Summer Survival Guide: Best Bike Park Gear of 2025

Powder goals to function solely the very best services and products. If you happen to purchase one thing through one in every of our hyperlinks, we might earn a fee.

We get it: summer season might be powerful for skiers. These winter withdrawal signs result in summer season survival instincts as we spend increasingly days away from our skis, miserably melting within the warmth of these lengthy summer season days. Fortunately, there are just a few coping mechanisms we now have in our device package, like spending days on the river, climbing or working within the excessive alpine, and ripping singletrack or infinite dust roads on our mountain or gravel bikes. For me, the best and most enjoyable technique to get my gravity repair in the summertime is by using bike park laps. Don’t get me flawed, I completely love pedaling my mountain bike on lengthy backcountry rides, however the thrill of ripping downhill on a difficult tech path or boosting jumps within the timber is nearly pretty much as good as snowboarding. In addition to, visiting bike parks in the summertime is a cool technique to spend a while at my favourite ski resorts in a brand new approach.

Bike-park particular gear generally is a little bit of an funding, particularly for these of you simply dipping your toes into the lift-access world, however belief me, having the precise gear is effectively value it. If you happen to’re using something greater than the occasional day on the bike park, your every day path using gear actually will not lower it. A full-face helmet, a again protector, and heavier-duty knee and elbow pads are a must have. Pants and a long-sleeve jersey are additionally good to have, and given that you just will not be pedaling a lot (yay, chairlifts!) that further protection is effectively value it. I’m not going to enter specifics on which bikes, elements, or different gear are greatest right here (I recommend you see what the great of us at BIKE Magazine need to say about that), that is purely an inventory of what I’ve discovered works greatest for me to put on whereas using bike park laps.

Smith Hardline MIPS Full-Face Helmet

Solar Valley, Idaho-based Smith Optics has been main the sport in optics and safety for years, with a few of the best ski goggles and helmets within the recreation. In fact, they’ve been making bike safety for almost as lengthy, and their latest full-face helmet the Hardline MIPS checks all of the containers we’ve come to count on from a downhill helmet. The Hardline helmet is the larger, burlier cousin to Smith’s light-weight enduro-style full-face Mainline helmet, and is far more acceptable for day-in-day-out bike park using, shuttle laps, or gnarly enduro using that does not require a lot pedaling. On days the place I’m in search of a lighter-weight full-face higher suited to large days within the saddle, I’d go for the Mainline.Very like Smith’s greatest ski helmets, the Hardline MIPS is constructed with Koroyd (lighter, stronger, and safer than conventional helmet foam), contains a MIPS liner, and even is available in a premium Carbon Shell choice to save lots of further weight. At 992 grams, this is among the lighter full-face helmets available on the market. Out of the field, I discover that the Hardline helmet suits on the snugger aspect, however comes with swappable cheek pads to fine-tune the match.

Smith Squad MTB Goggles

Don’t be that one who pairs a full-face helmet with sun shades. You’ll be complaining about mud in your eyes all day lengthy, and people sunglass arms will go away uncomfortable marks in your temples after being smushed by the helmet. There’s a purpose mountain bike goggles exist, and Smith additionally occurs to make a few of the better of them. Our favourite choice is the Smith Squad MTB or the bigger Squad XL MTB, which take the identical body and form because the Squad snow goggle, ditch the froth insulation, and pair it with a single-pane Chromapop lens. These seamlessly combine with the Hardline, Mainline, and most different full-face helmets we’ve tried. Each choices are available a constantly-rotating checklist of colour choices and have easily-swappable lenses.

POC Oseus VPD Torso Protector

Spend sufficient time at a motorbike park, and also you’re sure to take just a few dust naps. Crashing is part of the sport, however journeys to the hospital don’t need to be. Up your stage of safety by investing in and sporting a again and chest protector for downhill laps–there’s a purpose all the professionals are required to put on them in races and occasions. Influence safety foam has come a great distance in the previous couple of years, which means again protectors, knee pads, and elbow pads have equally advanced to turn out to be slimmer, lighter, and extra comfy–all whereas growing their stage of safety. I’ve worn a number of pads over time and have realized that I’m an enormous fan of under-jersey chest and again safety. The sort of safety places the affect foam pads right into a stretchy spandex-like vest or shirt, permitting for full freedom of motion, higher breathability, and a lower-profile look. Seems I don’t love the stormtrooper exoskeleton look. POC’s Oseus VPD Torso protector is one in every of my favorites, each for match (cosy and low-profile) and the quantity of safety it gives. I’ve taken just a few fairly laborious slams sporting this and it positive has saved me. It options detachable chest, rib and again pads, plus small decrease again pockets to stash a elevate move, just a few snacks, and a small device.

Dharco Gravity Knee Pads and Gravity Elbow Pads

For my part, very like again protectors and a full-face helmet, knee pads are a must-wear within the bike park. The upper speeds, larger impacts, and better threat of crashing means you’ll wish to up the extent of safety in comparison with a normal path journey. Knee pads shield you from the bottom, however extra importantly, they shield your knees and legs from the sharp ends of your bike within the occasion of a tumble. I don’t often put on elbow pads, however they’re not a foul name for high-volume days on the bike park.Australian model Dharco has been making waves within the mountain bike world these previous few years, with eye-catching prints and revolutionary attire kinds aimed on the DH racing and bike park crowd. This yr, they dropped a line of Gravity Knee and Elbow pads that function the best stage of affect certification (L2) in a versatile, pedal-friendly, and (learn: comfy) package deal. A lot of these pads have usually been very cumbersome and used laborious plastic exteriors to attain their safety score. Dharco’s Gravity Knee and elbow pads supply a strap-free prolonged sleeve design that stays in place with none awkward knee pad hole between the pads and shorts or a short-sleeved jersey.

5 Ten Freerider Professional BOA Sneakers

Footwear is the ultimate piece to the puzzle in terms of your mountain bike package. Personally, I’m a fan of using flat pedals, and for years, my go-tos have been 5 Ten’s Freerider Professional. These marry extraordinarily sticky sole rubber (most pedal grip), with a comfortably low-profile shoe that does not really feel clunky. 5 Ten lately launched a BOA model of the shoe, which solves the one drawback I might appear to search out with the unique model: find out how to tuck away the laces. Desire a related shoe designed for clipless pedals? Attempt the 5 Ten Hellcat Professional.

Norrona Fjora Flex1 Pants

Except it’s actually a billion levels out, I’m sporting pants on the bike park. Since I’m typically not pedaling, the additional mud and abrasion safety is effectively value it. There’s a number of bike-specific manufacturers which have made nice bike pants on the market, however the ones I’ve liked probably the most lately got here from an sudden place: Norrona. The Norwegian out of doors attire model has lengthy made glorious technical attire for snowboarding and climbing, so it’s no shock that their first enterprise into mountain biking attire actually knocked it out of the park. The Norrona Fjora Flex1 pants are the correct amount of stretchy, with pockets in all the precise locations, and baggy-ish match that tapers across the ankles to stop getting caught in your bike. I’ve most likely ridden over 100 days in them already, they usually don’t appear to be exhibiting any indicators of wear and tear. They’re out there in males’s and girls’s cuts.

Curious Creatures Solar Canine Shorts

Curious Creatures payments itself because the mountain bike attire model that makes “garments that appear to be garments.” In actual fact, that’s nonetheless a reasonably uncommon factor today in an business that endlessly likes to harken again to its awkward adolescence with loud neon jerseys plastered in every kind of obscene logos. Shaun Palmer was cool within the 90s, let’s transfer on. With a small however refined set of males’s and girls’s attire, Curious Creatures accomplishes their mission effectively, notably with the Solar Canine using shorts. These stretchy however low-profile dishevelled shorts are insanely comfy for lengthy pedal rides, sturdy sufficient for warm bike park days, and don’t look so techy that I wouldn’t put on them to the workplace after a morning journey or the bar after an all-day epic. They’re easy, look “regular,” and that’s precisely the purpose. These too, can be found, in a males’s and girls’s lower.

Associated: The 12 Greatest Ski Resorts for Mountain Biking in North America

Stio Shifter Quick Sleeve Shirt

Form of like these Norrona pants, it’s maybe no coincidence that my favourite mountain bike jersey was made by a ski model. WNDR Alpine’s Stasis Tech Tee, whereas probably laborious to search out today, was the proper scorching day using shirt. A detailed second can be the Stio Shifter Quick Sleeve Shirt, which gives wonderful moisture-wicking breathability, a little bit further arm protection for solar and abrasion safety, and enjoyable model (there’s biking cowboys on one model). The loose-fitting collared shirt suits completely over a again protector.

Troy Lee Designs Ace 2.0 Gloves

I are inclined to undergo bike gloves sooner than every other bike gear I personal, however Troy Lee’s Ace 2.0 gloves have in some way outlasted absolutely anything else I’ve tried. Satirically, these are a few of the thinnest gloves I’ve worn, however they gained’t appear to surrender the ghost. Superb by me.

Associated: The Skier’s Information to the Whistler Bike Park

Source link