I’ve been trying out several different items of clothing while riding lately and I figured I would give you some updates and first impressions on some of it.

First off, I have been riding exclusively with the Lake MX 155 adventure shoes. At first I wasn’t sure what I would think of them since they weren’t mountain bike exclusive shoes, however I’ve been very pleasently surprised so far.

They are a lot more comfortable then my last pair of mountain biking shoes and having them water proof up to my ankles has been a nice feature to for those couple times I’ve ended up off my bike in a creek. Once I got used to the cleat placement, engaging in the pedals became second nature once again and the shoes seem to have plenty of clearance.

The only problems I have had so far is that the laces seem to be a bit short and make it hard to double knot them. I also had one of the cleats come off the toe, however it’s all good cause Lake supplied the extra set of cleats for just such an occasion.

Also, a few weeks back Louis Garneau sent us out a pair of their full length Finland Chamois tights. They are designed mainly for winter riding, however I took them out on my Grand Canyon trip because I knew my brother didn’t have any padded shorts for the mountain biking and I wanted to make him where the tights. However, once I was out there and the guides told me about the thorned Locust plants that covered the bike trails, I opted for the full length tights.

Sure I had to sustain some taunts and jeers from the others on the trip, however that night while sitting around the campfire, I was the only one not complaining from having torn up and bleeding legs.

The Finland tights did a great job holding up through the thorns. I did a full inspection post ride and couldn’t find anywhere the Locust plants had caused any damage. The ride was comfortable as well with the ample Chamois padding in all the right places. I’ve only gotten one ride under my belt with these, however there will be more to come in the winter months ahead.

Last up is our newest riding clothes from Hoss technical gear. Currently their lineup consists of a jersey, a tee and some shorts. I’ve ridden now with the Rancher’s T and Ponderosa shorts and been pleased with my first impression.

 

The t-shirt is made of “CoolPlus” fabric and to test it out I went for a mid day ride on a very hot and humid day in here in Virginia. Any other shirt would have been soaking wet when I got back to the car, however this shirt kept me very cool and comfortable on the ride and was almost completely dry for the ride home.

I have to agree with Hoss’ marketing speak on the Ponderosa shorts, as they are both very comfortable on the ride and “stylish enough to wear around town”. I also like having the pockets to actually carry stuff in and I used the velcroed leg pocket to store my MP3 player for listening on the ride.

My one problem is the way they have you cinch up the waste. It consists of a buckle in the middle and two tabs you pull on each side that velcro down. The velcro patches aren’t really long enough though and I end up with the two tabs of the belt kind of flopping around at my hips. Other then that, the shorts do seemed to be very well designed for the rider.

Full reviews on all of these products will be heading your way in the coming weeks and months. Feel free to leave any questions in the comments.