiving, this bike is way more than the sum of its parts, and charges way harder than its 'short travel' name implies.
What is your first memory on a bike?
Leaving the training wheels behind when my dad pushed me down our street while telling me he still had hold on the saddle, as I pedalled away, before finally at the end him telling me that all along I'd been rolling on my own, and that finally I'd learnt to balance.
Best feeling on a bike?
Rolling along a trail you never rode before and just nailing every rock garden and feature without a dab, first go, non stop.
What is your biggest source of inspiration outside of mountain biking? Why?
Big mountains. They're so humbling and powerful, yet at the same time they provide a constant urge to get outside and be among them.
A word of advice to the groms?
There are no disciplines in mountain biking except your own. Ride like you want.
Speed or Style?
Style.
Top 3 riding destinations?
Upper Mustang, Nepal, especially the descent from Muktinath to Lupra. Kyrgyzstan, riding ancient horse trails that form endless singletrack. Torridon, Scotland. Rocky, wild, untamed weather. If you can ride here you can ride anywhere.

Accolades:

  • Organised and photographed numerous pioneering and/or unique mountain bike expeditions and trips to locations such as Iraqi Kurdistan, North Korea, Afghanistan's Wakhan corridor, Rwanda, Lebanon, Ethiopia and the most southern trail on Earth.
  • Subject of Yeti's movie "PhotoVagabond".
  • Subject of Shimano movie "In Search of Golden'

Dan Milner's SB140 next to a message from the locals
Dan Milner
Two riders dart through a lush forest
Bike loaded on a tailgate in Bhutan
Dan Milner and a beat down truck
Dan Milner's camp site
Dan Milner checking his watch, which indicates an elevation of 4310m
Dan Milner next to a couple local villagers on a horse
Dan Milner with his bike on his back and snow cover peaks in the background

Dan’s Kit

Dan Milner's SB140
Dan Milner's SB140
Dan Milner's SB140
Dan Milner's SB140
Dan Milner's SB140
Dan Milner's SB140

Kit Details

With so many unknowns dictating my adventure trips, I spec my bike to handle anything (and carry me through anything) whatever those unknowns throw at me, while keeping an eye on saving weight wherever I can — so long as it doesn't compromise reliability and the ride. After all it's great to ease the grind of shouldering a bike over 13,000ft high passes in Russia, but that strategy falls flat if components fail or the bike can't boss the rock gardens that line the descent on the other side. And here’s a secret: The SB140 is way more adventure-capable than Yeti let on. Adventure? Yep, the SB140 already knows. To lighten my photo pack while riding I throw extras like the EDC tool, spare tube and some water onto the bike, and when building , I leave cable housing and brake hoses a little longer than most people to make it easier to whip the bars off and pack my bike for flights. And that simple mudguard? Oh that keeps all that yak poop out of my face. Poop equals sickness and time on the toilet instead of riding.

  • Frame: @Yeticycles SB140 / Medium, Turq Series
  • Shock: @fox DPX, 140mm rear travel
  • Fork: @fox Elite 36, Boost axle, 160mm travel. Custom build.
  • Crankset: @rideshimano XT M8100, 1x 12 speed, 30t chainring, 170mm
  • Cassette: Shimano XT M8100 10-51 t, 12 spd
  • Shifter: Shimano XT M8100 / 12 spd
  • Chain: Shimano XT M8100 12 spd
  • Rear derailleur: Shimano XT M8100 SGS 
  • Brakes: Shimano XT M8100 levers with M8120 4-piston calipers.
  • Wheelset: @mavic_mtb Deemax Elite, internal width 30mm
  • Tires: @wildenesstrailbikes Vigilante, 2.3 tough/fast rolling rear, 2.5 tough/high grip front, both tubeless.
  • Headset: @chriskingbuzz dropset 1
  • Stem: @raceface Turbine R 35, 32mm long, 0 rise
  • Bars: Race Face Next 35 Carbon, 20mm rise, 760mm wide
  • Grips: @dmrbikes Deathgrip, thin, soft
  • Seatpost : Shimano Pro Koryak 150mm drop
  • Saddle: @crankbrothers Mallet E-LS
  • Tool: @oneupcomponents EDC tool
  • Gear strap: @backcountryresearch mutherload strap, Colorado Flag, tube & @chimpanzeebar energy bar
  • Mud Guard: WTB
  • Bottle Cage: @blackburndesign