Gear Patrol

Building upon their popular Sortie 26″ platform, Diamondback recently entered the 29er field with the Sortie 3 29 ($3,500), full suspension trail bike packed with technology and features. The larger wheels obviously contribute to the bike’s slightly larger size, but with the extra inches come several advantages — 29″ wheels have a larger angle of…

The thought of cleanly wiring an audiophile-grade home theater system has deterred many a man-cave-pimper, until now. The Aperion Audio Intimus 4T Summit Wireless System ($2,999+) is so simple to set up, you don’t even need a receiver. Instead, each of the seven speakers and the subwoofer houses an individual digital receiver and dual amplifiers….

Looking to elevate your home cooking from Boyardee to Batali? Fresh herbs are an excellent place to start. The Urban Cultivator ($2,200) lets home chefs not living in the state of California do the impossible — grow fresh hydroponic herbs or greens year-round. The home appliance, which is roughly the size of a dishwasher, maintains…

Maybe it started for you the first time you watched a set roll in, before you knew what a set was, and gazed in open-mouthed amazement as the locals made it look oh-so-easy. Or maybe you just caught 30 minutes of Blue Crush on late night TV. Regardless of how you first fell in love…

Victorinox is known for their cutlery and perhaps less so for their watches. Well, the Victorinox Alpnach Power Gauge Limited Edition is certainly both a head turner and a mouthful. With a 43.5mm case, anti-reflective sapphire crystal, Swiss automatic chronograph movement and a depth rating of 330 feet, it’s got all the bearings of a…

Sure, an overstuffed leather chair that goes horizontal with the flick of a lever is a comfortable way to tuck in for the afternoon, but why ruin a room with a Rent-a-Center relegation when you can have your modern and lie in it too? Responding to the challenge of designing a recliner that’s comfortable, ergonomic…

La Boite’s Laptop Desks & HiFi systems are a standing paradox of features and minimalism. They look like desks (because they are desks), but they’re also neatly packaged sound docks with high-quality speakers made exclusively for La Boite — a brand that knows a thing or two about high-end audio. The smaller LD-120 boasts a…

Living in the city is an awesome experience. There’s plenty of things to do, new faces everywhere, and an energy that can inspire when the situation calls for it. But getting around a city, even with good public transportation, can be frustrating at times. With that problem in mind, often the easiest and least stressful…

A dream kitchen can mean different things to different people. To an affluent suburbanite, it may mean double farm sinks and a Sub-Zero. For cramped city dwellers it pretty much means anything with a dishwasher. Somewhere in the middle lies Kitchoo Compact Kitchens ($4700+). The English company boasts a collection of “mini kitchens” that are…

Sony’s latest flagship KDL-55HX850 bundles internet connectivity, immersive 3D capabilities and Motionflow XR960 to into a 55” LED backlit beast. Add in Skype, Netflix and Pandora at a button press away, and all those set-top boxes littering your living room can be moved elsewhere; and believe us, that’s a good thing. The “monolithic design” results…

The Jetovator ($8,975) is essentially a motorcycle powered by the water jet on a (pre-existing) personal watercraft — allowing thrill seekers to ride above, on, or below the waves like some extravagant billionaire/genius superhero. Using pilot-like hand controls and a 50-foot hose for water, riders can fly up to 30 feet above or 10 feet…

For some, the grill isn’t as important as the food it prepares. Grand Hall, however, is more than happy to oblige outdoor kitchenistas in search of some stylish sizzle to go with their steak. Specifically, the grill maker teamed up with Porsche Design Studio and the Porsche Engineering Group GmBH, to create, well, the Porsche…

Who writes anymore? Well, if you’re still a believer in the hand-written thank you note or letter, you’re in our camp. Nothing says class like a well-written (and legible) note to say you’re not just going to send an email that takes 30 seconds to type. And what more motivation do you need than to…

From road signs to technical schematics, or business usage to clever motivational posters, design affects every area of our life. Whether figuring out primary and tertiary color selection is something that is more of a riddle to you, or choosing the perfect neo-grotesque typeface thrills you more than a triple espresso con panna, an artist…

When it comes time to take the toys outside to play, transportation becomes key unless your driveway conveniently happens to adjoin a slope, starting line or body of water. Adding another option to the pantheon of roof, hitch and rear mounted options, the lightweight Yakima RackandRoll Trailer ($2,150) makes hauling gear a breeze by removing…

Just in time for their 120th anniversary, Hamilton has added a new flagship to the Aviation line of Khaki watches, the X-Patrol, and it represents a terrific value in fully-featured mechanical pilot’s watches. To this end, the X-Patrol features a functional computational bezel that allows would-be Lindberghs to calculate on-the-fly metric conversions for miles to…

Panasonic’s TC-P55PVT50 is one of, if not the, best televisions on the planet. The plasma flat-panel is a steal compared to the pricier OLEDs and luxury LEDs on the market, but there’s nothing cheap about its deep black levels, accurate colors and beautiful design. Achieving brightness that competing plasmas could only dream of, its eye…

Although we’d still drink their famous single malt if it came splashing around in a McDonald’s cup, Scotch whisky maker Macallan insists on providing the same amount of attention and care to what goes on outside of the bottle as they do to what’s inside. Since its launch a couple of years ago, Macallan’s Masters…

Gas powered generators are great but they’re not exactly portable nor convenient. Sun Flare Systems S.O.S in a Box solar powered backup generator systems are compact, powerful and just might save your bacon (and solidify your reputation as “the man”) in an emergency. It’s powered by the sun, thereby not requiring any liquid fuel source,…

The all-in-one desktop market has belonged to Apple since we booted up our first Mac to hunt rabbits and die of dysentery on the Oregon Trail. Despite advances from its Windows-based competitors, the iMac has kept users captivated, thanks in large part to its high-density pixel resolution and minimalist design. Taking aim squarely at Cupertino’s…

Depending on who you ask (or read), there’s a good chance you might walk away with a handful of stories behind the origins of the “California” dial. This writer humbly admits to not knowing the truth. Some attribute the widespread knowledge to a California-based company that refurbished a large number of Rolex Bubblebacks in the…

Henry David Thoreau, in his famous work Walking, writes that when he thinks of those who work indoors all day sitting, “as if the legs were made to sit upon, and not to stand or walk upon… they deserve some credit for not having committed suicide long ago.” Thoreau’s words don’t bode well for cubicle-dwellers…

Would you pay nearly $10,000 for one of the quietest drum kits in the world? Even if your upstairs neighbors won’t pitch in, the Roland TD-30KV could make it worth every penny. Representing the pinnacle of their V-Drum technology, the Roland RD-30KV represents over 10 years of technology pioneering. These are serious, professional instruments capable…

There are custom headphones and there are custom headphones. With Logitech’s Ultimate Ears Personal Reference Monitors ($1,999), the bar has officially been raised on what should be considered top-notch audio personalization. Not only can you decide on every detail right down to the a choice of four wood veneers, but the specific fit and sound…

If you’ve sought out a set of game improvement irons, then you’ve likely encountered reviews laden with enough technological jargon and marketing spin to befuddle the mind. Today however, as we look back on our time testing the Nike VR_S Forged Irons ($1,000), we instead turn our attention to something that is usually reserved for…

Asymmetrical fan blades? Yup. And there you have it. Details like this sum up the all-new next generation MacBook Pro with Retina Display ($2,199). Just announced, the MacBook Pro with Retina offers — bone stock — a 2.3GHz quad-core i7 processor (configurable up to 2.7 with 3.7Ghz Turbo Boost on demand), 256GB-768GB of solid state…

Grabbing ahold of the back of a moving car may seem like a good way to pick up some serious speed on your skateboard, but it is an even better way to end up in traction (and we don’t mean the grippy kind). If you want to move like you have a motor on your…

Whether your music tastes run to Mahler, Parker, Bowie, or Phoenix, the right set of cans will make the experience more enjoyable. Initial reports suggest that Denon’s recently announced flagship AH-D7100 Artisan headphones are the best over ear offering to date from the lauded audio company — even surpassing the venerable AH-D7000s. Interestingly enough, the…

Stand up paddle boarding or (SUP) is taking the aquatic sports world by storm and was even named one of the five hottest outdoor sports by the Outdoor Recreation Topline Report. Coincidentally, the same study found fishing to be the most popular outdoor activity for adults. Combining these two awesome and extremely popular pastimes was inevitable,…

Summertime as an adult is a tease. Instead of lazy days at the ol’ watering hole, the only change we expect in the warmer months is a little extra sweat when arriving late to a meeting. If anything can help bring us back during the fleeting moments away from the office, though, it’s the Floating…