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Unless you live under a rock (with current home prices, this might be us soon, so maybe we should find a different expression), you probably have heard people referring to Bentonville as “The MTB Capital of the World”. Bold statement, right? Now after hearing this there are normally 2 common reactions. One is high praise for a little town doing big things (the town being little, not the corporations backing it). The second common reaction is a laugh, followed by “No they aren't.”. The “MTB Capital of the World” is a serious title and people feel very passionately about their hometown trails, leading to a discussion of who on earth is the deciding factor of where “The Mtb capital of the World” is? And is it Bentonville, a town whose elevation profile doesn’t look like anything you would expect from “The Mtb Capital of the World”. So is it weird that this prestigious title landed on Bentonville? Well, before we get into where I think the title should go, let's make 2 things very clear. One is that Bentonville is not the real “MTB Capital of the World”, well technically it is, but it's not. Any small town looking to do big things needs a good marketing program, and what better way to create a future vision of a bike centric city than trademarking yourself as “The MTB Capital of the World”? Yup, Bentonville really trademarked themselves "MTB Capital of the World". You have to admit, it's pretty catchy. And that leads me to point number 2 here, and that is, this isn't something new. Cities have been trademarking themselves as “the number one destination of a sport” for years. Huntington Beach does it with “Surf City USA” and I think a lot of people would argue that the "Huntington Hop" and a lineup that looks like an amusement park entrance might not deserve that title. And don't get me wrong, I really enjoy Bentonville, especially the people that live there. And I can appreciate a good attempt at marketing. I think where people get so riled up is when it's forced in your face, but what do you expect from a town backed by Walmart, the biggest retail store in America? I think they know a few things about marketing (also thanks for letting us park in your store parking lots, #vanlife). So now that we have got that out of the way, where is the real “MTB Capital of the World”? A lot of people would probably say Whistler, Canada. With the best bike parks in the world, world class valley trails, and Pemberton as well as squamish sandwiching it, this would be a pretty valid argument. But I would have to disagree here. As much as I love BC and I really do think the best riding in the world exists up there, to me you can't win the title of “MTB Capital of the World” if you can not comfortably ride year round. Now sure, some hardcore locals might tell you with the proper gear you can ride year round and that is true. But with the proper gear I can also jump off a cliff and make it down safely, but I won't be doing that any time soon. In my eyes if you want that title, you need to be able to ride year round, or at least be able to escape it with a 1 hour drive. Now the next place people would say is somewhere in Colorado, like Crested Butte. Well after my previous argument, obviously this is eliminated. Also, I have never been the biggest fan of Colorado mountain bike trails. Don’t get me wrong, I love the nature aspect, and some of the most natural trails I have ridden are out there, but it's never wow’d me to the point of being “this is the best riding in the world”. Most scenic trails I have ever ridden? That I will give to Colorado. Okay so how about somewhere in Utah? Moab, St George, Park City. Now all of these are amazing in their own right, but “The MTB Capital of the World”? Utah is a driving state and each of these destinations are at least a 5 hour drive from each other. I love Utah, but I don't think it wins the title. I will give it the “most epic rides” award. So many awesome zones and if I could only permanently ride in one state, it would be Utah. So where in the world do I think the title of “MTB Capital of the World” should go? Well, in my honest opinion, I think it goes to Phoenix. Now hear me out, I'm already hearing the gasping and people shutting their laptops closed, but I have an argument and also you are probably trying to kill time at work so stick around for a bit. South Mountain in Phoenix is an amazing trail system, filled with so many technical trails and endless amounts of miles of smiles. And close by to South Mountain you have the new Hawes trail system, filled with flowy tech and endless singletrack. Within a short radius you also have a few other notable trail systems, all of which can be ridden year round (sure it gets hot in the summer, but if you wake up early you can do this and I would rather be hot than cold). Now say you want some variety, a very short drive north gets you to Sedona, one of the most beautiful places in the world. Thirty minutes from there is Flagstaff, another insanely fun riding zone that is perfect for summer heat. The other best part about phoenix? You also have fun in the south! Tucson, Arizona might be one of the most slept-on mtb destinations, filled with tech climbs and big downhill descents. And within the zones I have mentioned you have everything, from bike parks, shuttles, xc trails, enduro trails, ebike zones, non-ebike zones, etc. There is an amazing airport as well as an insane amount of bike shops including one of our favorites, Action Ride Shop! So that's my case for Phoenix becoming the rightfull "MTB Capital of the World". Does my opinion mean anything? Of course it does, case is closed, see you in Phoenix! Where do you think is the "MTB Capital of the World"?

By writing this article, I risk upsetting one of the biggest companies in the bike industry, that has not only a stronghold on the drivetrain market, but also suspension, brakes, components, apparel, and also a few other categories. Not to mention the influence they have over bike brands, which might affect me in the future. I mean after all, they got the entire bike industry to change their frames in a matter of 2 years. But honestly I am so disappointed in SRAM transmission, that it is a risk I am willing to take. Further driving this motivation is the fact that they took my favorite invention in the bike industry (SRAM AXS), and through group think and marketing jargon meetings, somehow convinced people that SRAM transmission was the future. If SRAM transmission is the future, then I think we should all take a moment of silence for the bike industry, because that future is not well thought out, full of marketing bologny, and has lost its soul. Overly dramatic? Maybe, but my displeasure with SRAM transmission is something that has consumed my thoughts while riding, every delayed shift at a time. I would also like to mention I bought this drivetrain from N+1 Bikes one of the largest Ibis, Yeti, and Pivot dealers in the nation and if you need anything bike related hit them up and tell them we sent you and they will take care of you. But don't hit up SRAM and mention me, that probably isn't going to get you far after this article. If you didn't know, SRAM Transmission was SRAM’s latest drivetrain creation. They essentially made a move to get rid of derailleur hangers through a UDH frame standard. Bike companies quickly adapted, updating their frames to meet this new change in order to be able to run SRAM transmission. The concept is simple, the derailleur will mount directly to the frame, and you will never break a hanger again. Some other “game changing” features would be pre programed shifting positions based off of shift ramps on the cassette, that would allow the drivetrain to know when and where to shift in the pedal stroke. There is also no adjustment on the actual derailleur, afterall in the future you shouldn't have to work at all, trust the robots. Instead an app is used to program your derailleur, based on your bike's model. You input your bike and size, and the app spits out some pre configured modes to put your derailleur in, as well as how many links of the chain to cut off. Derailleur knows best here, don't try and outsmart it or it will penalize you by not working. The cassette has a bit different gearing ratios between gears from previous SRAM cassettes, but the 10-52 range remains. Also gone are carbon cranks, instead, XO drivetrains (oh shoot I meant transmission, sorry SRAM, 10 points deducted from my bike credit score), get an industrial looking aluminum crank, which is supposed to be better than the carbon. $1600 for an XO transmission drivetrain by the way. With Alloy cranks. But you will run alloy and be happy. On the handlebars, they have come out with a SRAM pod as the shifter, which honestly might win the award for least ergonomically comfortable shifting pod ever created, with rubber shift pieces that with a little bit of pressure, will fall off, but we'll talk about that in a little bit. Obviously this is not the most tech detailed review, so if you want the exact specs of this drivetrain, click here. There are also a ton of other reviews online that go way more in depth than I do. But I'm not going to regurgitate SRAM talking points, I'm going to give it to you straight, I hate this drivetrain. And I'm not a SRAM hater by any means. SRAM AXS was my favorite mtb product ever, I loved how simple it was and how much it improved the overall mtb experience. Transmission is a 180 from this and let's talk about why. Shifting Performance So I have been running the new transmission for about a year now, putting in lots of miles both uphill and downhill. I also ran SRAM AXS for about 2 or 3 years before this so I am experienced with electronic shifting. The first thing that is very noticeable to me is the delay in shifting. This is something I thought I would get used to, but I just can't. Because the drivetrain has pre-programmed shift points, if you want to do a quick dump while riding, or force a shift on a sudden climb, you can’t do it. Now SRAM argues this is a good thing so you don't wear out your drivetrain, but I feel like that is a decision that should be left up to me, right? Now taking a step back here, if this was an E-Bike specific drivetrain, I could see the advantage, because the power output on those can actually be pretty catastrophic underload while shifting. But because SRAM transmission is not labeled as an ebike specific drivetrain, I'm going to go ahead and ask, why can't I shift when I want to shift? I don't want my drivetrain giving me permission to get into an easier gear on an analog bike. This takes the natural feeling away from the ride, and what you get is this awkward feeling while riding that no matter how many smooth shifts are a result, I could not get used too. And I will also say  rough shifts are not eliminated either, there were still times where I noticed a weird timing and got a crunch feeling. At least when this happened with Transmission, I didn't need to blame myself. And if a huge climb pops out of the corner, forget about a quick dump of the gears, it's not on the schedule so you are going to have to wait your turn. So yeah performance wise shifting is one of my biggest issues with the drivetrain. No More Derailleur Hanger Now how about the fact that my bike is so much safer with Transmission. Afterall, the weakest spot on the bike has been eliminated, no more derailleur hangers. This is where my second biggest issue comes into play. Who told you I don't want my derailleur hanger? Actually, before transmission, I hadn't broken a derailleur hanger in years! Did I bend one every now and then? Sure, but nothing that a quick use of the park tool hanger straightener couldn't fix! However, now that the hanger is eliminated, I have run into quite a few problems. The first one is traveling. When I fly with my bike, my favorite part about AXS used to be how simple it was. Just pop the quick link of the chain off, take the derailleur off, and you are good to go! One of the cleanest setups to fly with was AXS, and now with transmission you can't take your derailleur off, because where does your axle go? So in order for you to take the derailleur off, you need to leave the frame exposed, with no protection structurally because there is no place for the axle to go in. Now on top of that, if you were to take the derailleur off, when you get to your destination and its time to put it back on, chances are you are not going to be able to torque it to the proper 35NM (yes 35NM) torque spec it requires in order to shift properly. I mean who travels with a torque wrench (don't answer that, I don't want to know if I should be)? And is it giving you some issues shifting after re-tightening it? Chances are one of the angles is wrong (or torque) and with no outside adjustments, that perfect shift is replaced by misshifting on the trails until a computer programer is able to take a look at your bike. Now another feature I used to love about AXS was how easy it was to swap from bike to bike. As someone who does a lot of testing, the ability to just pop AXS off of one bike and put it on another was amazing. With transmission though, no 2 bikes are the same. And instead you need to use the app to input the bike model, to find the pre configured programing of the transmission setup based on your bike. Then you can adjust a few things in the derailleur before installing it on the new bike and searching for someone strong enough to crank that bad boy down to 35NM. But hey, no more miss shifting? I guess also no more sharing drivetrains across bikes either? Seems like a pretty convenient way to sell more drivetrains. Bulletproof? But the tradeoff here is the derailleur is pretty bullet proof. Afterall, that was one of the biggest marketing pushes, those viral videos of people slamming the transmission derailleur with a hammer, and nothing happening to it. Well to be honest with you, nothing happened to any of the AXS derailleurs I ran the last few years either. But let's put that point aside and pretend like transmission is the most durable bike part on the market. I think one of the most frustrating moments I’ve had, is when I was already upset after all of these issues I have had with the drivetrains shifting performance and set up. I was out on a big adventure ride and a hike-a-bike came up. So I threw my bike on my shoulder, and started making the trek up, only to get to the top of the hill and realize my shifter pod was missing the rubber touch pad to shift. Analyzing it further, I realized it must have fell off on the hike-a-bike because it actually isn't even attached that strongly to the pod. They just fall right out with a little push. Why on earth would SRAM make a drivetrain, that's claim to fame is being able to be jumped on by a human and not have any issues, and then turn around and make one of the most fragile pad integration in a shifter I have ever seen? My answer? Too many marketing meetings and not enough real world testing. Conclusion So with that being said, is SRAM transmission the future? I hope not, because if it is, we are f#$%@d. But I do have to say thank you to SRAM for introducing UDH. Im not being sarcastic here either. Because now when I go back to running SRAM AXS, at least I don't have to worry about so many different derailleur hangers because now there is a universal one! That actually is the best thing that came out of this. Gone are days of searching for different hangers on a road trip, most shops should hopefully carry a UDH hanger for those of us not sophisticated enough to appreciate the marketing creation of SRAM Transmission. Have you tried SRAM transmission? Let us know how you like it!

Focus recently released the VAM2 SL (the 2 actually being an exponent on the official name for aesthetic purposes) and it definitely caught my eye. The main reason being the discrepancies in overall bike weight on different review sites, as well as their own website. A bit about the bike itself, the VAM 2SL is a light weight trail ebike with 130mm of travel and a Fazua motor. It puts out 60 Nm of torque with a max power output of 450w. Looking at everything on this bike, it’s very clear that they are trying to go lightweight and trail friendly. It comes stock with a Fox 34, the geo is in the middle of not too aggressive, but also not to XC. It’s a lightweight ebike, a category we are probably going to see way more of this year as companies try and compete for having the lightest weight ebike on the market. Now this is where it caught my eye. As someone who wakes up and enjoys reading other peoples reviews, the one thing that stood out to me was so many discrepancies with weight. Bikerumour's Review has the weight of the VAM2 SL coming in at under 32lb, which is insane! Pinkbike's review has their test bike coming in at 37 lbs which is also pretty mind blowing. It wasn't too long ago that ebikes were considered light if you could get them under 55 lbs, and I have a feeling the weight we are seeing with the Focus is going to be something we see a lot this year across the board. Companies are clearly going for a lightweight approach this year and it makes you think, is this what is going to start converting the stubborn old school riders to try ebikes? After all, if you ask most people who don’t like ebikes what's one of the biggest drawbacks of them, you are sure to hear the heaviness aspect be one of those reasons. But with new ebikes coming in at close to modern day enduro bike weights, is this going to be one of the deciding factors? And this is what led me to my next thought, are companies going to just start fudging numbers marketing wise to draw more people in? Afterall, one of the reasons the Focus caught my eye was so many different weights, and those numbers being so light. It's no surprise that companies already do this with non-ebikes to a lesser extent. Bikes sometimes are weighed without all the bolts, smaller frames are oftentimes used, and even though you are going to need an axle, there have been times I have seen questionable weights that make you think the company feels those axles are optional when riding. And with ebikes being so  complex internally and having so many parts that would be convenient to leave out while weighing the bikes for marketing purposes, it must be tempting especially with that title of lightest ebike being on the table this year. So final thoughts on the Focus? It looks like a solid bike that is probably going to have a lot of competition this year. I'm not a fan of the one piece stem-bar setup and also not very keen on the name itself, but overall it's going to be cool to hopefully get some time on this thing this year. And you can guarantee I will be weighing the bike myself! Check out the Focus Vam² SL here: https://www.focus-bikes.com/int/bikes/light-e-mountainbike/vam2-sl

When you think of cycling apparel, you probably think about one of the big companies out there like Troy Lee, Fox or Pearl Izumi. These companies are huge, with giant marketing budgets, endless designers, and a supplier list that would take a full afternoon to look through. But even with all of these resources, how is it that a grassroot operation out of Salt Lake City Utah would destroy them in terms of comfort, fit, and functionality when it came to creating a cycling chamois? Probably because those companies should have spent a little bit more time on customer feedback and maybe a little less on those giant billboards. But hey, billboards are nice.. The chamois we are talking about is the Nezium Game Changing shorts. This is a mountain bike liner with a built-in chamois that you wear underneath your mountain bike shorts. They feature an upside down storage pocket located on side of your right thigh, it closes and opens via a velcro opening and is the perfect spot for your phone to be securely snug and not jumping around in your baggy shorts pocket. The Game Changers also have a water bottle holder on the top-back side of the shorts. The elastic is nice and stretchy where it needs to be, and fitted around the thighs to make sure it's not sliding around while riding. The waistband is a bit oversized to ensure comfort, while the legs feature a silicone material around the end of the shorts to make sure there is no chafing. Most importantly, the shorts breathe insanely well, something that is missing from a lot of other liners on the market. Most likely because those companies spent a lot of time on those billboards. Real World Testing So we have been testing the Nezium Game Changing shorts Version 2.0 for about a year now, and there are some pros and cons. The pro’s are, these are hands down one of the most comfortable riding chamois’s we have tested. The chamois pad itself is the perfect size and density. With a lot of short liners on the market, you can tell that design was an afterthought and they just created something to include with their mountain bike shorts. You feel that while riding in those liners, thick padding and no vents. They overheat and a lot of times chafing is soon followed. But with the Nezium Game Changing shorts, the ventilation is amazing, there is no chafing, the fit is awesome, and you have storage for a phone, keys and water bottle. It’s very clear these shorts were made with intention and not just as an afterthought to include with a purchase of baggys. In the words of Hannah Awesome, who is probably the toughest person to impress when it comes to new gear, “these are the best shorts ever, I need more”! Now how about the cons? Well first and foremost, the lack of billboards. But other than that, not many cons! They are hands down the best pair of cycling shorts we have tested out! If I were to make any complaints it's that they are not available in a bib form just yet, as sometimes I prefer bibs to shorts for longer endurance rides. But hey, an amazing set of shorts, for an affordable price point, and the only thing we are sacrificing is billboards? We’ll take it! Check out the Nezium shorts here: https://www.neziumlife.com/

Pivot Cycles just released the brand new 2024 Switchblade in 3 new colors (the pink neon one being very questionable), and as with any new bike update the question is going to be “is it worth it”? If you have already made your mind up and want one (I already have one on order), Shaun with N+1 Bikes in Louisville, Kentucky already has them in stock so hit him up to purchase one today, and be sure to let him know you are a friend of the channel and he will take care of you! For everyone else who is on the fence, let's talk about it! New and Improved? Bike industry marketing jargon leads me to expect the same words from any bike update. Longer, lower, slacker, more bottomless, better small bump, and future proof, are all terms to be expected from any press release, and the new updated Pivot Switchblade is no different. The press release in fact states these exact words, well minus the future proof, and we will talk about that in a little bit. They did in fact make all of those changes via a lower link as well as adjustment to the bikes geo. The old Switchblade was pretty outdated so some of these new numbers like a 65.2 head angle and a 500mm reach on a size XL are welcomed in a day and age where modern mtb trails are only getting steeper. It features a flip chip to be able to run the bike in a high and low setting, which is something that is welcomed if you are a rider that finds yourself spending equal amounts of time in the PNW as you do in the Phoenix, Arizona desert. On the updated Switchblade you will also find size specific chainstays, with a size XL running a somewhat short 436 mm chainstay length. I say somewhat short because, like Pivot's slightly higher bottom bracket heights, the chainstays on Pivots can also be somewhat shorter than other bikes in similar travel categories. This isn’t a bad thing, but rather what sets Pivot and this new Switchblade apart from the other bikes. So Should You Buy It? Now like I said, I have my updated Pivot Switchblade on order so I haven’t had the opportunity to ride one just yet. But I have spent a considerable amount of time testing on Pivot bikes, and judging by all of the changes I am seeing, I'm getting pretty excited! I feel like this year is going to be a very “catch up on everything we’ve missed because the world was crazy for a little bit” year. You are going to see a lot of brands make the changes that have been needed to existing models, rather than try and launch game changing bikes. Is this Switchblade game changing? No, it's updated, and in fact I think if Pivot really wanted to make a statement they would have gotten rid of superboost. I'm sure on an engineering level, superboost is awesome, but it's pretty clear it's not catching on. So hopefully in the future, just like the WTB grips that required you to cut your bars to install grips, that super boost also disappears. Is it a deal breaker? Like I said, I have my bike on order so absolutely not! Now I will say this, Pivot has changed the game with their bikes in the past. In fact the Pivot Switchblade was one of the first high performance enduro 29ers that absolutely reinvented what you could do on an enduro 29er. You didn't need a Firebird anymore when that first aqua blue Switchblade came out, and that bike was future proof. Now fast forward a few years, and here we are with the updated version, and honestly I like that they didn't destroy an already good thing. The Switchblade is an amazing bike, with just the right amount of travel to get you out of trouble, and an amazing pedaling platform. In this generation, they made it climb better, descend better, all while retaining that same platform that people already love. It’s a win win for everyone (unless you own boost wheels), because if you have a Switchblade from the last few years, it's still worth upgrading. UDH, longer reach, a more refined DW-Link, it's going to feel like an upgrade! And if you don't have a Switchblade, this bike is now back on top of solid contenders for best mid travel 29er on the market, checking off all the boxes in what makes a bike modern and worth it to buy. And who knows, if superboost takes off, it will even be future proof! Conclusion So like I said, I have the new Switchblade on order and am excited to put some time on one! Do I think this bike is game changing? No, but it doesn’t need to be. It is however now a solid contender for best bike in this category, and will be for a while, especially with so many other brands hesitant to introduce new models during a questionable time in the industry. So stay tuned for an official bike review and until then, man that neon is something else isn't it? Check out more info and pricing here: https://explore.pivotcycles.com/bikes/switchblade

The year is 2024 and you are in charge of advertising dollars for a bike company. You have to make the decision of how to spend the marketing budgets, and one of the big decisions is who to sponsor. In addition to the sport of mountain biking itself having changed so drastically in the last few years, how people consume mountain bike content as well as the demographic of who is in the market for bikes has changed as well, making this decision even more complicated. Traditionally sponsorship budgets have gone to professional mountain bike racers, who are the top level athletes of the sport. Someone like Gee Atherton or Aaron Gwin is essentially the Kawhi Leonord or Lebron James of the mountain bike world. Gwin and Lebron James might be a solid comparison as well due to how long they have been around dominating their field, maintaining the elite level talent. However, unlike other mainstream sports such as the NBA, mountain biking is a little bit different. In the NBA, the elite world class players are responsible for a majority of the money being brought into the basketball industry. When you think of money being made in the NBA, some of the biggest revenue streams for a NBA team franchise are ticket sales, TV ads during games, and Jersey as well as Merch sales. People get excited to see their favorite players and when you have someone like Djokivich or Ja Morant, ticket sales go up. People are buying tickets to see these players. The same thing goes to why people would watch on television. As a team it's in your best interest to sign players that are going to make people want to watch. I still get excited every time the Lakers attempt to sign a combo that is supposed to take us to the playoffs, even if I get let down. And a showman that is going to bring that energy, is going to bring more eyes to the game on TV, which in turn increases advertisement revenue from being able to charge more for commercials, especially during things like the NBA playoffs. Jersey sales for a franchise go through the roof when you have a star player as well. What better way to rep your team than wearing your favorite team colors with the stars name on the jersey. I remember growing up during the Kobe era, and wearing the number 8 jersey made you one of the coolest out there, and when he switched to 24, that was a new jersey you needed! Shoe sales also follow here with star athletes getting individual contracts, however this benefits the athlete and less so the overall team. But this shows you their star power in the sport, they are so good that people would buy their shoes! So looking at these sales, it's a no brainer. If you want to increase watch time, ticket sales, merch and jersey profits, and overall numbers across the board, then go out of your way to sign the best of the best. Afterall, with something like the NBA, the correlation between someone who casually enjoys playing the sport of basketball recreationally also being a fan of the NBA and having a favorite player must be insanely high. It is very rare for someone to like to play basketball in their free time to not know who Steph Curry is, right? Now let's go back to mountain biking. Is this the same case? This is where things get complicated, especially with the sport of mountain biking entering the mainstream world during the last few years, and becoming more so a form of outdoor recreation. Is your average mountain biker a huge fan of racing? Who is the demographic for racing and how does that translate into revenue? Is someone more likely to want to spend money with a brand due to that brand's signed racer? How much of racing is the content that's consumed by the end consumer? There isn't a simple answer here. With the demographic of mountain biking having changed so much over the last few years, it's tough to say how big that demo is that consumes racing content, and furthermore than that, is influenced to purchase a bike from a brand due to that pro racer. However if not racing, where do you spend your advertising dollars? That is an even tougher question to figure out. Over the last few years there has been a rise of online content creators, is that where you should spend your marketing dollars? And more importantly will these online content creators stick around? Because after all, one thing about professional mountain bike racing is you don't just become the best overnight. It takes years of training and dedication to get to the point of being the best rider in the world, and when you get there you probably are going to be there for a while. But how about a content creator that went viral in a short period of time, will that sudden rise to popularity be sustainable? Will they burn out? Will they be a solid investment? And also unlike the NBA, there is a lot more that comes out of athletes in mountain biking than an NBA star. Nba stars aren't changing the game of basketball in terms of technology. For the most part, a lot of basketball tech has stayed the same. However, downhill racers are pushing a bike company to the extreme testing and development wise, and we can thank a lot of the design innovation of mountain bikes over the last few years to mountain bike racers who oftentimes are riding bikes that aren't even fully ready just yet. How do you measure that? Because even if you didn't buy your bike because of a racer, chances are a racer had something to do with your bikes development, not a content creator? So how do you spend your marketing dollars as a brand? Do you do a hybrid approach? Do you separate the testing and development from the expectations of an ROI? Do you go out of your way to figure out what the latest and greatest social media app is to get on the new wave early? Well if you are a marketing manager looking for an answer here, I dont have one and I wish you the best of luck because that has to be an insanely hard job!

Recently we had a chance to fly to Taiwan and check out a mountain bike factory, something that not many people get to do! Huge thank you to SR Suntour and DVO Suspension that opened their doors to us and showed us just how mountain bike suspension is made! With deep roots in the sport of mountain biking and a long history in this game, both SR Suntour and DVO Suspension are doing big things in the mountain bike world! Check out the video here:

If you have looked at any of my bikes over the last few years you have probably noticed one thing, I am a SRAM guy. AXS was one of my favorite drivetrains and I found myself using it across all of my bikes. SRAM Code and Force Brakes were my brakes of choice as well. No where on my bike could you find any Shimano bits. However this wasn’t always the case. I actually used to be a huge Shimano fan at one point, even going so far as to only running XT brakes for a solid time period. It wasn’t until XT 11 speed that I started to really fall out of love with Shimano and then that only spiraled over the last few years. Growing up riding in the USA, I didn’t really know much about Shimano's Japanese roots. I just knew they made reliable XT brakes and pedals and had a very bro-bro consumer approach. From a sponsored side, they seemed to mostly sponsor pro elite racers and had a very “cool kids club” approach to marketing in my eyes. Around the time of XT 11 speed is also when I started to really have issues with the clutch on their derailleurs as well. For whatever reason I found myself going through them very often, and when the clutch would break my shifting would get worse. Calling their customer service was met, in my experience, with a lackadaisical response telling me that there was nothing wrong and that I should make sure to use Shimano grease in it. Then their 12 speed drivetrain came out, and I realized they created a new driver body just to run a cassette specific to shimano and that decreased my stoke as well. Then inventory shortages began to happen and it became almost impossible to source XT brakes. Not to mention, even before this, their pricing strategy made no sense whatsoever as you could buy Shimano cheaper online then you could at employee cost working in a bike shop. They seemed like an unorganized brand, with an elite level vibe. Around the same time, SRAM started their AXS wireless shifting campaign and with their much more savvy marketing approach, they won me over and I ended up switching for the next few years. Shimano was a thing of the past for me at that point, up until I went to Japan. Right before our Japan trip I had a chance to start testing out the brand new Sram Transmission, their update to SRAM AXS. Unlike Shimano, Sram tends to make big changes out of the blue and transmission was one of them. They got rid of the derailleur hanger, went UDH and changed the game of drivetrains. And in my opinion, it sucked. I hated the new transmission and I have a review coming out soon on this. But I wouldn't connect a lot of the dots till a little later on, after my Japan trip. I had always known Shimano was a Japanese brand but had never put much thought into it, especially being in North America and dealing with their North America marketing campaigns as well as customer service. However recently I had a chance to spend a month traveling Japan while riding road bikes. I visited bike shops and got a good view of the cycling scene over there, as well as Japanese culture. If you have ever been to Japan you know one thing is certain, everything has a method and reason. It is one of the most organized societies I have ever visited. There is so much pride in the way they do things and I found almost anything I could have thought of was already thought of in advance and had a method. Hotel rooms were half the size of those in the US but filled with everything you needed and the most efficient usage of space. The subway system was mind blowing, so many people were transported at once at the most time punctual level. Everything in Japan was mind blowing to me and very different coming from California where things are a bit more laid back. But one thing stood out to me clearly and that was the pride Japanese people had in their country as well as everyday life, whether it was their job, business, passions, or hobbies. Visiting the bike shops I also saw the pride in Shimano being a Japanese company. I had never seen so many bikes specced with shimano and the logo was everywhere, they loved the brand and it was awesome to see that. Then a few months later I found myself in Thailand on a pro level group road ride. There was a big sprint and I missed the front of the group and got dropped. However after a few minutes of trying to catch up I came across the A group disheveled. There was a crash because a dog had jumped in the road and they were getting their bikes in order. Luckily, the damage to the riders wasn’t too bad however the bikes took a beating. One person was running Shimano Di2 and as I was trying to help him with his bike we realized the shifting was stuck. Trying to diagnose it we realized something was up and someone mentioned “it in crash detection mode”. This was my first time hearing about this and after a google search we realized during a crash, Shimano goes into a crash detection mode to make sure there is not too much damage from a bent hanger. So we had to manually push the derailleur to the easy gear and then program each shift one at a time before it would work again. This was to make sure that there wasn't too much damage to where the derailleur would go into the wheel causing a catastrophic failure. Programming each shift independently and the whole crash detection mode was one of the coolest things I have seen in a while and in the moment it hit me. This reminds me of Japan! It's so well thought out and has an exact method and reason for it. I was blown away at how I could see a countries culture in one of its companies invention real time. I would later spend more time thinking about this and more and more dots started to connect! Things started to make so much more sense! That's why Shimano brakes were so reliable and rarely updated as well as their pedals which stay the same year after year. They work exactly how they need to, a reason for everything. Everything is so well thought out and also replaceable. Their cranks came into my mind, and the simplicity of their cinch system with the little shimano crank tool and 2 bolts. You didn't need to torque it to a ridiculous NM. Simple, well thought out, and efficient. Then I started to think more about SRAM and how ridiculous that out of the blue they would take a very successful drivetrain like AXS and completely change things up for no reason, and also as it seems, without much thought. Getting rid of the derailleur hanger, how would people travel with their bike if they wanted to remove the derailleur? You can't put the axle back into the frame? How about proper torque on the hanger, what if you don't have access while traveling to achieve such a ridiculous torque spec? What about if you want to switch your drive trains between bikes and don't have a phone to access an app to reprogram it? After all you can not adjust Transmission manually it has to be done in an app. Why was none of this thought through? Around the same time they “revamped” their brakes as well putting the cables close to the bar. But in my opinion this doesn’t work and only makes things look worse and cluttered? How could SRAM have my favorite drivetrain and brake combo one year, then all of a sudden revamp everything and all of a sudden I'm not much of a fan? And then my trip to Japan came back into my mind and I realized, that's what makes Shimano so cool! The Japanese element in the brand is so apparent in its components. The products work, have a reason for everything, and are so well thought out, they don't need a crazy marketing campaign to show how reliable they are. I can't help but think of Japan now when I look at Shimano parts and this is what is bringing my stoke back to the brand. Unlike SRAM who goes big when it comes to marketing and branding, Shimano lets the product do the talking and just like most things in Japan, most things in the drivetrain have a reason and method. And I can't believe it took visiting Japan to find this out, as Shimano North America truly had let me down in showing this. Rather I got a much more elite level bro-bro vibe from the marketing team out here, when in my opinion that is not what makes shimano so special. It's the Japanese roots that do. So who knows, maybe my next build will have Shimano, but I will say one thing for certain, that is no thanks to Shimano North America. That is thanks to a trip to Japan, which I can't recommend enough! We always love to her your opinions, be sure to leave them down below!

Did you watch our van tour and have some questions on the exact parts we chose to build the van? Here is a complete list of everything we used in our van and even our Vancept design! If I missed anything be sure to ask me in the comments! Our Sprinter Van Details The chassis is a 2021 Mercedes Sprinter 4x4 170 WB. We purchased the van near the end of 2021 when it was difficult to find and vans. We got lucky when the dealership called and told us someone had returned their van after bringing it home to his unimpressed wife. We didn't originally plan to purchase a 4x4 sprinter but when this van became available in peak waiting times we knew we had to jump on it. Not purchasing the van we had originally wanted turned out to be the biggest blessing because getting a 4x4 was 100% the way to go for us! We got stuck in a snow storm in Sedona and we were the only vehicle able to make it up the road. Our van drove like a tank! It also ended up being the 2nd to last year Mercedes made the 4x4 and switched to AWD. Our Custom Campervan Design Before commencing the build with our van builder, Elevation Road, we had our van design mocked up by Vancept. Once we looked over the 3D conceptual designs we gave Elevation Road the green light to start building! These designs ended up being 99% accurate to the finished van! The Best Exterior Upgrades on Our Sprinter Van Our Tires: Toyo AT3 275/70/17 Toyo is our top pick for tires. These tires lasted us 100K+ miles on our last sprinter van! They are also more affordable than BF Goodrich tires. Wheels: Black Rhino Arsenals We love the look and strength of our Black Rhino Arsenals but we are technically over the weight limit for these wheels. However, we haven't incurred any issues so far. The new Owl Vans Talon wheels would be our top choice for wheels had they been available and released when we were outfitting our van. Their Talon Sprinter Van specific wheel has a much lower offset (wider stance and lower center of gravity) at 30mm and the Black Rhino Arsenals sit at 38mm. Also, the Owl Van Talon wheel can hold up to 4200 lbs per wheel compared to the Black Rhino Arsenals that can support 2600 lbs per wheel. Here is a link to those Owl Van Talon wheels. Fender Kit: Wheel Size Upgrade Fender kit To upgrade your Sprinter van wheels/tires to a larger size, you will have to cut the body of the van for them to fit. We chose 17inch wheels/tires because that is the maximum you can choose before it will affect your cruise control availability. Suspension Upgrade: Van Compass Stage 4.3 Suspension Kit Suspension upgrades for your camper van I would say could be a more important upgrade than the stock tires. The stock suspension for a Mercedes Sprinter van is pretty bad and even though it's a cargo van that is meant to be loaded with weight, the stock suspension is set up for an empty van off the lot to drive well. The stock suspension in. Sprinter van doesn't account for the extra weight you will have in your van. This means when you add your camper build the van will need the extra support and the van will sway a lot at every small bump. There are 2 main companies people go for, Van Compass and Agile Off Road. We chose Van Compass because of availability and cost. Side Steps: Owl Vans Explorer Side Steps The Owl Vans Explorer side steps were a very important upgrade to our van. Since we chose a 4x4 Sprinter and added a suspension kit, our van was sitting pretty high off the ground. The steps really helped me to safely get in and out of the van. The Owl Vans Explorer side steps are also built to sit high and tight so the steps don't hit rocks and get hung up when going down a trail. Rear Box: Owl Vans Large Expedition Box B2 Bike Carrier We added an Owl Vans Large Expedition Box to the rear of our van using the Owl Vans B2 Bike Carrier. In the box we carry all of our wet and smelly items like our water tank hose. It's great having extra storage for items we don't want to store inside the van itself! Rear Ladder and Tire Carrier: Owl Vans Explorer On the drivers side of the van we added a rear ladder and tire carrier from Owl Vans. It was important for us to carrier our spare tire on the outside of our van because our spare tire holder holds a spare water tank and our spare won't fit in the holder because of the upgraded size. As a bonus the tire carrier has a ladder attached so we can get on and off our roof rack easily. Awning: Fiamma F80s The awning we chose is the Fiamma F80s. We chose to get the longer length so it covers a good majority of the side of the van. We also opted for a mechanical awning over an electric because of the issues other van owners said the electric awnings have given them. Winch: Warn VR EVO 12-S We chose the Warn VR EVO 12-s winch because of it's affordability and great reviews. We have had to use our winch a few times now and it's worked perfectly for us! Front Bumper: Ca Tuned Off-Road The front bumper we chose is the Ca Tuned Off-road bumper. Its a very minimal design and one of the biggest regrets in our van build. If we could choose our bumper again we would go for the Aluminess Front Bumper with the bull bar. We haven't had any issues with our CA Tuned front bumper but we now wish we would have opted for more coverage. Although it is much more sleek and minimal, ultimately the CA Tuned bumper does not offer as much protection as the Aluminess. If we were to hit a deer we would be much better protected with the Aluminess front bumper. Lights on Front Bumper: LP9 Pro Driving Combo Clear Attached to our Ca Tuned front bumper we have 2 Baja Designs Lp9 Pro Driving/Combo White lights. These lights are massive and in retrospect the Baja Designs Lp6 lights would have been more than sufficient. Let's just say our lights would blind a deer! Roof Rack: Aluminess Touring Roof Rack We went for the Aluminess Touring roof rack with the perforated deck. We love this roof rack, it's pretty stable for walking on and perforations make for easy walking. The touring version is great too because of the front drop down bar where we mounted a light bar. Light Bar on Roof Rack: OnX6 Straight Driving Combo 50in On our Aluminess touring roof rack we attached a Baja Designs OnX6 Straight Driving Combo 50in light bar. This light bar is super bright but we aren't sure we needed the amber lights on the side because we don't off-road very often in foggy or dusty conditions. Side and Rear Lights: Baja Designs S2 Sport For the side and rear of the van we attached the Baja Designs S2 Sport lights. They are super bright but easily dimmable. We especially like using the rear lights for backing up the van and side lights for camping. Bunk Window: CR Laurence Half Slider We added CR Laurence half slider bunk windows to both sides of the van in our bed area. These windows have helped so much on hot nights! It's great to be able to get fresh air into the bed area. Driver Side Vented Window: CR Laurence Dual Vent Besides the bunk windows, the only other window we changed out was the drivers side window in our work area. We went for the CR Laurence Dual Vent window for extra air circulation. It would be great to replace the stock window in the sliding door with this window as well. Shower Fan: MaxxAir Dome Fan We added a small MaxxAir Dome fan in our shower to helpw ith humidity in the van when showering! Roof Fan: MaxxAir Maxx Fan Lastly, we added a MaxxAir Maxx Fan in the center of the van and right underneath our 2 solar panels (from the roof view). We really like the placement of our fan because it circulates all of the air in our van easily and its close to both our shower and kitchen which need the most air. Kitchen Products and Appliances Tile: Basic white subway tile from Lowes Yes, we used real tile in our kitchen backsplash and no, tiles have not been broke! Real tile real adds to the space and makes it feel like an actual home on wheels and not a slapped together RV. One tip I have is to use flexible grout or silicone to help the tiles stay intact when driving, there are plenty of videos on Youtube on how to do this, Eamon and Bec taught me what to tell my van builder lol! I know real tile in a van isn't for everyone but it has our vote! Faucet: Black Amazon Faucet We chose this inexpensive farmhouse style black faucet. We like this faucet because the height is slightly shorter than standard kitchen faucets. It works perfectly with the size sink we chose! Sink: Kraus 17in Sink This sink is on the pricey side at over $300 but we really wanted a quality stainless steel sink that would last. A lot of high end camper vans actually go with this Ruvati sink (check it out on Amazon here) but I really wanted an under mount sink so we went with the Kraus instead. I really like this sink, it's held up well and comes a cutting board that we frequently use to cover the sink and gain extra counter space when we aren't using it. Fridge: Dometic CRX 110S Refrigerator In our last camper van we went with the Dometic CFX 95 DZ which we liked but I personally really missed the look and functionality of a traditional standing fridge. We chose the 110 over for the 130 size because the 110 was the biggest we could go before we had to make the countertop depth longer than what we needed the countertop to be. We love our fridge! The freezer can fit a surprising amount of items and so can the fridge portion. Oven: Greystone Rv Oven A big deal for me when designing this van was that I wanted as many traditional home appliances and features that I could realistically squeeze in. I really wanted the van to feel like a tiny home on wheels! That's why the oven was a non negotiable. We went with the Greystone 17in RV Oven and have no regrets! The oven runs off propane but you can't really escape that in a camper van without having to really oversize your battery bank. I use the oven almost daily and absolutely love it! Microwave: Greystone Microwave The microwave is the only feature in the kitchen I sometimes question because I rarely use it. It doesn't take a tremendous amount of power, it's about the same as our Vitamix (around 1000 watts) and you need to use it usually for less time than the Vitamix. However, it does take a lot for me to use it reheat food because it feels like an unnecessary consumption of power when I can typically use the stove to do so. I think all in all I am still happy we chose to do a microwave because I love having the option of using it! It's especially handy for microwave popcorn and for reheating food quickly when we are busy or driving to a destination! Drinking Water Filter + Tap: Acuva ArrowMAX 2.0 (“mohannah” for 10% off) If you are planning on amping or spending a considerable amount of time in your van, you NEED a water filter. You can't always trust the fresh water going into your van, you need to filter it. Plus, you can't be constantly filling or buying water bottles. We went with Acuva for our water filter needs and chose the Acuva ArrowMAX 2.0. This water filter is a compact but powerful high performance UV filter that inactivates 99.999% of E. coli bacteria and with the pre filter unit, filters 99% of chlorine and lead, plus VOCs and unpleasant odors. Use code "mohannah" for 10% off with Acuva RV water filters! Shower Products Shower Fan: MaxxAir Dome Fan Already mentioned above, this little fan does a great job controlling humidity in the shower area. Shower Pan: RV Shower pan (perfect size) This shower pan was the perfect size for us and I would say it's the smallest shower size I would recommend. With our natures head toilet removed and in our hallway we can comfortably take individual showers. The size of the shower pan is 24x32in which of course is 2ft in width and 2.66ft in length. Wood Shower Floor: Teak Shower Mat For both aesthetic and space maximizing purposes we had our van builder cut this teak shower mat to fit perfectly within our shower pan. The shower pan does have an unnecessary 3in or so lip that goes around the edge of the pan and it takes up a lot of "shower real-estate". The lip is weaker than the floor so be sure to use the scrap teak from your cut and add long enough supports so that the weight is distributed evenly through the floor of the shower pan. Toilet: Natures Head Composting Toilet Now for the more controversial portion of our bathroom, the toilet. Deciding what toilet we wanted for our van was no easy task but choosing which we hated came easy to us. Option 1: The Dometic Cassette Toilet The toilets we eliminated right away were cassette toilets. The clean up and smell involved with a cassette toilet was out of the question for us. In a cassette toilet the solids and liquids mix together and you have to empty the sewage into a public toilet. Option 2: The Laveo Dry Flush Toilet In the Laveo Dry Flush Toilet each time you use the restroom (# 1or # 2) the toilet vacuum seals your waste. It initially sounded like a good idea but in reality we realized we would go through too many expensive refill cartridges, on amazon 3 cartridges with 15 uses per cartridge will run you around $100. See for yourself. Option 3: Natures Head Composting Toilet The Natures Head Composting Toilet was the option that we ultimately decided on. The composting toilet works by separating liquids and solids into 2 different compartments. The liquids go into a removable pee jug and the solids go into a larger composting bin. The composting bin you have to fill with a composting agent, we tried coconut coir. Quick review of the Natures Head Composting Toilet We are happy with the pee situation although it's not a very glamours task to empty it. However the composting solids aspect just didn't work for us. We tried using the solids section once and the whole van smelled awful, like manure. Perhaps the venting hole we used wasn't quite large enough or the fan on the Nature Head toilet is not powerful enough, we aren't sure. This toilet has worked great for many people and maybe ours was set up wrong. What we decided is that, even without the smell, we realized we just weren't comfortable with defecating so close to where we sleep and in such a contained and closed environment. So we cleaned out the compost and now only use the toilet for liquids. TLDR: We decided defecating in our van was out of the question for our comfort level and we only use the Natures Head Composting Toilet for pee. Shower Wall: Faux Shower Tiles We got a few questions in regards to our shower walls. We skipped the basic white FRP board and went for these faux tiles from Lowes. The really add to the space and make it look more put together. Toilet Paper Holder: Waterproof Dometic Toilet Paper Holder Don't forget the TP! We store our toilet paper in this recessed waterproof toilet paper holder from Dometic. It's hard to fit larger rolls in it but overall it works well and does a great job keeping our toilet paper tucked away and dry! Water Saving Shower Head: Nebia Shower Head Our favorite feature in our shower is the Nebia Corre four-function, handheld and water saving shower head. This shower head only uses 1.5 gpm where as traditional shower heads use 2.5 gpm. The way this shower head is able to save you so much precious van water is by using up to 60% more force. We were pretty excited to try this shower head out when we first heard of it but also a little worried about how it would perform. It ended up working great and actually better than a traditional shower head. Although it is higher pressure, it uses less water so in return the spray doesn't hurt and efficiently removes soap, shampoo and conditioner with ease. It also helps us to take longer showers and not worry so much about how much water we are using. We really recommend it for your camper van build or even your home! Electrical Batteries: Battle Born 100AH Lithium We had a 200AH deep cycle battery in our last van and new we wanted a much bigger system and lithium ion batteries in this van! A very simplified and basic explanation is that lithium ion is the way to go over deep cycle because, unlike deep cycle batteries, you deplete the battery more then 50% and even to 0% without causing damage. Plus lithium batteries are much lighter and smaller in size. We have 4 100AH Lithium batteries and it has been a great size system for us! We chose Battle Born because of their excellent reputation and 10 year warranty but I am sure there are less expensive options out there. ⚠️ If you made it to this part of my dreadfully long blog post, lucky you because I'll give you a HUGE tip. If you shop Battle Borns Black Friday sale you might be able to snag blem (cosmetic damage only) batteries at about 50% off. This saved us sooo much money!! ⚠️ Inverter: Victron MultiPlus 3000 Watt We went for a very larger inverter because we knew we had a lot of high power appliances. At 3000 watts capacity, we can power a Vitamix and hair dryer at the same time if we wanted to! A great feature with this inverter from Victron is that it also has a charger, which gives us the ability for shore power hookup! This thing is a beast! Charge Controller: Victron Smart Solar MPPT Simply the best solar charge controller for if you are using lithium ion batteries! We have the 30 Amp because we have less than 400 watts of solar. X2 USB Charger: Amazon USB Chargers 2 These USB chargers were placed on each side of our bed near our pillows so we can charge our phones at night. It's really nice to have quick and easy access to a phone charging cable late at night before we sleep. It's also great that it runs off 12v versus 120v because it helps us to save battery! X4 USB Charger: Amazon USB Charger 4 We have a lot of electronics so we put one of these inside one of our seat storage boxes and one underneath our work table. Again, it's important to try and use 12volt wherever you can to save power and not run the inverter! Solar Panels: Renogy 175 Watt Solar Panels These solar panels are the best panels for your Mercedes Sprinter van roof, they fit perfectly across the width of the van. No tetris involved, these are the perfect width. We added only 2 panels for 350 watts of solar and they barely took up any space on our roof rack. Plumbing Water Fill: Water Inlet Hatch on Side of the Van Very basic water inlet hatch with gravity and city fill plus a key that locks the door from the outside. We chose black to match our gray/blue Sprinter van.Not much to say! Grey Water Release: Motorized Ball Valve This is one of the best features of our plumbing! This simple motorized ball valve works from a switch on our kitchen wall to release and close our grey water tank. No more having to go outside to open the grey water or lugging your grey water from your kitchen cabinet to outside to empty it. This small part makes a huge difference in your day to day! Water Heater: Bosch 2.5 Gallon Water Tank This is one our van regrets! This 2.5 gallon water heater from Bosch takes so much power and really depletes our batteries. It took a while for us to figure out the best way to use it. We found that during the day when we are taking in a lot of solar, when we are driving and when we are plugged in with shore power are the best times to run it. It keeps the water pretty hot inside the tank for several hours which is nice. Make sure to put it on a switch though because it's not something you want to be constantly running. It does take about 30 minutes before it finishes heating up the water completely. We sometimes only run it for about 15-20 minutes just to get a warm shower! Water Level Sensor: Water Level Sender These water level sensors sit in your water tanks and connect to your water level gauges inside the van to give you a pretty accurate reading of how much water you have. Make sure you get the correct length sensors or your readings won't be accurate! Water Level Gauge: Electric Water Level Gauge Just like the sensors, we have 3 of these water level gauges, one for our gray water tank, our main fresh water tank and one for our reserve fresh water. They work great, just be sure to connect them properly to your water level sensors. I also suggest putting a switch for the light if you decided to connect one of those wires, I believe there are 3 different light colors to choose from. Main Fresh Water Tank: 33gallon Wheel Well Water Tank We decided on the NW Conversions 33 gallon right side wheel well tank. This tank is specially designed to fit over the vans wheel well and be super space efficent! Reserve Fresh Water Tank: 28gallon Spare Tire Water Tank Since our oversized spare wheel/tire was going on the outside of our van, we had room in our spare tire holder to fit this 28 gallon water tank from NW Conversions. We know had a total of 61 gallons of fresh water on board! Gray Water Tank: 22gallons Undercarriage Drivers Side Water Tank We fit this undercarriage water tank on the drivers side near our fuel tank. It holds 22 gallons of gray water and can be emptied inside from a switch, using that motorized ball release. We are happy we chose to this tank over the passenger sliding door tank because it does not interfere with our side steps and it hold more water! Miscellaneous Bug Screens: Garage and Sliding Door Insect Screens These bug screens from The Bug Wall have made a big difference with our van. The privacy and protection against insects have made a significant difference in our comfortability in our van! Click here for a more detailed review of our The Bug Wall insect screens! Black Out Window Shades: Wanderful Shades Instead of curtains (although you could do both) we opted for black out window covers for the front cabin and the rest of our windows. These black out window shades from The Wanderful are great because they black out your van windows from the outside and the inside and they provide an insulated barrier. I also love having the front seat area accessible at night when we are trying to be stealth. 4” Natural Latex Mattress and Pillows: 2" Firm and 2" Medium Firm Mattress Toppers Another one of our favorite features in our van is our custom mattress! We opted for a latex mattress over a foam mattress because it's natural and more eco friendly. We also found the more "springy" feeling of the latex to be much more comfortable. We went with Sleep On Latex for our latex mattress and they couldn't have been more helpful! With our bed being higher than most van beds, we knew our mattress could not be thicker than about 4" so they suggest combining 2 2" mattress toppers together. We explained to them our sleeping positions (back, side) and they recommended us to go for a "2 firm mattress topper and a 2" medium firm topper on top of that. The toppers were cut to fit our custom van bed as well. The combination they recommend us ended up being a dream! We are really happy with our bed! Bed Sheets (Use this link to get $25 off $100+ order): The Best Linen Bed Sheets I had been on the hunt for linen bed sheets for quite some time and after months of research I landed on Brooklinen! I can't recommend these sheets enough if you are in the market for a solid set of linen sheets. I choose linen for the van because they are known to keep you cooler in summer months. We have a diesel heater so we were worrying about the most warm sheets but since we don't have air conditioning, I wanted to make sure we wouldn't overheat in the summer time! These sheets have done a great job in summer and have kept their promise of a light and airy feel! Diesel Heater: Espar S2-D2L In my opinion, a diesel heater is a van essential. It's something we also didn't have in our last van and we really suffered from it. Even if you do your best to never be on cold climates, you need to be prepared for a cold night or two. Van life can become really uncomfortable without the right equipment and I would say a diesel heater is also a safety feature. We went for the Espar Diesel heater because of it's ability to regulate in altitude but there are definitely more budget friendly options as well! Cabinet Pulls: Low Profile Cabinet Pul from Lowes I added these cabinet pulls and knobs down below because I really struggled to find pulls and knobs that were both modern and low profile enough for using in a tight space. Hopefully this is helpful for you! Cabinet Knobs: Small Square Knobs from Lowes These cabinet knobs were used on all of our upper cabinets except for our overhead cab cabinet where we used a cabinet pull. They are pretty low profile so we never hit our head on them when getting in and out of bed. Ceiling lights: Recessed 12V Lights We went for these recessed 12 volt ceiling lights from Amazon. We chose warm lighting and we love the warmth it brings to our cool toned white interior! These lights are also dimmable and hooked up to a dimming light switch. Garage shower: Recessed Garage Shower Hookup This recessed garage shower is great for washing off our bikes after a muddy ride or rinsing off our feet after a surf! We love having water access from outside the van! Garage door storage: Cheap Door Shoe Holder The last thing we added to our van was these shoe holders on each rear garage doors. We were originally planning on shelling out big money for a sprinter specific storage solution in our garage but ultimately we couldn't find anything we liked enough. We ended up purchasing these cheap shoe holders for each door and although they aren't super high quality they do their job and provide so much storage for not only our shoes but all of our bike equipment and tools.

Use MO&HANNAH for a special discount with TheBugWall.com ! Any van owner knows, there are a seemingly unlimited number of upgrades you can make to your van. It can be overwhelming and as someone whose gone down the money pit, I am here today to share one product that's at the top of my list for most important upgrades. If you plan to spend any time in your van this summer you might want this to be your next purchase. Let me introduce (or re introduce) you to The Bug Wall, USA made bug/privacy screens for your van's sliding and garage doors. "US Made from tough marine canvas, high quality No-See-Um bug netting, USA made marine grade zippers! UV stable and built to last in the elements. Keep the bugs out when needed and have it out of the way when you don't need it." TheBugWall.com We were fortunate enough to be able to connect with Dutch the owner of the Bug Wall in Conway, South Carolina last winter. Dutch made his very first bug wall for his wife so she wouldn't have to worry about the bugs that come with a summer in South Carolina. Soon after, friends and strangers alike started asking to purchase one of these handmade screens from Dutch. Before Dutch knew it his handmade bug screen exploded into a full blown business. The Bug Wall currently makes their high quality but affordable bug screens for Mercedes Sprinters, Ford Transits and Ram Promasters of various years and models. We were beyond stoked that Dutch helped us out with their latest and greatest V2 sliding door and rear door screens. He even installed them in our 2021 Mercedes Sprinter van. The V2 Sliding Door Insect Bug Screen The Version 2 Sliding Door Insect Bug Screen Upgrades The V2 was upgraded from the first version with the addition zippers that line the top of the mesh screen so the screen can be completely removed if need be. They also added foam along the bottom of the screen so it can be rolled up easier. Another benefit of the additional top zipper is that you can change out the mesh bug screen with their new Chill Curtain. It's a clear marine grade vinyl curtain that is best used on cold days to keep heat in or on hot days if you have your air con going. Dutch hooked us up with one of these and we can't wait to get some use out of it next winter! We opted for the offset of the magnetic opening strip to be towards the front of the van because of our kitchen base cabinet. The magnets are strong enough so if you walk in or out of the van the magnets will find each other and close the screen back up. If you prefer you can also opt for a zipper but for frequent in and out traffic it doesn't make much sense to us. This option would make sense for little in and out traffic or for people with dogs and small kids. A surprising benefit of having the bug wall for our sliding door is that there is an added level of privacy between inside the van and the outside world. For me this was a huge plus, I don't have any view obstruction of the outside but it isn't so easy for onlookers to see me inside the van. If someone is close enough they could see me but from about 10 feet away (dependent on the sunlight) it would be tough for someone to look in. This is a huge relief for hot days when I need the additional airflow and my boyfriend is away from the van getting extra laps in on his bike. All in all we are very happy with our new sliding door screens and seriously can't believe we went 5 years in our last van without them! The V2 Rear Garage Insect Bug Screen Use code MO&HANNAH for a special discount with TheBugWall.com The rear garage screen has to be our favorite addition to the van so far. The Bug Wall V2 Rear Garage Insect Bug Screen not only offers protection against insects but has multiple features for privacy and weather protection. My husband and I are big cyclists which means our van garage is always filled with expensive bikes. We value safety and privacy so it's great that you can choose the height of the insulated canvas so that it lines up perfectly with the bottom of your bed. It's a relief to know that our bikes are not shown to the outside world whenever we might need to grab something from the garage and aren't in the best of neighborhoods. Another great aspect of the roll up insulated canvas is that well it's insulated and weatherproof which really helps to keep the inside of the van temperature controlled when the garage is open on a cold day. The top half of the garage wall has 3 different modes you can switch between. There is the bug screen of course and you can roll up or down, a black privacy shade velcroed from the inside and a clear marine vinyl on the outside. We really enjoy the screen by itself on a hot summers day when we need some cross breeze in the van, the black out screen when someone is in the bed and needs privacy and the clear vinyl when its cold outside but we still want a view from our bed! One last small but surprisingly helpful feature of the garage screen is that theres a tab running across the width of the bed and can be tucked underneath your mattress. One thing that we overlooked in our van is the possibility of your pillows falling down to the garage through a gap between where your rear windows are and the edge of the bad platform. This tab stops your pillows from falling. Installation It's no secret that Mo and I aren't very handy people, go watch some older videos of our last van which was entirely self built. For 5 years that van took us to some amazing places but you'll probably agree that we aren't great with tools. So, we couldn't of been more relieved when Dutch himself said he would install both screens for us. The whole installation actually looks very simple and took under an hour. Dutch also makes it very easy for you to know how to install the screens at home. Here is a link to his website where he links installation videos and detailed instructions. Unlike very expensive options like Rolief, there is no drilling required and the screen is installed via adhesive, optional small clips and through securing it underneath the weather strip. Final Thoughts First off, it's a bug screen and it obviously does a great job at being that. With the correct installation, there are no gaps for insects to sneak past. We also learned from our visit to HQ that Dutch is VERY specific about their "No-See-Um bug netting". It not only needs to be very durable but it also needs to be quite fine so not even the smallest of bugs can get past the screen. During the supply chain issues of the pandemic, Dutch had a problem sourcing his bug screen material. Through the supplier he was able to find only one other company in the U.S. that uses the same screen material and they so happened to also be right next to him in South Carolina. I guess you can say South Carolinans know a thing or 2 about keep bugs away. Have any questions? Contact The Bug Wall directly or comment down below! You can use code MO&HANNAH at checkout for a special discount!

After almost a year riding our Fezzari Delano Peaks, you could say we are due for a bike check post. So without further adieu, here is everything we are running on our Delanos! Frame: Fezzari Delano Peak (duh) https://fezzari.com/products/delano Fork and Shock: DVO Diamond/ DVO Topaz https://dvosuspension.com/ Save15% off with DVO Suspension with code "AwesomeMTB " at checkout! Rear derailleur: SRAM AXS GX https://bit.ly/33mHCMo Shifter: SRAM AXS https://bit.ly/3GDpzQs Chain: SRAM XX1 Chain (lasts longer) https://bit.ly/3qHnRZ7 Bottom Bracket: Chris King https://bit.ly/33mHyw8 Crankset: XX1 Carbon Cranks https://bit.ly/3IfohvD Cockpit: Handlebars: One Up https://bit.ly/3IbAxNz Headset: Chris King https://bit.ly/3GA6YVD Stem: Industry 9 A35 https://bit.ly/3rrdK9B Grips: OneUp https://bit.ly/3QzPPQ3 Brakes: SRAM Code RSC https://bit.ly/3FyKiDK Rotors: Shimano RT-86 https://bit.ly/3qAo0xo Wheels: Crankbrothers Synthesis Enduro Carbon With Industry9 Hydra Hubs: https://bit.ly/3qwQxnd Tires: Maxxis Minion DHF Front/ DHR Rear https://bit.ly/3A2aFAZ Saddle: Mo is running: Specialized Power Pro Mimic https://bit.ly/3Fs3DK2 Hannah uses Ergon SM Sport Gel Women's Saddle Dropper Post: One Up https://bit.ly/3Bz3N04 Pedals: Crankbrother Stamp 7 https://bit.ly/3VRTMTi The final touch to our bike builds was some Better Bolts titanium oil slick bolts. They are stronger, better looking and for the weight weenies, lighter! Personally we love the extra flare the oil slick adds to our bikes! Save 10% off Better Bolts with code "Mo&Hannah"! Have any questions? Drop them below!

With the holidays fast approaching we put together our favorite products of 2021. Here are 8 items that every cyclist can't go without! 1. A New Helmet It's surprising how little some cyclists replace their helmets. A general rule is that if you have ever crashed on your helmet you must replace it but also replacing your helmet every 2 years is recommended because it ensures that the foam hasn't been compromised from sun exposure and the elements. All in all, you can't go wrong with giving your cyclist a new helmet to ensure their safety and get them more style points! My personal favorite helmet is the Specialized Ambush MIPS and my boyfriend Mo's is the Troy Lee Designs A2. I would recommend sticking with whatever brand the person currently has because different brands can fit people differently. I will say, however, that Specialized and Troy Lee Designs make helmets that fit a large range of cyclists. 2. Cold Weather Riding Gear Unless you live in Southern California you might have noticed that the weather has been getting a little colder and will continue to be cold until we get to Spring (duh). Some of my personal favorite cold-weather riding gear include the Specialized Trail-Series Alpha Jacket and the Specialized Trail-Series Thermal Glove. These styles also come in both men's and women's sizing! There are plenty more cold-weather riding gear options on CompetitiveCyclist.com. 3. New Saddle Many cyclists never replace the stock saddle on their bike but it's one of the cheapest and most important upgrades you can do. A good saddle will make a world of a difference. Mo raves about the Specialized Power Mimic Saddle. This saddle includes Specialized's Mimic technology which was made for women and their lady bits in mind but many men like Mo say it's the best saddle they have ever used. The Mimic technology makes the middle section of the saddle much softer and subtle. All around you can't go wrong with this saddle. My personal all-time favorite saddle has to be the Ergon SM Sport Gel Women's Saddle. I've never met another woman who said they didn't love this saddle. It's cushioned enough for you to forget about it while you are riding but stiff enough to be dependable when you are putting the power down! They also make a men's version, you can find it here! 4. Sram GX AXS Upgrade KIt This is the ultimate gift to give the mountain biker in your life. No longer are the days that you have to spend $1000 to get electronic shifting. The Sram GX AXS Upgrade Kit is $600 and can turn any Sram 12-speed drivetrain into an electronic drivetrain. You can save 15% off your first order at CompetitiveCyclist.com by using our code AWESOMEMTB15. (exclusions apply) 5. New Pedals Pedals are obviously an important part of your bike, they are also important not to neglect. Many new riders do not understand how important it is to upgrade your stock pedals and spend a little extra money for pedals that will grip your shoe well. Our favorite pedals are the Diety T-Macs and the Crankbrothers Stamp 7 Pedals. Mo raves about his Diety T-Mac Pedals and they are probably just as important to him as his Specialized Mimic Pro Saddle. The Diety T-Macs are a very burly, thick, and grippy pedal (your foot ain't coming off it!). I love my Crankbrothers Stamp 7 pedals because they come in two sizes, small and large. Being able to run a size small pedal is really helpful for me and my smaller shoe size. They also work perfectly with the pattern on the bottom of my Crank Brothers Stamp Boa Cycling Shoe. 6. New Bike Work Stand If the cyclist in your life has invested in a nice bike they need a bike work stand to keep that bike in tip-top shape! Working on your bike while it's on the floor is inconvenient and uncomfortable. If their bike is in a bike stand they'll be able to look at the bike at eye level and spin the wheels while they work lube on their chain or while they check if their brake pads are rubbing. Mo has owned a Feedback Sports Bike Stand for years now and it's held up well. It's the gift that'll keep on giving for years to come. They won't be able to stop themselves from thinking of you every time they work on their bike! ;) 7. Travel Bike Bag With travel starting up again an amazing gift to the cyclist in your life would be a bike travel bag. A bike travel bike is essential to any cyclist as there will be a point in which they will want to venture to trails outside of their local territory. Traveling to new and far places with your bike is one of the most exciting parts of the sport. The bike bag that we recommend the most is the Evoc Sports Bike Travel Bag. Evoc is the top brand when it comes to technical backpacks and bike travel bags. They make it very easy and straightforward to pack your bike and you can have peace of mind that your bike will be protected. You won't go wrong! 8. New Riding Clothes Competitive Cyclist has tons of options when it comes to mountain and road cycling clothes. My top pick for winter is the Specialized Trail- Series Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey. This jersey is very warm and doesn't stick to your skin when you sweat. For extra cold days, it also makes the perfect base layer. It comes in men's and women's sizing. For days you can wear shorts, I love the new Specialized Trail Air Shorts. These shorts are extremely lightweight and breathable. They also have a ratchet closure on the waist which makes them easy to get on and off but they stay put and won't come undone in the roughest of trails. Don't forget you can save 15% off your first order at CompetitiveCyclist.com by using our code AWESOMEMTB15. (exclusions apply) Thank you to Competitive Cyclist for sponsoring this gift guide. 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