Sedona MTB Fest Gear Round-Up Vol. 2

MRP “Ready to Shred” Now With Custom Colors

In case you didn’t know, MRP’s forks are assembled in Colorado. Each one is even tested on a dynamometer before it’s boxed up and sent out. And if that still not enough tender, loving care, MRP’s small-batch approach allows them to extend that hands-on approach to each individual customer with their Ready To Shred program. You can get your fork delivered, as you might guess, “ready to shred,” with the settings dialed to your liking, the steerer tube cut to your size, and even a headset crown race pre-installed.

And if that’s still not enough, MRP will soon be adding some pretty deep color customization. You can pick the colors of the lowers, the decals, even the crown, and your choices are nearly as extensive as the Cerakote catalog that MRP draws from for their high-quality coatings. Now you just have to pick which model fork you want. 

Panzer Tire Liners

There are two great reasons not to run tire inserts. They’re hard to install and they’re heavy. Panzer designs their liners to solve both. Traditional liners complicate mounting your tires because, at rest, they take up the space in the rim bed where your tire beads need to be. The more of the bead you manage to tuck underneath the liner, the harder it will be to tuck in what’s left. That’s why you end up with the last 10 inches of bead hopelessly shut out of their rightful home. But the inward-facing surface of the Panzer liner doesn’t take up the entire rim bed. Instead, it’s a narrow ridge that leaves plenty of room for both tire beads to sneak in next to it. That ridge sits below the Panzer insert’s wide, rectangular cross-section, which is its main active ingredient. 

But even with installation out of the way, inserts are still heavy. A standard 29-inch CushCore insert weighs 260 grams. The XC 29-inch Cush Core weighs 150 grams. But the aggressive-riding-focused, 2.6-inch-ready, 29-inch Panzer insert weighs just 90 grams, and the XC-focused, 2.3-inch-max one weighs 60 grams. Panzer also claims their inserts work with traditional valve stems, while flatter-inner-profile inserts require unique. Panzer also makes their own sealant, but their inserts will work with pretty much anything out there. Panzer sells their inserts individually, so they won’t be offended if you only want to run one in the rear.

MONē Bikes Brass Accents: $25 – $60

MONē Bikes is the sort of name you might see at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Fillet-brazed frames, stems and handlebars, with copper-shaded joints showing loud and proud. But let’s be honest. These are not bikes for the masses, and I don’t think Cjell Monē, founder of Colorado-based MONē Bikes, would disagree.

For most of us, a mass-produced aluminum or carbon mid-travel trail bike is simply the better tool to access the experience we’re looking for. But that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t like to add a little soul to those tools if we had a way to do it. That’s exactly what MONē’s brass accents are for.

Their seatpost clamps, bar plugs, headset caps and raw brass spoke nippes offer something that looks and feels deeper than what you could achieve with anodized aluminum. And unlike aluminum, the brass finish can’t be scratched or gouged over time. It will just gain more character. So, if it works with your color scheme, MONē parts may be be best way to give your bike some personality, even if that bike is mass-produced aluminum or carbon.

Zoic Women’s Premium Bib Liner: $80

Zoic is an old name in mountain-bike apparel. They were one of the first brands to produce what you might call “lifestyle” riding clothes. Stuff that you’d wear if you wanted to look, ya’ know, normal. Now, decades later, Zoic is still in the business of making practical kits for riders who want to wear things that are easy to live with. And that includes their technical offerings like liners and bibs. One remarkable new offering on display at Sedona was their Womens’ Premium Bib Liner.

The $80 bib short is packed with quite a few features, like a low-profile zippered pocket for a car key, credit card or cash, a convenient open-top pocket on the thigh for a phone or multi-tool, and what is essentially a zippered “fly” on the back that makes pit-stops easier.

But what’s most impressive about the Premium Bib Liner is its overall quality. When it’s easy to spend well over twice what this liner costs, Zoic constructed the six-panel short with flat stitching, an Italian chamois, and, most importantly, wide, flat shoulder straps that don’t rely on pressure-point-causing reinforced edges. They are soft and thin, and are the way bibs are meant to be held up.