MTBR

87 kg with Fox 36 150 travel -83 PSI with MRP Noken -80 PSI without/no tokens HSC: 5 with Noken/7 without LSC: 11 HSR: 5 LSR: 9 I upgraded to a Grip X2 and had it custom tuned. This made the fork much better. I bought the Noken on a whim and it turned out to be highly effective. It allows me to get the support in higher speed corners while allowing me to use the appropriate travel. I could barely use 90mm of travel with the Grip damper.

My first mountain bike race of the season came and went a few weekends ago: The Durango Iron Horse in Durango, Colorado. My plan was to do the road race on Saturday and the mountain bike race on Sunday. And one look at my current crop of race gear in the garage told me it was time to upgrade for the sake of comfort and performance.

Pinarello is making inroads in the gravel space with the launch of two new platforms—the race-bred DOGMA GR and the redesigned Grevil F Series. These bikes arrive at a time when gravel racing is evolving into two distinct disciplines: shorter-format, high-speed UCI-style events on one end of the spectrum, and ultra-endurance efforts on the other.

We can thank fox for 15mm which only made sense when it was 100mm spacing and even then it was a stretch. According to their own marketing when they offered convertible forks 20mm is 17% stiffer. So why did we go all in on 15mm? The bike industry is retarded. I wouldn't pay this much for a hybrid motorbike fork that will likely come with not enough oil here and too much grease there. My float X is still purging grease from the air can after many rides.

REEB Sam’s Pants Highlights: Handcrafted in the USA from Columbus Zona triple- and double-butted 25CroMo alloy steel Modernized geometry: slacker headtube, longer reach, shorter chainstays Clearance for 29 x 2.2” tires and three water bottle mounts UDH compatibility and dropper post routing Pre-orders open now with delivery expected in July 2025 Frameset pricing starts at $2,499 For more info: The Sam's Pants First introduced in 2012 and last revised in 2020, The Sam’s Pants had quietly...

1UP USA has unveiled a completely reengineered version of its vertical hanging hitch rack. The 2025 Recon Rack is more than a refresh—it’s a full redesign from the hitch connection up, with a new bolt-together frame, revised materials, and user-friendly features aimed at making it lighter, stronger, and easier to live with.

I took my first ride on the X2 damper upgrade. 25 miles of flowy single track. Some smooth, some bumpy with a couple of rocky areas, but up 35 mph in places. There seems to be a lot of holes in the trail, as if someone rode horses on them in the mud. I think they are squirrel and gopher holes. There just seems to be a lot more than I’ve ever seen. Fox dropped the X2 into my Z1 coiled Rhythm 36. I’m running the green spring with no preload at 180 lbs ready to ride.

Insta360’s latest flagship action cam, the X5, is designed to make it easier to capture immersive trail footage without compromising on image quality or durability. With larger sensors, AI-assisted low-light performance, and a simplified dual-recording workflow, the X5 brings several meaningful updates for mountain bikers and outdoor content creators.

Cane Creek product marketing manager Will Hart recently teamed up with Richmond, Virginia-based framebuilder Haute Bicycle Co. to create a one-of-a-kind gravel bike. The build, dubbed the “804” in honor of Hart’s hometown area code, combines modern components and custom geometry with unmistakable vintage flair. “I was eager to ride a bike that was born in the same city I was,” said Hart.

From a feature perspective, they have leapfrogged the rest of the full-power e-MTBs. A good comparison in time will reveal more.