First Ride

Primarily made for use on the rear wheel, semi-slick tires have long been a favorite among mountain bikers in certain types of terrain. People often enjoy them for how quickly they roll, which is attributed to the countless miniaturized knobs running tight together down the center tread. For m...

Posted by bturman on 10/31/2018 3:17 PM

Within the industry, there have been countless products which have altered the way we perceive mountain biking. Well before Boost spacing, dropper posts, and even mountain bike specific 10-speed drivetrains, a motorcycle suspension company dabbling in mountain bikes pioneered suspension as we kn...

Posted by dirtworks911 on 10/14/2018 7:46 PM

Ask anyone with lots of carbon wheel experience and they'll express a preference for stiffness or compliance. It's a surprisingly polarizing topic. What happens when you combine those two worlds into one wheelset, with a stiff rear and compliant front? Agreement across the board during bli...

Posted by bturman on 10/1/2018 10:18 AM

FOX Live Valve Suspension: Robots, MTB and the Rise of the Machines (feature story)

Posted by dstucki on 8/28/2018 8:00 AM

SB150 Highlights 29-inch wheels High-modulus carbon fiber frame and swing arm with C-Series and TURQ material options 150mm (5.9-inches) rear travel // 170mm (6.7-inch) travel fork with shorter 44mm offset Switch Infinity suspension system with two-piece wishbone-style shock exte...

Posted by bturman on 8/27/2018 3:30 AM

There is something good going on in the Salt Lake and Park City region. It seems that when a bike company wants to have a good time, these sprawling mountains offer plenty of opportunity. Fezzari very recently invited us to the area to ride their latest bike, a big 150/160mm travel 29er. Free of...

Posted by B.Radly on 8/24/2018 4:03 PM

Giant’s trail focused Trance platform has seen its fair share of changes over the years, adhering to both emerging standards and bouncing between wheel sizes. Yet for the 2019 Trance, Giant has potentially made its most significant leap forward to date. Taking cues from their enduro smashing R...

Posted by ollyforster on 8/6/2018 8:46 AM

A Better XTR? Vital Rides the New Shimano M9100 Group in Crested Butte (feature story)

Posted by kafin8ed on 7/26/2018 7:31 AM

14mph Uphill! Vital's First Ride on the New 2019 Trek Powerfly LT (feature story)

Posted by B.Radly on 7/20/2018 2:00 AM

The phrase “Made for Fun” is written somewhere on all of Marin’s bikes, their steadfast mantra. It is an ideology emphasized in the brand’s catalog, as there are no “filler” bikes or wonky in-betweeners, just fun shred-ready bikes that stack the ratio of smiles per mile. The ethos of the re-birt...

Posted by sideshow on 7/5/2018 10:06 AM

Vital Rides the All-New 2019 Santa Cruz Bronson and 5010 (feature story)

Posted by B.Radly on 7/3/2018 1:28 AM

Vital Rides the All-New YT TUES on the Losinj World Cup Track (feature story)

Posted by iceman2058 on 4/27/2018 2:55 AM

Vital Rides the All-New 2018 Specialized Stumpjumper (feature story)

Posted by iceman2058 on 4/16/2018 9:00 PM

If you’ve been riding bikes for over a two decades or ask your seasoned shop guy (you know, the only mechanic who can setup cantilever brakes within a reasonable amount of time) which fork changed suspension as we know it, one product will come to mind: Z1. Well before the year 2000 and the fran...

Posted by dirtworks911 on 4/10/2018 2:03 AM

Goodyear Tires Goes All In and Launches Complete Mountain Bike Line (feature story)

Posted by sspomer on 4/8/2018 9:01 PM

After years in the cycling industry, Jeff Soncrant and Kevin Sigismondo put their heads together to create a ground up mountain bike brand of their own. It wasn’t that they hadn’t been working with great folks, but they wanted the opportunity to create products without restraints and in their ow...

Posted by hurricanejoel on 3/28/2018 7:04 PM

Introducing the Updated 2019 RockShox Lyrik and Super Deluxe (feature story)

Posted by sideshow on 3/20/2018 1:26 AM

"What the hell do I pack for XC camp?" I wondered to myself the night before my flight to Santa Cruz, California, to check out the all-new Blur. "It's all perhaps a little shorter travel than the typical Vital faire," hinted Santa Cruz's Don Palermini in an email leading up to the event, "but ...

Posted by bturman on 3/16/2018 1:33 AM

After the helmet, a good pair of knee protectors is probably the most essential piece of protection for any serious mountain bike rider. Not only is falling on your knees painful, but even small injuries to this critical joint can leave you off the bike for a while, which is of course way worse ...

Posted by iceman2058 on 3/8/2018 10:50 AM

The Return of the Goat – We Ride the All-New 2018 YT Capra (feature story)

Posted by iceman2058 on 2/8/2018 2:52 AM

Legend is a term that should never be thrown about lightly, but in the case of Kona’s original Wah Wah flat pedal it’s not a stretch to invoke the L word to cement its status among the pedals that have left their mark in the history books of the sport – not to mention on a shin or two! When the ...

Posted by iceman2058 on 1/12/2018 12:20 PM

How do you make a great tire even better? It has to actually be available, for starters. In 2016 e*thirteen released their first tire. Those who tried it, including Vital, were by and large impressed. We were very pleased with cornering traction, noting that the tires held quite a bit longer t...

Posted by bturman on 1/8/2018 4:01 AM

Many young whipper snappers won’t remember the days where you either had a bike that could climb or a bike that could descend. Those of us who can remember truly appreciate how much technology and design have improved, in addition to the blurred line between the either/or of yesteryear. Canyon i...

Posted by hurricanejoel on 12/18/2017 9:05 PM

The 140mm trail bike market is a crowded one. Depending on where one looks it could be XC, trail, all-mountain, enduro… you name it. Canyon’s new Spectral doesn’t really seek to check any box in particular – instead, Canyon designed their new trail machine to fulfill the needs of the go anywhere...

Posted by hurricanejoel on 12/11/2017 12:51 AM

How much effort do you give? That is the question that 100%’s founder would often ask, and the answer became the brand’s name of course. Giving 100% implies riding not only when it’s sunny, so naturally the company decided it needed to offer something to cover up with for those rainy days as wel...

Posted by iceman2058 on 11/20/2017 11:50 PM

Big wheels keep on turning, or at least that’s how the saying goes. Wagon-wheeled bikes have come into the limelight this year, and for good reason. When paired with capable suspension and well-thought-out geometry, they offer rock crushing roll-over and traction smaller-wheeled bikes simply can...

Posted by jeff.brines on 10/26/2017 7:28 AM

With the rise of enduro, and more specifically the actual racing discipline, the good old helmet has found itself the subject of much attention recently. Combining near World Cup-level tech and speed on the downs with long, grueling climbs means that your helmet now has to offer full-face levels...

Posted by iceman2058 on 9/26/2017 10:14 AM

Fun fact: The original Nukeproof Mega was developed in 2009 to tackle the truly demanding Megavalanche race, and every new version since has been proven on the same world-famous glacier starts while bashing bars alongside hundreds of riders for miles on end. Nukeproof kicked things up a notch ...

Posted by bturman on 9/20/2017 5:53 AM

Heritage is a strong base to build on when it comes to releasing new technology. Formula was founded in 1971 as AEM, manufacturing aftermarket parts for motorcycles, and success quickly followed as they became known for their attention to detail and a fastidious approach to winning. Fast forward...

Posted by sideshow on 9/16/2017 6:54 AM

Three New 2018 Bikes: Introducing Kona's Second Generation Process Lineup (feature story)

Posted by bturman on 9/12/2017 4:24 AM