All posts in “Sports and Outdoors”

Hikers Can Now Buy a Hydration Breakthrough the Military Has Used for Over a Decade

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It’s About Time


Key Specs:
Brand: MSR
Model: Thru-Link Inline Microfilter
Price: $40
Availability: Spring 2020
Unique Features: splices into hydration bladder systems to filter water while drinking, instead of at the stream

Upshot: Filters offer a more palatable alternative to water treatment products like iodine and chlorine, but they can be bulky, and they add an extra step — pumping — to the process of wilderness hydration. MSR’s recently released Thru-Link Inline Microfilter simplifies filtration: the 2.5-ounce, two-stage system splices into hydration systems (like those made by CamelBak and HydraPak) between the hose and bladder to filter water as a user drinks.

Who It’s For: Hikers and backpackers who use hydration reservoirs instead of bottles.

Insight: In a way, the Thru-Link Inline Microfilter isn’t new at all; the US military has been using it since 2006. Backpackers will find the same utility in it as soldiers have over the past decade: by eliminating the physical action of filtration — for example, by pumping or squeezing — they can fill up at a stream and continue traveling without a break. The one downside to the Thru-Link is that it’s specific to hydration bladder systems, so bottle-users still have to use other methods to procure potable water. However, the Thru-link does also work as a gravity filtration system with hydration reservoirs, so an entire group can drink clean water at camp. (That’s right, everyone doesn’t have to suck from backpack hoses all night long.)

Tanner Bowden

Tanner Bowden is a staff writer at Gear Patrol covering all things outdoors and fitness. He is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School and a former wilderness educator. He lives in Brooklyn but will always identify as a Vermonter.

More by Tanner Bowden | Follow on Instagram · Contact via Email

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The 3 Biggest Bike Helmet Fails — and How to Correct Them

It happened again. I was flying south down the Hudson River Greenway when I spotted another cyclist pedaling north and noticed something seemed… different. What an interesting-looking helmet, I thought, I wonder who makes that? Only after I passed her and was out of shouting reach did it hit me. It was a perfectly normal helmet, except for the fact that she was wearing it… freakin’… backwards.

I wish this was an isolated incident. But this exact scenario has played out before, a recurring nightmare that drives me insane. While that particular helmet fail is less common than a couple others, I have seen them all so many times it hurts. I’m always tempted to say something, but in this city, I figure the last thing a person on a pleasant afternoon ride wants is some bearded, tattooed asshole yelling (well-intentioned) advice at them. 

And yet, I’ve come to realize my silence isn’t doing these people any favors, because even worse than making you look like a fool, wearing your helmet incorrectly pretty much defeats the purpose of having one at all. 

“Helmets are tested assuming that all the recommendations for wearing one have been followed,” explains Gloria Hwang, CEO and founder of Thousand. “A helmet that does not fit properly or is worn incorrectly will affect the helmet’s safety and may not offer its full safety capacity in a fall or crash.”

Hwang should know. After losing a friend to a bike accident, she launched Thousand on Kickstarter in 2015 with the goal of helping to save a thousand lives with helmets that are as stylish as they are safe, and based on proliferation of Thousands on the streets, she’s making headway.

But no matter what brand you choose, you’ve gotta wear that thing right. So what follows are a look at the biggest helmet issues I’ve encountered over a decade wheeling around the streets of New York, followed by some pro tips that’ll make your noggin safer than it’s ever been. 

The Most Common Bike Helmet Fails

Fail 1: The T.I.

The Atlanta impresario’s ability to balance epically slanted caps on his dome is legendary. But wearing a bike helmet this way, usually because it’s too big or the straps haven’t been adjusted properly, compromises the safety and increases the odds of the helmet coming loose in a crash.  

Fail 2: The James Dean

Tipping your lid waaay back may work for Hollywood cowboys, but not so much for urban cyclists. First of all, you look silly, as any skier or snowboarder familiar with gaper gap can tell you. But much worse, your entire forehead and face are exposed if you fall. 

Fail 3: The Fred Durst

Sorry to remind you of Limp Bizkit, but somehow the rap rock frontman is the first person who comes to mind when I picture flipped lids. They looked about as cool on Mr. Durst as that creepy soul patch. Same for you with a backwards bike helmet, which is just… so upsetting.

How to Find a Helmet That Fits and Wear It Properly

1. Get Your Size Right

“Start by measuring your head’s circumference and confirming your head size fits within the helmet’s size range,” advises Jeremiah Boobar, director of Suspension and Parts and Accessories at Cannondale. These measurements are almost always in centimeters, so a metric tape measure will do the trick. When actually trying on helmets, says Hwang: “Make sure it fits just right. Not too small (tight and hurts to wear) and not too big (wiggles everywhere).” 

2. Dial in the Fit

Hwang notes that Thousand’s helmets come with a dial-fit system to allow for a custom fit; most reputable brands, including Cannondale, offer a similar feature. “This dial can expand and retract the helmet by up to a half size in either direction, accommodating a wider range of head shapes and sizes,” Hwang explains. That’s particularly handy if your noodle’s like your ski luggage: odd-sized.  

3. Fine-Tune the Straps

Once your helmet is dialed in, sort out your straps. “If the helmet is sliding back on your head, it’s not providing the protection it’s designed to in a crash,” says Boobar, referencing the aforementioned James Dean, the most common of all helmet fails. “Position it so the front is about two finger widths from the top of your eyebrows. Adjust the side strap position so the straps form a “V” below and in front of your ear and there’s no slack on the front or back strap. Tighten the chin strap so you can fit two fingers underneath.”

4. Oh and… Make Sure the Damn Thing Is Facing Forward

I get it, if you’re new to helmets, it may be hard to tell. So here are some tips. The size label and the fit dial (if there is one) will be located in the back. If there’s a brim or visor, that’ll be in the front. Still stumped? David Rogers, founder of the cycling blog OurBikeGuide.com, has one last idiot-proof tip: “Hold the helmet level, with the straps pointing toward the ground, and check which end has a higher rise. This is the front and the place that accommodates your face.”

Got it? Good. Now quick, pedal off before I start ranting about saddle heights.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.
Steve Mazzucchi

Steve Mazzucchi is Gear Patrol’s outdoors and fitness editor. Outside the office, you can find him mountain biking, snowboarding, motorcycling or sipping a dram of Laphroaig and daydreaming about such things.

More by Steve Mazzucchi | Follow on Facebook · Instagram · Twitter · Contact via Email

5 Vintage Road Bikes to Shop Instead of Watching the Lance Doc

As we roll into the unofficial start of summer, we’re reminded that normally around this time of year, we’re gearing up for the Tour de France. After all, the race typically starts in June. But thanks to the pandemic, it’ll now kick off at the end of August. And instead, right now, we get… Lance.

That’s right. This Sunday, on the heels of The Last Dance, ESPN rolls out another Lance Armstrong documentary. Two questions: 1. How did they not call this one The Last Lance? 2. Can we just say we’re kind of over it already? No matter your feelings on his racing/doping exploits, just seems like we’ve heard enough from the guy over the past few years.

So instead of watching that spectacle, we thought of another way to relive the adrenaline rush of TDFs past: shopping road bikes from the Armstrong era on eBay! After all, a nice little ride is way more fun than sitting on the couch anyway. Here are five that caught our eyes.

Olmo Sanremo Columbus Steel Frame Road Bike

Come for the tricolore bar tape, stay for the Campagnolo Chorus groupset.

TREK Aluminum 1200 14 Speed Touring Bicycle

“This is a mid-western bike most likely with low miles.” In other words, exactly what you need to recreate Breaking Away in your own backyard!

Vintage Serotta Road Bike

This bike boasts a full Campagnolo 8-speed kit, but what we really dig is the ’90s paint job, which promises “a rainbow metal flake sparkle in the sunlight.”

Bianchi Reparto Corsa Titanium Race Bicycle

Campagnolo Chorus groupset, Shimano Ultegra 700c and a Charlotte Hornets color scheme, here we come!

Trek 2004 Limited Edition Madone 5500 Tour de France Commemorative Bike

Trek released just 500 of these bikes in honor of Armstrong’s fifth consecutive Tour de France victory. With an OCLV Carbon Composite frame, Shimano Dura Ace 7800 Components and virtually new condition, we dare say #178 here has aged better than Lance’s legacy.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.
Steve Mazzucchi

Steve Mazzucchi is Gear Patrol’s outdoors and fitness editor. Outside the office, you can find him mountain biking, snowboarding, motorcycling or sipping a dram of Laphroaig and daydreaming about such things.

More by Steve Mazzucchi | Follow on Facebook · Instagram · Twitter · Contact via Email

I Tested 6 Strange Supplements to See If They Actually Work

When you write about products for a living, trying stuff out is part of the job. Product testing isn’t an exact science, though. It might entail heating up and cracking eggs into seven different cast iron skillets to see if they flip or stick. Or it might mean flying across the country to climb a volcano in clothing made by the guy on the other end of the rope that’s keeping you from plummeting into one of the crevasses that pierce its side.

A good product test derives from the product itself. It starts by taking the thing head-on; if Item A claims its primary reason for existence is to carry out Function Z, well, then Z is an excellent place to begin a test. That makes testing supplements an imprecise science.

Supplements — vitamins, tonics, CBD and more — are vague by legal definition in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration classifies and regulates them as food instead of drugs, which means that they aren’t subject to the rigorous testing and approval process that medication is. There probably isn’t much motivation to change that either, given that, according to the FDA, three out of four Americans use a supplement regularly, and the industry is worth $50 billion and counting.

“Increase energy,” “improve mental clarity,” “Support focus,” and “boost immunity” are a few top-line declarations you’ll find printed on the sides of jars of pills and tubs of powders. They take aim at the immeasurable abilities that are core to who we are and, in an era of constant visual and audio input, are constantly under assault. (Even if you want to take a break from it all by meditating, chances are you’re using an app to do that.) It’s no wonder that so many of us turn to supplements to make things better, if even just a little.

But if supplements don’t have to back up these generous and sweeping claims with a rigorous approval process, I don’t think my tests do either. So instead of finding a neuroscientist with the right background and equipment for measuring the effects of some of the substances I’ve recently been emailed about or sent via UPS, I decided to just pop ’em down the hatch and see how I felt. Call it the Eclectic Fool-Aid Acid Test…

Beekeeper’s Naturals B.LXR Brain Fuel

What It Claims to Do

“Fight brain fog,” “support focus and mental energy,” “get productive,” “caffeine-free energy” and “support focus and brain health.”

What It Is

The working ingredients in B.LXR are royal jelly, bacopa monnieri plant extract and ginkgo biloba leaf extract. The latter two are plant extracts common in Ayurveda, the Hindu system of medicine that relies on diet, herbs and physical wellness to promote holistic health. But the former is the more interesting one; royal jelly is a substance that worker bees secrete from their heads. It is sometimes called “bee milk,” and it earns its prestigious moniker because queen bees consume it while workers do not. It’s mostly water but does contain proteins, sugars, fats and minerals in small amounts.

Verdict

Honey bee head spit? B.LXR, a dark liquid that comes in little 10-milliliter glass vials, is easily one of the weirdest supplements to cross my desk (powdered thousand-year-old plant matter is another). The directions say to start with a third or a half of a bottle, but to tip back the entire thing for “PEAK brain power,” so that’s what I did.

It does not, I repeat, does not taste like honey. But it is honey-like, starting sweet before bearing into an herbal bitterness that calls to mind diluted echinacea, which must be the plant extracts at work in this mix. It did seem to give me a small, immediate kick. Was it a placebo? A high I was riding, knowing that I consumed the elixir of the bee gods? As the afternoon progressed, my energy, already sapped from a poor night’s sleep, waned as it typically does. Perhaps I should order enough vials to bathe in this stuff, like a queen bee larva.

I like this stuff, but given its price, I won’t be stocking my cabinet with it.

Neuro Gum

What It Claims to Do

“Feel your best quickly and conveniently;” “focus your mind and provide mental endurance.”

What It Is

Neuro Gum’s active ingredients are caffeine, L-theanine, and vitamins B6 and B12. Unlike bee snot, we know caffeine’s effects on energy and focus, and one piece of gum has 40 milligrams of it — there’s roughly 95 in an eight-ounce cup of coffee. L-theanine is an amino acid found in tea leaves that’s believed to promote relaxation (Neuro Gum says it’s here to reduce the adverse effects of caffeine). Both B vitamins contribute to red blood cell and nervous system health.

Verdict

It tastes like mint gum! Go figure. There’s a hint of that chemical-sweet flavor, the type that’s common in energy products, layered beneath the spearmint. Is it good gum? Surprisingly — I approach any gum that isn’t Wrigley’s with skepticism that it’ll turn into a lump of flavorless, wet paper within 15 seconds of chewing — yes. It holds its spring nicely; it even maintains a sufficient shadow of its flavor during prolonged chewing.

Oh, and that whole “mental endurance” part? I couldn’t really tell if the gum had kicked in, so I popped another piece in (the box says to take one or two). It gave me a boost, but not in a jittery, third-cup-of-coffee sort of way. I don’t drink that much coffee, and I have a feeling that frequent drinkers might find Neuro Gum insufficient in afternoon resuscitation.

Would chew again.

Floyd’s of Leadville Recovery Protein

What It Claims to Do

“Optimum muscle replenishment,” “relax and recover” and “it’s also delicious.”

What It Is

Like many protein powder blends, the list of ingredients that make Floyd’s Recovery Protein is long, but the principal components are somewhat straightforward: 27 grams of whey protein, 25 milligrams of CBD and 10 grams of carbohydrates (plus organic cacao powder) per serving.

There are 18 amino acids present in the mix, including 8.5 grams of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), a type that the body doesn’t produce that has become somewhat trendy recently as some research has shown that they can reduce muscle fatigue and soreness and thereby aid in the overall recovery process.

Verdict

First thing’s first: it is delicious. Chocolate is likely the most common protein flavor, but this one ranks high on my list. And let’s be fair, flavor is important; if you have to gag down a post-workout drink, there’s probably a higher chance you pass it up entirely.

I’m a believer in post-workout recovery formulas. I’ve relied on them heavily in training for marathons, where an inadequate meal after a long run can leave you pilfering the fridge for 12 hours trying to satisfy cravings. In terms of fatigue, they can play a big role in ensuring the rest of the day doesn’t become a wash.

The first time I used Floyd’s Recovery Protein, it was after a failed attempt at a 12-mile trail run that would’ve involved roughly six miles of high ridge running, and the views that go with it. Because I didn’t expect the high forest to be filled with snow in mid-May, that turned into a seven-mile out-and-back slog.

I have no proof that this got me back on my feet quicker than if I didn’t consume it — it certainly did nothing for my scratched and bloody shins — but I went about the rest of my day regularly and tackled a different trail the following morning. The CBD? Didn’t notice it.

When I go back for redemption on that trail, I’ll make sure my bag of Floyd’s is waiting for me at the end.

Momentous Elite Sleep

What It Claims to Do

“Fall asleep easier and achieve higher quality sleep, thus improving recovery and performance.”

What It Is

Elite Sleep contains both magnesium and Magtein, a patented magnesium compound believed to support cognitive function and brain health, and reduce anxiety, among other things. It also has wild jujube seed extract; jujube is also known as a red date or Chinese date and supposedly does all kinds of things, from fortifying the immune system to supporting liver health. Momentous uses it for its purported ability to increase the time spent in slow-wave and rapid eye movement sleep phases.

Elite Sleep’s final ingredient, melatonin, is more straightforward. Melatonin is a hormone that the body produces on its own to manage your circadian rhythm.

Verdict

Yeah, this definitely, objectively works. Again, I can’t speak for the direct effects that popping one of these little pills before bed has on my brain function or muscle regeneration, but it did make me notably drowsy, and I do seem to be getting more restful sleep. Better sleep leading to better athletic and daily performance is a simple equation in my book. (Plus, it’s proven.)

On some mornings after taking Elite Sleep, I woke up a little drowsier than usual. I’m too nervous about messing with the winder on my body clock, but I’m happy to rely on this stash when I’m restless and have a big tomorrow ahead of me.

Charlotte’s Web CBD Sleep Gummies

What It Claims to Do

“Support sound, quality sleep, and regular sleeping cycles,” “help you get the rest you need when you need it,” “help you float off to dreamland.”

What It Is

Hemp extract and melatonin, plus the medium list of ingredients required to get those two things into a gummy form. The hemp extract is here to get cannabidiol, or CBD, which is easily this age’s most popular supplement. Yes, CBD is a supplement. The only FDA-approved CBD product is a prescription drug that treats two rare types of epilepsy. But the FDA does note that it can affect alertness in a way that causes drowsiness.

Verdict

I didn’t mention this in discussing Floyd’s Recovery Protein, but I’m a CBD skeptic. So many people, when they talk about CBD, either talk about it like it’s a minor form of THC (the compound in marijuana that gets you high) or that it’s a wonder-substance that can fix any problem you might have, be it anxiety or an inability to make a real connection with your mother-in-law.

I’m not discounting what people claim CBD does for them; if it helps, it helps (the placebo effect, after all, is proven). I’m just saying that I’m waiting for more conclusive studies — there are many of them underway — to play out before deciding what it might do for me.

One thing that experts seem to agree on is that CBD is safe to take, so I happily chowed down on Charlotte’s Web’s raspberry, hemp-enhanced gummies before tucking in for the night. They definitely made me feel relaxed and drowsy after 20 or so minutes, but was that the CBD or the three milligrams of melatonin (the same amount that’s in Momentous Elite Sleep)? Perhaps a better question is, does it matter, given that my reward for eating a tasty treat was a good night’s sleep?

Be careful: These taste good enough to commit to an entire day of gummy-induced napping.

Milkweed Truffletruffle White

What It Claims to Do

Nothing beyond providing the mellowed-out sugary bliss you’d expect from a pastry chef who earned his stripes in New York City before leaving that behind to work in medical marijuana and consequently connecting those two dots. Oh, and “whimsical delights.”

What It Is

“A sweet white chocolate shell filled with savory butterscotch, honey granules, and white truffle oil,” plus 40 milligrams of full-spectrum CBD.

Verdict

First, a little context: I found this delightful morsel in a small fridge at the general store in my home town in Vermont. Maybe it’s not a supplement in the traditional sense, but if I’ve learned anything while consuming all of these things, it’s that the word doesn’t have a stringent definition. The official version is “something that completes or enhances something when added to it,” and I had a hunch that white chocolate and butterscotch had a high chance of enhancing my afternoon.

Based on the 25 or so seconds that it took for me to crack through the truffle’s outer shell, releasing a wave of smooth buttery, caramel-y flavor that first contrasted then melded with the confection that encased it, and let it all dissolve into nothingness inside my mouth, I can objectively state that this particular supplement — whether it calls itself that or not — makes good on everything it promises.

Tanner Bowden

Tanner Bowden is a staff writer at Gear Patrol covering all things outdoors and fitness. He is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School and a former wilderness educator. He lives in Brooklyn but will always identify as a Vermonter.

More by Tanner Bowden | Follow on Instagram · Contact via Email

Outdoor Survival Experts Swear By This Weird, Handle-Free Skillet

Recently, Sea to Summit, an Australian outdoor gear company, released a frying pan for camping and expeditions called the Alpha Pan. The frying pan is made of aluminum and stainless steel, it has a non-stick coating, its handle folds down to save space inside a backpack, and, in its biggest, 10-inch-diameter size, it weighs 11.8 ounces — less than a can of beer.

When students arrive at the National Outdoor Leadership School, a leading wilderness school with branches all over the world, they receive a set of standard-issue gear to get them through courses that might have them living outdoors for three months, or more. They do not receive an Alpha Pan in that set of survival essentials; they get a Fry-Bake. (I should know; I’m a NOLS grad myself.)

A Fry-Bake is about a simple as cookware gets. It’s circular with tall, near-vertical walls and calls to mind a cast-iron skillet without a handle. It isn’t cast iron — it’s aluminum with an anodized, semi-non-stick hard coat surface — although it is inspired by those heavier pans, which used to be a common choice when going off-grid.

According to A Worthy Expedition: The History of NOLS, it was a 14-inch cast-iron skillet that Pam Banks hauled around Utah’s canyonlands during a family camping trip in 1977 that inspired her to create a new, lighter type of pan for outdoor cooking. Aided by her father, who worked in metal manufacturing, she got to to work designing one.

Early prototypes were too shallow, so they heightened the sidewalls. Banks tapped NOLS for feedback — to no surprise, she is both a former student and instructor — and even supplied early prototypes to its courses. Once she had a final design, she partnered with the school to make the first production run.

Photo: Stanford Adventure Program

That was back in 1979, but the Banks Fry-Bake Company still makes the Fry-Bake pans like they used to, albeit in various sizes to suit different types of trips. Functioning as something of a cross between a skillet and a dutch oven, backcountry chefs can fry, steam, sauté and even bake in them. You can clean it out by scrubbing it with sand without worrying about destroying its cooking surface. In place of a handle, Banks Fry-Bake Co. sells a product called PotGripz, which is simply a pair of angled pliers.

NOLS still uses the pans, as it has since ’79. “NOLS considers the Fry-Bake essential because it’s lightweight, durable, easy to clean in the field, and the lid works really well for twiggy fires,” explains Kevin McGowan, retired NOLS Rocky Mountain Equipment Manager. There are a number of versions, including the small Alpine Pan, weighing in around 7 ounces, to the larger Expedition Pan that NOLS uses, which is closer to 19.

Size is important. “You can cook enough food for three hungry, hungry people in a Fry-Bake,” says Rich Brame, an instructor and director of alumni relations at NOLS. “Our philosophy is food is more than just fuel,” he continues. “You can get away with canned Vienna sausages for a weekend, but when you’re out for weeks, you really want and crave and need other culinary options.” (Brame also notes that in a pinch, you can use a Fry-Bake lid to shovel snow for a tent platform when camping in the mountains.)

The pan and the process of learning how to cook everything from pizza to cinnamon buns in it over a single gas burner — sometimes in the vestibule of a tent or beneath a tarp during a rainstorm — might even offer lessons of its own. That to make do with what’s at-hand can be a liberty, not a constraint. Or, perhaps more directly, that versatility and simplicity are essential in the wilderness, even if it means shouldering a few extra ounces in your backpack to get it.

Tanner Bowden

Tanner Bowden is a staff writer at Gear Patrol covering all things outdoors and fitness. He is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School and a former wilderness educator. He lives in Brooklyn but will always identify as a Vermonter.

More by Tanner Bowden | Follow on Instagram · Contact via Email

You’re Wearing Your Bike Helmet Wrong (Yes, You)

It happened again. I was flying south down the Hudson River Greenway when I spotted another cyclist pedaling north and noticed something seemed… different. What an interesting-looking helmet, I thought, I wonder who makes that? Only after I passed her and was out of shouting reach did it hit me. It was a perfectly normal helmet, except for the fact that she was wearing it… freakin’… backwards.

I wish this was an isolated incident. But this exact scenario has played out before, a recurring nightmare that drives me insane. While that particular helmet fail is less common than a couple others, I have seen them all so many times it hurts. I’m always tempted to say something, but in this city, I figure the last thing a person on a pleasant afternoon ride wants is some bearded, tattooed asshole yelling (well-intentioned) advice at them. 

And yet, I’ve come to realize my silence isn’t doing these people any favors, because even worse than making you look like a fool, wearing your helmet incorrectly pretty much defeats the purpose of having one at all. 

“Helmets are tested assuming that all the recommendations for wearing one have been followed,” explains Gloria Hwang, CEO and founder of Thousand. “A helmet that does not fit properly or is worn incorrectly will affect the helmet’s safety and may not offer its full safety capacity in a fall or crash.”

Hwang should know. After losing a friend to a bike accident, she launched Thousand on Kickstarter in 2015 with the goal of helping to save a thousand lives with helmets that are as stylish as they are safe, and based on proliferation of Thousands on the streets, she’s making headway.

But no matter what brand you choose, you’ve gotta wear that thing right. So what follows are a look at the biggest helmet issues I’ve encountered over a decade wheeling around the streets of New York, followed by some pro tips that’ll make your noggin safer than it’s ever been. 

The Most Common Bike Helmet Fails

Fail 1: The T.I.

The Atlanta impresario’s ability to balance epically slanted caps on his dome is legendary. But wearing a bike helmet this way, usually because it’s too big or the straps haven’t been adjusted properly, compromises the safety and increases the odds of the helmet coming loose in a crash.  

Fail 2: The James Dean

Tipping your lid waaay back may work for Hollywood cowboys, but not so much for urban cyclists. First of all, you look silly, as any skier or snowboarder familiar with gaper gap can tell you. But much worse, your entire forehead and face are exposed if you fall. 

Fail 3: The Fred Durst

Sorry to remind you of Limp Bizkit, but somehow the rap rock frontman is the first person who comes to mind when I picture flipped lids. They looked about as cool on Mr. Durst as that creepy soul patch. Same for you with a backwards bike helmet, which is just… so upsetting.

How to Find a Helmet That Fits and Wear It Properly

1. Get Your Size Right

“Start by measuring your head’s circumference and confirming your head size fits within the helmet’s size range,” advises Jeremiah Boobar, director of Suspension and Parts and Accessories at Cannondale. These measurements are almost always in centimeters, so a metric tape measure will do the trick. When actually trying on helmets, says Hwang: “Make sure it fits just right. Not too small (tight and hurts to wear) and not too big (wiggles everywhere).” 

2. Dial in the Fit

Hwang notes that Thousand’s helmets come with a dial-fit system to allow for a custom fit; most reputable brands, including Cannondale, offer a similar feature. “This dial can expand and retract the helmet by up to a half size in either direction, accommodating a wider range of head shapes and sizes,” Hwang explains. That’s particularly handy if your noodle’s like your ski luggage: odd-sized.  

3. Fine-Tune the Straps

Once your helmet is dialed in, sort out your straps. “If the helmet is sliding back on your head, it’s not providing the protection it’s designed to in a crash,” says Boobar, referencing the aforementioned James Dean, the most common of all helmet fails. “Position it so the front is about two finger widths from the top of your eyebrows. Adjust the side strap position so the straps form a “V” below and in front of your ear and there’s no slack on the front or back strap. Tighten the chin strap so you can fit two fingers underneath.”

4. Oh and… Make Sure the Damn Thing Is Facing Forward

I get it, if you’re new to helmets, it may be hard to tell. So here are some tips. The size label and the fit dial (if there is one) will be located in the back. If there’s a brim or visor, that’ll be in the front. Still stumped? David Rogers, founder of the cycling blog OurBikeGuide.com, has one last idiot-proof tip: “Hold the helmet level, with the straps pointing toward the ground, and check which end has a higher rise. This is the front and the place that accommodates your face.”

Got it? Good. Now quick, pedal off before I start ranting about saddle heights.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.
Steve Mazzucchi

Steve Mazzucchi is Gear Patrol’s outdoors and fitness editor. Outside the office, you can find him mountain biking, snowboarding, motorcycling or sipping a dram of Laphroaig and daydreaming about such things.

More by Steve Mazzucchi | Follow on Facebook · Instagram · Twitter · Contact via Email

The Secret Military History of One of the Hottest Home Fitness Brands

Thirteen years ago, no one had heard of TRX. Today, it is one of the most in-demand at-home workout tools, backed by a company boasting more than 100 employees and annual revenues topping $50 million. Not surprisingly, the brand’s popularity has spiked even more of late, with search queries up over 100 percent for TRX bands, TRX full body workout and TRX workout plan, according to Google Trends.

The man behind the straps? Randy Hetrick, a former Navy SEAL, who mistakenly brought his jiujitsu belt on a deployment — and ended up creating a fitness sensation.

We caught up with him to learn the full origin story.

Belt It Out

More than 20 years ago, Hetrick was deployed in a warehouse in Southeast Asia. On a SEAL mission that was supposed to be brief, but quickly changed course, he found himself spending too much time… killing time.

“That particular deployment was supposed to be a quick in-and-out, a counter-piracy operation,” he recalls. “And it ended up becoming protracted, as they often did.”

“I had this weird spark of inspiration to go tie a knot in the end of the belt, throw it over a door, shut the door, lean back and see if I could create the movement of climbing up a ladder.”

In search of a way to train his climbing muscles, Hetrick found inspiration in an unlikely place.

“We would always deploy with these boxes of spare gear, so you’d have a roll of some nylon webbing that the riggers used to prepare parachute harnesses with,” he explains. “You’d have duct tape, 550 cord, [and] we’d just have a lot of different stuff in a spare kit bag. And I had accidentally deployed with my jiujitsu belt because I had scooped it up underneath my flight suit.”

What initially seemed like a waste of space became the key to a DIY workout modality.

Hetrick puts “suspension training” to the test with the original TRX strap back in the ’90s.

“I had this weird spark of inspiration to go tie a knot in the end of the belt, throw it over a door, shut the door, lean back and see if I could create more or less the movement of climbing up a ladder.”

In essence, he figured out how to use gravity and his body weight as fitness tools. It helped the team on the mission, but at first, Hetrick thought nothing more of it.

“I trained on it like a beast all during that time [1997 to 2001], as did other guys in the squadrons,” he says. “It started getting popular. But it wasn’t as evolved as it is today. It was really just an upside-down Y, with no real adjustability. The original design had a carabiner, and a little bit of adjustment on the suspension anchor. The arms of it didn’t adjust. It was a crude predecessor. But it was great, and guys loved it.”

Hetrick would make the early iterations of a TRX strap for his compatriots in exchange for a case of beer.

“I was running a squadron, but I loved the fact that guys thought it was clever, and they wanted me to make them for them,” he says. “And so that was fun.”

Campus Craze

After 14 years with the SEALS, Hetrick left and attended business school at Stanford. While there, he spent a lot of time training with his TRX straps in the athlete center (not the campus gym), where he was asked by practically every coach why he was there — and why he was so old.

“ ‘Suspension training’ wasn’t a phrase thirteen years ago. I kept trying to explain to people how this thing worked. There was no precursor.”

“I was 36, and everybody else, all the student athletes are 18, 20,” Hetrick says. Once a classmate, a tailback on the football team, explained to the coaches that he was an old commando, they let him use the facilities. And then they wanted to know what on earth he was doing.

“Stanford has a pretty sweet weight room, and yet I would be in there with straps hooked up to the squat rack, busting these workouts,” Hetrick says. “And every coach I ever talked to would ask me if I could make them for their team.”

The prototype was about 30 percent canvas strap and carabiner, 70 percent jiujitsu belt.

So Hetrick did, and soon 300-pound linemen, female tennis players a third third size and everyone in between would use them. That’s when he realized he might have a viable product on his hands. But first, he needed a name.

“We military guys love acronyms, that’s a law of nature,” he jokes. “But the more serious answer is… imagine you and I are riding on a plane together, and you’re like, ‘So what do you do?’ and I’m like, ‘I run a little startup that produces gear.’ And so this conversation progresses, but then you end up saying, ‘Okay, wait, it doesn’t have weights?’ ‘No.’ ‘Oh, so it’s a rubber band?’ ‘No, no, it doesn’t stretch.’ You’re like, ‘Well, wait a minute. It doesn’t have weights and it doesn’t stretch, then how does it work?’ ”

Over time, Hetrick started to call it a total body resistance exercise system (which would be TBRE). But he used a logo that looked like an X with a head. Total body is the T, resistance is the R and then the X-man is the X (not to mention exercise). Hence, TRX. Which sounds much cooler than TBRE anyway, right?

Coming to Terms

The straps have evolved since that first deployment in 1997, with adjustability, an instantly recognizable black and yellow color scheme and more.

” ‘Suspension training’ wasn’t a phrase thirteen years ago,” Hetrick points out. “I kept trying to explain to people how this thing worked. There was no precursor.”

Hetrick would explain it by saying, “your body weight is partially suspended, partially supported because one end of your body was on the ground.” And once he started calling it suspension training, it caught on. The number of certified TRX trainers has grown tremendously and now numbers more than 320,000.

The best part about the TRX straps may be how people use them, which keeps changing and evolving.

“It’s something different to everyone, depending on your ability, your interests [and] your preferences,” Hetrick says. “Some people like plyometrics. Well, this is a great plyometric tool. Other people like Pilates. [The TRX] is a great isolative tool.”

Considering it was created for commandos and some of the toughest people in the world, Hetrick finds it funny that it has become one of the biggest and most popular senior fitness tools.

His reaction to such a development probably sums up his overall feeling about how big his product has become since those cramped warehouse days: “I did not see that coming.”

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.
Meg Lappe

Meg Lappe is Gear Patrol’s Creative Project Manager, coordinating across teams to bring all our creative projects to life. She can typically be found running around.

More by Meg Lappe | Follow on Instagram · Twitter · Contact via Email

One of the Best Urban Bikes Was Designed for Something Completely Different

Over the past several weeks, as people seek a healthy outlet from stay-at-home routines, the bicycling seen a surge of interest around the world. If you’re part of that trend and looking for some wheels to knock around town, your options are nearly endless. I know because I’ve tried just about every one. I’ve been living and riding in New York City for more than a decade and have sampled the gamut: road bikes, mountain bikes, folding bikes, e-bikes, cargo bikes, cruisers and fixies, not to mention all manner of hybrid combos. And I have to say that my favorite city bike lately hails from a segment you wouldn’t expect: gravel.

Which I realize probably sounds nuts. After all, gravel bikes are designed not for city streets but for rough-and-tumble off-road trails. The idea is to combine the adrenaline rush of mountain biking with the speed of road biking. And when ridden roughshod over dirt and sand and rocks and grass and, well, gravel, these bikes are loads of fun. But to my surprise, I’ve found that rides like Evil’s Chamois Hagar (pictured) and Ritte’s Satyr are actually kinda perfect for the urban jungle. Here are a few reasons why. 

1. They’re Nimble

Quick history lesson: over the past decade or so, as dropper posts became more common on mountain bikes, manufacturers realized the handlebars were getting a little cluttered with controls. So many switched to 1x drivetrains, meaning all the gear shifting could happen on the right handlebar and leave the left free for a dropper post trigger. One happy byproduct: quickly shifting gears during ascents and descents got much easier. 

A lot of modern gravel bikes have picked up on that cue, whether they have dropper posts or not. And this quality turns out to be hugely beneficial in cities, as you don’t have to calculate gear ratios while navigating a traffic-packed avenue, negotiating a gnarly turn or accelerating down a wide-open street. In concert with wide, bouncy tires, your road time becomes much more playful than precarious.

2. They’re Fast

Compared to most cargo, cruiser and commuter bikes, the best gravel bikes present a winning combo of weight and speed. Granted, you’re likely giving up the baskets, racks and panniers that these bikes often offer, but messenger bags and backpacks are cooler anyway. 

Sure, they’re not as quick as an aero or roadie, but you won’t be quite as terrified to lock them up on the street when you meet your friends for a drink, either. And whether their frames are road-inspired and steel like the Satyr or mountain-oriented and carbon like the Chamois Hagar, I’ve found these bikes can move. Lord knows you don’t put drop bars on a ride meant for meandering — and who cares if you’re racking up as many miles on pavement as you are on rocks and dirt?

3. They’re Tough

Alright, those first couple factors have major merit, but the quality that’s really won me over is coming up right here. The past few years, I’ve been riding nearly every day, either to commute to work or for fun. I ride fairly aggressively, bombing down pothole-dotted streets, jumping curbs and even descending the occasional staircase. It translates to plenty of thrills… along with countless flats, shredded rim brakes, broken chains and other depressing and downright dangerous damage. 

But because they’re designed to tackle off-road obstacles, a good gravel bike has no fear of city streets: beefy tires, durable disc brakes, a wiry frame and rugged construction ensure it. So I have a blast riding these things as roughly as possible from one tip of Manhattan to the other (much faster lately, thanks to pandemic-level traffic), with no thought of breakdowns on even the raggedest roads. I’ve also ridden deep into Brooklyn and Queens without concern about getting stranded. Heck, I’ve even taken the Chamois on urban mountain bike trails and emerged unscathed. (Well, the bike has anyway.) 

Look, as someone who has evangelized bikes for years and years, I couldn’t be more stoked just seeing more people abandon four-wheeled motorized cages in favor of two-wheeled freedom machines. If you’re making that glorious switch, go for whatever type of bike makes you happy. But if my experience is any indication, the biggest smiles will happen in the saddle of one made for gravel.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.
Steve Mazzucchi

Steve Mazzucchi is Gear Patrol’s outdoors and fitness editor. Outside the office, you can find him mountain biking, snowboarding, motorcycling or sipping a dram of Laphroaig and daydreaming about such things.

More by Steve Mazzucchi | Follow on Facebook · Instagram · Twitter · Contact via Email

How to Meditate Like Steve Jobs and Michael Jordan for Everyday Performance

It’s not just yogis and gurus who benefit from quiet time dedicated to focusing on the present moment; elite athletes and corporate strivers alike practice meditation for its performance benefits.

The mind-body discipline has long been known to boost concentration, reduce stress and help with a good night’s sleep. But dedicated training can also produce faster, better decision-making thanks to increased adaptability and insight. It’s a simple, effective way to step up your game, no matter what that game is. Pause, take a breath, and read on to learn your TMs from your FAMs from your oooooommmms.

Open Monitoring Meditation (OMM)

Best for CEOs

Open monitoring meditation involves “watching” your thoughts and feelings without becoming attached to them, maintaining a non-reactive and non-judgmental awareness of the present moment. It’s been a favored technique of CEOs like Arianna Huffington and the late Steve Jobs. Recent research suggests OMM practitioners can control their states of consciousness and attention, and according to Michael Gervais, a high-performance psychologist who works with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, long-term repetition can help identify which thought patterns are beneficial to performance — and which ones are worth discarding. Plus, OMM can promote divergent thinking, which is conducive to creativity.

The Book

Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom. Research-backed tools to help you strengthen your brain from Rick Hanson, Ph.D, a neuropsychologist and meditation instructor.

The Technique

Srat by observing clouds floating through the sky; when thoughts, worries or distractions pop into your head, attach them to the clouds and watch them drift away.

The App

Insight Timer offers OMM meditations to practice absorbing a situation without overthinking or distraction.

Focused Attention Meditation (FAM)

Best for Athletes

Focused attention meditation increases mindfulness by turning your concentration to your breath. By focusing on a simple target, like the in and out of your lungs, it’s easier to notice when your mind wanders, says Christina Heilman, Ph.D, C.S.C.S., and author of Elevate Your Excellence: The Mindset and Methods That Make Champions.

“Focus is a huge part of athletic performance,” Heilman says. “Wherever your focus goes, everything follows.” Learning to ignore irrelevant cues allows insight as to what’s important in the moment, whether that’s hydration or a subtle shift in the opposing team’s defense. Elite performers such as Olympian Kerri Walsh Jennings and pro golfer Rory McIlroy practice FAM.

The Book

The Mindful Athlete: Secrets to Pure Performance. Insight from George Mumford, coach to NBA championship teams and legends like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

The Class

The UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness offersmPEAK, a performance-driven mindfulness session for high-level athletes.

The Device

Neurofeedback headsets like Versus and Muse measure brain activity and display your current focus levels on a corresponding app. The goal: learn to harness your attention at its peak, and refocus in times of distraction.

Transcendental Meditation (TM)

Best for Moguls

Transcendental meditation improves mood, attention, focus and emotional intelligence, and can promote a state of inner peace. “A lot of us are stuck because we don’t take time to reflect,” Heilman says. A TM session allows time to process experiences and learn from them. Long-term transcendental meditators show significantly higher blood flow to the brain regions used for adjusting behavior and focusing attention. One study showed school staff in San Francisco who practiced TM enjoyed better moods, higher emotional intelligence, and increased adaptability and stress management skills.

The Book

Super Mind: How to Boost Performance and Live a Richer and Happier Life Through Transcendental Meditation. Using a solid TM practice to build resiliency, get more done and achieve peak performance.

The Technique

While only certified TM instructors can provide approved transcendental meditation training — with a price tag of $800 or more — anyone can benefit from 20 minutes spent sitting quietly, eyes closed, relaxing the mind.

The App

Use Oak to time your TM sessions, and watch your tree avatar grow the more you meditate.

Why This Little Knife Sold out Instantly (and Broke a Website)

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Going, Going, Gone!


It’s never surprising when limited-run products sell out. It is, after all, the point of a limited run. But the hype required for that to occur in mere minutes typically only builds around such products as street-worthy hiking shoes from Nike, or anything that Supreme cooks up. Recently, Kershaw proved a pocket knife could do it too when it released a new blade called the Random Leek.

The original Leek is well-known among knife enthusiasts. It’s as basic as a folding pocket knife can get, with a three-inch drop-point blade, a metal handle and a fast assisted opening mechanism. Part of its popularity is its simplicity (and the fact that its designer is the legendary Ken Onion).

Over the years, Kershaw has released versions of the Leek with colorful handles or upgraded blade steel, but none drew as much attention as the Random Leek. The knife doesn’t look that different from its predecessors but does offer enough new features to make it stand out in the Leek family. The obvious one is its black stonewash-finish blade, which comes in an angular reverse tanto shape instead of a drop point and is made of high-grade S30V steel. The other is the yellow of its handle, which Kershaw achieved by using a Cerakote — a protective ceramic coating — finish for the first time in its 46-year history.

According to Knife News, so many people tried to snag the Random Leek, which Kershaw valued at $150 but sold for $70, that it impacted the functioning of Kershaw’s website, and promptly sold out. The consolation for anyone who wasn’t able to get one is that the knife is the first of Kershaw’s Sprint Run releases, which it will make in highly limited batches and tease on Instagram. Hopefully the company fortifies its website before the next release.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.
Tanner Bowden

Tanner Bowden is a staff writer at Gear Patrol covering all things outdoors and fitness. He is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School and a former wilderness educator. He lives in Brooklyn but will always identify as a Vermonter.

More by Tanner Bowden | Follow on Instagram · Contact via Email

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Walmart’s New Camping Gear Has More Going for It Than Dirt-Cheap Prices

Nobody denies that technical outdoor gear is expensive. According to Moosejaw, an online gear retailer owned by Walmart, it’s one of the primary factors contributing to the severe lack of diversity in outdoor sports and activities. It’s also the chief reason why the pair just launched two new affordable outdoor brands called Allforth and Lithic.

The two brands take on some of the industry’s biggest categories: Allforth produces clothing while Lithic makes camping and backpacking gear. Everything is designed by Moosejaw and distributed through Walmart’s well-established infrastructure (both brands are available at Walmart, but only Lithic is available at Moosejaw).

“The majority of Lithic and Allforth customers have never walked into their local gear store or visited a specialty website,” says Moosejaw CEO Eoin Comerford in a press release. “Yet, they do visit Walmart.com or shop their local Walmart. That is where we will introduce them to our products and our outdoor activities.”

Lithic’s Two-Person Tent costs $129.

Walmart and Moosejaw clearly believe access is wrapped up in price as much as it is physical retail. Allforth’s clothing, which includes shirts that wick and stretch and the ever-outdoorsy zip-off pants, starts at $15 and tops out at $35. Lithic’s line, which includes sleeping bags, tents, backpacking backpacks and lightweight cookware, spans from $25 to $149.

Of course, long term quality is typically a reflection of price, and that course has yet to play out for either young brand. Neither Walmart nor Moosejaw — which sells far pricier gear from Patagonia, Arc’teryx and more — are positioning Allforth and Lithic as cutting edge.

Instead, they seem to be more of a stepping stone, an entry point into the clothing and equipment that makes something like a multi-day backpacking trip more comfortable and less intimidating. And if new adventurers do get hooked on getting outside, they’ll quickly find that upgrading their gear is part of the fun.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.
Tanner Bowden

Tanner Bowden is a staff writer at Gear Patrol covering all things outdoors and fitness. He is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School and a former wilderness educator. He lives in Brooklyn but will always identify as a Vermonter.

More by Tanner Bowden | Follow on Instagram · Contact via Email

How Patagonia Transformed Its Advanced R&D Center Into a Face Mask Factory, Almost Overnight

Sit around a campfire long enough and you’ll eventually hear a tale about the Forge, an almost mythic building at Patagonia. Named after the tin shed that Yvon Chouinard used to make climbing pitons in the late ’60s, Patagonia’s Advanced R&D Center is filled with a half century of folklore, wild ideas and nixed prototypes that never saw the light of day. Yet because most of the work done in the Forge is years from retail shelves, few know what actually goes on inside.

“It’s both an art and a craft to design the future of outdoor apparel, but saying that sounds pretty intense,” observes Glen Morden, the brand’s VP of product innovation, materials and development — a.k.a. the guy who runs the place. “The Forge is a safe place for tinkering and a resource for the entire company to try new things. We use it to create new products and improve what’s already out there. It’s where we created the Micropuff Jacket, the new Descentionist Pack and Das Parka, to name a few.”

These materials represent the building blocks of protective face masks.

Since its formal establishment over a decade ago, the Forge has become the heart(h) of the iconic brand, helping develop nearly all of the leading edge and highly technical products made by Patagonia. It’s the nucleus of product creation and a library of knowledge about materials, form, fit and production.

“The space replicates a manufacturing floor, which helps designers test things at scale,” Morden explains. “We have every machine here that’s in our manufacturing centers and a support staff of engineers and technicians who run them proficiently. The core team is just 25, but many more pass through every day.” 

Shifting Gears in a Crisis

On the cusp of diving into the good stuff — future shells, synthetics and proprietary secrets — Morden pivots to the elephant in the room: COVID-19. Like all “non-essential” California businesses, Patagonia shut its doors on March 13th, when the governor announced the state’s shelter-in-place order. Employees, including all of the designers who work at the Forge, were tasked with working from home. 

Prototype engineer Justin Mills takes a look at a whole lot of face mask fabric.

“Right away we wanted to make a meaningful contribution to the escalating pandemic, but we took a cautious approach,” Morden says. “The first rule of an emergency is to stay out of the way of professionals. We did a lot of research to make sure we were adding value before jumping in. We wanted to maximize our impact with the tools we had in front of us. We landed on two projects — two different avenues of mask production.”

Patagonia was given an exemption from the state to re-open the Forge, but with safety the top priority, production ramped up slowly. The team started with machines that could be run with very few operators and spread sewers across the large space, trying to be as careful as possible. As specific needs for masks became more clear, the team and system grew methodically.

“It wasn’t that challenging to convert the Forge into a production facility, but we want to do it safely,” Morden stresses. “It’s a concept studio that’s quite limber. We took a lot of lessons from our Reno distribution center and, almost ironically, already had 4,000 square feet empty because we were in between projects.”

More than 40 employees, working in shifts, have donated their time to the mask-making operation.

Crafting Fast for a Cause

For a team of designers that focuses on products years out, this was a new challenge. Fortunately, everyone on the advanced R&D team has a home studio with a sewing machine, so prototyping form factors started quickly. Within 48 hours, they had mask samples using common Patagonia fabrics and by the end of the week had landed on a final concept. 

“It’s all a volunteer effort,” Morden says with pride. “We have over forty employees that rotate through shifts, ten at a time. Shifts are four hours long to allow those with children to juggle responsibilities. The team includes people from all over the company.”

All of the face masks made in the Forge use fabrics Patagonia already had in large quantities. Echoing the ethos of the Worn Wear program, the brand wanted to use available materials. The current mask design employs a Nano Air face fabric paired with a Capilene lightweight lining. It’s intended to be a comfortable, durable and reusable civilian mask.

Ardith Carter, who works in quality management for Patagonia, volunteers her mask-making skills.

“The first thousand masks had a two-strap design that went around your head, and it evolved to elastic around the ear,” Morden shares. “We started by making masks for our distribution center staff and they gave us feedback on comfort and fit. They wear masks for eight hours every day and had a lot of input.”

The team in the Forge is also repairing 20,000 N95 medical grade masks left over from the 2017 Thomas wildfire. These masks will be sold to the city of Ventura for $1.50 apiece, barely letting Patagonia break even. Meanwhile, Morden’s overarching goal is to make a quarter-million civilian masks in the next three months, but the bottleneck is machines.

Alex Wasbin, a Patagonia designer, lends his sewing talents as well.

“We’re talking with our manufacturing partners about making masks to help us scale up faster,” he says. “As we look down the horizon and consider what the outdoor community will need; we start to wonder if a sport mask and other safety tools will be necessary.”

Then Morden says something that puts a bow on just how dramatically this operation has changed things up, in a good way: “The Forge typically works on projects three to five years out. Now we’re working three to five days out. We’ve never lived more in the present.”

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.

The Best New Bikes for Spring and Summer 2020

I like to think of life in chapters. Depending who’s counting, I’m up to my fifth or sixth: Fledgling Writer with Loyal But Poorly Trained Dog. Two decades ago I was immersed in my second: Forts, Nerf Wars and Backyard Baseball. It was a step forward from the precursor, Lego Solitude, and a relative apex compared to what would follow, Math League and Prom Failures. 

During that second chapter, a precious five years bridging the naïveté of elementary school with the pimply battleground of high school, I built a makeshift pump track a few blocks from my house. Riding it with friends became a daily ritual, one accessed only by sneaking through a neighbor’s backyard full of rusted Chevy carnage. Laden with uneven rollers, side hits and shoddy banked corners, this 300-yard stretch of dirt, paired with a hand-me-down BMX, unlocked my lifelong love of bikes. 

Every spring my mind wanders back to the long afternoons we spent lapping the track, getting muddy, going fast, leaving our pre-teen angst in the dust. The joy was pure, the wipeouts were hard, and the memories are still vivid. Though the nostalgia seems to have forgotten the blood and tears, conveniently replacing them with an insatiable curiosity for bikes of all kinds. From my Chapter 6 vantage point, I’ve become a two-wheeled egalitarian, and here are my favorite bikes right now.

Priority Cycles Continuum Onyx

Best Commuter Bike

The Priority Cycles Continuum Onyx is the safest, most stylish option for four-season laps to the office and back. It features reflective sidewalls and frame decals, a continuous geared hub good for 20,000 miles without service, a Gates Carbon Drive belt and hydraulic disc brakes. The headlight, taillight and a USB port are powered by the front hub as you ride, and the rear light keeps blinking when you stop, so cars don’t plow over you at traffic lights. The sexy matte black finish is just a bonus, really.

Transition PBJ

Best Dirt Jumper

Simple and classic, the PBJ lives up to its sandwich inspiration. Ideal for dirt jumps and pump tracks (which will make any mountain biker better and faster), this bike’s relaxed geometry is stable at high speeds and still handles well on tight corners. Twenty-six-inch wheels, disc brakes, 100mm of travel and a slick paint job make this build the modern version of my first bike.

All-City Super Pro Apex

Best City Smasher

Looking to have fun knocking around the neighborhood? Meet the Super Pro. This flat bar rig is great for the city, a simple drivetrain is reliable and efficient, and a steel frame will probably outlive most of us. The bike is full of lugs for fenders and racks, making it great for grocery runs and rainy days. And if you want to get wild, it’ll fit a dropper post too.

Marin Pine Mountain

Best Adventure Bike

The Pine Mountain has everything you need for a memorable adventure — and none of the whizbangs you don’t. Built to tackle all-day epics and week-long bikepacking trips, this burly steel hardtail is loaded with tons of cargo mounting points. The bike’s geometry is great for trail riding with or without an extra load. The front suspension softens the big hits and the Shimano groupset is built to last as long as your thirst for exploration does.  

Giant Reign Advanced 29

Best Enduro Bike

Enduro: After a 15-year evolution, the Reign now comes with a longer frame and bigger wheels, making it best at high speed with an aggressive rider. A good climber with enough suspension to handle most technical descents, the Reign excels at both the up and the down. A carbon frame, SRAM Eagle drivetrain and 160mm travel upfront make it race-ready out of the box. 

Ritte Satyr

Best Gravel Grinder

The Saytr snuck onto the scene in January, when most of us were preoccupied with shoveling driveways and waxing skis. Boasting a relatively low price point for a top-tier gravel bike, the Saytr delivers all the functionality needed for the complex gravel category – room for 43c tires, a versatile bottom bracket, disc brakes with thru axles and a wide-clearance front fork. As playful as the mythical goat beast that inspired its name, the Saytr proves a drop bar isn’t a barrier to gnarly off-road exploits.

Specialized Creo SL

Best E-Gravel Bike

The fastest growing part of the market, electric bikes, has been dominated this year by Specialized and its proprietary battery and motor system. Engineered from the ground up, in-house, it allows the Creo to be nearly five pounds lighter than its competitors, shaving weight while offering an 80-mile range (plus 40 additional miles with the external range extender). Rocking an intuitive interface, Future Shock vibration reduction and smooth power-assist motor, the Creo is top of its class.

Felt AR

Best Aero Race Bike

Th first Felt AR appeared seven years ago, and even in 2013 it was shockingly fast. This year’s version – like the one before it and the one before that – claims to be even faster. The product of testing hundreds of computer models to refine the aerodynamics, the new AR is 9 percent faster than its predecessor, according to Felt. The bike also employs a stiffer form of carbon fiber and disc brakes to make it the best aero bike we’ve ridden lately.

Specialized Turbo Levo SL

Best E-Mountain Bike

Launched just a couple months ago, the Levo SL is (feel free to quote me) the most fun bike you’ll ever ride — and arguably the future of mountain biking. Depending on the components used, the SL weighs in at right around thirty pounds, the same as many non-electric mountain bikes. With a nearly silent motor and enough juice for 60 miles, the Levo SL makes the uphills feel like riding downhill and downhills feel like motocross. Buckle up, so to speak, because you’re about to go for the ride of your life.

Speedvagon Shop

Best Custom Bike

If you’re in the market for a one-of-a-kind ride, check out Portland, Oregon’s Speedvagen. Renowned for a shared love of bikes, attention to detail and community ethos, the workshop is a collection of fabricators, mechanics, metal workers and painters that make some of the most beautiful city, road and gravel bikes I’ve ever seen. And they’re not just for show: Speedvagon customs are high-end racers that’ll outpace the rest of the field. Bring some coin, though: full customs start around $8,000, and the average complete build is closer to $12,000.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.

Here’s an Affordable New Way to Upgrade Your Mountain Bike

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Easy Riding


Whether you realize it or not, you’re likely familiar with a burgeoning retail concept called recommerce. The term refers to the notion of circular economies — it’s what brands like REI, The North Face, Patagonia and Arc’teryx did when they launched programs to buy back used gear from shoppers, refurbish it and sell it again at lower prices. Apparel makers are pioneering this practice on the Internet, and now a small component maker called PNW is bringing the concept to the bicycle industry.

PNW’s circular program is called PNW Cycled, and it applies specifically to the dropper posts that it manufactures. For those unfamiliar, a dropper post is a premium component that lets you raise or lower your saddle at the push of a handlebar-mounted button. The feature is ubiquitous in high-end mountain bikes (and slowly trickling down to more affordable models), but thanks to PNW Cycled, upgrading your current ride with one is more affordable than ever.

That’s because not only does PNW Cycled take in used dropper posts in exchange for a 20 percent credit towards a new one, it also sells those returned seatposts on its Cycled website for 40 percent off. That means a $200 premium feature drops — pun intended — to $120. Given that PNW refurbishes and certifies all the posts that riders return through the program, that’s quite a bargain.

Once you ride with the luxury of raising and lowering your saddle as you transition between the uphill and downhill sections of an undulating trail, you’ll never go back. It could be one of the cheapest ways to inject new life into an old bike.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.
Tanner Bowden

Tanner Bowden is a staff writer at Gear Patrol covering all things outdoors and fitness. He is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School and a former wilderness educator. He lives in Brooklyn but will always identify as a Vermonter.

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Everything You Need to Know About Knife Steel

Ever wondered how one pocket knife can cost $20, and another $200? It almost always comes down to the materials used to make it, and the defining ingredient in any knife is the steel that constitutes its blade.

But the variance that separates one knife’s steel from another’s is more tangible than a dollar amount; how the blade performs, and how long it will last, are both a result of the makeup of its steel. To help demystify things — and give you a better idea what to prioritize when knife shopping — here’s a look at what’s in knife steel, its various qualities, the most common types and examples of each.

Elements of Knife Steel

The two elements that make steel are iron and carbon. Carbon is the special ingredient that allows iron to become steel, and, depending how much of it is present, it affects how hard, strong, tough and wear-resistant that steel is (more on these terms in the next section).

Other elements that might be present in the makeup of a particular type of steel include chromium, cobalt, copper, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon, sulfur, tungsten and vanadium. Each affects the defining traits of the final knife steel. For example, chromium lends corrosion resistance, and its presence is necessary to classify steel as stainless.

The 6 Traits of Knife Steel

The elements that make up steel lend different qualities to the final material that make tangible differences between one blade and another.

Corrosion Resistance

A blade’s immunity from rust and degradation due to acids. If you frequently use your knife in wet environments or for food prep (there’s lots of acid in things like tomatoes and citrus), good corrosion resistance is essential. Maintaining your knife with mineral oil is the best way to prevent corrosion.

Edge Retention

A blade’s ability to maintain a sharp edge. Some steels will lose their edge after a handful of uses, while others can maintain a fine cutting angle for a long time before they need to be sharpened. Edge retention is typically related inversely to toughness.

Strength

A knife steel’s resistance to deformation, measured by how much stress it can withstand before breaking. Strength is closely related to hardness, which knife makers note using the Rockwell C scale. However, it should be noted that two different types of knife steel might have the same hardness rating, but not the same strength.

Toughness

Toughness refers to a blade’s ability to withstand sudden impacts and forces that might otherwise produce cracks or chips. Processing kindling for a fire is a good example of a situation where toughness is important.

Wear Resistance

A blade’s ability to resist abrasion; essentially, how it holds up to regular use. Even if you only use your knife to cut open cardboard boxes, the entire blade will wear down over time, especially if its steel has low wear resistance.

Ease of Sharpening

Perhaps not one of the “official” traits of steel, ease of sharpening is a quality worth considering and is frequently noted in the product descriptions that accompany knives. Even knives with standout edge retention need sharpening eventually. Easy sharpening is typically related inversely to wear resistance and edge retention.

Common Types of Knife Steel

Knowing the key traits of knife steel, you might wonder why knife makers don’t merely use types that maximize each property. To an extent, they do, but, unfortunately, steel is not that simple. Adjusting the chemical recipe to highlight one key trait often comes at the expense of another. For instance, high wear resistance typically produces steel that’s more difficult to sharpen. In other words, as long as adamantium remains fictional, compromise is inevitable.

Consequently, there are many types of knife steel out there, typically denoted by a chain of letters and numbers that’s neither easy to interpret nor remember. Easier to recall are the common groups that these steels fall into.

Carbon Steel

For steel to be considered carbon steel, it’s generally accepted that the formula has to contain at least 0.5 percent carbon. Carbon steel, or high carbon steel, has good strength and is easy to sharpen but rusts easily and needs to be maintained regularly.

Example: 1095

1095 is perhaps the most widely used carbon steel. Because it’s so resistant to chipping and is easy to sharpen, it’s a common type for survival-oriented knives, like ESEE’s Izula II fixed blade.

Stainless Steel

Stainless steel requires a minimum of 10.5 percent chromium in its makeup. The added chromium helps it resist corrosion but often negatively affects toughness. Stainless steel is the most popular type of knife steel today.

Example: CPM-S35VN

There is a wide range of stainless steel varieties that knife makers use in their blades, all with varying traits and quality. CPM-S35VN, made by Crucible Industries, is a premium option that’s as close to perfectly balanced as knife steels get. Be prepared though — knives that use it, such as this Chris Reeve Impinda Slip Joint, tend to be expensive.

Tool Steel

Tool steel is known for its high strength/hardness as well as wear resistance and toughness. It’s often a choice for blades that are going to get used over and over (hence its utility-driven name), but you can find it in everyday pocket knives too.

Example: D2

Because it has a relatively high amount of chrome, D2 can take on the appearance of stainless steel, as in Civivi’s Asticus Liner Lock. That, plus a solid combination of edge retention and toughness, makes it one of the most common steels you’ll find in a knife. It does have low corrosion resistance, though, and needs regular care.

Damascus Steel

Damascus steel is unique in that it isn’t defined by its chemical composition; rather, it is a combination of different kinds of steels that are hammered into layers and folded together. The final Damascus will exhibit varying traits depending on the types of steel that are included, but it tends to be high-quality and is always marked by its stunning swirling patterns. (For more on Damascus steel, read our guide to it.)

Example: Damasteel

Making Damascus steel is an intense and rigorous process, and as such, much of it is made by craftspeople, in small quantities. The Swedish company Damasteel developed a powder metallurgical process that allows a high degree of control over the look and characteristics of the final steel, as exhibited by The James Brand’s Duval.

Tanner Bowden

Tanner Bowden is a staff writer at Gear Patrol covering all things outdoors and fitness. He is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School and a former wilderness educator. He lives in Brooklyn but will always identify as a Vermonter.

More by Tanner Bowden | Follow on Instagram · Contact via Email

Specialized Just Solved the Commuter E-Bike’s Biggest Problem

E-bikes aren’t without controversy. With e-mountain bikes, the safety of their speed on mixed-use trails is a common concern, while the debate over e-road bikes is more about whether they bastardize the experience of self-powered movement. But though transportation authorities might find them vexing (they’re coming around), nobody argues with the fact that an e-bike makes a damn good commuter bike.

The best argument against riding an e-bike as a way to get around town might be that they can weigh 50 pounds, and that’s a lot to heft up and down the stairs if you live on the third floor. That’s what makes Specialized’s new Vado SL so amazing; it weighs just 33 pounds — 40 percent lighter than the average e-bike, according to Specialized — yet can cruise at 28 miles per hour for up to 80 miles (or 120 with a range extender, that bottle-sized battery in the image below). Charging on the go is manageable too: its battery goes from empty to full in less than three hours.

The Vado SL comes in four builds — the 4.0, 5.0, and EQ versions of each. EQ is short for “equipped,” meaning add-ons like fenders, an integrated taillight, a rear rack and a kickstand. Every build comes with disc brakes and a 1x drivetrain. The 5.0 models see the addition of Specialized’s Future Shock tech, which puts an ultralight suspension in the fork for handling bumpy roads, a feature drawn into the commuter e-bike format from the company’s cutting-edge road bikes.

It’s hard to argue with a faster, less sweaty way to get around town. And if it is a matter of ruining the spirit or the form of the bicycle, Specialized’s Vado SL addresses that too — it’s the closest an e-bike has come to looking like it doesn’t have a motor or a battery at all. Plus, the motor doesn’t produce any drag, so when it’s off, you can simply pedal normally, as if it were just a regular bike.

Pricing for the Vado SL starts at $3,350 and tops out at $4,500.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.
Tanner Bowden

Tanner Bowden is a staff writer at Gear Patrol covering all things outdoors and fitness. He is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School and a former wilderness educator. He lives in Brooklyn but will always identify as a Vermonter.

More by Tanner Bowden | Follow on Instagram · Contact via Email

The Best New Athletic Gear of May 2020

By most indications, with gyms and fitness studios closed, we’re all getting back to basics. According to data from Trek’s recent national survey, 21 percent of American bike owners have been riding more often. Another study by RunRepeat found that runners who might only head out once or twice a week have upped their training load by 117 percent. And with warm summer temperatures finally visible on the horizon, we can only expect these numbers to climb.

So it’s fitting that the best new fitness gear we discovered this month is for logging miles outdoors on foot and bike. Recently, Rapha released a summer-weight jersey, Polar revealed a new GPS watch, Wahoo updated its heart rate monitor and more.

Rapha Core Lightweight Jersey

Rapha’s new Core Lightweight Jersey is a riff on the cycling apparel brand’s popular Core Jersey. It stands apart with a super-breathable mesh fabric front that lets wind through and a denser weave in the back that blocks the sun. And even though it’s light as hell, it still has three back pockets. If you don’t want it now, you’ll want it in July.

Velocio Concept Merino Jersey

Velocio’s Concept Collection represents its vision of the pinnacle of cycling gear (we loved its Concept Bib so much we deemed it one of the best fitness products of 2019). For 2020, the company is expanding the line, and we’ve got our eye on this merino jersey for chilly morning rides.

Roka Matador

Athletic sunglasses walk an ultrafine line between high-tech nerdiness and low-key coolness. It’s obvious which side Roka’s Matador falls on, with a lens profile that’s wider at the bottom than the top. A premium anti-fog, sweat-proof lens plus temples that function with helmets and caps give these shades a tech edge, too.

Polar Grit X

Polar included all the standard features you’d expect from a GPS watch — a reliable heart rate monitor, metrics for multiple sports, Bluetooth connectivity — plus a few new ones. The highlight is Hill Splitter, which allows the watch to automatically sense when you’re going up or down a hill during an activity so that it can provide detailed information on your incline performance. There’s also a feature that gives you nutrition alerts and built-in weather info, which make this watch a good bet for long-distance trail running.

Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 37

Nike updated one of its most beloved running shoes, and the changes don’t just include new colors. In research, Nike found that almost all runners connect with the ground mid-strike, so it swapped the thin, full-foot airbag for a thicker one that sits under the forefoot. This tinkering is all in the name of energy return, which translates to a more comfortable — and potentially faster — run.

Wahoo Tickr X

Wahoo Fitness just updated its line of standalone heart rate monitors, which are an affordable alternative or complement to a GPS watch. New features include Bluetooth connectivity for up to three devices simultaneously and nearly double the battery life (it’s up to 500 hours now). The top Tickr X model also transmits run dynamics data to compatible smartwatches.

Therabody Theragun Mini

The brand you know as Theragun — the one that led the charge on a new category of percussion massagers for muscle recovery — is now Therabody. The rebranding comes with an update to all of its massage guns, plus a new one with the Mini. The little, triangular massager is plenty powerful and more portable than its bigger siblings.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.
Tanner Bowden

Tanner Bowden is a staff writer at Gear Patrol covering all things outdoors and fitness. He is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School and a former wilderness educator. He lives in Brooklyn but will always identify as a Vermonter.

More by Tanner Bowden | Follow on Instagram · Contact via Email

Peloton vs. Wahoo: Who Makes the Better Stationary Bike?

Spinning at home was already hot, but in yet more support for the old adage, “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good,” business has been even better since the dawn of the coronavirus pandemic. “Since mid-March, Peloton’s stock has soared 95 percent, valuing the New York company at $10 billion, or twice as much as the gym chain Planet Fitness,” writes Erin Griffith in the New York Times. “Last month, Peloton reported a record: More than 23,000 people had joined one of its live classes.”

Do you care? If you’re not looking to invest in the sector, you probably wonder more whether a $2,245 Peloton bike or the recently released $3,500 Wahoo KICKR Smart Bike are worth the expense. Mind you, both brands bake in financing that knocks monthly payments down to a more reasonable $50-$70 a month, but Wahoo made its name in part by creating a new kind of trainer called the KICKR, the best of which sell at a more approachable $900-$1,200.

The catch? You have to attach your own bike to them since these are essentially powered drivetrains with resistance that stand in for the rear wheel of your road-, gravel- or mountain bike. They work incredibly well, but if you don’t have an extra bike to leave on the trainer, the rear-wheel-removal-to-trainer swap process isn’t altogether seamless.

Would you be better off with a standalone trainer instead? And which one’s better?

Peloton Bike Overview

We’ll get to that, but just understand Peloton’s responding to a broader trend, which is training at home, not in the gym. Note that we didn’t say “riding” at home. Peloton’s notion is that you are not, strictly speaking, a cyclist. It may look like a spin bike, but Peloton wants you to think of the machine as a gateway to “gym-less membership,” which includes live and recorded running, yoga, strength, meditation, stretching, boot camp, walking and cardio classes. There’s even Amazon Fire TV integration, so you can seamlessly launch these workouts on your TV, plus Apple Watch pairing that guides you through exercise while using the Watch’s heart rate monitor for accurate calorie prediction.

Peloton also thinks you care, deeply, about which music you work out to. So beyond live/recorded classes with ebullient coaches (who are also unfailingly beautiful people), you can also see the soundtrack for any class you might sign up for.

Got all that? Peloton claims to have 2.6 million paying subscribers, and that 1.1 million people signed up for 30-day, digital-only free trials in just the past two months. (The standalone workout app includes instruction for activities like yoga, meditation and strength training.)

We should note that the $2,245 price tag for the bike and the large, 21.5-inch screen attached to the front of it, wouldn’t be very useful without a $39 monthly subscription, because the tablet can only interface with Peloton classes.

Key Specs
Weight: 135 lbs
Footprint: approximately 4′ by 2′
Resistance: magnetic
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Ant+ and Bluetooth

Wahoo Fitness KICKR Bike Overview

On the other hand, Wahoo’s trainer works seamlessly (meaning, it can simulate terrain maps and resistance loads) with six competing subscription workout services like Zwift, for example. Depending on your budget and appetite for workout variety, these are as affordable as $15 a month. On top of those are dozens more apps that it integrates with as well, from training-specific ones to fitness tracking ones. So the Wahoo is more expensive out of the gate but also plays with third-party products that, in the long run, will make ownership less expensive.

Still, this shootout is less about which is better, than which one of these ecosystems is right for you. To figure that out, we sweated, a lot, through multiple aspects of use.

Key Specs
Weight: 92 lbs.
Footprint: approximately 4′ by 2’7″
Resistance: electromagnetic motor
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Ant+ and Bluetooth

Test 1: Setup

Both the Peloton and Wahoo are heavy. The Wahoo, at 92 pounds, is lighter than the truly burly 135-pound Peloton. This matters for a few reasons. Peloton takes care of the install process: A team arrives in a Peloton van, hauls the bike to whatever room in the house where you want it to live, helps you pair it to Wi-Fi, and walks you through all the instructions for setup.

Wahoo ships you a bike mostly assembled, but all they guarantee is that the delivery will be by two people who can put the box in the room where you’ll want it. Setting it up isn’t difficult, though.

If you don’t even want to turn a few screws, Peloton gets the win here for ease of installation. Once in place, though, the lighter Wahoo is more manageable for one person to relocate (both bikes have small inline-skate style wheels to make repositioning less cumbersome).

Test 2: Bike Fit

Each bike fits a range of different-sized humans (Peloton claims from 4’11″–6’5″ while Wahoo claims 5’–6’4″), but getting fit isn’t that hard for either bike. You adjust the fore and aft as well as up and down positioning on both the saddle and handlebars. But what about setting up multiple users?

In the case that you’re moving the locking levers frequently, the Wahoo’s friction closures that are extra burly; once shut, the bike feels rock-solid if you’re standing and pounding the pedals. The same goes for the Peloton. However, the closures themselves are less hand-friendly and require a bit more leverage to get them to bite down so that the bike feels unified during a workout.

A more significant concern is getting the right feeling of leverage over the pedals. Now, to be completely clear, unless you’re riding a unicycle, you don’t want to stand directly above the pedals on any bike. We all have different femur lengths, and that means we ideally sit comfortably behind the cranks, but not so far back that our legs are levered out, which can cause significant knee strain.

On the Wahoo, it was easy to emulate a leverage position similar to my outdoor road bike, mainly because the bike allows five different crank arm positions of the pedals, from 165mm to 175mm. The Peloton defaults to 170mm cranks. I could get the same fit, but at 5′ 6″, I didn’t have a whole lot more forward position to play with. A shorter rider might struggle to emulate their outdoor position perfectly.

Test 3: Working Out

The Wahoo, as we said, pairs with several different apps. You can use apps like Sufferfest, Zwift, Trainer Road, Ful Gaz, and Rouvy. In general, these provide overlapping experiences using filmed sequences over actual roads or simulations (think: video game) where you appear as a riding avatar in a virtual world.

The latter is what you get with Zwift ($15/month), which is the simulator I used to test the Wahoo KICKR Smart Bike, in part because it has pre-packaged workouts that use your weight, among a few other factors, to normalize resistance. The Smart Bike interfaces with Zwift and other apps to measure your watts-per-kilogram output. That’s important because it means it can automatically equalize the resistance level for multiple different riders who might use the bike in the same household. Sign in with two different avatars, and the bike/app interface ramps resistance accordingly, so when you and your spouse ride the same virtual hill, the effort required differs by weight.

Watts-per-kilo is the best measure of performance outdoors, especially over hilly terrain, which is much of the paved and unpaved planet. Pit two riders against each other who weigh, respectively, 150 pounds and 200 pounds and both produce 3.2 watts per kilo and on a hilly course and they’ll likely be pretty evenly matched — the lighter rider will probably climb hills faster while the heavier rider will likely be able to mash flats. That matters to a cyclist then, because Zwift and other apps let you work on training programs that try to help you increase your watts-per-kilo output. Translation: That equals speed, which, even if you’re not a racer, still probably matters to most cyclists.

The experience of using the Wahoo KICKR Smart Bike integrated with Zwift on programmed training like this resulted in seamless ramping and backing off of resistance: The pedaling gets harder or easier automatically and in sync with the terrain and interval training. Like magic.

The Peloton workout is a whole different animal.

You view your instructor shot from different angles alongside a live (or recorded) class of other riders in a gym. The music pumps, the instructor eggs the group on. It’s all about getting you stoked to be there! And, yes, it’s infectious, even from a living room.

Is it a good workout? Hell yes. I’m a seasoned, reasonably fit cyclist (for January in the Northeast), and I was definitely as fried by Peloton’s shred as by Wahoo’s.

However, some aspects of the Peloton philosophy are problematic for a cyclist’s training mindset.

First, your workload isn’t broken out by watts per kilo; all watts, whether you’re 300 pounds or 100 pounds, are treated the same. And that’s a problem if you’re competitive because there’s a live leaderboard that takes into account kilojoules (a joule is one watt in one second), cadence and resistance.

This part’s tricky because cadence has nothing to do with output in the real world. You might be most comfortable spinning at 90 RPM and I might feel better at 75 RPM, but if we cover the same ground in the same amount of time, we tie. So baking in cadence to the class leaderboard is a contrivance meant to get you in sync with Peloton’s zeitgeist.

That is, you’re here to sweat, and during classes, one way to get you working hard quickly is to ramp cadence to, say, above 110 RPM. That’s hard, and that’s the point, even if, in reality, no cycling coach would want you spinning that fast because the entire goal is to get the most force from your legs without over-taxing your cardio system.
(Somewhere between 75–90 RPM is considered the ideal sweet spot.) Again, though, Peloton’s MO is broader than thinking of their bike as anything more than a fitness instrument; you could just as easily be doing pilates. The goal is to get you working out.

The other “gym” element is resistance, which isn’t automated.

The instructor exhorts you to crank a red knob on the bike’s downtube to a range she or he calls out. That range might be 41-52. And 41-52 is the same, again, regardless of rider weight. So 41 is logically going to feel harder for most 110-pound riders vs. someone who weighs 180 lbs., etc. Should you care? Maybe not. If you’re just here to work out, turn off the leaderboard (which you can do) and dance on the pedals to the tunes.

Finally, one aspect of training on the Peloton is frankly, silly: There’s no pause button. Say what? If you’re in a live class, that’s fine. The instructor can’t pause so you can let the dog out, obviously. But for recorded classes this is nuts. Life happens. During one recorded class, FedEx showed up and needed my signature. Then I got an urgent phone call. I was 15 minutes into a 30-minute workout, and had to abort the whole thing and start over. How is that logical? Any fitness watch lets you pause an exercise to stretch your hamstrings. The same goes if you’re using one of a million apps for yoga or kickboxing or anything else. A pause button is a given. The fact that Peloton hasn’t responded to lots of requests and complaints to add this function is just goofy.

Test 4: Bike Experience

The Peloton, which uses magnets to add resistance, is considerably quieter than the KICKR with its resistance motor. That’s not to say that Wahoo’s KICKR is a roaring machine, but if you need a bike that you can use at home at 5 am without waking up your partner, it’s worth mentioning.

On the topic of sound, it’s nice that you can pair Bluetooth headphones to the Peloton to hear the class without annoying anyone else at home. You can also seamlessly sync a heart rate monitor to the bike this way, as you can with the KICKR.

Wahoo’s bike wins a few of its own finer points, though. You can shift gears on it like a real outdoor bike, simulating real-world gear changes that let you spin or mash at a more natural cadence.

Also, because it features a road bike-style seat clamp, it’s easier to adjust the saddle angle than on the Peloton and comes with a better quality saddle, plus genuine road handlebars. (These can be swapped too, so you can ride with the same bars indoors and out.) The Peloton’s screen gets in the way of that particular modularity.

Test 5: Design

Both bikes are aesthetically blah. Neither looks awful, but neither achieves sculptural greatness, either.

Why bust on design? These machines are expensive! And they’re going to take up space in your home. A truly great product should be gorgeous and perform. There’s zero reason stationary bike makers cannot achieve this and the fact that neither brand has thought that hard on as much beyond their logos seems like a missed opportunity.

Verdict: The Wahoo is undoubtedly the more cyclist-focused machine. From the shiftable drivetrain to the adjustable crank size that accommodates more femur lengths, to the swappable drop handlebars (you can even change the tape on them), it successfully emulates the outdoor riding experience. And of course, the Wahoo interfaces with multiple apps, too.

By contrast, Peloton is better for the general fitness junkie, especially one with little desire to ride outside. There’s zero doubt that Peloton’s classes are more fun (and plenty rigorous). Everyone I talked to about the Peloton experience told some version of the same story: “I was a skeptic and then tried it in the gym or at a friend’s house and then…” they were hooked. And jacked to work out. One friend even said riding it has become like binge-watching her favorite TV show — save that she never has to wait for the next season.

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Side-by-Side Specs
Weight: 135-lbs. (Peloton); 92-lbs. (Wahoo)
Footprint: approximately 4′ by 2′ (Peloton); approximately 4′ by 2’7″(Wahoo)
Resistance: magnetic (Peloton); electromagnetic Motor (Wahoo)
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Ant+, and Bluetooth (both)

Peloton and Wahoo provided products for review.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.

Upgraded Massagers Aren’t Even Theragun’s Biggest News This Week

<!–Upgraded Massagers Aren’t Even Theragun’s Biggest News This Week • Gear Patrol<!– –>

you down with cbd?


The fitness world is festooned with brands that started out with one foundational product before broadening to encapsulate so much more. Nike’s waffle runners, Gatorade’s lemon aid, Lululemon’s yoga pants, to name a few. Now joining that club: Theragun, which has launched a new line of CBD products alongside upgraded percussion massagers and rebranded accordingly as Therabody. 

There’s a lot to process with what the brand is calling the biggest news in company history, but we’ll try to hit the major bullet points here. 

New Percussion Massagers


The fourth generation of Theraguns boast Quietforce Technology, meaning deep muscle relief at a volume closer to a whisper than a shout. There are three new guns — the Pro (pictured above), Elite and Prime — to serve athlete needs at every price point, and all pair with an app for strategic recovery and progress tracking. Perhaps in response to Hyperice’s Hypersphere, there’s also the Theragun mini, a pocket-sized massage option that can go anywhere you do. 

New CBD Line


Therabody took its time embracing this trend, spending 18 months researching and developing products, eventually receiving the USDA Certified Organic CBD seal of approval. Based on the brand’s history of reliability and quality, we have more faith in this stuff than some of the fly-by-night launches that unfortunately litter the market right now. The TheraOne line, as it’s called, includes a warming pre-workout lotion (pictured above), a cooling recovery lotion, a body balm, a massage oil and a sleep tincture to help you get quality rest after a hard day’s work. 

New Name

Given that brand has now expanded beyond massage guns — there’s also a yoga mat and smart foam roller with vibration tech — it only made sense to rebrand. Hence the transition to Therabody. Note that the beloved percussion massagers will still be called Theraguns. Given their immense popularity, it’s good to see that nomenclature will continue to be part of a growing company with so much promise. 

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.
Steve Mazzucchi

Steve Mazzucchi is Gear Patrol’s outdoors and fitness editor. Outside the office, you can find him mountain biking, snowboarding, motorcycling or sipping a dram of Laphroaig and daydreaming about such things.

More by Steve Mazzucchi | Follow on Facebook · Instagram · Twitter · Contact via Email

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Napoleon’s Strange but True Influence on Your Outerwear

Welcome to Further Details, a series dedicated to ubiquitous but overlooked elements hidden on your favorite products. This week: a jacket pocket named after a legendary French conqueror.

As great as it must be to have a monument or statue erected in your honor, one of the cooler ways to make a mark on history is having an object bear your name. You may not know anything about Adolphe Sax or the Jacuzzi brothers, but it’s pretty easy to associate them with iconic inventions. 

Ironically, a much more famous gentleman is inseparable from a comparatively humble but incredibly handy innovation. I’m talking about France’s greatest conqueror — and the outdoor industry’s not-so-secret name for that zippered compartment on the left chest of so much outerwear: the Napoleon pocket. 

When I started researching this term, I had no idea the rabbit hole into which I was descending. But having conferred with industry veterans, journalists, fashion historians and the like, here’s what I’ve learned about this staple of just about any fleece, mid-layer or ski jacket you come across these days. Thoughts and theories abound.

“It’s a nod to the portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte, and is actually a bit of a misnomer, considering he’s not actually reaching into a pocket at all, but just reaching into his unbuttoned jacket,” explains Kyle Parker, senior category manager at The North Face. “Some say it was a way of looking more distinguished, while others have speculated it’s actually due to a skin irritation caused by the fibers of his clothes.”

I remember referring to it in the late nineties as a Napoleon pocket and people would look at me with a blank stare,” adds Michael Collin, account director at Pale Morning Media, which counts Flylow, Oboz and SOG among its clients. “I also had one client ask that I not refer to it that way as he felt it had bad connotations. Instead he preferred… chest utility pocket.”

Veteran outdoorswoman Diane Vukovic, creator of the website Mom Goes Camping, has more insight. “The term got its start on the Appalachian trail,” she shares.  “People would call it that because hikers looked like Napoleon while using the pocket to warm their hands.” 

Vukovic cites uses of the term from the year 2000, and my research uncovered a formal reference just a bit earlier, around the time Collin was getting funny looks. “Dress for Duress” a review of rugged jackets by Jonathan Dorn in the February 1998 issue of Backpacker, includes a “Features To Look For” sidebar. “Napoleon Pocket: Named after the diminutive French autocrat, this breast pocket keeps snacks and maps at the ready, especially if it’s located outside the main zipper.” 

So the nomenclature dates back more than two decades, at least, and clearly emerged from the portrait, which raises another pertinent question: where did that pose originate?

To find out, I consulted a source far outside the outdoor industry. Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, Ph.D., is a fashion historian and author of Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, among other books. “The hand-in-waistcoat pose in male portraiture actually dates back to the seventeenth century, when waistcoats started being worn as part of the three-piece suit, and it remained in use through the nineteenth century,” she reveals. “But it has its roots in the many examples of ancient statuary showing the arm resting in the folds of a man’s himation (cloak).”

She’s talking about sculptures from ancient Greece and Rome, meaning this posing style has been around for centuries upon centuries.

Author and consultant J. Mark Powell, the man behind the Holy Cow! History column, has researched the reasons. “Believe it or not, it was considered a sign of good breeding,” he reports. “In 1738, Francois Nivelon, the 18th Century’s Emily Post for all things etiquette, wrote in A Book of Genteel Behavior that the hand-inside-coat pose signified ‘manly boldness tempered with modesty.’ It expressed a firm leader who was also calm, cool and collected.” 

Powell adds that the pose became associated with Napoleon when the Scottish artist Jacques-Louis David was commissioned to paint the man’s portrait in 1812 and, working from memory, revived the pose for “Napoleon in His Study.” Napoleon himself loved the painting, and other artists incorporated the pose into other images of the leader, cementing its connection with him. Google around and you can find loads of historical figures from before and after this time rocking the pose. 

In another bit of irony, however, Chrisman-Campbell theorizes that Napoleon’s link with the pose did it no favors. “He actually helped to unpopularize it, since it became so associated with him and his regime,” she says. “After Waterloo, it was perceived as a gesture of dangerous hubris rather than modesty and calm leadership.”

Thankfully for us, there’s no shame in using the pocket to store items we want to have within easy reach whether we’re on hiking a mountain trail, riding a ski lift or hanging at the bar. After all, the Napoleon pocket just happens to be the perfect size for stashing a device the man could hardly have conceived of in his time: your smartphone.

Editor’s note: We’ve received numerous inquiries about the jacket pictured in this story. It’s a mid-2000s Patagonia Dimensions jacket that is no longer available, so we asked the brand for a couple alternate recommendations from their current lines. The Dimensions jacket was a 3-layer softshell, not unlike the Snowdrifter. Or for a spring/summer option, try the Houdini Air. Both jackets are available in a black colorway and — as if there were any doubt — feature Napoleon pockets.

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Steve Mazzucchi

Steve Mazzucchi is Gear Patrol’s outdoors and fitness editor. Outside the office, you can find him mountain biking, snowboarding, motorcycling or sipping a dram of Laphroaig and daydreaming about such things.

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