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
Checkpoint map from a recent trail nav competition. Courtesy trailbreak.co.uk. We wrote about mountain bike orienteering a couple years ago and noted that it was a mostly UK phenomenon involving navigating a…
Selecting the perfect mountain bike saddle usually involves balancing the trade-off between comfort and weight. Super lightweight saddles often feel worse than metal folding chairs while really comfy seats are generally wide,…
Mountain bike paramedic in London. Photo via Firegeezer. By now you've probably seen police officers on mountain bikes but here's something I hadn't heard of: mountain bike paramedics. Apparently this has been…
Tri-Flow and Ray's Indoor MTB Park are holding the second annual XC Indoor Invitational Jan 15-17 at Ray's in Cleveland. The race is open to pro riders only and after qualifying rounds…
photo credit: CRAIG SIMCOX/The Dominion Post Back in 2007 Jeremy Simpson and Karl Holmes were mountain biking in the Wainuiomata hills of New Zealand when they encountered Graeme Burton on the trail.…
If you live in the northern hemisphere, today and tomorrow are officially the shortest days of the year. At first that fact might seem depressing but the good news is the days…
If you live anywhere near Laguna Beach, CA, you have to check out the annual Crankbrothers Christmas sidewalk sale this Saturday, December 19. The event runs from 10am-2pm and you can get…
Pro downhill mountain biker Brian Bartlett has come up with an innovative replacement knee built around the Rock Shox Monarch 4.2 Air Shock. According to the tech manual, "the Bartlett Tendon System…
This post is a bit of a holiday mountain bike potpourri - enjoy! Egg Nog Recovery Drink Just in time for the holidays, INFINIT Nutrition has released an Egg Nog flavored sports…
If you were on singletracks back in 2001 you might remember a site feature called "Sweet Bike." To our surprise it actually became one of the most popular features on the site…
Here's something interesting you may not have heard of before: a bike wheel that won't let you fall. The Gyrowheel can be mounted on the front of a bike and uses "gyroscopic…
A mountain bike helmet is the type of thing that you expect to do its job but really don't want to think about too much. In the case of a helmet, its…
You know the deal this time of year: it's usually way more fun to give than it is to receive. So while it might be exciting to find some of this stuff…
photo courtesy hadleighcountrypark.co.uk Back in September UK officials finally settled on a location for the Olympic mountain bike competition after the UCI determined that the Weald Country Park course wasn't challenging enough.…
I've been riding my 29er for almost a year now and one of the things that was frustrating initially was the lack of component variety available. It was kinda like being a…
I once asked a friend why he thought horses were so spooked by mountain bikes and he said it was because mountain bikers look like predatory jungle cats running through the woods.…
So this is actually an old study (2006) but I just read some commentary about this over on seriousrunning.com this week. Apparently cyclists who took Viagra as part of a study increased…
Ok, so this is interesting and not just because my hero from 90210, Jason Priestley, is involved. Rolling Stone ran an article titled "Death of a Freerider" a couple months ago about…
Last week I wrote about some of the technology behind the Gore-Tex membrane and how Gore works closely with brands like the North Face and Pearl Izumi to produce super high quality…
This past weekend I rode at the SORBA CSRA Bike Fest at Clarks Hill Lake in east-central Georgia and the weather was absolutely perfect. This was my first time riding the Bartram…
In case you hadn't heard yet, there's an encore presentation of Race Across the Sky, the movie about Lance Armstrong's epic battle with Dave Wiens in the Leadville 100 MTB race this…
Element22 did a kick-ass job designing the singletracks jersey and we're finally ready to start taking pre-orders. We need to order a minimum of 10 of each style so to make sure…
Rebecca Rusch wins the 2009 Leadville 100 Back in September I got a chance to chat with 2009 Leadville winner and 2-time 24 Hour Solo World Champion Rebecca Rusch about racing, training,…
A few weeks back I got an invitation from W.L. Gore & Associates, makers of Gore-Tex, Gore Bike Wear, and Gore Ride-On Cables (among many, many other things), to come visit them…
photo by Nils Nilson, xterraphotos.com On October 25 the Xterra Triathlon World Championships took place in Maui, HI with 550 racers from 22 countries around the world. The World Champs is the…
OK, so I actually had a dream about this just a couple days ago before I even heard about the contest so I'm pretty sure I'm going to win. Go ahead and…
Itusi trail @ Lake Norman State Park - photo by EZ-E IMBA is on the ball again, this time organizing mountain bikers to comment on the North Carolina State Parks Systemwide Plan.…
Last night I watched Race Across the Sky, the movie about this year's Leadville 100 MTB race and I gotta say it was pretty awesome. I was surprised the see the movie…
... or today, depending on when you read this :) The movie is playing for one night only in movie theaters across the country and a quick check shows there are still…
So a couple weeks ago I got to meet Nate Stinson of Down South Cyclery, Atlanta's only mobile bike repair service. Nate is a mountain biker with a pretty sweet set-up that…
Over the weekend you may have noticed some changes we're rolling out to the MTB review pages here on singletracks and I wanted to talk about some of the new features. In…
Singletracks member Outdoornut clued me in to the latest issue of IMBA Trail News where they talk about the 5 newest IMBA Epic trails added this year. Here's a summary from east…
Sorry for the late announcement but here it is: The dirtiest mountain bike drivetrains on the planet. Ok, so maybe there are nastier chains, cassettes, and cranks out there somewhere (probably in…
This week Lance Armstrong signed a 3-year deal to become spokesman for Michelob Ultra. Here's what the 1-time Leadville 100 MTB race winner had to say: "Im always making decisions that complement…
When I started riding back in the early 1990s, there was basically just one flavor of mountain biking but today MTB categories can get a little confusing. I found this helpful chart…
photo courtesy cyclewise.co.uk. So this is a cool concept: a mountain bike trail built explicitly for mountain bike coaching. The Cyclewise Coaching Trail provides a place for mountain bike coaches to work…
A few mountain bike news bites to start the week. Backyard bikepark. Over at ihatebikes.net the author is busy working on a backyard bike park and apparently things are getting pretty serious.…
Believe it or not there are things happening in the MTB world that have nothing to do with Interbike this week. Chris Eatough is retiring. Yep, the man who won six straight…
ckdake may be tough to beat with this pic. Just a couple more days left in the Tri-Flow "Dirtiest Drivetrain" contest. Post your pics to the dirty drivetrain photo album for consideration…
Sometimes it can be tough to cut through the noise at Interbike to find new and interesting products from smaller companies. I found one such product, call Bike Armor, in the new…
I know, I know - by now some of you are sick and tired of hearing about 29ers. I promise this is my last 29er post from Interbike and I plan on…
Suvacrew mentioned that he wanted to hear about the Pivot Mach 429 and on Thursday I got a chance to talk to a Pivot rep about the newest addition to the Mach…
Things were a little hectic at Interbike last week but somehow we still managed to push out more than 20 posts - and there's more where that came from! Look for posts…
Cannondale introduced a (previously) secret suspension project called "Simon" at Interbike that is generating some serious buzz. The idea is that the rider can tune and control suspension characteristics using an electronic,…
Some cool notes that don't warrant a full post: The most expensive hardtail I've ever seen. The Lapierre Prorace 900 retails for a cool $6,999 (at least it's under 7 grand) and…
When you think of Camelbak, you might not necessarily think of innovation. Sure, every year Camelbak gives us new pack colors and more pockets but many of the best selling packs have…
David Blaine himself would be impressed: a mountain bike with 4 inches of rear travel that can scale to 6 inches when needed and responsive, shifting frame geometry. The Kona Abra Cadabra…
We spoke with Denny Yunk at the Hayes group this morning about everything from wheels to bars to brakes. Here's a short video clip with Denny talking about the new Black Flag…
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