Martin Söderström - Interview

The first impression you get when you meet Martin Söderström for the first time is that he is big, very big. You immediately ask yourself how he could possibly be so nimble and dextrous on the bike, but then, as he invariably bends down to bear hug you free of any remaining breath in your body, you realize that he’s a bit unique and you can’t apply regular perspectives to him.

Of course, he wasn’t always big, or well known, and like most athletes who have risen to the top in their chosen sport he has had to work extremely hard and endured his fair share of setbacks. Despite now being a household name in the bike world you are unlikely to meet anyone humbler or more aware of the unique position he has, which may also explain why he is always smiling!

It’s no surprise that POC and Martin go back a long way and they easily resemble that odd old couple who know each other’s moves and sentences inside and out. If you were to witness Martin when he drops into the POC office in Stockholm, what would strike you is that he is infectiously positive in all does but he is also a part of the furniture and treated like anyone in the team.

POC celebrated their 10th anniversary in 2016, and in 2017 POC and Martin will celebrate a decade together. Way back in 2007, when no one talked about wheel size, plus tires or triple tailwhips, Martin was a 17-year-old ripper from Uppsala, a town one hour drive north of the Swedish capital. There in his local hangout, with makeshift jumps and features, he and his local crew would spend hours riding out the cold, dark, and very very long Swedish winters!

As a Swedish company with a safety mission, when POC spotted Martin and his very obvious talent, it was easy to see why it was a match made in heaven; he was making waves with his unique bike skills and style; whilst POC were on the cusp of creating some award winning helmets and introducing the world to its patented protection system, VPD. As a couple, it turned into the perfect partnership, with a constant feedback loop leading to better protection better tuned to elite rider’s needs.

Only the very few will ever be able to experience what it’s like when you’re ten meters up in the air, upside down, facing the wrong direction, and with a bike rotating around your body. But it’s quite easy to see how real life protection testing is part and parcel of slopestyle and sadly Martin has had to endure a number of serious injuries over the years.

Although Martin’s experiences have helped drive innovation and the creation of better products seeing any athlete sidelined with an injury is hard to take. However, for Martin, it has instilled a new perspective, one which replaces the ideas of carefree immortality he and his crew fueled on back in his cold winters in Uppsala. Older, and definitely wiser, Martin is as keen as ever to push the limits of what’s possible on two wheels, but he’s equally driven to pass on his experiences to younger riders, in particular relating to how to look after yourself.

POC and Martin will continue to go strong and will now sign together for another few years, making their partnership a constant in an ever-changing bike world. You get the feeling that Martin would be part of the POC family regardless but it will be interesting to see what the future holds for two of Sweden’s leading bike names. - Damian Phillips - Head of PR, POC Sports

It must be tough training during the off-season in Sweden, battling through hours of darkness while many of your competitors are sunning themselves in California, Spain, or the Southern Hemisphere. How do you keep the motivation levels high, and how do you physically get enough training time on the bike?

That's a great question which I ask myself almost every day. Why do I stay in Sweden? I think the answer is that I have Sweden to thank for keeping the motivation going throughout all these years. It seems like many riders get comfortable when they have the perfect weather/set up just around the corner. Living in Sweden definitely makes me ride less than the other professional riders, but when I go training in a warmer country, the motivation is going through the roof. I make every jump count!

You seem to be spending more and more time on the trail/enduro bikes? Is that purely for training, fun, or are we likely to see you racing rather than styling and tricking sometime soon?

I have always loved to work on my fitness and I have also always loved to ride technical descents on my bike. Now when there are enduro/trail bikes that allow me to do both those things on one and the same bike, I can't find a reason not the spend tons of time doing it!

But, after ten years of full on mountain bike competitions, I can't say that I am longing to do more competing. I hope that I will get the chance to ride an EWS at some point, though.

Your facebook page suggests you have also been riding e-bikes recently – "If you think e-bikes are lame, then you haven't tried the Specialized Levo! It makes you feel like Lance Armstrong on drugs uphill, and Loic Bruni going down again" – That's is kind of how I feel about them. If we take a look at the comments on PB, we would think that the majority of people want to burn them with fire and banish them from the world. What are your thoughts on e-bikes in general?

You seem to be an expert in getting seriously injured, then battling through adversity for months to make a solid comeback. Do injuries get you down, or do you find them a motivator to get faster/stronger/healthier than before? Do you have to battle demons or is it more of a day to day process of just working through it?

It has definitely been a few crazy tough years for me. Especially since I didn't have a single big injury for the first six years of my career, which meant that I wasn't prepared for it at all. To go from doing what you love every day for 12 years and then have that being taken away from you for nine months straight was definitely an interesting journey. I guess it's true what they say that if you fight through the crises in life then you will come out stronger. The fog that I have been fumbling around in since that first big injury in 2013 is finally starting to clear. I can now look at my bike again and not only see pain and stress to get back to the top of the game, I can finally see it as the love of my life again.


I remember it like yesterday when I had my first meeting with POC in their old HQ. I was super nervous because they were one of my first sponsors and I asked for a sponsorship deal that was a bit out of my league at the time.

I was a bit surprised when they signed the contract without even mentioning the salary. That was a big day in my career when for the first time I felt that I had someone with me on the journey the believed in me as much as I did. Since then, that feeling has swept over me every time I step into their office. A feeling of confidence that they believe in me whether it's about riding skills or product development. After seeing the efforts POC put in to keep me and all riders safe out there on the trails, I definitely have to say that the trust and belief is mutual.

What does 2017 have in store for The Machine?

Haha, The Machine! I haven't heard that nickname for a couple of years. But that is definitely a big goal for 2017 to once again become that machine. A machine who doesn't have any fear or doubts when it approaches a jump or a technical trail. Other than that I still love to travel, compete, shoot videos and ride my bike so that's what I am gonna do! Hope to see you out there on the trails!

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