Greg Heil .com

Fanformed: Crowd Designing Mountain Bike Gear

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Thu, 02 May 2013 22:40:00 +0000

How often have you thought to yourself, “this hydration pack (or sunglasses, shoes, etc.) is excellent, but there’s this one feature that would make it better…”? In today’s age of technology and social media, we are used to talking and having someone hear us. Some companies leverage their social media outlets and listen to what their consumers want, and deliver it. But why not provide some way for the masses to have hands-on control of how their products are designed?

Fanformed thinks consumers should have that hands-on access when it comes to designing the products they love–and seeks to give it to them. Fanformed’s stated mission is “to help expert product users create product design breakthroughs.” They go on to say, “As a product fan, you know best how a product should work, what it should do, and what it should look like.”

Read the full article here.

Updates from Sea Otter Classic 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 13:16:00 +0000

The Sea Otter Classic, one of the largest mountain bike races and festivals of the year, is currently in full-swing at the Laguna Seca speedway in Monterey, California. While mountain biking is a major part of Sea Otter, the festival caters to bikers of all disciplines.

In 2011, the festival had 8,500 racers, 50,000 spectators, 325 exhibitors, and 300 journalists turn out for some great bike racing and revelry. Sea Otter continues to grow, and in 2013 they have over 400 companies exhibiting at the expo. All of the major bike companies and component manufacturers are in attendance with their latest and greatest products on display, Shimano among them:

Read the full article here.

On Review: Trek Superfly 100 AL Pro

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:14:00 +0000

I’ve been shopping around for a good bike to race the Cohutta 100 on. At first, I was hoping to find a carbon hardtail 29er to use for my race bike, but based on Jeff’s recommendation, I also threw some short-travel 29er FS XC rigs into the mix. When the opportunity came to do a long-term review of the 2013 Trek Superfly 100 AL Pro, I knew I had found my race bike!

Read the full article here.

On Review: Raleigh XXIX+G Steel 29er

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:12:00 +0000

Building on their classic history, Raleigh’s XXIX+G hardtail 29er looks like a throwback to the beginnings of mountain biking. From the steel frame to the stamped head badge to the understated graphics, at first glance this looks like the mountain bike that every singletrack luddite has been longing for!

However, this bike hides some new-school componentry in its classic-looking package.

Read the full article here.

Training for the Cohutta 100: Three Weeks to Go

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:09:00 +0000

There are less than three weeks to go until the Cohutta 100. What I am trying to do… the difficulty of what I am trying to accomplish… is finally setting in.

Read the full article here.

Mountain Biking Lake Tahoe

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:07:00 +0000

While the Tahoe area is known as a world-class skiing and snowboarding destination during the winter, it is also an excellent mountain bike destination during the summer.

Read the full article here.

Mountain Biking the Dragon's Back Near Roanoke, VA

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:33:00 +0000

In the Roanoke area, Carvin’s Cove is the well-signed, hard-to-lose-yourself trail destination while Dragon’s Back is where you go if you’re looking for some real adventure!

Complete with gravel road connectors, hike-a-bike singletrack, rocky ridgeline riding, gorgeous views, and blazing-fast technical descents, this ride harkens back to the days when men were men and boys stayed at home and hid behind their mothers’ aprons.

Read the full article here.

The Great Western Road Trip, 2012: Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

We stretched what was initially supposed to be a three-week journey into an almost two-month excursion. While we spent over a month of that in California alone, there were numerous trails to ride (and friends to visit) along the way that we just couldn’t drive past.

In the end, we put about 7,000-8,000 miles on my pickup truck and I rode almost 700 miles of trails. Some of those trails were out of this world and some of them weren’t worth writing about, but in the end this experience was one that I will remember forever!

Read the full recap here.

Giro Gauge Shoe MTB Review

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 21:21:00 +0000

I have pedaled several hundred miles of down-and-dirty mountain bike trails in these shoes, including dry conditions, wet conditions, rides that I was on the bike the entire time, and rides that included several long, arduous hike-a-bikes. To make a long story short, my homework paid off: the Gauge has proven to be the perfect shoe for the type of mountain biking I do!

Read the full article here.

How to Keep Knee Warmers from Falling Down

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:18:00 +0000

For an experienced mountain biker who has been riding for decades, this might seem like a no-brainer. But to a relatively new user of knee warmers, figuring out how the heck to keep those slippery pieces of lycra from sliding down your legs and bunching up at the knees can be very frustrating… and for many, it can lead to shunning knee warmers altogether.

Read the full article here.

Trail Tuesday: Carvin's Cove, Roanoke, VA

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:16:00 +0000

While there are hundreds of miles of bike-legal singletrack in the Roanoke region (not to mention all the gravel roads and doubletrack), Carvin’s Cove is the undisputed hotspot. With the main trailhead located just 15 miles from downtown Roanoke (a metro area of 315,000 people), not only are the trails excellent, but they’re accessible as well.

Read the full article here.

Recently Edited Articles for Singletracks.com

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:29:00 +0000

Mountain Biking Flagstaff, Arizona

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:41:00 +0000

I only had one day to ride in Flagstaff, so I tried to make it count. I started my ride at the rocking Fort Valley Trail System which, unbeknownst to me, connects to several other major Flagstaff trails. My route ended up taking me from Fort Valley Trail System to Schultz Creek Trail to the Arizona Trail and back the to Fort Valley Trail System.

Read the full article here.

Training for the Cohutta 100: Three Unexpected Training Aids

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:36:00 +0000

While it’s still a long time until race day and I’m definitely not an ultra endurance expert, I just thought I’d share three unexpected things that have been extremely helpful in my training.

Read the full article here.

MTB in SoCal: The Luge, Whiting Ranch, and Mountain Lions

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 20:34:00 +0000

The main goal of my California trip this past summer was to find legal trails that weren’t in the Singletracks trails database, ride them, map them, shoot photos, and upload all that information to help make the best mountain bike trail resource on the internet just that much better.

Here are two excellent SoCal trails I had the opportunity to ride that were not yet listed on Singletracks.

Read the full article here.

How to Brake Your Mountain Bike

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:31:00 +0000

When most mountain bikers think of skills they need to learn and practice, braking isn’t usually one of them. I mean, how tough can it be: pull the lever and your stop, right?

Actually, it’s a lot more complicated than that. If you take the time to learn how to brake properly, it can do wonders for your riding, giving you more control and actually making you faster.

Read the full article here.

Top 5 Tips for Flying Through the Rocks

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 23:43:00 +0000

New guest post on Loving the Bike:

When Darryl emailed me the possible topic of “going fast down rocky and uneven trails on a mountain bike,” my first thought was “hey, that’s a great topic!” But as I started thinking about it a little more, I realized that going fast down a technical trail isn’t just one skill—it’s the culmination of a multitude of bike handling skills that need to be learned and cultivated over time.

Read the full blog post here.

Riding the Locals’ Favorite: El Prieto, Altadena, California

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 23:56:00 +0000

El Prieto has been hailed by many as one of the best singletrack rides in the Los Angeles area. After hearing such accolades, I just had to check it out! And let me tell you: the reputation is not unfounded.

Read the full article here.

MTB in SoCal: General Impressions + Turnbull Canyon and Fullerton Loop

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:23:00 +0000

During our 2 week stay in the Los Angeles area this past summer, I had the opportunity to ride numerous trails all over the region. To be frank, while I added and/or reviewed every single trail that I rode, many of them aren’t even worth writing about. Overall I found SoCal mountain biking to be incredibly unappealing. Sure, there’s a mess of trails all over the place, but in general I thought the riding left much to be desired.

Read the full article here.

Photo Essay: Highlights of 2012.

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:04:00 +0000

Inspired by CraigCreekRider’s forum post titled “2012 Memorable Ride Pics,” I decided to go through some of my best mountain bike photos from last year. Boy, was it an awesome year! Sometimes at the end it’s hard to remember things you did way back in the spring, so I love to go back and reminisce about all the places I’ve been… and think about all the places I still want to visit!

Check out the rest of the photos here.

In Praise of Solo Rides

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 20:29:00 +0000

I recently had a new guest post published on Runtastic.com:

But sometimes, at least for me, it can get tiring. Yeah, I know getting tired is the point of mountain biking. But I mean tired of waiting for people to fix flats and broken derailleurs, the pressure of keeping up with the wheel in front of you, and the noise of whoops and hollers as someone almost flies off the mountain but manages to hang on. After so many of those rides, the solitude of the forest disappears. Instead of escaping from the busyness of the world, it seems to follow you there.

Read the full guest post here.

Final Review: Foundry Broadaxe 29er

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:52:00 +0000

As I hinted near the end of my On Test article, this bike is fast! And at just 23 pounds (with pedals), you’d expect it to be. My first ride on the Broadaxe began with a heinously steep gravel climb up the infamous Winding Stair road in Dahlonega, Georgia. The longest, steepest, most sustained dirt climb in the region, we had been riding it a lot at the time to access a technical singletrack decent. Switching from whatever bike I had been riding before to the Broadaxe was a night-and-day difference. The Foundry seemed to fly unbidden up the endless climb, with superb traction and the energy of a mountain goat. Thanks to the 71.5 degree headtube angle, the front wheel tracks straight and true with no wandering even on anaerobically-steep climbs.

Read the full-length blog post by clicking here.

Shuttle Runs in the San Gabriels: Mount Wilson and Mount Lowe

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:50:00 +0000

Based on the SoCal guidebook published by Falcon Guides, I decided to try Mount Wilson as one of my first trails in the area. Dropping 5,000 vertical feet in 8 miles, this trail is so steep that really the only reasonably choice is to shuttle it. On our drive up to the top of Mount Wilson, we passed a bunch of riders unloading from a shuttle van at a different trailhead. After stopping to talk to them, they all recommended the trail they were going to ride, Mount Lowe, as one of the best trails in the region. Mount Lowe was already on my radar, so I just decided to continue with my plans for Mount Wilson and to hit up Lowe the next day.

Read the full blog post here.

Hydrapak Tamarack Review: The Goldilocks Zone

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:46:00 +0000

The hydration pack “Goldilocks zone” can be hard to pin down. You know what I’m talking about: the perfect balance between adequate water, sufficient storage room for gear, all without being too bulky. The perfect pack needs to be neither too big nor not too small: just right.

Click here to read the full review.

Riding the Top 10 MTB Trails in the World, Part 3: Runners Up

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Heil) — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 16:43:00 +0000

So, based on my personal experience (and my personal experience alone), here are a few trails I’ve ridden that I think would make excellent candidates for a top 10 list… at least, a “Top 10 Trails in the United States” list.

Click here to read the entire blog post.