I've been impressed with what I've seen thus far from Pivot Cycles. Building all their bikes on the successful DW-Link suspension design, every bike in the line is guaranteed to be plush and efficient--the holy grail of suspension design. Complementing the Pivot Mach 4 and Mach 5 is the all-new Pivot Mach 429. Why 429? Well, because it's a Mach 4 that's been re-engineered around beautiful, trail-smoothing 29-inch wheels. I'm a believer in the 29-er revolution and apparently Chris Cocalis and the crew at Pivot are also. It is currently in prototype stage, but I'm sure it will be production ready come this fall when the Interbike Outdoor Demo rolls around again. One cool thing that Chris mentions in the following video is the way the headtube is designed to accommodate a 50mm zero-stack headset, which then lowers ...

Showing off some eye candy, Yeti Cycles is displaying two prototype bikes to the public to generate some buzz. Well, it certainly worked for me because these bikes look amazing! No, they aren't for everyday riding on the local trails, but as far as big hit, park and slopestyle riding, these new bikes look to expand on Yeti's innovative Zero Loss rail system used for several years now in the current 303 DH. Full specs are forthcoming as these are purely prototype bikes. But, they look pretty darn refined for prototypes. I'm guessing they are tweaking angles here and there to get things just right. Looking at the function of the Zero Loss Technology and imagining the wheelpath, it all makes perfect sense. Since the seatstays and shock maintain their straight back-and-forth stroke, both pedal feedback and brake ...

As I drive around town, I can't help but gasp when I see the current gas prices. It's $3.44 at my local Chevron and there's no sign that it's going to stop anytime soon. With gas at all-time highs, it's no wonder why small cars like the Honda Civic or hybrids like the Toyota Prius are in such high demand. But, how do outdoorsy people with lots of gear and some of us with 3+ kids haul all the bikes, backpacks, coolers, skis, food and clothes in small, gas-friendly vehicles? One option is to add extra on-demand storage with a rooftop cargo box. Yakima has many great solutions that will work on just about every vehicle. Not only can you carry just as much gear in a smaller vehicle, you can pop them on or off in a matter of ...

Though I don't typically salivate over cross-country mountain bike wheelsets, the all-new Crank Brothers Cobalt XC wheelset is about the sexiest looking set of mountain bike wheels I think I've ever seen! 24 twin-pairs of spokes are laced to the anodized blue rims via twelve integrated eyelets. The hubs are built in typical Crank Brothers fashion--functional and great looking. I'm a big fan of Crank Brothers and have used their pedals exclusively for the past several years. One thing that stands out to me with Crank Brothers... they are always leading the industry in the aesthetics of their designs. Everything is built with Apple-like finishes from the packaging to the product's look and feel. They truly do stand out to me as being the leader in smart and good-looking bike component design--those looks aren't just skin-deep. The all-new Crank ...

Want to earn a pair of free skis? With carbon-fiber ski manufacturer, DPsskis.com, $969 and some word-of-mouth could score you a pair of free skis. Free skis may not come to every bro/brah in the industry, but the word on the street is that DPS skis are the best skis you'll ever turn, so relying on an independent crew of ad-hoc salesman on snow might not be a bad idea. Here's the skinny... to enter the DPS Skis Sales Rep Program, you must first put skin in the game by ponying up $969 for your own pair of skis. After that, you simply sign up for the program and start spreading the word. You end up with your own unique referral code that can be distributed to all interested parties. You get ...

Pivot Cycles is "new" on the scene for 2008. I say "new" while doing finger quotes because the company is headed by industry veteran and Titus Cycles' former founder, Chris Cocalis and is utilizing the proven DW-Link suspension design from Dave Weagle--these guys know bikes. Currently, Pivot has two bikes on the market for 2008: 1) 4-inch travel Pivot Mach 4 and 2) 5-inch travel Pivot Mach 5. While 4-inch travel bikes don't particularly light my fire, once you get into 5+ inches, that sparks interest. Pivot Mach 5 Mountain Bike The all-new Pivot Mach 5 sports a sexy DW-Link frame with, as stated above, 5-inches of travel. The patented DW-Link suspension design is named for it's inventor, Dave Weagle. His designs have previously been ...

Hydrapak has been in the hydration pack business for a long time. They are well-know for producing great products at good price points. I've used their products in the past and have found their packs to be stellar and their bladders to be about middle-of-the-pack as far as likes and dislikes. For 2008, their hydration bladders are new and improved. Gone is the rolled-over Velcro top and in its place is a new zip-top clip that greatly simplifies the closure and allows the material to be a little more substantial instead of the older, flexy material. On top of that, the hydration lines are all plug-and-play to eliminate the need to haul your pack along to the water dispenser. Just unclip the line and take the bladder to the spout--a nice feature that is pretty standard ...

For the final update on Black Diamond's new gear for 08/09, I turn to their expanded line of backcountry ski packs with integrated AvaLung's. I'm a believer in wearing an AvaLung in the backcountry and I've been impressed with BD's pack/AvaLung combos thus far (read my Covert AvaLung review). Combining the two is a no-brainer and reduces the bulk and complexity of wearing multiple items. The entire line of backcountry ski packs will be greatly expanded for Fall 2008. The new line includes a sidecountry pack (Bandit), a ski-mountaineering pack (Alias) and even a snowboard-capable pack (Outlaw). Look for more information on these soon. Here are a few pictures and basic info. Black Diamond Outlaw AvaLung Pack This pack includes both ski and snowboard ...

Black Diamond has certainly stepped things up in the past couple of seasons. Their ski line is recognized as one of the best and most versatile lineups for alpine touring, telemark and resort skiers alike. While I'm still trying to get my grubby hands on a pair of the Black Diamond Zealot's for testing, their all-new, flat-camber Megawatt ski is catching my eye. This ski is built to be an inbounds ski on uber-deep or chunky days or as a dedicated cat ski or heli ski option for those who only ski in the deep stuff. Word is these things simply charge the pow and crud like nobody's business. And, because it's not a true reverse-camber ski (really a flat camber ski with a rockered tip), it can still arc turns on the groomers without scaring the crap out of you--this ...

I was anxious to actually see the Black Diamond backcountry ski boots that I had heard so much about. Our own Kendall Card had spotted them in the area backcountry over the past year, but usually it was just in passing as BD product designer, Ben Walker would slip away just in time to avoid any photographs. Now they are officially revealed to the public as the all-new Black Diamond backcountry ski boot lineup headlined by the top-of-the-line Black Diamond Factor boot. I had a chance to chat at length with one of the team leads on the new boot line and got the inside scoop on the R&D, sourcing and construction process. 2008 Black Diamond Factor Backcountry Ski Boots These are the no-nonsense, burly backcountry boots you've always wanted. The crew at BD spent thousands of hours refining their ...