You’re probably wondering who these bike ridin’ folks are. Well, that’s Jimmy and Libby Rigsby, Owners/Designers of Woodstock Bikes!

I wanted to post their pics just to give our readers the 411 on who Woodstock Bikes really is. It comes down to this, Jimmy and Libby are people that love mountain biking. They put in so much attention and detail to their product, and it shows! The 707 we have reviewed has been an excellent bike.

To learn more about Woodstock Bikes, Click HERE.

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My daughter and I have been enjoying the Chariot Catch Em‘ the past few days. Spring has sprung in So Cal, so that means 70 degree weather all day, cool and gentle breezes are plenty. We’ve been taking the Woodstock 707 and the Catch Em’ down through some stair steps, to school, on the street and next week, we’re hitting the trails with it!

The Catch Em’ is very stable.

The Woodstock 707 is a prime candidate to pull the Catch Em’

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When I got home from work the other day, I decided to take the familia down to City Island for a small picnic. I brought my Trikke along so I could goof around with it for a bit.

I rode it around the Island a few times. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to use the Trikke to commute to work yesterday. Check it out HERE.

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I think people over look this part of a bike when shopping around for one. Most folks are checking out the components, amount of travel and the type of bike it is before checking out if the bike fits on them properly.

To me, it doesn’t matter how cool a bike looks, but if it doesn’t fit me correctly, then I’m not going to enjoy it at
all.

I have two bikes that I simply just love, my Ibex B27 and my Redline 925 Fixie. If you check out these bikes you’ll see that they aren’t anything special. Heck the parts on them are nothing to write home about, but I do love these bikes simply because they fit me like a glove.

The first thing I do is check my seat height. I’m looking to make sure that my legs are slightly bent when I am at the bottom of the down stroke.

Secondly I check to make sure my arms are too, slightly bent. Personally I don’t like to be hunched over too much. I like to be in a position of comfort. So I’ll mess around with the stem size or the angle of the handle bar just to get it fitted right. I don’t know what it is, but my arms must by stubby, because I typically ride with a shorter stem.

Since we’re on the subject of bars, that too is something that needs to be considered. Generally, stock bars on a mountain bike are about 25″ wide. Again, this is my preference, I like my bars wider. My Azonic Riser bar on the Ibex B27 is at least 27″ and it has a 1 1/2 rise to it.

Foot positioning is another aspect that needs to be addressed. Make sure that the ball of your foot is over the center of the pedal. If you’re using clipless pedals, make sure you pay attention to the cleat positioning. Any little inaccuracies can trigger knee or foot pain during or after the ride.

Check your seat angle. You want to make sure your seat is at a level position. Don’t tilt it too far up or down. If you have it leveled, it should feel just right. If its off a bit, it can cause pain in your lower back and on your privates.

If you feel cramped or too far out in the cockpit of the bike, consider adjusting the seat back and forth. The rails on most seats these days have numbers or lined guides to determine the distance of the seat. When you’re adjusting your seat, don’t go from one end of the rail to another, make micro adjustments. This ensures you’ll find the sweet spot.

Last but not least, lower your seat when hitting the downhill areas. I almost blacked out because I took a jump and hit my nuts on the seat. The pain was so much that by the time I stopped my bike and hit the ground rolling, I couldn’t remember a thing. Besides, if your seat is low during a technical downhill, you have a lower center of gravity, which makes your chances or doing an Endo less.

The Fezzari Alta Peak shown in the pictures fit me just right. I chose a shorter stem and have made adjustments to the seat, post, and handle bar angle. Those combination of adjustments have made the Alta Peak a great ride!

Once you find the right fit, you’ll be happy no matter if you spend $200 on your bike or $2000. Fit is everything! If you’re not sure how to achieve nirvana in your bike fitting, most shops can accommodate this process for you. You also might want to consider a Fit Calculator that our very own Moe designed.

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I just happened on this site.

Bike Helmet Safety Institute

There are great short reviews of bicycle helmets that are being sold right now here.

Oh and it mentions that the manufacturers recommend you replace your helmet every five years. The BHSI recommends something different here.

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When people hop on any bike I ride, I always get the same question: Why are your brake levers setup at a downward angle? This setup is even more pronounced now that I have the Ergon grips installed on my X-Caliber. My buddy Jake, who hopped on it this morning, found the positioning a little unusual which I agree it is.

But I have a very good reason for having it this way. I developed it after reading an article online about brake lever placement (can’t seem to find the article anymore). The idea behind it is that the levers should be placed in a way as to not break the plane created by your arm and the back of your hand. You basically want to keep your wrist from breaking.

The reasoning behind this is you lose a lot of finger power when your wrist plane is broken. If you can keep your wrists from not breaking you can increase your power to your brakes. This is especially helpful if you use one or two finger braking, which I do.

With one finger braking, normally my index finger, I found that I could not get the same amount of power to the levers if the levers were parallel to the ground (as they usually are for most riders). When I rotate them down about 45 degrees to keep the plane I am able to get plenty of power to the levers and am able to stop more quickly than before.

But of course, if you change your brake levers you will also have to change how your trigger shifters are mounted as well. This is one of the myriad of reasons as to why I love Sram triggers, I can shift them with just my thumb. I can always keep my index finger on the brake lever and never have to pull it down to change gears. Oops sorry, off topic.

Of course everyone has their own preferred setup. If you fiddle around with your own brake lever/shifter setup long enough you’ll come to find your preferred way. Let me know yours and I’ll try it out to see how it works for me.

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Remember that posting where I mentioned the things I hate? Well, I’ve become one….No I’m not dog poop!

But I’m the guy that was late this morning.

Jeremy and I typically go riding every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Last night I even went to bed earlier than normal just to make sure I can get up. Then next thing I know, I hear my phone ringing, its Jeremy! He asked me if everything was ok, then I asked what time it was…it was already 6:30am and we were supposed to start riding at 6:20am, but here I was…still in bed!

So I’d like to take this time to publicly apologize to Jeremy for not getting up on time.

I’m very Sorry.

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The other day I had the privilege to meet up with Mark Malatesta of Hoss Technical Gear. I met Mark a while ago on a ride at the Fullerton Loop. As you will see in the pictures, Mark is this super tall guy and has been known to ride Epic’s…for fun! On the day we rode, Mark was cruising at a pace that he might call “slow” but for me, I was just trying to keep up! Eventually I got dropped like a bad habit, but the cool thing was, the group we were riding with ended up waiting for me.

For the few of you that aren’t too familiar with who Hoss Technical Gear is all about, well it’s as simple as this, they make some of the best mountain biking clothing on the planet. It’s affordable, durable, looks great and they feel awesome too! If you still want some info about Hoss, just check out their site.

All those boxes are full of Hoss clothing.

Before my meeting with Mark, I made sure I had a few questions to ask him.

1. Any Women’s mountain biking clothing coming out?
2. Roadie Clothing.
3.Involvement with SHARE MTB
4. Favorite Beer.

Mark addressed each question with a plethora of answers, so much so I’m just hoping that I jotted everything down. So to the first question about Women’s mountain bike clothing. Mark mentioned that they are in the design phases of it and should have something ready by July or August, but definitely by Interbike in September. The women’s line should be fully ready by 2008.

Hoss will also come out with Knicker pants by May and a pair of board/riding shorts by June. The board/riding shorts are going to be very versatile by having a pocket to hold your iPod. These shorts will also serve as dual purpose clothing by allowing the cyclist to ride their bike to the beach and easily jump into the water. All that can be done by having a removable inner liner with chamois.

As far as Roadie clothing, Hoss will soon be introducing this line. The jerseys will be a club fit and included 3 rear pockets.

Hoss MTB warehouse.

Mark is also the Park Representative for SHARE MTB at Santiago Oaks Park in Orange County. In recent weeks, the park suffered a devastating loss due to a wild fire that erupted which consumed about 90% of the park. You may have seen my previous posting about SHARE MTB and how Mark was looking for volunteers to help rehabilitate and and patrol Santiago Oaks. Mark’s involvement with SHARE is out of pure love and dedication. SHARE is an all volunteer, non-profit organization, in which they spearhead any campaigns and effort to preserve parks and trails for future mountain biking use.

Hoss MTB Display.

When I asked Mark what should we expect for the rest of 2007 and for the 2008, he stated that Hoss will start to introduce lifestyle clothing. They recently launched a new Polo Jersey and are in the works for hoodies with tattoo artwork embroidered, head wear and socks.

Hoss will also introduce a “close out store” online by next month. Mark secured containers full of factory clothing closeouts from various brands. This means you can purchase jerseys and shorts that normally cost $70-80 for as little as $20-25. He even showed me some of the things they’ll be offering, things like under layers, sweet looking jerseys and more.

Did you know that Hoss is distributed by our buddies at KHS Bicycles? Hoss also has international distribution by having their products in countries like Australia, Israel and various locations in Europe. Hoss is also been known to design or produce clothing for big companies like Performance Bike, Marin Bikes, and Magura Brakes. They also do custom clothing for regular Joe’s like you and me! If MtnBikeRiders.com wanted to get some jersey’s made, Hoss can accommodate. With small minimums and custom embroidery, we can easily offer our own jersey’s to our readers. Heck if you’re part of a club or team, Hoss can take care of you too!

Keith and Mark of Hoss.

Hoss will be sponsoring a number of events such as SHARE MTB Poker Ride, and The Mystery Tour at Santiago Oaks. Hoss will also be at the upcoming Sea Otter Festival and at Interbike later on this year.

My visit with Hoss Technical Gear was great, I learned quite a bit about mountain biking clothing and how dedicated Hoss is in preserving trails for us and future mountain bikers. I think it’s great to see a company that is fully involved in its roots by giving back to the community.

As far as Mark’s favorite beer, he doesn’t have one, but he does like the beers at Tustin Brewing Company. However, the Italian in him would prefer a good wine.

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Cyclingnews.com is reporting that LeBron James of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers has purchased ownership stake in Cannondale:

The Cannondale Bicycle Corporation announced this week that it had sold an undisclosed ownership stake of the corporation to King James, Inc., the wholly owned company of Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James.

What’s totally cool about this (other than melding my two favorite sports) and 29er related is that Cannondale built a custom 29er hardtail, based on their relatively new Caffeine 29er, for Lebron. I guess at 6′8″ you’re probably going to have to go custom, huh?

The article also goes on to mention that LBJ rides 20-40 miles as a supplement to his training regiment. And because he knows bikes, he decided to invest in it. Can you picture riding the trails in Cleveland and coming across the NBA superstar on his 29er? Yikes!

Here’s a picture of LBJ’s ride. Note the lefty fork, custom Cleveland Cavalier color scheme and how the 29er wheels actually look kind of small on the bike. Maybe he should cosider moving up to 36 inch wheels?

Click here for the blurb on Cyclingnews.

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Hoss recently sent their Polo Pony Short Sleeve for us to review. I received a grey, size Large. It fits very well.

MSRP: $29.95

Here is what Hoss has to say about it on their website:

Go ahead, express yourself. The Polo Pony jersey makes a classic fashion statement, and the high-tech fabric keeps you cool and comfortable. On or off the bike — you’re looking good, pardner. Tally ho!
Features & Benefits:
* Classically styled polo shirt
* Loose fit for comfort
* CoolPlus fabric for moisture management
* Six inch snap button front features stylin’ chrome buttons
* Comfortable for riding, yet casual enough to wear around town

Quick First Impressions:
- material seems durable. Hopefully the durability of this shirt will prove out over time.
- even though the sizing chart on the website says Large = 48 inch chest, I have a 44 inch chest and the jersey fits well.
- grey color is understated and will not draw a lot of unwanted attention, which is a huge plus in my book.
- although it is grey, it is not plain. There is some detail, with subtle stitching that stretches across the chest and a little black flap on the left side of the shirt that has the red Hoss logo on it.

I look forward to testing this shirt as the weather in Southern California warms up in preparation for summer. Hopefully, this shirt will allow me to stay comfortable while riding around town. I’m always afraid of looking like a goof in a mountain biking jersey with its zippered front and zippered rear pocket. And I really don’t like wearing a cotton t-shirt because of the way it sticks to my body after it gathers all my sweat.

Find out more about the Hoss Polo Pony Short Sleeve here.

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