I’m not going to try to convince anyone that $2550 isn’t a whole lot of money to spend on a wheelset — it’s a chunk of change, regardless of your tax bracket. I may try to convince anyone who’s open to it, however, that there is no greater upgrade to a gravel bike with decent, functioning components than a high-end wheelset. ENVE’s G23 wheels offer very low weight, durability, and a touch of (claimed) damping, via their carbon layup, that collectively make them a true pleasure to ride.

As you’d expect, the 23 in the name refers to the 23mm internal rim width. The external width is 31.5mm, and the G23s are designed to be paired with tubeless gravel tires between 35 and 45mm wide. ENVE’s wide hookless bead provides a surface wide enough that when the tire bottoms out, there’s added protection from pinch flats at lower PSI. The G23 uses ENVE’s patented molded spoke hole technology, along with proprietary spoke nipples, which they claim delivers a more durable carbon rim compared to rims drilled with spoke holes. My experience with them would support that. The G23s weigh in at only 1305g (laced to ENVE’s alloy hubs).

ENVE unveiled the G23 in the summer of 2018; I got a set just before the pandemic began in the early weeks of 2020. I’d initially intended to use them solely as race wheels, but during those heady initial months of COVID quarantine I decided I was wasn’t going to put a limit whatever joys I had access to. Since then, they haven’t come off my bike other than to replace tires. They’re snappy and responsive and they climb like a dream. Air retention is so reliable I often don’t need to inflate my tires from one ride to the next.

I weigh 165 pounds, and generally run 38mm Schwalbe G-One All-round tires at 25-28PSI. With the exception of a fluke broken spoke from an airborne rock on rough singletrack, I’ve never flatted, burped, or had any other kind of issue with the G23s across three seasons of hard use. That includes twice competing at Crooked Gravel in Winter Park, Colorado, which offers up a full-throttle 20-minute descent down a chunky doubletrack road that threatens to disfigure a rim at any moment.

Across three seasons and 3,000 miles I’ve encountered several situations where it seemed I’d gotten the equipment-to-terrain calculation woefully wrong. To my relief, the G23s passed the test every time — and if they hadn’t, they would’ve been covered by ENVE’s Lifetime Incident Protection. They’re currently covered in layers of dust and snot and sealant, but underneath that grime and partly delaminated decals, the G23s are the crown jewels of my daily gravel machine.

First off, let’s unpack that product name. Gore Wear is the brand. C5 is Gore Wear’s mid-level designation; C7 its professional line, and C3 is entry level. GoreTex Infinium Windstopper is the windproof, water-resistant, lightweight, breathable membrane technology used to make this lovely softshell winter jacket. (It’s the same fabric used by Castelli and Rapha in their high-end winter apparel.) The term Thermo rounds out this byzantine product name because, hey, it’s a warm jacket for cold-weather days.

I love the soft fleece lining and slim-yet-stretchy feel of this jacket; it’s got just what it needs and nothing that it doesn’t. I appreciate the high collar (though it pays to have a clean-shaven neck) and the extended elastic cuffs. The reflective detailing, and the overall aesthetic, is subtle — which is not something that can be said for all of Gore Wear’s apparel. It’s also quite reasonably priced. Are there thicker, more expensive jackets on the market? Absolutely. Would you actually want to ride in the conditions those jackets were designed for? Probably not. Layering equals options, and the C5 Gore-Tex Infinium Thermo Jacket is the perfect outer layer to keep the wind out and the warmth inside.

All in all, the Gore Wear C5 Gore-Tex Infinium Thermo Jacket is a joy to wear on cold days when you might otherwise not feel inspired to get out and face the elements.

I really didn’t know what to expect when I had CushCore tire inserts installed into the Stan’s NoTubes rear wheel I’ve run for years on my trusty old Santa Cruz Tallboy. (No, I didn’t install them myself — I was scared off by horror stories about the installation process.) I’d heard good things about the ride performance of CushCore inserts, and after a rear flat at Trestle Bike Park in 2021 ended my day and left my wheel covered in sealant, I figured if a tire insert could prevent punctures or rim damage, it was worth a shot.

But for all the talk about preventing punctures and protecting rims, the improvement in ride quality was noticeable and immediate. CushCore inserts absorb impact forces, cutting down on fatigue. They stiffen up sidewalls, which makes for better cornering. There’s a discernible improvement in stability, even at absurdly low PSI, opening the door to better traction and control. Landing jumps just feels better with that layer of foam inside the rear wheel.

CushCore’s closed-cell foam tire inserts are not without drawbacks. They add rotational weight (about 260g per wheel, depending on which model and wheel size). They’re a pain to install and remove. And if you end up puncturing badly enough out on the trail, you’ll need to install an inner tube and carry the tire insert back to the trailhead. To all that I can only say — they’re worth it. Also, maybe consider paying a local bike mechanic to install them for you.

I’ve since added CushCore inserts to rear wheels on my Stumpjumper EVO, and to my wife’s Yeti SB5. Like me, she noticed the improvement in ride quality instantly. After a season of use, there were no flat tires or busted rims across any of the three bikes, and my wife improved on several downhill Strava PRs by a large margin. To be fair, we added the insert to her rear wheel at the same time that we replaced a narrow XC tire with a wider and knobbier trail tire, so it’s impossible to quantify how much of the perceived improvement was due to the insert rather than to running a wider tire with more tread.

I’ve only added CushCore inserts to mountain bikes, and only in rear wheels, so I can’t say I’ve tested them across disciplines, and I can’t speak to how they affect the handling of a front wheel. But for added protection and improved performance across trail riding and days spent riding the chairlift, I’m a convert. They really do work.

What’s not to love about Giro’s Manifest Spherical helmet? It looks and fits great, it’s incredibly well ventilated, and it features the ball-and-socket spherical design from MIPS that helps reduce rotational forces on the brain in the event of a crash. I can’t say I’ve tried out every mountain-bike helmet on the market to compare them to the Manifest Spherical, but then again, I can’t say that I’ve felt the need to, either.

The magnetic Fidlock buckle is a nice touch; it clasps quickly, and can easily be disengaged with one hand.

Okay, I can think of one thing not to love about the Manifest Spherical — the $260 price tag. Add on sales tax and shipping and that’s a direct hit to the wallet, even if protecting your brain is worth all that and more. So buy it on sale. It’s currently marked down to $195 at Excel Sports, Competitive Cyclist, and on Giro’s website.

I like Strava’s Live Segments feature so much I wrote an entire article about it for Bicycling earlier this year. And while this is a service rather than a product, it’s safe to say that Live Segments has fundamentally changed how I ride when I’m looking to improve my fitness.

Essentially, Live Segments provides real-time data on segments that you’ve pre-selected on the Strava website or app. As you cross an imaginary start line out on the road or trail, the segment will appear on your head unit or mobile device, informing you whether you are ahead of, or behind, your fastest time, a Strava friend’s fastest time, or the fastest time recorded on Strava. If you’re keen on testing yourself, or if you sometimes could use a proverbial kick in the butt, it’s an incredible motivational tool, bringing the concept of “mind over matter” into clear focus.

Technically a paid Strava subscription isn’t required to utilize Live Segments, but without it you don’t get the comparison metrics — just your own progress and the final result. And really, the comparison metrics are the whole point; otherwise you’re stuck doing a bunch of math while you’re anaerobic.

Whether you’re a lifelong cyclist still trying to be as strong as you’ve ever been, or a newer rider who plays around with Strava but has never engaged with the Live Segments feature, it’s worth exploring. It adds a new level of spice to ordinary rides. And it might just bring out the very best in you.

I’ve become an advocate of Wahoo’s ELEMNT ROAM because of its simplicity and ease of use. Setup takes place intuitively via the ELEMNT Companion app; just point your smartphone’s camera at the QR code on screen and you’re paired up. Data pages and fields are customized and configured on the app, so you’re not endlessly scrolling through screens and pushing up/down buttons on the unit itself. Pairing sensors is straightforward, and they can even be given custom names in the app. More importantly, you remain connected, without the recurring and inconvenient Bluetooth issues that continue to plague rivaling bike computers.

In terms of hardware, this second iteration of the flagship ROAM computer sports a 64-color display, a signifiant jump up from 16 colors, and raised (rather than recessed) buttons. Under the hood is a new dual-band GPS, 32GB of memory, and a 17-hour battery life.

As for the software, the ROAM V2 generates basic turn-by-turn prompts for routes wirelessly imported from Strava, Ride with GPS, Komoot, MTB Project, and Singletracks, as well as standard GPX and TCX files. Planned indoor or outdoor workouts sync up from TrainerRoad, TrainingPeaks, Today’s Plan, and Wahoo’s SYSTM; it also comes preloaded with five free workouts — two FTP tests and three structured workouts. The new Summit climbing feature adds color-coded gradients to the elevation chart when riding a pre-loaded route or Strava segment. There’s loads of new integration, including for users of Supersapiens live glucose monitoring, for Specialized’s ANGI crash detector, and for ANT+ rear view radars like the Garmin Varia. The new ROAM can also control non-Wahoo smart trainers equipped with ANT+ FE-C.

I ran into an issue while building up my Trek Checkpoint SL with a Shimano GRX 2x crankset: The frame wouldn’t allow for a crank-based power meter due to its chainstay width, which was designed with tire clearance in mind. I wanted the range in gearing from a GRX double chainring — 48/31T crank with an 11-34T cassette — but I also wanted a power meter for long gravel climbs.

Garmin’s Rally XC200 pedals were the solution. Three years has passed and they’ve worked out great, measuring power, cadence, left/right balance, everything you’d expect from a power meter. They’re neither svelte nor light at 445g for the pair, and without a doubt $1200 is a lot to pay for power data, but there sure is a lot of technology packed into a small, water-resistant space that’s constantly exposed to the elements. I’ve seen them listed online for $960 at a few different sites, which brings them a bit closer in price to other power-meter  options. Wherever you end up buying them, Garmin backs them with a two-year warranty.

The Rally XC200 pedals have always synced up seamlessly to my Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM, though they do tend to occasionally “fall asleep” after an extended stop at a coffee shop; something I usually forget about until I’m back on the bike rolling along in a group. Fidgeting with the sensor settings on the ROAM usually brings it back to life.

Yes, there are more inexpensive power-measuring devices on the market. However there’s no easier way to transfer a power meter from one bike to another than swapping pedals, and if you’re looking for an off-road power pedal, you’ve found it.

I’m a caffeine enthusiast — for everyday life, generally, and for sports performance, specifically. For years I have been using Liquid IV’s lemon-ginger Energy Multiplier, either before a ride for hydration and energy, or after a ride to give me a lift during the transition between Strava upload and a hot shower. One packet, mixed into 12-16 ounces of water, delivers 100mg of caffeine via tea blends made of matcha and guayusa; the 8g of pure cane sugar means it tastes like a treat. It’s also great at 3pm on a weekday when you’re just dragging. I’ve converted a half-dozen of my friends and family members. Try it, I bet you’ll like it.

On the bike, I use Science in Sport’s citrus-flavored GO Energy Gel + Caffeine gels, which deliver 75mg of caffeine (but just 22g of carbohydrates) with each pouch. They’re easy to open, taste just fine, and are easy on the stomach. They also don’t drip all over your hands, bottles, and down tube like drink mixes do. I take one per hour, or at the very least make sure I have one for the final hour of each ride. Science in Sport’s espresso flavor doubles the amount of caffeine to 150mg per pouch, but that’s a bit rich for my blood. Moderation in all things, something something something.

Prices vary on both of these — they’re sold on a variety of web sites and can almost always be found on sale at a lower price than from the manufacturers’ sites — but they generally average about $1.75 per pouch or packet.