Latest Product Reviews

Wheels are such a critical part of the bike that we are always excited when a new model drops. We’re also jaded enough to treat the marketing messages that typically accompany these releases with a pinch of salt, but the brochure for the new Race Face Turbine Wheel had enough meat on the bones to properly whet our appetite – especially once we realized that Race Face had actually dropped the price of the new wheelset compared to its predecessor, the Turbine R. Keep reading to learn more! Race

With fewer and fewer mountain bikes featuring a 27.2 mm seat tube, BikeYoke had all but given up on making a 27.2 dropper – but then the gravel boom happened, and they finally got the push they needed to bring this project over the finish line. We don’t usually pay all that much attention to the gravel space here at Vital, but we know many of our readers DO, so consider this a PSA (you can always use it for your XC rig or why not for your kids’ bikes if you want to spoil them with one of the

The original Forekaster was a fast-rolling XC tire designed for slightly looser or wetter conditions, but that’s all it was. In 2022, Maxxis launched an updated version which gained more aggressive knobs and a heavier build, in an effort to make it more of an all-rounder. Always on the lookout for lighter tires that may cut the mustard on our short travel trail bikes, we threw on a pair and set about testing – keep reading to find out how we got along. Strengths Weaknesses Good mix of speed and

Best known for their security solutions, Abus is a relatively new name in mountain biking helmets - but they’ve been steadily growing their catalog since they first decided to take on this market a few years ago. Their helmet line falls under their “mobile security” division which anybody who has ever needed or wanted a bike lock has probably come across before. The jump from locks to helmets isn’t necessarily the most obvious path to take for a manufacturer, but from a distribution standpoint