Southern Indiana Trails

This is not the most glamorous bike released in the past year. It’s not the lightest or the sleekest. There’s no new linkage design or innovative carbon technology. In fact, there’s no carbon at all. Privateer does things differently. The rider-driven company makes no-nonsense aluminum-framed bikes that you could buy and immediately enter a race with. It’s in the name—a privateer racer is one without a sponsor. There are only two spec levels and no fancy frills—just performance where you need it. We tested the Privateer 141 ($4,379 and up) , named quite plainly after its rear travel. As far as travel for trail bikes goes, 141 millimeters is somewhere mid-pack, but there’s nothing mid-pack about the rest of this bike. It’s got the head angle of an enduro bike (64.5 degrees), the wheelbase of a downhill bike (1,266 millimeters in size large), and the seat tube angle of an office chair (over 78 degrees). When we looked at these rather extreme numbers and the equally extreme silhouette, ...

The North Face Chrysalis 20 ($375) (Photo: Courtesy The North Face) Best for Weight Savings If pack space is limited and distance is the goal, the Chrysalis is a trustworthy companion. It weighs just under two pounds and packs down to the size of a bread loaf, courtesy of 900-fill down. For this reason, one tester brought it along for 50 miles and two 22-degree nights in Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument. “After beating up my body all day, the anticipation of crawling into this soft cocoon was the motivation I needed to finish the hike back to camp,” our tester said, crediting the 64-inch shoulder, 59-inch hip, and extra-roomy 47.5-inch footbox girths. On another trip, into Wyoming’s Wind River Range, our tester packed the Chrysalis among climbing equipment. Its abrasion-resistant ripstop nylon compression sack emerged unscathed, though the bag’s 15-denier ripstop nylon shell (coated with a non-PFC DWR finish) is finer than most. Weight savings come from reduced insulation in t...

Kelty Asher 35 ($100) (Photo: Courtesy Kelty) Best Value A 35-liter pack weighing under two pounds for just $100 is almost unheard of, but the Asher nails those specs and provides performance to boot. Its impressive host of features includes a U-shaped zipper that wraps around the top and halfway down both sides, so you can easily flay the pack open to dig out that buried hat. Water bottles fit into twin side pockets, while extra layers tuck into a stretchy dorsal pocket. We’ll note that while the shoulder straps are padded, the waist belt is cushioned only at the hip bones, and the flat nylon back panel lacks the weight redistribution required for loads over 20 pounds. Some testers found it most comfortable carrying less than ten pounds. This pack is best for hikers who consider their pack weight judiciously but still want extra space for stashing a spare puffy. 1.75 lbs Buy Now Gregory Inertia 24 H20 / Swift 22 H20 ($120) (Photo: Courtesy Gregory) Best for Hydration For...

Ostroy Resort Unisex Shirt ($98) (Photo: Courtesy Ostroy) A silklike polyester-lycra blend elevates this short-sleeve button-down above your typical tropical shirt. It dries quickly, has a small rear buttoned key pocket, and comes in an array of cycling-themed prints. (2XS–2XL) Buy Now Showers Pass Elements Jacket ($219) (Photo: Courtesy Showers Pass) We have spent years testing rain jackets on our commutes, and the Elements is our favorite, both on and off the bike. This seam-sealed, 2.5-layer shell boasts a deep, zip-off drawstring hood, a drop tail to protect from road spray, two phone-size chest pockets, and two large vents so you can dump heat but still keep your core dry. (men’s S–XXL / women’s XS–XL) Men’s Women’s SKS Raceblade Pro Fenders ($75) (Photo: Courtesy SKS) Fenders are critical for commuting in wet weather. While most need to be screwed to braze-ons, these attach to supports that strap to rear stays with hefty rubber safety bands, and install with j...

Bontrager Circuit WaveCel ($160) (Photo: Courtesy Bontrager) This versatile helmet is suited to road, gravel, and daily commutes. It employs Bontrager’s proprietary WaveCel technology, an internal structure that acts as a crumple zone during a crash, redirecting impact forces before they reach your head. Equally important, it boasts an easy-to-adjust fit system and better ventilation than previous WaveCel helmets we’ve tried. The icing on the cake is the magnetic mounts for snapping on front and rear lights. Buy Now POC Ventral Lite ($275) (Photo: Courtesy POC) Minimalists and those who live in hot climates will appreciate the Ventral Lite. It weighs a scant 240 grams in a size medium for the CPSC-approved version that’s sold in the United States. (Even lighter, non-CPSC-approved models are available elsewhere in the world.)On top of that, its large vents and deep internal channels make it the best-ventilated helmet we tested this season. If you’re counting grams and don’t ...

One of the biggest fears held by many outdoor enthusiasts when they have kids of their own: What if they hate nature? Steven Rinella is the host of the popular Netflix show MeatEater and The MeatEater Podcast and the author of several books on the hunting and outdoor lifestyles. He says that was the thought that haunted him when he found out he was expecting his first child. “I had been raised in, and maintained, a very close relationship with the natural world,” says Rinella, who was born in rural Michigan. “And I was honestly kind of stressed out about how I would deliver that same thing to my own kids.” What he wanted, he says, was for his little ones to have “radical engagement”—which he defines as “a very hands-on relationship”—with nature. Twelve years and three city-born kids later, Rinella is so confident that he’s cracked the code on raising outdoor kids that he’s written a book about it. Outdoor Kids in an Inside World , out this month, aims to help parents create a p...

A few days after the Fourth of July in 2021, Chris Thoburn swiped open his texts to see two waiting from his friend Philip Kreycik. “I’ve got a free pass Friday night and Saturday morning if you’re up for a run,” Kreycik wrote. His wife, Jen, had taken their kids, ages ten months and three years, to visit her parents for the night. Kreycik, 37, and Thoburn, 32, had been friends since Kreycik moved to Berkeley in 2017. They’d met on Strava, when Thoburn spotted Kreycik dropping fast times on some steep trails and reached out about meeting up. Over the years, they’d run all over the Bay Area. It would be fun, Kreycik’s second text read, to check out somewhere new. Though their only time together was spent running, the pair had become close, spending long runs talking about their lives. Thoburn, a software engineer, was trying to become a professional ultrarunner. Kreycik had just started a new job at Pacific Gas & Electric, developing the utility giant’s electric- vehicle chargi...