Jeff co-founded Singletracks with his wife Leah in 1998 and has been dedicated to sharing the mountain bike information that inspires others to take epic adventures ever since. He started mountain biking in high school and served in the US Air Force before devoting himself full time to Singletracks in 2007.
Though formally educated as an engineer, Jeff began writing stories at an early stage, inspired by his mother who is a longtime accomplished author. He enjoys covering the world of mountain biking from every possible angle, whether it's trails or gear or skills. His goal for every story: that readers learn at least one new thing.
Author snapshot
MTB Background and expertise
- Riding experience: Trail, XC, and bikepacking.
- Mountain biking since: 1992
- Number of products reviewed: ?. I think my first product review for the site was this one for a plastic wallet.
- Current stable: Canyon Neuron, Orange P7 hardtail, and Scott Fun XC
Education and writing experience
- Bachelors of Science in Engineering, Duke University
- Masters of Business Administration, Duke University
- Other publications: Panther Press (Lakeside High School - Augusta, GA), CitySearch.com
Ktrax conversion kit. Ski conversions for mountain bikes have been around for a long time and we even wrote about one such option, the Ktrax, way back in…
Photo: Greg Heil. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests in western North Carolina are home to some of the best mountain bike trails on the east coast and the…
I know what you're wondering: What the heck does Garmin know about producing helmet cameras? I had the same question so I was excited to get my hands on the VIRB Elite…
The Oasis Valley Recreation Enhancement Project centered around the desert town of Beatty, Nevada, includes long-term plans for up to 500 miles of trails.
From the publisher: I want to apologize to any of our readers who were offended by this article and assure you that we will more carefully consider the articles we publish going…
I've been running the 2014 NiteRider Pro 2200 Race bike light for almost a full year now, which is an unusually long time for a Singletracks product test. In fact, this test…
My brother spotted this one over at the Huffington Post, and it sounds too good to be true: a machine that grabs water out of thin air to fill your water bottle…
The hows and whys of mountain biking at night.
Last month NiteRider celebrated their 25th Anniversary with a weekend of riding and partying at the company's headquarters in San Diego, CA and they invited Singletracks member johngataride to attend. As the Singletracks Trail…
Think back to the first time you showed up for a group ride with a brand new mountain bike. As your "experienced" buddy looked over your rig, you probably noticed a grin…
Garmin has been producing smart wearables for years (I actually owned this watch in 2005--yowza!) and over that time the company has found new ways to pack a ton of features into a…
We compared the elevation accuracy of dedicated Garmin GPS devices to smartphone apps to see which is better at plotting climbs.
Are GPS units more accurate than smartphone apps for recording bike distances and elevations? We test to find out.
FSA is a familiar name when it comes to components like stems and cranksets, but this year the company is making a big splash in the MTB brake market with two new…
Lindarets is an outdoor apparel company that doesn't actually have any "real" products available yet. But they produced a "Rocks Belong" t-shirt for Interbike that turned out to be wildly popular; so…
I'm a recent convert to fat biking, which is weird because I live in Atlanta. My conversion came almost entirely over the course of testing the Motobecane NightTrain Bullet fat bike this…
For all the jokes about enduro being such a buzz word this year, you would think it would be hard to find MTB products at Interbike that aren't being marketed to enduro…
Singletracks offers free trail widgets for bike shops, MTB clubs, tourism groups, and pretty much anyone with a webpage and the ability to cut and paste. Here's a quick overview. Local Trails…
Love it or hate it, technology is becoming an increasing part of peoples' lives, and that even extends to the mountain bike trail. Check out these mountain bike gadgets we spied at…
Amid all the excitement about fat bikes--mountain bikes with 4" or wider tires--a few companies have started to push frames that can accommodate fatter-than-normal but not-quite-fat tires. Some call it mid-fat, others…
The Marin County Bicycle Coalition and Access4Bikes are working to open more singletrack to mountain bikes in Marin County and they're raffling the top-of-the-line Marin Mount Vision XM9 ($6,799) to raise funds.…
In our fat bike survey earlier this year, 96% of fat bike riders reported running rigid forks on their bikes. Of course, the survey was conducted a couple months before the RockShox…
In the recent Singletracks gear survey the KS Lev was voted the #2 dropper seat post, which is remarkable given that companies like Specialized and Fox compete in the same category. Not…
I love finding unusual MTB products at Interbike and this year, there was even a whole section of the show in the basement called "The Lab" where many new companies showed off…
In case you hadn't noticed, mountain bike tires are getting wider (some say fatter, but I think that's rude) and tubeless-ready designs are taking over. Check out the latest tires from Maxxis…
GPS units are getting smarter and more powerful every year, and while some mountain bikers are starting to use smartphones to record tracks and navigate trail rides, brands like Magellan and Garmin…
Everyone knows Thomson for their insanely nice handlebars, stems, and seatposts but let's be honest: those parts are kinda boring because they just sit there. Bikes parts that bounce and spin get…
In our recent survey, the Pivot Mach 6 was voted one of the 5 best trail/enduro mountain bikes by Singletracks readers, which was no small feat given the competition from much larger companies…
On the last day of Interbike last week, the official IB Award winners were officially announced. In case you missed it, here are the winners from around the MTB world! Mountain Bike…
Last week I got a chance to check out a couple of the newest bikes from Niner--a cyclocross bike called the BSB 9 RDO and a fat bike (sorta) called the ROS…
At Outdoor Demo on Tuesday I got to ride two Rocky Mountain bikes back-to-back--the Thunderbolt and Element--to see where one leaves off and the other takes over. While each bike has a…
Chumba made a big showing at Interbike this year--it seemed like we were bumping into these bikes all over the show floor--and I got a chance to take a spin on the…
At Interbike I got a chance to test the Felt Virtue Nine, a carbon 29er trail bike with a full 130mm of front and rear travel and I was surprised at just…
Di2 is Shimano's electronic shifting system and the technology recently made its way into the company's XTR mountain bike drivetrain line. I got a chance to test one of the few mountain…
I'm a new believer in the idea of summer fat biking and in particular, the merits of pairing suspension with fat tires. So I jumped at the chance to test the Salsa…
The fat bike is a victim of stereotyping. It seems like whenever someone asks about fat bikes, the response is usually "oh, those are for riding in the snow." Slightly more knowledgeable…
Our latest infographic is a heavy on the info, light on the graphics, but it does a great job highlighting some of the best mountain bike products of 2014! We…
After spending a couple days biking in and around the town of Banff, Greg and I headed north about 50km to Lake Louise inside Banff National Park. The area around Lake Louise…
Banff is one of Singletracks' top 10 mountain bike destinations in North America, and we want to help you plan your trip! The best Banff area trails are concentrated around the towns…
Rolling along Topp Notch in Banff, Alberta, it's hard to believe this trail is located in a National Park. The narrow track snakes its way over boulders, in between trees, and around…
The formerly Epic Syllamo trails in Arkansas. We received a number of comments on our article last week about dozens of IMBA Epic rides being retired to the…
SRAM has updated its RISE 60 wheelset with improved hubs and rims to improve their already solid XC / Trail offering in both 27.5 and 29 configurations. New hubs The new RISE…
Maxxis just published the latest episode of Rubber Side Down, featuring riders Josh "Ratboy" Bryceland, Matt Walker, and Geoff Kabush at Mont Sainte Anne and Windham. We also spotted a set of prototype 29+…
Picture this: You're renting a mountain bike for a trip to Whistler or Park City and on the rental form, they ask you to rate your riding ability: beginner, intermediate, advanced, or…
The Monarch Crest trail no longer qualifies as Epic. Photo: Greg Heil IMBA recently updated its list of Epic trails, adding new criteria for judging Epic trails both…
Niner just introduced the ROS 9 Plus, a steel 29er with fat 3" tires and a custom rigid fork to maximize clearance. The company describes the geometry as "playful with very…
If you enjoyed the trail infographic we posted yesterday, you can help us with our next project: the 2014 MTB Gear Survey. There is a ton of great MTB gear out there…
A few months ago I picked up a 10 speed, Type 2 derailleur from SRAM, and I've enjoyed the difference it's made for me out on the trail. Here are a few…
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