Gear Patrol

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…

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what it would be like to be in London hitting a few golf balls off a floating barge on the River Thames, then you’re not alone. Yesterday, PGA athletes Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson did just that — teeing up a near the iconic Tower Bridge. Why? To celebrate…

Slap a logo on any hunk of metal and you have just jacked the price at least ten-fold. Kuat resists the temptation with the Dirtbag, a bike rack that probably epitomizes the paragon of simplicity and value. Sturdily constructed of steel with no moving parts, the rack attaches with bolts or screws to an available…

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…

Adidas introduced the concept of “boots with a brain” to the world last fall with the launch of the miCoach-toting Adizero F50 soccer cleat — but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Today, the global sports brand announced the miCoach Elite System, designed to track player performance for an entire team in real-time….

Has our resident Ironman-in-training inspired you to get fit? Then there might be some sweltering runs in your future. The Cool Point ($20) by training accessory maker Trigger Point can help balance your body temp during the dog days of summer by stimulating thermoregulation signals to your brain. Just freeze the encased gel pack for…

Fresh off the Euro 2012 soccer tournament, which showcased the most insolvent talented European nations, comes the Nike GS Football Boot ($300), Beaverton’s greenest, lightest, and most innovative soccer boot to date. Most of the material is derived from renewable castor beans, which require less water to grow and reduce environmental impact. That green material…

E-bikes are all the rage lately, giving riders the ability to pedal when they feel like it…or take a few minutes off and let the onboard motor help out. They provide something for the best and worst parts of all of us. The Smart BRABUS e-bike (TBA) takes the niche to the next level, combining…

If your bike is covered in duct tape and still needs a bit of cleaning after your last messy meal on the run, then perhaps F&Y Les Classiques wooden bike handlebars are not for you. Made in Montreal, Quebec via painstaking hand craftsmanship, the Les Classiques line is built with fine hardwoods such as Morado,…

Some floor pumps ensure the only workout you get is an exercise in frustration. Leaky chucks, short reach tubes, shoddy construction — they take up space and don’t put air in tires. Lezyne’s Alloy Floor Drive ($80) floor pump is the old Silca Track Pump reincarnate, plus. The well made Floor Drive features a 7000…

Surfing is as much an art form as a sport. The simplistic beauty of the waves, sand and sun is the basis of a perfect day hanging ten. Ingmar Beer Surfboards ($600+) make you and your board part of that candid aesthetic. Beer’s boards are hand-made in New York, but their design is an import….

As a general trend to more forgiving putter options for weekend warriors seemed to validate the putter’s size and complexity, last year’s TaylorMade Ghost Spider putter was an instant hit. But many golfers weren’t sold. Some felt the Ghost Spider was too massive or simply too hard on the eyes. Never being one to miss…

Sports companies often turn to the animal kingdom for inspiration, and while most brands look to the African plains for their muse, Reebok decided to focus on a far older predator. The Reebok Zigtech Shark ($100) takes much from its namesake. Its base — meant to resemble shark teeth — has been reengineered from the…

If you’re itching to reenact an episode of Lost, husk coconuts, or just clear brush, the Woodman’s Pal Military Premium 284 machete should come in handy. The made in the USA concave axe blade, forged in high carbon steel (hardened to Rockwell C47+2 for you knife aficionados), “catches” branches and vines, reducing the glancing blows…

We’ve learned over the years not to consult WebMD in place of medical professionals. You can develop sleep disorders just by browsing the skin disorders section. We don’t even want to know what lurks beneath the sexual conditions header. So for this series we turned to one of America’s leading orthopaedic surgeons to talk about…

With spring’s base miles behind, it’s time for a summer of centuries, group rides and the odd criterium. This means a lot of time in the saddle between now and Labor Day. Of your three points of contact with the bike, perhaps the most important to take care of is between your legs. So don’t…

There’s a reason bouncers at clubs look like suited-up gorillas with earpieces—perception is a key proponent to security. If you look like you shouldn’t be messed with, chances are, you won’t be. The Knog Strongman ($100) follows this line of thinking with its aggressively designed, silicone-molded steel frame, and backs up its looks with a…

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…

Even with the best of locks, pieces of your bike can still be snatched up by enterprising hoodlums. So for years the only way to achieve complete peace of mind was to bring your bike inside. UK based Atomic 22 has finally created a simple solution that could change the commuting game for good —…

Editor’s Note: We’ve been curious about Ironman for some time now. We’d seen reliable intel that more guys than ever are adding it to their bucket lists, training hard in excess of a year for one very brutal day of swimming, biking, running, dehydration, and hyponatremia (body’s lack of sodium). It sounds like one hell…

Taking to the trails or tackling your favorite slalom on two wheels usually requires suiting up like a plastic clad medieval knight. Eschew the gear though and you might confine yourself to a different set of wheels altogether. The next time you want to head out over the hills and through the woods slip on…

Believing you have the best ball on the market is no small declaration, but TaylorMade firmly feels just that in their new PENTA TP5 ($46). They weren’t joking or offering half-hearted proclamations either; these guys really believe it. One of the main drivers of this new found confidences is a ball that has a 28%…

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…

A new collaboration between Stephen Wynne of Delorean Motor Company and Marc Moore, a passionate cyclist and entrepeneur, breathes new life into an icon of the ’80s in the best possible way (short of actually working out time travel, of course). While most bike makers are currently working in carbon fiber and other exotic materials,…

The utility of a BigFoot Bag wouldn’t be lost on a wiseguy like Tony Soprano. They’re designed to lay completely flat for quick loading and unloading of everything from large bundles of cash to liberated merchandise, or even the recently “disposed of” competition. Once the dirty work is done, the bags zip up and securely…

Sure, you could argue the obnoxious styles of most biking apparel lines makes you more noticeable to vehicles on the road, but who cares about safety if you’re riding in clothes you wouldn’t be caught dead in? A new brand Search and State is challenging the notion of what cycling gear should look like with…

Yes, we know, tennis is a game of finesse and skill—but that doesn’t mean we always listen to our own advice. Sometimes you just gotta beat the cover off the ball. For those that are more Roddick than reserved, there’s the Wilson Juice 100 BLX ($189). Constructed from basalt fibers — that’s volcanic rock to…

Not to be left out of the spikeless golf shoe revolution adidas Golf has two new shoes coming to market this summer. We just happened to have snagged ourselves a pair of the new Adidas Crossflex for some early season testing. Based on a tremendously successful line of Adidas running shoes the Crossflex boasts a…

Bring some sprezzatura (that’s essentially Italian for inner-swagger) to the peloton in the next Gran Fondo astride Bianchi’s Impulso Ultegra road bike. This cool Italian entry-level racer matches less expensive Shimano 105 and Tiagra components with Shimano’s second-tier Ultegra where it really counts — the shifters and a 10-speed rear derailleur. Its elegant aluminum frame…