Since those early days of freeride, leg armour has come a long way. My first set of pads dug into my shins and rubbed my knees raw on longer rides…yes they saved my bacon on more than one occasion but they were hot, bulky and uncomfortable. Enter in the Race Face Flank Leg guards, these […]
DIY: Building Wheels
Last post I talked about new wheels I was building and getting all the important pieces. Now I will go through all the useful information I have in my brain on how to put them together. I must warn you I am no expert builder and maybe put together one to two sets of wheels […]
Rise of the M.A.M.I.L.
As a middle aged man (is 39 middle aged?) there is one thing that is harder than all other things. Harder than neurosurgery in boxing gloves, harder than eating sushi whilst watching a SAW movie. Admitting you are wrong. Oh yes, its true, we are genetically coded to avoid this outcome at all costs. We […]
18 Things New Riders Need To Know
Mountain biking is an awesome sport, but there are some things new riders may not know that those of us riding for a while have found out through trial and error. This is a learning curve that can not only hurt your body but your pride and your pocket book as well. One of the […]
Winter is Coming 2013
Winter is coming and I love it. While most popular mountain bike destinations are getting ready for winter, here in California we are looking forward to some rain. In Santa Cruz we have very mild winters. It can get cold, but “cold” is relative. All we have to worry about is rain. The rain isn’t […]
The Importance of Tires
Sometimes examples from outside the bike world help some shed light on the importance of using right piece of equipment. Tires are easy to overlook especially when trying to budget do you. After all They’re just some random design made out of a rubber compound they can’t make that much of a difference right? Here’s […]
What’s the Best Handlebar Setup for a Singlespeed?
Oh wait, don’t tell me…it’s dependent on the rider right? So I guess I should also add that this is a 26″ wheeled bike. Well whatever the case I wish it was easier to figure this stuff out than the tried and true method of swapping parts until something works. This could also be titled, […]
Dear Gary Fisher….
For some time I have been blathering, some would say incoherently, about getting to the core of my riding. About stripping back the bling to uncover the boom. I’ve meandered around wheel sizes, levels of suspension and the relative ‘emotion’ of the sport. Following some deeply unscientific reasoning I made the not remotely spontaneous purchase […]
The Best Value Upgrade Ever?
Over the years I have entered into a million conversations about upgrading my bike, the best, cleverest, shiniest, prettiest, cheapest, most expensive and of course coolest upgrades you can make to your mountain bike. Of course part of the charm of mountain biking generally is the conversation, in fact I think that the chat is […]
Riding In Upstate New York
I grew up biking in flat-as-a-pancake central New Jersey, but started mountain biking seriously in college in Upstate New York. My riding time thus became divided between the two surprisingly different types of terrain. Having the good fortune of going to school–and riding–in a location much different than home has taught me the importance of […]