The Shimano AM-51 is the latest in a line of mountain biking shoes with the “AM” label, denoting the shoes’ intended use for “all-mountain” riders, providing a balance of sole stiffness, additional protection and all-day comfort. The Am51 was preceded by the AM50 and Am30 shoes, on which it improves by using a new design and an improved sole. I have a little over 120KM on my pair of AM51′s and it would be reasonable to review them now. The [...]

The SixSixOne Raji glove is designed to be a full finger glove for those who do not like to wear gloves. It has a very thin “Tactilite” palm with no padding whatsoever apart from a slightly thicker nylon section on the upper palm area. The Raji’s thin material and mesh back make for a very airy glove, perfect for hot conditions like Egypt, but they also cause the glove to suffer durability issues. In fact, the gloves started ripping in [...]

While sunglasses are generally not absolutely critical for someone to enjoy mountain biking, they are definitely one of the most important accessories you can invest in to add to enhance your riding comfort. In Egypt, we ride in open desert environments with no tree cover, and the direct sunlight, often windy weather in the winter month make a good pair of sport sunglasses essential to protect your eyes from the elements and UV rays. It might become particularly important for [...]

A very quick note on wheelsets: We have not done a post on mountain bike wheelsets before, but before we look at this quality wheelset by DT Swiss, you should know why you should pay attention to the quality of any bike wheel purchase you make, and how to make the choice. A mountain bike’s  wheelset is one of the most important – and often among the most expensive- components on the bike. The quality of the wheelset significantly affect [...]

This is a guest post by Sara Tabana. Sara is one of our most dedicated riders and the founder of the group Egyptian Female Athletes. Sara is not only an avid mountain biker, but also a trail runner, scuba diver and rock climber! She knows quality outdoor gear when she sees (or in this case, wears) it. Fox is known for their quality high-end forks and shocks, but they have a great line of mountain biking gear and apparel too. [...]

The Specialized FSR XC: This is Specialized‘s line of entry-level full-suspension light trail bikes . It is the Stumpjumper’s little brother and is based on the solid and efficient FSR suspension platform. The FSR XC Comp is third in a line of four FSR XCs that share the same frame and differ in component specs. This is a 4-inch travel (100 mm) bike, which means that both the front fork and rear shock have a maximum travel of 100 mm. [...]

First off, we will almost always advise you to stay away from car-branded mountain bikes. They are, for the most part, not worth the money and of lower quality compared to similar bikes from well-known bicycle manufacturers. That said, a couple of stores in Cairo carry a number of car-branded bikes, including Jeep, and we recieved this question a lot: Are Jeep bikes any good? The quick answer is: Not unless you intend to do any form of trail riding [...]

One of the brands that has gained recent popularity in the Egyptian bike market is Gitane. We’ve owned the Gitane Rocks 1.1 (2007) for about a year and a half now, and we decided to review it for the benefit of riders looking to purchase a new entry-level bike in Egypt. A little about the Gitane brand: Back in the 1950′s and 60s, the name Gitane was synonymous with quality road bikes. The bikes were handmade in France and cycling [...]