MTBR.com Write a Review Contest
Feb 1st
MTBR.com is putting on this great contest to help bike enthusiasts like you and I get the best rider feedback on bikes and riding gear and at the same time giving us the chance to win some great prizes. Read up and go post that review of your Fezzari bike, your favorite helmet, shoe, saddle, brake, etc.
Here are the contest details from MTBR.com.
Write a Review and be eligible to Win a Free Camelbak Capo Hydration Pack or Mtbr T-shirt!
In a continued effort to keep Mtbr the leading resource in bike, parts, & gear reviews, we are holding a review writing contest. For the next week we will be giving away a Camelbak “The Capo” hydration pack or an Mtbr T-shirt. The winners will be selected at random, from a pool of top reviews written during the next week.
What makes a “top review”? The review has to be well written, accurate, and more than just two or three sentences. The more helpful information you share, the better! It’s as simple as that.
Write a review on your bike, parts/components or your favorite piece of gear or apparel. Any and all reviews are eligible. If you aren’t sure what to write a review on, how about writing one on your hydration pack or helmet?
The winner will be announced at the end of next week and a new contest will begin. You must leave a valid email with your review, so that we may contact you.
Click Here to go to the Mtbr Product Reviews>>
Click Here to Browse the Reviews by Manufacturer>>
Want to review a product but don’t see it listed? Email us directly at: admin2@mtbreview.com and we can add it for you!
Thank you for supporting our site and helping make Mtbr a better resource for your fellow mountain bikers!
-Gregg & Francis
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Camelbak The Capo hydration pack
Color: Black Robot
Retail Value: $99
more info: http://www.camelbak.com/Sports-Recreation/Packs/2011-The-Capo.aspx
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Mtbr Log On T-shirt
Color: depends on available size
Retail Value: pricele$$
Winter Training Exercises
Jan 27th
If you’re like me, you hate to see the warm weather go. Cold temperatures force us back to the trainers or Indoor Spinning classes from great rides like Moab’s Slick rock, the Alpine Loop, and endurance races like Ranatad, Lotoja, and Salt to Saint. Consequently, this can be a good opportunity to focus on the fundamentals of cycling for both the road bike and the mountain bike. Winter is also the perfect time to rejuvenate your body with a periodization schedule.
At the end of the season I go back to a base building period that involves keeping my heart rate in an aerobic zone. I do this for 2 ½ months then I add strength zone which takes heart rate up about 10%. This is followed by adding in intervals at 92% Heart Rate (HR). This base building has many rewards including fully recovering from the stresses of intense exercise and competition, and gaining a larger cardiovascular base. Many athletes believe that the path to increasing fitness, power, and speed is to keep a high intensity or volume of training without interruption. Although it is easy to feel that any break in this kind of training will result in setback, the truth is that the real gains in fitness and strength come in the rest and regeneration periods between hard workouts or training cycles.
You’ll enjoy these other numerous benefits from aerobic training:
Increased fat metabolism: the body prefers fat for fuel at this rate.
Better performance: improves VO2 max (oxygen use during exercise).
Stronger immune system: increases number of macrophage and T-cells (our fighter cells).
Increased resistance to fatigue: The more effective the heart is as a pump, the better it efficiently provides more oxygen to the body.
Lower risk of heart disease.
Increased general stamina: We build more capillaries thereby creating less work for the heart over time for the same cardiac output.
I suggest finding a good spinning instructor who knows how to train for endurance, strength, and competition. I train my students at the Orem Fitness Center. We have just started our Periodization program so we’ll be more fit; ready to compete and enjoy staying with the pack on group rides and centuries. Come indoors and spend some time training with me until you can get reacquainted with your good friend, the road bike. I have taught Spinning for over 8 years. I do endurance races and triathlons for Fezzari Bicycles. Let’s build a stronger body together. Here is a good aerobic workout that I tried out in my class for you who prefer the trainers.
Objective: increase leg strength in aerobic zone
10 min. warm-up
3 min. small hill climb (elevate HR to 75% or level 5)
2 min. mod. Hill climb ( HR to 80% or level 6)
1 min. heavy hill climb ( maintain HR. focus on relaxation and breathing)
1 min. on flat road. Repeat
Rolling Hills: In the saddle
Add gear every 20 sec. 3 gears ( try and hold same cadence) off 3 gears
Add gear every 15 sec. 4 gears ( know your limits) off 4 gears
Add gear every 10 sec. 5 gears (put your ego aside and slow cadence) off 5 ( I take 30 sec. In between each set to recover)
Add gear every 30 sec. 6 gears ( last gear out of saddle for 15 sec.) off 5
Add gear every 20 sec. 5 gears (last gear out of saddle for 15 sec.) off 4
Add gear every 15 sec. 4 gears (last gear out of saddle for 15 sec.) off 3
Add gear every 10 sec. 3 gears (stay seated) off 3
(take 1-2 min. to recover)
Flat road. Cadence 100 rpm. Add 3 gears without slowing cadence. Hold for 30 sec. Slow down to about 80rpm. Add 3 gears w/o slowing down. Hold for 20 sec.
Slow down to 60 rpm. Add 3 gears w/o slowing down. Hold for 10 sec. Recover 1 min. Repeat.
Finish off with light resistance hold for 2 min. then add tempo bursts until HR leaves zone (maybe 10-20 sec.) slow down and wait for HR drop.
Repeat. See how many you can do in 5 min.
Cool Down 10 min. Easy pedal.
For information about Orem Fitness Center Spinning classes: visit http://rec.orem.org
Written by: Audra Jeske
New Road Bike and Mountain Bike Print Ads
Jan 24th
We thought we would show you a couple of the creative ads you will see in magazines this spring. Not only do we get to design and build bikes, but we also do all of our own photography and graphic design. This ad below was thought up by Dev, one of our customer support representatives. Dev drives an old 1985, rusted, Toyota Tercel hatchback, (pictured below) but has a very nice, new, Fezzari Fore CR5 road bike. His bike is worth a lot more than his car, hence the tagline, “Get your priorities straight.” We always find it amusing when we are out at races, or even driving around, and we see extremely nice bikes on really crappy cars. There are a few of us here at Fezzari that are a part of this crowd, myself included, so we thought we would poke fun at it with this ad.
We often get asked what sets us a part from other companies, why Fezzari? It’s simple really, Custom, Quality, Direct. Our priorities are to build the best quality, best fitting bikes, and sell them direct to the consumer, saving them thousands. We took this ‘Why Fezzari’ question and came up with this.
You can find at more about what sets Fezzari Bicycles apart by visiting our Why Fezzari page.
Bicycle Race Techniques: The Basic Principles of Descending
Jan 19th
Learning to descend properly and confidently is a crucial skill in bicycle racing. The principles of descending in both mountain and road cycling have similar qualities but are different. In this article I’m going to focus on road descending. Whether you are a casual weekend rider, or a competitive cyclist, knowing the basics to the descent will help you get faster and improve your quality of ride.
Brake Before You Enter the Corner
Cornering in cycling is very similar to cornering in auto racing. The most important aspect of cornering is traction. When you lean hard into a corner, your tires are under stress to keep traction. As you know, if you were to lean too hard, you would lose traction completely.
Similarly the same thing happens when you brake. Your tires are placed under stress to keep traction, and if you brake too hard you loose traction and skid. So the idea is to minimize your risk of losing traction which makes for faster cornering. If you brake while cornering, two forces are acting on your tires (the decelerating force from braking and the forces caused by cornering). You are stressing your tires more than you need to. The solution is to start braking well before you enter the corner. This way you are only placing one stressing force on your tires at a time.
Anticipate how much you need to slow down as the corner approaches; start braking well before the corner and before you start to turn. When it is nearly time to turn in, gradually reduce your braking force while beginning to lean; just before the middle of the turn you should not be braking at all. This will maximize your cornering traction throughout the turn allowing you to enter and exit the corner faster.
When descending, be sure to keep your weight balanced over your bike, it helps to move just slightly aft of your normal positioning for increased stability. When cornering, the crank arm on the inside of the corner should be at the 12 o’clock position (see the photo below). This guarantees that you have enough clearance to lean into the turn and also increases stability.
Apex the Corner
If you watch competitive cycling, they always enter the corner from the outside, move to the inside at the tightest part, and exit on the outside again. This is called apexing the corner, and it is the fastest way through a turn. The “Apex” is the tightest part of the corner. The idea again is maximizing your traction. Obviously you can’t utilize the whole road like the pros because there is traffic to worry about, but you can apex within your lane to keep up your turning efficiency. When applying this technique, go slower than you’d think until you are comfortable executing the turn properly. If correctly done, you will carry more speed through your turns, and consequently you will have to do less work to maintain your speed.
Take a look at this graphic that demonstrates the Outside – Inside – Outside principle.
This video shows a few good examples of proper cornering.
The faster you go, the more wind resistance you face, so get yourself down low and aerodynamic on descents. Just like with exotic cars, aerodynamics will maximize your efficiency. Watch the pros and imitate their positioning on descents. An especially good reference is any pro time trail race. Time trial riding is largely dependent on how efficient the cyclist’s aerodynamics are in addition to power output.
Becoming more aerodynamic means to reduce your profile relative to the oncoming wind. The idea is to slice through the air like an arrow, and not to ‘catch’ air a kite. To do this, position your hands on the drops and lower your chest, but not so much that it is causing discomfort. Compact yourself by keeping your knees close to the frame and moving in your elbows. Having your hands down on the drops typically gives you more braking power as an added bonus.
Keep in mind that descending can be a great time to rest as well. It is not important that you are fully aerodynamic if your goal is to recover. However, if you are trying to get a better personal time, beat your friends down the road, or do well in a race, utilizing aerodynamics can be very beneficial.
Drafting/Conserving Energy
Like I mentioned earlier, descending can be a great time for recover and conserving energy. Utilize drafting, which if you are unfamiliar, is staying right behind another rider to decrease wind resistance. When drafting, you’ll be able to maintain a higher speed without doing as much work. At slow speeds you may not notice any difference, but as you go faster it becomes more effective. Try drafting a friend for a minute and then move out of the draft (also referred to as a slipstream) for a minute, and you’ll be able to notice the efficiency difference. Since you typically are at higher speeds on descents, you are likely facing higher wind resistances. This makes descending an important time to draft so that you are able to stay out of the wind and conserve energy.
For a more thorough explanation of drafting and paceline riding, check out this article.
Wet Conditions
A few extra precautions should be taken on wet roads. The first thing to note is that a wet road is going to be more slippery than a dry road in almost any case, and you will need to reduce your speed to compensate with the lack of traction. However sometimes a small amount of rain can be more dangerous than a downpour. This is because the road surface contains oils; when those oils mix with water the road becomes very slick. A small amount of rain will not be enough to wash away the oils while a heavy downpour can be slightly less dangerous.
Be very careful of any painted lines, potholes, metal grates, or anything that would be more slick with water. If you are racing, better to be more on the safe side and finish your season rather than crash out.
Cornering can be one of the most enjoyable aspects of cycling. Work to improve your descending and cornering for a faster and more fulfilling bike ride. Remember that the most important thing is to ride safely. Let me know what questions and comments you have.
Fezzari to Introduce Full Suspension 29er
Jan 13th
UPDATED: January 20, 2012
We are happy to announce the upcoming release of the all new Fezzari full suspension 29er mountain bike, the Fezzari Hidden Peak. The Hidden Peak is the first full suspension 29er mountain bike from Fezzari. Current plans have the Hidden Peak available in two spec builds with the first deliveries to customers expected in April, 2012.
The Hidden Peak frame features a Fezzari Racing Design 7005 series hydroformed aluminum frame with smooth welds to give the frame a strong, smooth, clean look. Some of the other frame features include:
- 100mm travel
- FRD Tetra Link 429 Suspension Design
- Sealed bearing on every pivot point
- Internal cable routing
- Press Fit BB91 bottom bracket system
The Hidden Peak will be available in two build options, Hidden Peak – X0, and Hidden Peak – XT. The Hidden Peak – X0 will feature a Fox Talas 29 RLC Kashima with travel adjustments from 120mm to 95mm. This adjustable travel option has helped the new Hidden Peak be extremely agile and lively on both climbs and descents. Our test riders have been able to jump, manual, and corner the bike similar to a 6″ travel, 26-inch wheeled bike. Dropping the travel on the Talas to the 95mm position makes the bike very agile and excellent on the climbs. The FRD Tetra Link 429 suspension design gives the Hidden Peak a very solid pedal platform, yet plush travel when the trail gets rough and virtually no pedal-bob. The rear suspension will feature a 100mm travel Fox RP23 shock that has been tuned for the FRD Tetra-link429 suspension design. The Hidden Peak – X.0 will be finished off with SRAM X0 drivetrain, Mavic Wheels, and a Truvativ Cockpit. The Hidden Peak – X0 will be available at the factory direct price of $3799. Specs and pricing are subject to change until final release.
The more budget friendly Hidden Peak – XT will feature the same 7005 series hydroformed aluminum frame and the FRD Tetra Link 429 suspension design. It will also feature a RockShox Recon solo air fork, RockShox Ario RL shock, Shimano XT and SLX drivetrain, DT Swiss wheels, and Truvativ Cockpit. The Hidden Peak – XT will be available for $2149. Specs and pricing subject to change until final release which is expected April, 2012.
Pre-orders are currently being taken on both models. For questions, to receive more info, or to place your order, call 888-833-9927 or click here to contact us.
Fitness: Pilates – The Silver Bullet for Cyclists
Dec 24th
All of us have heard the name “Pilates” from celebrity fitness gurus and sub-urban moms, but you may be wondering, what is Pilates, and how can it make you better at cycling?
What Is Pilates?
Pilates is a fitness and strengthening system developed by Joseph Pilates in the early 20th century. The system focuses on building strength and flexibility mainly in the abdomen, chest, arms, back and buttocks, which typically are the weakest muscles on a road or mountain bikers physique.
Pilates Guide Marguerite Ogle made this observation while watching the Tour de France.
“As with most sports, in bicycling there are common pitfalls like repetitive stress on certain muscle groups and the accompanying uneven development of the musculature.”
In other words, we as cyclists tend to have highly-developed legs, but frequently without the same sort of muscular conditioning of the upper body.
In order to strengthen the commonly underdeveloped muscles try these three Pilates exercises:
Front Support/Plank Exercise: Works Arms, Core, Butt and Legs.
Position your body on all fours with either your hands flat on the floor or your upper body resting on your forearms. Pull your tummy in and straighten your legs one at a time so your body creates a straight line. Be conscious that you do not sag through your shoulder blades or hips. If your arms are straight, keep your elbows soft; not locked. Hold for two sets of five slow breaths. Increase the number of breaths as you gain in strength.
Pilates Push Up: Works Arms, Core, butt and Legs.
Assume regular push-up position with hands shoulder width, arms and feet directly behind you. While keeping your head and spine in-line, lift one leg up off the ground eight inches.
Do 6-10 push-ups or until failure in this tripod position while tightening core to your hold leg steady off the ground, and rest on knees for 30-60 seconds. Again while tightening core and keeping feet the same distance apart, lift leg off ground and complete your set with 6-10 push-ups or until failure.
Pilates Swimming: Works Lower Back, Butt, Core and Shoulders.
Lie flat on stomach with your arms stretched out in front of you, with legs outstretched behind you.
Before you begin squeeze inner thighs and heels together. When ready, tighten core and flex butt, slowly lifting chest off mat with arms extended away from you and about 6 inches off ground in a superman position. Without straining lower back, lift legs off the mat. Begin alternating arms and legs up and down in an even rhythm of swimming. Think of elongating your body and stretching your arms as far away as possible, pointing hands and feet. Make sure not to rock your core back and forth, keep as steady as possible on the ground while keeping tension out of neck.
Swim for 24 beats or six full breaths to complete one set.
If Swimming strains back or muscles to much try the modified swimming movement. Get on all fours and with the same idea, switch arms and legs in an alternating rhythm, stretching one arm and leg at a time. Make sure to not drop hips or arch back, engage abdominal to maintain tightened back angle. Swim for 24 beats to complete one set.
Athletes of all sports recognize the importance of cross training, more importantly weak-point training. Pilates being a program that is tailored to cyclists, should be utilized by all who wish to take their fitness to the next level. Be sure to check out the Top 5 Weight Lifting Exercises for Cyclists for additional cross training tips.
Also, If you are looking to improve your fitness further, Take a look at the Cycling Computers we offer for accurate exercise tracking and statistics.



























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