Icebreaker GT Short Sleeve Viva Jersey
May 12, 2012
So today I roused myself from a near full work week of sick time to get out on my bike. Yeah, I work at home so “sick days” really don’t happen around here, but when I’m not feeling well I don’t leave the house much except for dog walks. On day 5 (today), I was still feeling under the weather but both the dog and my inner child needed to go out to play. Problem was, the weather is just garbage. It’s cold, windy, could rain at any second, that kind of Alaska-springtime stuff. Did I mention I’m not feeling well? Facing the spring chill wasn’t a good prospect, but the dog insisted. So I layered up for a bike ride.
I threw on the Icebreaker GT Viva jersey as an afterthought, thinking I’d never take off my rain jacket and wouldn’t have the chance to put the jersey through its paces. Considering that as I left, I put a softshell on over my rain jacket because I was cold, it seemed as if there was no point to trying the new jersey but for the fact that I’m a big fan of zip neck shirts because even in cold weather I need to vent (does that sentence make sense? I’m sorry, it’s the Nyquil). I wasn’t surprised when the softshell jacket came off after a few miles, but I thought it was too cold for short sleeves so I admit I was a little surprised to have to shed the midlayer too and ending up in just the jersey. Understand, though, that while I’m riding on dirt now, I’m still on my fat bike because the dirt tends to actually be mud. Fat bike = extra wheel weight to push around through a soft surface, so though it really is spring, bike rides are work. So even though it’s sub-50 degrees, it’s not that surprising to end up in a regular jersey. Who am I kidding? That’s nuts. It’s cold out.
Anyway, even though the jersey didn’t seem to be an appropriate choice, I spent most of the ride in short sleeves. So here’s my report. Wait, one more thing: I’m not really a wool person in general, let me issue that disclaimer out front. I do my best to give it all a fair shake, though. And you know – I really liked this jersey. The fit was right on, nice length which is a major plus in size small jerseys. Usually they just make size small to match a generally small person, not necessarily a person of average height who is just small sized. Follow me there? So most jerseys run too short in size small but not this one; it was perfect. I also loved the fact that the sleeves are actually sleeves, not cap sleeves or fake sleeves. I want either sleeves or no sleeves, not weird approximations of sleeves. These sleeves are nice, mid-bicep regular sleeves. Finally…see, I think that’s how I got away with using this jersey on such a cold day. Those few extra inches of coverage are crucial.
I also like the nice 1/2 length zipper which is probably the classiest zipper I’ve ever seen on a jersey. Seriously, this zipper is nice. Nice touch. You kind of have to see it to believe it. As per usual, I got annoyed by the back pockets because I always wear a backpack so the extra layers at the small of my back were too much, but if the temperature ever warms up I might get to use the pockets. Oh who are we kidding, I’m a backpack person, whatever. But if you like back pockets on jerseys these are good pockets. Personally I’d love it if bike jerseys didn’t have back pockets but the bike industry has decreed that we shall have them so we’re stuck. Until the status quo is changed we get back pockets.
If you like wool and you like back pockets this is pretty much the best jersey you can ever buy. I don’t like back pockets and I’m not into wool and even I liked it. Good stuff – it’s mostly the fit, which is as good as it gets. I’m pretty excited to wear it again even though that means the weather will be better. Hopefully.
Castelli CW 3.0 Gloves
November 18, 2011
I got these gloves as part of the swag bag I received at SIDI Press Camp. I didn’t need them on that trip but I took them home to Alaska and have been trying them out. I didn’t really have high expectations because it’s really cold here and even the most insulated gloves don’t tend to keep me warm, but the Castelli gloves have been a huge surprise. I’ve used them in temps from the low 20s to single digits, and I have completed all those rides without cold hands which has to be a first when it comes to winter biking.
I wore them without overgloves or heaters in the low 20s and stayed perfectly comfortable. I usually get cold when riding bikes so this was pretty amazing. On my single-digit ride I put air-activated heaters at my wrists by tucking them inside the cuff of the gloves, and topped off that arrangement with a big pair of overmittens. I took a chance with this one as I doubted I’d stay warm but although my feet froze (again), my hands were perfectly fine the entire three hour ride. Pretty amazing.
The women’s small size was way too tiny for me and I was barely able to even get them on, so SIDI gave me a pair of men’s small gloves which are too big. I think that’s okay though because a little extra air space can be beneficial in the winter (but only a little; slightly big is okay but baggy doesn’t work). My only beef is the Velcro closure. I don’t know why Velcro is so prevalent in outdoors accessories because it’s just deadly on jerseys and base layers. Elastic would be better.
If you can find these and you’ve got the cold hands issue, give them a try; I think they’re pretty good.
That Time At SIDI Press Camp
November 14, 2011
I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’m more about the outdoor industry than the cycling industry, in large part because the cycling industry is pretty lame or so it seems from a recreationalist’s standpoint. The cycling industry and the outdoor industry are different, and men and women are different, and nothing is highlighting these two points for me better than reading the other SIDI Press Camp writeups that have made it to the blogosphere. Over and over again I click on my fellow attendees’ links with gleeful anticipation of a recap only to find a long dissertation on the various merits of SIDI cycling shoes and zero disclosure of the press trip highlights such as the sushi marathon, 100-beer-tap restaurant, shivering post-ride in the dark parking lot as the moon rose and the police cars circled (waiting to close the trailhead; California is weird) with our van driver AWOL, the fireside discussion about Japanese tentacle porn, the way that Matt McNamara could tell me EXACTLY how much I weigh just by looking at me (thanks Matt, I think), and the lunch-table reveal of Bruce Hildenbrand’s post-crash surgery scars. With all that going down, am I really expected to just write about the shoes? And are there people who would rather just read about the shoes? If there are, I suppose this isn’t the site for them.
Kim Kircher once mentioned (in a comment on this site, I believe) that men and women shop for gear much differently, and this was reiterated to me by Al Budris, President of SIDI America, in a long and involved discussion during dinner. More on that in a minute, but I agree with Kim and Al and sometimes I wonder why I care more about how the press trip went than about the technical specs of the gear. I care whether the gear is good, naturally, but I think I go on these press trips to find out more about the company itself than about the specifics of its current line. I like getting to know the people behind the company, and get a feeling for why they’ve made the gear production decisions they have. So far, press trips have revealed that no one really sets out to make bad gear, and they really do want to make everyone happy. It’s easy to forget that behind every company there are actual, real people who are just like you and me and are eager to hear how they can improve.
The press trip was populated by journalists from publications like Bicycling, DirtRag, and ROAD, Road Bike Action, and others I’m sure (see below about business cards). MTBR.com sent a sizeable contingent, which was interesting because MTBR.com forums are really annoying to me. I can’t stand the people who use those forums, just based on what they write. They just seem to embody the spirit of douchebag that pervades the mountain biking industry and I guess I associated that kind of thing with MTBR as a whole. Therefore I was utterly and completely surprised to find that the people who actually run MTBR are just absolutely kick-ass humans. The force of good nature known as Forrest Arakawa (click here and scroll down) was in attendance as were a bunch of others who FORGOT TO GIVE ME THEIR BUSINESS CARDS so that I only know them by their first names now (Francis and Kamran and I think a few others were from MTBR but because of the business card issue I am not sure who). You know this was a rad and low-key press trip when no one (other than me) ran around throwing their business cards at people.
The MTB crew after our ride. I'm the only one from Alaska and I'm the one who got so cold that I begged for our group photo to be taken indoors.
The first night of the press trip, we all headed out to dinner at a low-key local joint. At dinner the conversation came up about me being the only woman on this press trip (even though last year it was a total estrogen fest, which is worth mentioning of course. Women weren’t purposefully excluded from this trip; it’s just that none of the ones invited could attend besides me and Paige Dunn who showed up on day 2) and from there we talked about why the cycling industry sucks so bad at including women. The men at my table started talking about what cyclists are like, and one of them stated bluntly “cyclists are assholes.” Each of the men had at least one story about an encounter with a cyclist taking himself too seriously. My favorite story was from Garrett Lai, in which a bunch of amateur cyclists had shut him out of their “closed” paceline, only to be soundly shut down as he rode them off his wheel, availing himself of the super cycling powers lent by anger. It was gratifying to know that others, even those in the industry, have noticed bad cyclist behavior. We couldn’t help but think that it’s that bad attitude that keeps the cycling industry so small.
I was chatting about this with a few of the other writers when Al interjected his wisdom on the subject. He said that the cycling industry has been stagnant for forty years because it’s run by people who are dedicated to keeping others out of their “club” which is really stupid if your “club” has a for-profit aspect. Al also stated that he felt that the cycling industry doesn’t seem to want to grow. He asked us all when was the last time we’d had a great experience in a bike shop and no one raised their hand. We discussed the way the outdoor industry has expanded to embrace more and more consumers, and how there are so many good examples of inclusive marketing in the outdoor industry as opposed to the ski industry and the cycling industry. The cycling industry comes in a distant third when you rank those three groups based on inclusiveness.
We also delved into how men and women look for different information when they buy gear. It was almost universally agreed upon that men like to talk about gear, think about gear, touch and play with gear, and read about gear; while women just want to find gear they can use to go do the sport they want to do. Men want to obsess over the details of cycling shoes, women just want to wear the shoes while cycling. I’m sure there is some sort of cosmic implication of this gender role turnaround. I do agree that it is the case; I usually say that men like to talk about riding bikes and women like to actually ride bikes. Garrett said that he thinks women look for gear that is “good enough” which, in my experience, is pretty logical and probably true. I don’t know many women who obsess over the newest and greatest of every little item. We usually just want to find something that works and stick with it so that we can go have fun. Garrett said that “good enough” actually sucks, and we should aim for perfection, which could be true I suppose. We had a difference of opinion on this because I think that what sucks is actually things that suck, and that “good enough” is mostly okay even though perfection is better. Guess which one of us was wearing the better outfits each day. Mine were good enough though.
The men on this press trip were utter superstar representatives of the male species, by the way, and all you other guys out there would benefit from taking lessons from them. They were sweet, kind, polite, funny, intelligent, witty, inclusive, and entertaining. It made for a really fun time. The women from SIDI are relaxed and knowledgeable and are full of subtle sarcasm and irony, which means I’m their slave for life. Jeff from Osprey wins major points for mellowness for riding behind me for a few miles while I spun my way up the ascent, not mentioning that he was singlespeeding and needed to go in front until there was a wide patch of trail on which he could pass. I was so impressed by this group that it was all over too soon and it was hard to say goodbye. I’m hoping it’s more like a “see you later” because this counts for the single best experience I have ever had involving the cycling industry.
Oh, and I will write about the shoes, don’t worry.
Mixed Feelings
November 11, 2011
Wrapping up SIDI Press Camp. More writeups later but I wanted to share this photo taken by Adam Newman from DirtRag. I demo’ed a BMC full suspension 29er and I got that weird mix of elation and disappointment you experience when you like your demo bike more than the bikes you have at home.
Mid-SIDI Press Camp
November 10, 2011
It’s cold in Monterey, California, which is my only complaint about SIDI Press Camp so far. I’m an Alaskan so when someone flies me south I reflexively bring dresses, shorts, and flip flops. Something nagged at me while I was packing so I threw in a few more items which is lucky because it’s too cold here for flip flops, but also means I’m stuck wearing jeans and a T-shirt that reads “The mountain is my dog park” for industry events if I don’t want to shiver my way through everything. But if that’s as bad as it gets I’m already coming out way ahead.
If you followed my tweets from last night you’ll know that I’m the only female writer here, in a herd of road cyclists and mountain bikers. Being surrounded by fit, attractive maleness is definitely helping the positive impression I have of all things SIDI at the moment, but what’s really doing it for me is the SIDI crew themselves, who are all highly intelligent, focused, and passionate individuals comprising a team that must be the envy of the industry. Their jokes and smart remarks throughout the product presentation today pretty much did my job for me so I don’t have to strain my brain thinking of funny things to write; instead I just copied down what they said and I’ll find a way to work it into the product write up (but I’ll give them credit for the wit, natch).
So far we’ve just been through the first day’s arrivals, shoe fittings, reception, and dinner; and we just wrapped up the shoe talk for the day (tomorrow’s is backpacks). We’re about to have lunch and then depart for our bike rides.
[I had to pause just now because someone knocked on my door and offered to restock my minibar. This trip is great.]
That’s all I have time to write right now but later on I’ll tell you about the most excellent conversation we had at dinner last night which stands out as the single most truthful conversation about the bike industry I’ve ever had with people who are actually in the bike industry. Back later.
Gore Bike Wear Power 2.0 Shorts
October 18, 2011
Bike shorts are a piece of gear that you should not skimp on. Your most delicate flesh is at stake – treat it well! I generally believe that when it comes to bike shorts, you get what you pay for and the cheap ones are just not worth it. Gore is not cheap but not extremely spendy either, so it’s a great option considering the shorts are super high quality, on par with Rapha if you ask my delicate bits. I really like the chamois; it seems to have more padding than most and doesn’t chafe as much as other chamois. I tend to have problems with chafing so I have promoted these shorts to the top of the pile, as much because of the fit and material as the chamois.
The material is super awesome, matte-ish spandex without the ugly shine and without the squeeze factor. It’s very soft and silky feeling without being slippery. I live in fear of snags in beautiful fabric like this, so if you want to keep these shorts looking nice, keep velcro well away from them! I have to hand it to Cynthia from Gore who sized these shorts for me – I usually wear a small so at first I was a tad affronted when I saw the L on the label…but Cynthia assured me that the sizing was a little off and she was right; they fit perfectly. I’d recommend sizing up at least one size in these shorts.
I really love that I can’t feel the silicone grippers. I usually dislike grippers but these are really unobtrusive. The waistband is wide and comfortable with no drawstring, which I really like as well. Comfort is the deciding factor in making these shorts a real winner – you can hardly tell you’re wearing weird diaper-like bike shorts. All in all, a super comfortable short at a reasonable price.
Answer Products MTB Gloves and Handlebar
July 21, 2011
Answer Products, a division (?) of Hayes Bicycle Group, contacted me to ask if I’d have a look at their new mountain biking gloves for women. Sure, I said, I’ll have a look at the gloves, expecting a pair of gloves to arrive in my mailbox at some point. Well, you never know what you’re going to get in this game because what actually arrived was an enormous box of gloves as well as a new handlebar for my bike.
I realize that I’m probably supposed to share this windfall of gloves with a bunch of other people, and I might indeed part with a pair or two. But I’ll just go ahead and admit that with this package, my dream of a wardrobe of gloves has come true. I have suffered with only one pair of mountain biking gloves for a long time, and this was a problem because gloves get dirty and gross, and if you’re a delicate flower of a girl who can’t touch her face with dirty gloves without paying for it with several weeks’ worth of breakouts (at age 37! Awesome), you understand the critical importance of always having a clean pair of gloves to wear. And now I do! Thanks Answer!
One other cool thing about having all these gloves at my disposal is that I get to try ALL of the sizes. Usually I only get to try one size and I just have to guess what size would work the best. But with the Answer gloves, I can tell you that it’s kind of hard to go wrong because I can make all of the sizes work. The Medium is the best for me, but the Large works fine too, and the Small is tolerable though not as good as the others because of the short-finger issue, but still workable. What’s cool about this is that the gloves are so well designed that it almost doesn’t matter what size you get. They don’t shift or bunch or stretch too much. I thought at first I might not like them because they don’t seem to have tons of padding, but as it turns out I don’t need tons of padding. I like the better “feel” I get with a thinner glove and the Answer gloves grip so well that my hands don’t chafe on the bar and I’ve yet to feel like I was wanting for padding. So, silly me! All this time I never knew.
A great feature of the gloves is the lack of velcro. They just slide on and yeah, sometimes you have to work a little to get into the gloves because they’re cut to be close to the wrists (or rather, base of hands? They don’t really reach the wrists, which I like, because it’s less bulk). No velcro means no accidental snags on jerseys or shorts and one less thing to hassle with while getting ready to ride. I never really have to take the gloves on and off anyway because they allow a pretty good feel for things like, oh, buttoning your pants after a pee break. I know, I know, Answer is a new client and I shouldn’t scare them with reviews that contain discussions of bodily functions. However, I believe in breaking them in quickly, like pulling off a Band-Aid. You want a review, you never really know what you’re going to get around here sometimes…
So the handlebar was a surprise to me. I didn’t know that was coming in the mail. I’m not really into testing bike components, it’s such a pain to switch them out and all that. These guys (gals? I have no idea) at Answer really know my weak spots though, because they sent a pink handlebar that is EXACTLY the color of my anodized sparkly pink mountain bike. EXACTLY. Had they sent a boring black bar, I probably would have, in all honestly, shoved it on a shelf and left it there, with good intentions of course, but with no real motivation to go through the hassle of changing out my bar just to try it out. But the pink bar? That matches my bike? I was putting that thing on IMMEDIATELY. And I’m glad I did because not only does it look amazing on my bike, but I really like the bar itself. It’s got a comfortable sweep and was noticeably easier on my wrists than my last bar. I like wide bars and this one was just a tad bit narrower than my old bar but still beefy enough for me to be comfortable. I’m sure there’s like a million bars out there with similar specs that would work the same, but this one really did it for me and it looks great on my bike. So Answer is out one bar (you’re not getting it back, let me break it to you, guys) but they’re up a whole lot of exposure on this eye-catching pink bike with the matching bar with a giant ANSWER logo on it. Well played.
Rapha Wind Jacket
July 18, 2011
I realize that Rapha is a road cycling brand so you’re supposed to wear it while looking all lean and focused on a tiny bike with itty bitty tires, pretending you don’t mind being blasted with road debris from semi trucks and beer bottles tossed at you from cars filled with over-ego’ed young men with flat-brimmed caps (seriously, are those hats the most visible mark of a total douchebag or what?) and eating hummingbird food every fifteen minutes. I also realize that a lot of Rapha stuff is designed to keep riders comfortable while road riding in inclement weather, but it’s hard enough to get me on a road bike when it’s beautiful outside so there’s less than zero chance of getting me on one when it’s crappy enough to have to wear jackets and long pants.
Mountain bikes are a different matter, though, so I took the Rapha Wind Jacket out to really put it through it’s paces on a muddy, rainy, classic Kenai Peninsula mountain bike ride. I admit this was a tough decision because the jacket is super swanky and nice. I was loathe to get it all muddy and messed up but I also recognized the ridiculousness of having a nice cycling jacket and not wearing it simply because I was afraid of getting it dirty, so into the pack it went. I was glad I had it, too, because once we hit the top of the pass it started sleeting on us and the breeze that had kindly kept the mosquitoes away strengthened into a gale that had us chilled. We still had some strenuous riding to do, though, so I needed something that would stave off the wind and rain but still be comfortable through exertion and it turned out that the Rapha Wind Jacket is really, really good at that. The water beaded up and rolled off, the wind just could not get through, and I never got too warm on the climb up or too cold on the ride down. I was really impressed by this piece.
The fit was great – sleeves long enough so that the snug cuffs fit over the tops of my gloves, keeping all the wind out. The length was great, too; long enough to cover what needs to be covered without flapping around and staying put under my backpack. I’ve absolutely no complaints over the fit or the performance, that’s for sure. There are a few missteps though. There aren’t really any pockets to speak of save one tiny, useless, totally pointless one on the left hip. Maybe road riders need this pocket for something? I don’t think that more pockets would appeal on this piece, at least not for me, so I don’t know why they bothered with this tiny one. I’ll not use it for anything, particularly when I’ve got a nice, handy backpack to put things in (road riders really should learn about backpacks).
The other feature I’m not crazy about is the offset zipper. Guys tell me this has something to do with a center zipper chafing their whiskers or something, but I’m a chick and I don’t have whiskers so I found the flappy extra collar kind of weird, and the off center zipper hard to operate while riding (especially with that pack chest strap in the way). The fact that the zipper doesn’t line up with other center zippers, say, the ones on my jerseys, makes whatever venting one could get from unzipping the jacket kind of moot. I’d rather the zipper be centered since there’s no advantage to having it offset other than having it look kind of fashiony and cool. If it’s cold enough to keep the zipper up there’s no issue, but if you have to adjust the venting, it’s a bit of a hassle.
Other than those quibbles I’d say this is one of the best technical cycling-specific pieces I’ve tried, and it works great for mountain biking, not just road riding. Its built-in temperature regulation is just the thing for riding in the mountains on misty, rainy days. The hassle of stopping to de- or re-layer can be drastically reduced by the breathable, windstopping fabric and I must admit that the cycling-specific cut is great.
I fully expected the jacket to be a muddy mess after the end of our rainy ride, seeing as how everything else I was wearing was a total disaster of muck. Strangely enough, the mud just slid off the Wind Jacket, leaving it looking perfectly new. I can’t believe it! It looks great, functions great, and I don’t even have to wash it. Amazing. Heidi Swift of GritandGlimmer.com reviewed this jacket (calling it the Stowaway Jacket but I’m pretty sure it’s the same) and had the same observation about it being hard to get dirty.
Now, for the question that everyone asks when I review Rapha: Is it worth the money? Interestingly, I rarely get this question when reviewing other top-tier stuff – I guess people are just used to dropping a lot of cash n mountaineering gear, but not cycling gear? Not sure why that is. Anyway, Rapha is spendy, we all know that. This jacket retails for about $260.00. That doesn’t seem all that ridiculous to me, knowing how much good gear costs, but it’s always – ALWAYS a discussion point for Rapha stuff. So, IS it worth it? Well, the first answer is always that it’s up to you. Everyone has their own comfort zone for buying stuff so if YOU think it’s worth it, then buy it. I can tell you that you’ll get a lot of technical use out of this jacket and you won’t be disappointed in the performance or the fit, and it will last a long, long time. To me, it’s better to spend on things that will last rather than throwaways that you have to replace every few years, but that’s up to you.
Ellsworth Evolve 29er Mountain Bike
June 9, 2011
It was just pointed out to me that this review is going to be less about this particular bike and more about 29ers in general, which is probably true. I’ve ridden a few 29ers but the Evolve is the only one I have spent significant time on, so comparisons aren’t reasonable, but I’ll do my best. I also don’t like hardtail bikes much so I’ve not much to say on how the full suspension 29er performs next to a hardtail 29er – that will be up to you to determine.
When I told the Ellsworth crew I wanted an Evolve to test, they hesitated to even build it, citing concern about me being too small for a 29er. I get tired of that sentiment, in large part because I’m in major denial about being small (I’m AVERAGE!), but I understand it coming from the bike manufacturer, who naturally does not want to send an unsuitable demo to a media type person. I had had a taste of the 29er ethos during my trip to Kokanee Crankworx last year when I demo’ed a Specialized 29er, and I knew I wanted to give the Evolve a shot so I dug in my heels and convinced Ellsworth to build the bike for me.
I got the bike while I was living in the Northwest, where trails are muddy and steep, and roots and obstacles are slippery and challenging. I had enjoyed the taste of 29er stability at Crankworx and suspected that I’d gain confidence and have an easier time with obstacles on a big-wheeled bike. Whether it’s a confidence thing or a geometry thing, I’ve found my theory to be 100% true. I’m not a racer type but I decided to participate in a bike race the day after I put the Evolve together. The race was on an unfamiliar course so I went out on the Evolve the night before to pre-ride the route, and was really stoked at how easy it was to roll the steep, technical descents that had worried me in the race description. I also had a much easier time with my nemesis, the tight switchback. I was pretty well sold on the bike from the word go.
I had a great time in the actual race, zipping by people who had stopped at the top of the descents to assess their ability to roll them on their 26ers, and if I’d been on my 26er I’d have done the same; some of the huge roots were really intimidating. The Evolve made them feel like almost nothing, though – I just held on and rolled right down. Getting the big front wheel up and over roots and rocks while climbing was also a breeze; it made technical climbing so much easier.
Ten months later I find that I’ve moved all of my favorite components to the Evolve. One of my 26ers is still packed away in a box where I put it 6 months ago, and the other is sitting unridden in my living room because I so much prefer to ride the 29er. When I do get the bug to take out my 26ers, I get frustrated because the ride is so much harsher and the front end is so much twitchier and harder to handle than the trustworthy, stable 29er.
Here in Durango, I get nonstop criticism for riding a 29er. People dismiss the idea that they’re fun to ride, saying that they don’t maneuver as well, and….well that’s pretty much what they say. One guy told me that 29ers make him crash. Er, OK. I don’t much think that it’s the bike making him fall down, but whatevs. I don’t have any trouble maneuvering the bike, going fast on descents, or handling anything the local trails put in front of me (partly because they are pretty easy trails, but I would say the same for the tougher NW trails on this bike – they were easier for me on the 29er). I even have a way easier time with tight turns on the 29er, though one of my 29er riding girlfriends says she has a harder time than on her 26er, so this might be an individual thing, or it might be that the Ells geometry is better at that sort of thing than the 29er she rides.
Which brings me to the specifics of the Ellsworth Evolve. Most of the time my Ells bikes are admired by people I encounter on trails, but in Durango people have some sort of weird superiority issue that they express by trashing bike brands that don’t happen to be endorsed by one of the ex-pro athletes that live here, or something. I’ve no idea why people here find it necessary to do this; what’s wrong with letting people have their preferences? I’ll go ahead and tell the elitists to suck it, because I like the Ellsworth bikes and the Evolve in particular. I prefer a stable, balanced, forgiving bike which is what the Ells geometry is all about in my opinion. The Evolve is not designed to be a super snappy XC race machine so why would one criticize it for not being just that? I don’t like bikes that are squirrely; I just don’t ride that way. I like the fact that if I hesitate while making a tight maneuver, the Evolve will stay stable until I can apply power – and when I do, the front end stays straight and balanced and I can just power on out of the sticky situation. As a 29er, it rolls over just about anything and with the Ellsworth Instant Center Tracking design (ask Tony E., he’ll tell you; I won’t bother trying to get all techy), it climbs really well. The front end stays down – never, ever pops up while climbing steep stuff – and I never spin out on gravel or loose rock even when I stand up to climb. I love the way the Evolve handles switchbacks and descents – frankly, I just enjoy the way the bike handles, even more than other 29ers I’ve ridden. To be fair, the Evolve was outfitted just for me with components that I prefer; for instance it’s got a really wide bar which helps with the stability, but I can’t say anything negative about the frame and the way it rides. I have said it before in my Ellsworth reviews – Ells bikes are designed to be stable and to take care of their riders. On an Ellsworth, and especially on the Evolve, I’ve learned that I can take on scarier obstacles and I’ll still be OK because the bike isn’t going to do anything weird. So I like both the 29er feel in general and the Ellsworth design works for me. Plus the anodized pink color of my bike is just super sexy, flashy, and perfect for me – and every time you buy a pink bike from Ellsworth, they donate $50 to benefit breast cancer research.
I’d like to advocate for all riders to at least try the 29er. People my size (I’m 5’5″) are generally discouraged from riding and even trying out 29ers and I think that’s a major bummer, because I think a lot of people would like them. I think women, especially, would like 29ers because of the stability and the ease of rolling over obstacles. When your body weight is in your hips, down towards the bike frame, it’s more difficult to get a twitchy front wheel over obstacles and the 29er helps balance that equation. I personally got a surge of confidence from riding a 29er and think that other women would, too. I don’t find any of the criticism of 29ers to be warranted and sometimes I think that people who spray on about how terrible they are might – just might – not have a clue what they are talking about. And how does a 6′ tall dude have any clue what a 5’4″ woman might like to ride, anyway? He’s no idea what it feels like for her. Take my word for it, height has nothing to do with whether or not you’ll like the big wheels. I know a sub 5′ woman who rides a 29er and kicks everyone’s ass on it, too. I’m at least as fast at climbing and descending as most of my friends (at least the ones who aren’t professionals) so the idea that a 29er can’t keep up with 26ers is really stupid, especially when you see pros like Rebecca Rusch out there winning on 29ers.
This “you’re too small to ride a 29er” thing is such bunk. If you’re familiar with fat tire bikes, ones with wheels as wide as 4″, you’ll know that women and shorter men ride them all the time with no issues. And you know what? Though those bikes use 26″ wheels, the size of the tires effectively turns them into 29ers when all is said and done, and no one’s running around loftily proclaiming that smaller people can’t ride fat tire bikes. It’s so ridiculous.
So if you haven’t tried a 29er, you really should, and the Evolve is a great one to try. You’ll encounter people who tell you that full-suspension 29ers don’t work, but your trusty Head Geargal assures you that they do indeed. You might love riding a 29er or you might decide that you prefer the 26ers, but you don’t know until you try. My advice is to ignore the I-know-everything loudmouths, and try both kids of bikes and then – radical concept, here – pick the one YOU like the best.
Shimano WM61 MTB Shoes
April 1, 2011
I’ve been engaging in some conversations about bias in reviews, and whether a review written in exchange for getting a free piece of gear is likely to result in more or less bias than a review written on gear that has actually been purchased, and whether a review that has been written by someone paid to do the review is likely to result in more or less bias than either of the above scenarios. I’m not going to get into that here, other than that I try not to have any bias in my reviews. At worst, I feel kind of bad sometimes when I have to trash something that a client is clearly proud of, but I say what I have to say.
That out of the way, I didn’t get these shoes for free. I had to pay for them, which doesn’t alter my opinion nor the content of this review at all, but it DOES make me extremely relieved because I can RANT TO MY HEART’S CONTENT without feeling guilty about hurting my client’s feelings.
This was my first pair of fancy pants MTB shoes that looked “race-y.” I’d been relying on my beloved Cannondale Roam bike shoes for years with no complaints. However, I became self conscious after seeing that many other riders had fancier looking shoes than I. Let this be a MAJOR LESSON to me to not trouble myself with image, looks, or what other people think. Because of my vanity, I’m stuck with these godawful pieces of crap that do nothing but look good. That also describes the majority of my boyfriends, but that’s neither here nor there (but it’s still a funny line, no?) and we’re talking about shoes, here, so let’s focus.
Why do I despise these shoes so much? Let me count the ways. First, and most annoying, the tongue shifts to the outside so much that it ends up literally on the outside of my foot. The outer edge of the tongue migrates down all the way to the footbed and stays there, so the inner edge of the tongue is to the outside of center. When I look down on the top of the shoe, I see my sock in between the closures, not the tongue. It’s ugly, annoying, and uncomfortable, and nothing can be done about it. I have tried from day one of wearing these shoes to break them in so that the tongue behaves as it should, to no avail. Shimano could have perhaps prevented this problem by attaching the tongue to the rest of the shoe, but no. They left it free to do as it pleases and what it pleases to do does not please me – it sucks.
The closure system is a combination of a ratchet strap and two velcro closures, none of which work very well and all of which leave the shoes loose and sloppy on the foot, or painfully pinched if you crank the closures down in an effort to reduce the slop. Nothing is comfortable at all. I would say that slop is marginally better than pinched, but neither works well.
Finally, the channel on the footbed that holds the plate for your cleats is not deep enough, so the cleat screws protrude into the footbed, causing pressure points and pain. Woo! Don’t these shoes sound like fun?
My feet go to sleep when I ride when I’m wearing these things. How this happens when my foot is slopping around so much is just completely beyond me. I think it must be the shape of the footbed that causes weird pressure points and leads to trouble.
Just about the only thing I like about these shoes is that they look cool, which is why I bought them, which should teach me a grim lesson and be used to educate other hapless, image-conscious riders for years to come. Their relatively low price combined with their good looks might entice you, but hopefully you’ve read this review and look elsewhere for your bike shoes.
