With hundreds of hiking boot choices on the market, it becomes difficult to determine which one is just right for your hiking activities, foot size and terrain. Drop on top of that the Gore-Tex, eVent or unlined dilemma and your head starts spinning. While most folks don’t need a heavy mountaineering-style or burly backpacking boot, the majority of us can make do with a lightweight and supportive hiking shoe or boot. There’s no need to slog around your local trails in a 2 lb. 8 oz. pair of Garmont Dakotas when a pair of Keen Voyageur Mid’s will do at a scant 1 lb. 1 oz. After beating around some local trails, I’m ready...
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A tee shirt is a tee shirt, right? I mean, that old, worn out tee shirt works just as well as a brand new one, right? Come on… how technical and how improved could a new shirt be over an old, broken-in and comfortable one? The answer to that question is a lot! With all the new fibers combined with tried-and-true merino wool these days, the fit, comfort and function of the classic tee shirt has changed. Outdoor Research is leading the charge with their simple and functional Sequence Tee shirt. With a perfect blend of merino wool and polyester in a standard tee shirt, you can’t go wrong. Let...
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I just received an email with some information on Adventure Cycling’s Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Considering the snowpack in the Rockies this year, I don’t know how they are going to do it, but it looks like tons of fun (and pain) nonetheless. The route is crazy and the mileage is insane! You can follow the progress on the Tour Divide Blog. These guys are in for a trip of a lifetime. Here’s the skinny: Think you could do it? Race in less than 25 days from Canada to Mexico along the spine of the Rockies on a mountain bike? Solo? Carrying all your own supplies and gear? Facing snow-packed passes, unnervingly large...
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Hydration packs are definitely one of the best inventions of the past 10 years. I remember the first hydration pack I purchased. The bladder was thin and awkward to fill and insert/remove from the pack itself. The pack was pretty basic, but functional. Mountain biking and hiking adventures got much more enjoyable without the need of carrying several awkwardly-sized water bottles in a pack or on my bike frame. As full suspension frames have changed over the years, the standard water bottle mounts have been either removed or placed in unusable locations like underneath the downtube. Luckily, there are many hydration packs to choose from at many price points. One of those option...
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With SRAM eating their lunch, Shimano has been forced to step things up a bit in recent years. The new XT shifters and derailleurs sport an improved design and much more logical function over previous years designs. Not to be left out, the Shimano Deore XT disc brakes have also been improved. Shimano has been at the disc brake game for almost ten years now, but are their designs superior to the many brake-specific manufacturers out there. Hayes and Avid eat breathe and sleep brakes while Shimano makes fishing reels and mountain bike wheels at the same time. Are the Shimano stoppers as good as the competition? We’ll just have to see....
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I just got a sneak peak at the 2009 Fox Racing Shox catalog and boy are there some great new innovations they are packing into their already-strong lineup of forks. New crowns, new steerers, new sealed lockout mechanism, and entirely new TALAS 32 and 36 models that include a 150mm travel 32 TALAS and oh yeah, a new little thing called the 15QR. I’ve long been a detractor of the current 9mm quick-release standard and have exclusively ridden 20mm thru-axle forks since my first Marzocchi Z1 in 2001. The difference in torsional-rigidity between a 9mm quick-release and a 20mm thru-axle is huge… so much so that I simply don’t consider the standard 9mm dropout...
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My first stint on a 29-er came at the Interbike Outdoor Demo last fall. I was wandering by the Niner booth and met the owner, Chris Sugai, who set me up on an unridden “media only” Niner RIP 9. The thing was mind-blowing. I simply had no idea how much of a difference 3 inches could make. Small bumps were non-existent and it just seemed to float like a Cadillac down everything in sight. After that ride, I hopped onto the Turner Sultan and had a great time as well, but not as great of a time as I did on the Niner RIP 9. Since that time, I’ve had several...
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The guys at Backcountry.com have gone too far this time. I had heard rumblings that this day would arrive. As I was out on a solo road ride this morning taking in the excellent spring riding conditions on the Mirror Lake Highway, it felt good to be in the saddle again on this familiar strip of black. Things felt in sync, normal, just like yesterday did. Then I arrived at the office and in my inbox was the bombshell - Chainlove.com is live! In the words of Andrew Bird and his catchy song “Opposite Day”: Today was supposed to be just another day… What...
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I’ve been a big fan of Intense Cycles for a long time. The love affair dates back to 2001 when I rode the long-retired Intense Uzzi SLX at the Interbike Outdoor Demo. That bike displayed advanced climbing and descending characteristics for its day. There’s no doubt that it goes down as one of the pioneers in the 6-inch travel trailbike world. Then, in 2005, I rode the first version of the Intense 6.6 trailbike. Utilizing the heralded VPP suspension design, the 6.6 showed me what could be done with the VPP design in a real-world trailbike. I’m talking something that you’d want to pedal uphill all day, then unleash...
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Lightweight, breathable, packable, waterproof… the ideal target when designing outerwear. With all the varieties of outerwear on the market, is there a really enough of a market for niche pieces that do all of the above, but in different proportions? I submit that there definitely is a market and as product designers get better and better, we will continue to see more niche pieces to serve specific purposes. As an example, Arc’Teryx is definitely one of the premiere manufacturers of core outerwear, clothing, backpacks and accessories for demanding outdoors enthusiasts. They have a strong reputation in the industry for building bomber-quality gear to meet specific needs. I’d say Arc’Teryx is what other top...
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