I have always been very particular about my cycling shoes.  There are other parts and accessories on my bicycle that I don’t pay much attention to, but my shoes are at the top of my list.  I have experimented with many different brands of shoes, and have always seemed to like certain aspects of each shoe but never felt like I had found the perfect shoe.  I even had a pair of custom shoes made.  So this year I made the decision to try the new Bontrager RXL’s.  My local Trek Rep. explained some of the key features, and gave me a good explanation of how the shoe was designed.  After the first few weeks of riding the shoes I was not 100% sold on them.  I was not having any weird fitting issues, but was not sure how they would treat  my feet after completing a 100 mile offroad race.  So the first real test was in April at the Cohutta 100.  This race presented its challenges via mother nature, as did the Mohican 100 in June.  I can honestly say that the Bontrager shoes performed flawlessly.  My feet were not sore at all, and this has never been the case with “other” brands…especially after completing 8 hours of racing on the mountain bike.  I was also impressed with how the shoes showed no signs of wear.  Normally after a mud pit race with some hike-a-bike sections, “other” brand shoes were noticeably scuffed and worn.  The RXL’s just seem to keep on going strong no matter what the conditions.  The shoes also feel very solid when pedaling, I don’t feel like any of my energy is being wasted into shoe flex.  But on the flip side, I don’t think that shoe is too stiff to cause discomfort (like my custom shoes did).  To sum things up, I am very happy with my decision to try a new shoe…and I can only encourage you to do the same.  You never know when you just might find that perfect shoe to make your feet happy!

Clack-Clack. Thats how I like my brakes to sound. I dont like the mushy feel of the “S” brakes. The lever throw is too far and they always feel like they need to be bled. I had my V brakes set up like this as well.

I was a bit apprehensive on putting the Elixers on my bike. I have had the Ultimates what seems like forever. They have plenty of lever adjustability. I have long fingers so needless to say, I dont like the levers as close to the bar in their stock position. They have pretty good modulation and bleeding them is super easy. I like my brakes to engage almost immediately and actually closed the calipers ever so much to have about 1/4″ of lever throw. The only con with my Ultimates is pad replacement-aaarrrgghh! So, they get 4 1/2 18 tooth cogs.

My Elixers set up the same way the Ultimates. Very quick and easy. Sometimes the tri-align doesnt always work. What I have learned is that those convoluted washers dig in and need to be rotated to work properly. They already had the nice hard pad contact that I like, so re-bleeding wasnt necessary. I immediately liked the slightly wider lever blades. What I didnt like was the lack of lever throw adjustability. I have them

adjusted all the way out and still to close to the bar for me. So I had to cheat and close the pads a little, and that remedied it. The pad contact adjustability was a bit awkward if you use it. If you twist it, it wants to spin the housing as well. I dont use this option, so this is just a call out. Stopping was great. Modulation was a tad better than the Ultimates. Less flex with these levers as well. One nit pick-lack of Ti bolts rotor and caliper bolts.I give them a solid 4 1/2 18 tooth cogs as well.

I think Avid did a great job on these. If you have shorter fingers, you are good to go out da box. Riders with talons like myself may have to do a little finagling to make them fit.

Up untill now I have always been riding men’s saddles. But for the last month I have been using the Bontrager inForm RL WSD saddle. This saddle is very comfortable and  fits well. I don’t want to get off my bike.  Your local Bontrager dealer measures you and you get the correct size saddle. Bontrager now has a mountain bike specific WSD saddle. I haven’t tried it yet, but it took me a long time to try a WSD saddle.

  Lindsey 

Last weekend I found myself in West Virginia for the season opener at Big Bear Lake. Rocky course meant the 100 was on deck for the day. Freshly dressed in the complete XX kit she flawlessly floated over everything the course dished out and proudly took me across the line for the top spot. This equipment is fantastic!
Stork