Tested

Sprindex Adjustable Coil Spring (product)

You can set an air shock to any pressure you'd like, making them quite popular in mountain biking compared to coil shocks. You'll need a pump to make that adjustment though. With this new coil spring system from Sprindex, no tools are needed to adjust a coil's spring rate to a finer degree th...

Posted by TrailPeek on 7/2/2020 10:19 AM

iXS Trigger FF Helmet (product)

The iXS Trigger FF builds on the company's Trigger AM half-shell helmet, providing full-face protection on more rides. It's fully certified up to the DH-specific ASTM 1952 standard and achieves its low weight by relying on an in-mold, single-layer EPS construction with an internal X-Frame "sk...

Posted by Lucent on 6/22/2020 4:31 PM

Five Ten Hellcat 2016 Shoe (product)

Forbidden Druid Frame (product)

Birzman Maha Apogee MTB Floor Pump (product)

FSA Afterburner WideR Wheelset (product)

The Good:

Incredible traction on all kinds of rocks.
Incredible protection from all kinds of rocks.
Solid performer on hardpack.

The Bad:

They attract mud.
Too draggy and heavy for mild trail riding.

Overall Review: Intro Michelins RockR2 thread pattern have been around for while now, but recent DH tire development and gradual renaming / rearranging of their lineup suggest thing are not laying still. When it comes to tyre choice, their naming convention is somehow even more chaotic that most...

Posted by FilipK on 5/24/2020 8:06 AM

Orbea’s Occam has been in the Spanish company’s lineup for several years as their designated trail bike. Revamped for 2020, the latest rendition is an impressive upgrade to the Occam model in its own right, and Orbea also offers a couple of appreciative upgrades from the factory to fine-tune the...

Posted by SingletrackZach on 5/11/2020 6:32 PM

2020 Orbea Occam M10 (product)

Pros and Cons of Wireless? Long-Term SRAM AXS Review (feature story)

Posted by bturman on 4/27/2020 11:34 PM

The Good:

Climbs very well, it seems to just float up the trail and does well in loose rocky terrain. Going down is impressive as well, feels like a lot more travel than 120mm.

The Bad:

The Bad: Cockpit feels great, cranks are a bit long or maybe the BB is just a bit low, and the water bottle mount is a tad low.

Overall Review: Test rode an Arktos ST 29 at Bentonville Outerbike and was impressed right off the bat. Bought a frame and build kit this spring and have about a dozen rides on it thus far and its a great all around bike. Looking forward to getting it dialed and spending more time on my local NWA trails!

Posted by SpecRider96 on 4/17/2020 3:37 PM

Since their arrival, we have been fans of the flat pedal shoes from the Truckee, California, brand, Ride Concepts. Now with a chance to test their Transition clipless shoe, we were anxious to see how it would stack up to its highly performing flat-pedal sibling. The Transition is the only cliple...

Posted by BHowell on 4/15/2020 3:30 PM

The Good:

Grip amazing
Durable
Effortless Tubeless installation

The Bad:

Nothing I have encountered

Overall Review: I’ve been running versus for a year now after I got asked to test the prototypes. I rode them just about everywhere up and down the west coast including whistler, park city , mammoth and Squamish . I rode all summer on one set of tires and they held up beyond my belief !! Solid tires and my new ...

Posted by krismag117 on 4/15/2020 7:16 AM

Versus Tires (product)

Another tire company?! Yes. Versus Tires is a direct-to-consumer brand hitting the ground running with great pricing on fresh rubber. While Versus is entering a well established market with some dominant brands, they're coming at it from a unique angle with an excellent product. Versus reached o...

Posted by SomeGuy on 4/14/2020 4:39 PM

2020 Guerrilla Gravity Gnarvana Race Bike (product)

Just last year, Guerrilla Gravity launched a fresh line of bikes featuring an easy-to-convert frame platform and a new material technology called Revved Carbon. Today they're pleased to show the full range of what their system is capable of by introducing the fifth bike built around a shared ...

Posted by bturman on 4/11/2020 5:39 PM

Alchemy Bicycles isn't the biggest name, but the Colorado-based company has been building its reputation for high-quality carbon frames since 2008. Alchemy's founders Ryan Cannizzaro and engineer Matt Maczuzak set their sights on producing world-leading bikes and in 2018, they took their design ...

Posted by hurricanejoel on 4/10/2020 9:04 AM

Öhlins TTX Air Rear Shock (product)

At the end of 2018, Öhlins released a pair of updated products that we discovered during a launch event in Sweden. The RXF m.2 fork and the TTX Air were both wholesale redesigns of previous offerings in this category, and we came away from the launch feeling like Öhlins had really hit the mark. ...

Posted by iceman2058 on 4/6/2020 5:33 AM

2020 Alchemy Arktos 29 X01 Eagle Bike (product)

OneUp Components Dropper V2 Seatpost (product)

When the all-new Norco Sight was originally launched at the end of October, we already had the bike on our home trails for a week to get a feel for it. Our first impressions had us a bit smitten but a long term test is what the Sight deserved. After four months and hundreds of miles on th...

Posted by BHowell on 3/6/2020 8:50 AM

2020 Norco Sight C Custom Lyrik X01 Bike (product)

X-Fusion H3C Rear Shock (product)

The new H3C has been slimmed down everywhere possible. It also uses a lighter spring material which brings it closer to the weight of high-volume air shocks. With the weight in check, it comes down to cost and performance. Listen for a straight-shooter's perspective after three months of ride...

Posted by TrailPeek on 3/3/2020 3:51 PM

Vital MTB Test Sessions: Five Slack, Short-Travel 29er Mountain Bikes Reviewed (feature story)

Posted by bturman on 2/24/2020 7:00 AM

Downcountry, underbike, upduro... whatever you want to call it, it’s a different breed of mountain bike. For 2020, the Juliana Joplin and its twin brother, the Santa Cruz Tallboy, are among a handful of exciting new-school, super slacked-out, short-travel (125mm max) 29ers. The fourth-generation...

Posted by csteen on 2/17/2020 6:33 PM