Shoes for some people, can be a dime a dozen. To me, they are one of my most important riding tools-call them equipement if you will. Nobody likes shoes that make their feet hurt while they ride, or slip off your pedals, or destroy your toes when they get a little too close to a rock while pinning it. I have a long history with clip in bike shoes and have finally found one that completely satisfies my DH needs.

I've been trying to wrap my head around what an "All Mountain" mountain bike is to me, as it seems to vary a bit between bike companies. But the General concensus is that the bike should be able to do "All". Climb well, XC really well (has to be a good pedal ’er) and descend like a short travel DH rig. Sounds easy enough-haha not really, but there are bikes out there that do fit this bill. After a quick bit of research and a general idea of what I wanted in a bike I set out to build my own “All Mountain” mountain bike.

Check out the criteria:

The Sam Hill paparazzi were on site at the Sea Otter Classic and we were able to infiltrate the highly guarded Monster Energy/Iron Hose/Mad Catz Pit area. In one corner you could find Jacy Shumilack, the team mechanic, working his magic and meticulously paying attention to every detail, from decal orientation to aerodynamics of the cables. Sean Heimdal, the Team Manager, could be found inside the team trailer doing what appeared to be nothing!

I featured the Lupine Edison 5 in my Fresh Meat feature last month. I won’t go into details as to how nice the light looks but a bit more about how it works while on the darker side of the trails.

Litter OTB for the 2007 Sea Otter Classic is now open. Tons of prizes from TLD, SRAM, e.thirteen, Oakley and SDG.

Get yer bet on!

Time for another installment of Fresh Meat and this time it's from the variety platter. A few bits for the rider and a few bites for the bike. Starting with your bike, we've got the new Speedplay Drillium pedals, MRP's system 3 chain guides and the Dangerboy Howitzer LP Stem.

Keeping you the rider in good shape are the TSG Timo edition knee pads, Troy Lee Design's XC gloves and the re-designed Mace 3/4 Ignition shorts. Read on to learn more about each part.