Not Your Grandmother’s Wool—Smart Wool Socks Perfect for Cooler Riding Conditions

I promised myself this fall and winter would be different; I’d stop thinking of excuses to not ride and just start riding. So I piled up on winterwear: under-helmet beanie, tights, long-fingered gloves, and of course, warm socks.

As a winter sports enthusiast, I own plenty of wool socks of differing thicknesses. The problem is, when I slip my wool-covered feet into my Sidi Dominators, my feet feel restricted and confined by the lack of flexibility of most wool socks. This, coupled with the cold weather, numbs rather than warms my little piggies.

Enter Smart Wool Womens PhD Cycling Light Mini socks. These socks breathe, flex, and feel like cotton. They lack the mild abrasiveness of most wool socks. They kept my feet warm through biting forty-degree weather and twenty-mile-an-hour winds. I wore them biking on my home turf, Denver’s Front Range, and even took them on vacation to two of mountain biking Meccas, Moab and nearby Fruita, where they performed beautifully.

One caveat: I wore these socks trail running and because trail runners are bigger than regular sneakers, the socks had room to bunch up. Wear them for cycling or everyday use, but break out thicker socks for hiking or trail running.

Smart Wool: one less excuse to not ride.

Darn Those Socks: Switching from Hanes to the Smartwool Ultra Light

A sock by any other name is well, still a sock.  Or so I thought, until I slipped my foot into the lightly cushioned sole of the Smartwool ultra light woman’s cycling sock. As I eased my battered foot into this sock I could see the aura of light haloing around my feet, clearly indicating that this was “the sock.”

Socks, to me, have always meant the Sam’s pack of Hanes. You loose them in the wash, they stretch out, get holey, and of course, for those of us mountain bikers…stained with mud. Finding a sock that doesn’t slip down into your riding shoe while climbing is usually a tough task, in addition to finding a riding sock that is warm, yet not too thick.  Hence the staple pack of Hanes from Sam’s club.

The Smartwool ultra light riding sock fit all my needs, from riding to yoga to weight lifting and running. Immediately after putting them on, my feet were engulfed in the sultry deliciousness of their feel. Snugly securing themselves around my foot, they harbored each toe with comfort and support. They showed off my ankles and bulging calf muscles, while at the same time never slipping below the shoe line.

I still have my first pair of Smartwools that I bought 10 years ago in Steamboat, Colorado. They have since manufactured themselves a hole from years of wear, but yet remain a staple of my winter wardrobe. Usually I dedicate my biking apparel budget to high quality chamois and shoes, but the Smartwool ultra light has proved itself to be more than just a sock and is worth buying multiple pairs.

Fox Clothing - What Are You Wearing?

I remember when I first started riding, I’d throw on a T-shirt, a pair of basketball shorts and some running shoes and take off down the trail. Things are quite a bit different now; what once was a struggle down the easy trail has turned into all day epic adventures. I’ve bought new bikes, new gear, and new clothing to match my growing skills. If you find yourself moving into the next level, taking on that climb you used to think was impossible, or blazing through bone breaking descents, maybe it’s time for a clothing upgrade. Well I’ve got the perfect prescription for that diagnosis… FOX!

Almost everybody knows Fox racing from the dirt bike world, but many do not know what they offer for mountain bikers. Fox has taken their vast knowledge and finely tuned technology and applied it to us. I’m not here to talk about all of the details because that would be a very long article. Their product selection is huge! I’ll spell out the main points for you.

Fox gloves are some of the best mountain bike gloves on the planet! They offer full-finger, half-finger and modified finger styles (with a full thumb) depending on your preference. The product line ranges from the ultimate in simplicity, the $20 Fox Incline with a simple breathable mesh back and reinforced palm, to the $35 Sidewinder with multiple reinforcements all around, special ventilation inserts, and the ultimate in comfort. Their gloves are tough and built to take spills. Reinforcements protect your hands from blisters while your riding and serve as armor when you crash. If you aren’t riding with a pair of Fox gloves yet, buy yourself a pair already!

The Cotton T-shirt is great for casual rides, but if you are getting serious treat yourself to something better. Fox jerseys range from racing style with intense graphics and wide pored fabric, for unparalleled breatheability, to simple designs and color schemes for the more down to Earth rider. They come in long sleeve, no sleeve and short sleeve. If you have never worn a biking jersey the benefit is huge. With Fox each model is different, but they all offer moisture wicking to get the sweat off of you and keep you cool. Certain models have mesh sides and arm pits for improved breatheability. With models starting at 30 bucks you won’t have to save up to buy one.

A lot of mountain bikers still have not discovered the joys of padded shorts. Usually when you think of padded shorts the first thing that pops into your head is diapers and roadies with spandex (no offense to the roadies out there). Padded shorts can dramatically change your mountain biking experience. If you find yourself with a hurtin’ derrière after a ride, it’s time to think about picking up a good pair of padded shorts. Surprise! Fox has you covered there too. They offer a wide range of shorts with different levels of padding, breatheability and design. Shorts like the $120 Attacks have a finely contoured chamois (pad), a bullet proof exterior, plenty of cargo space, and strategically placed mesh vents for the ultimate breatheability. If you don’t feel like spending that much, 50 greenbacks will get you a pair of Fox base shorts which offer all of the same features of the high-end shorts, just not as finely tuned.

Fox also sells outwear, socks, helmets, hydration packs, guards, seat bags, eyewear, shoes, and of course their legendary shocks and forks. They also have specific gear lines for Women, BMX and Motocross (could of guessed that one). Get to your local bike shop or favorite web retailer and pick up some new Fox gear today. You won’t be disappointed!

P.S. The Fox store often has amazing deals on older models and limited sizes.

Nike Dunk Gyrizo Men’s BMX Shoe Review

MTB technology and BMX technology have begun to merge over the years. Some of the biggest mountain bike companies got their start in BMX (i.e. GT) and others have always had their hand in BMX (Specialized, Schwinn, Trek, etc.). With the increase of freeriding, downhilling and dirt jumping, we’re seeing a lot of cross pollination between mountain biking and BMX. If you look closely, a lot of BMXers are using Selle Italia Flites or SLRs on their bikes and Crank Brothers Mallets or Shimano PD-545s.

“Looks like a Dunk, but acts like Lance’s cleat.”

This strange yet eye-catching statement immediately drew me to the shoes like a moth to a flame on the Nike Media website. You’re telling me: I can pedal like Lance but not look like a roadie dweeb on my downhill bike? My eyes next gravitated towards the amazing graphics of the shoe. The shoe is made specifically for Olympic BMX athletes. With input from past, current and future BMX legends, Nike put out all the stops for this shoe. The shoe was designed with the input of Donny Robinson, Mike Day and Kyle Bennett. The pattern hints to BMX’s heyday in the 80s with nods to Vans and Haro. The full carbon sole takes the technology from Lance’s winning Nike road bike shoe and the uppers are all SB Dunk. Hey if it’s good enough for Lance Armstrong and Paul Rodriguez…

For security and durability, the shoe features Kevlar lace and metal grommets plus lace pockets to keep your laces out of your spokes (very important at 40MPH). The shoes are SPD-compatible, but you can run them on flats as well with the supplied covers. To add functionality over style, they added an upper Velcro strap that helps keep your heel in the pocket.

I’ve only had one day of downhilling on them, but so far they work great (I was using a pair of Crank Bros Mallet C’s that day). With minimal adjustment, I was able to mount my cleats and go riding. With some shoes, you have to clear extra space between the cleat and the sole, and I thought I might with these, but they were fine. They worked great on the hill. Pedaling was almost Lance-like, and I envisioned freaking out my roadie friends, wearing these as we raced around the South Shore. My heel didn’t fly out of the shoe, and the uppers are coated so they seem to repel dirt and mud (they’re way too nice to get dirty). I experimented using them with flats. They worked fine, but the 5-10s are still the gold standard if you are going with flats. Best of all, I didn’t get any funny looks from the kids in the lodge. Mission accomplished.  Read more