Matt Pacocha
BACKGROUND: Pacocha, the VeloNews test editor, started in the industry sweeping shop floors at 13. Since then he’s wrenched, raced mountain bikes on the national circuit for four years, worked at IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association) for two years, raced on the road in Belgium for six months, and served four years as the tech editor for VeloNews.
And, of course, Pacocha is the staff's resident cyclocross fanatic.
BIKES IN THE GARAGE: '99 Chris Chance Tig steel road bike (of defunct Fat City Cycles), '06 Cannondale Caad 9, '01 steel Black Sheep singlespeed cyclocross, '07 Primus Mootry singlespeed cyclocross, '05 Lemond Poprad, '08 Cannondale CX9, '04 Gary Fisher AC/DC hardtail, '03 Maverick ML7, '07 Giant Anthem Advanced, '05 Santa Cruz Nomad, '05 Jamis dirt jump bike, '96 Ellsworth Sub 22 hardtail
Stories by Matt Pacocha »
Posted: Fri, Nov 20th
Tech Feature: Clinchers for 'cross - three good choicesYou might have noticed that the VeloNews crew often preaches the use of tubulars for cyclocross, particularly if you’re serious about the discipline. Tubulars do offer tangible advantages clinchers, largely because of the ability to use less air pressure. That single ...
Posted: Thu, Nov 12th
Tech Report: Amy Dombroski’s new Primus Mootry cyclocross bikesPint-sized ’cross diva Amy Dombroski is following an interesting path this season. Last year she graduated from the Kona-supported Velo Bella program and moved to the East Coast frame-building artisan, Richard Sachs’ team. Now, close to three quarters of the way through the ...
Posted: Wed, Oct 21st
Matt Pacocha reports on some 2010 cyclocross gear you can buy todayChallenge Grifo Pro
Posted: Thu, Oct 8th
Cross, Electrified - Shimano's Di2 group hits the dirtNiels Albert is on a roll. The world cyclocross champion, a rider who became the discipline’s new prince last season, started his season with four victories in the lead-up to the first World Cup in Treviso, Italy, which he went on to win.
Until now, Sven Nys has been ...
Posted: Mon, Sep 28th
Mafia Racing's Jake Wells is the working class hero of last week's CrossVegas. A look at his Felt race bike.Professional bike racing in the U.S. is different from just about every European country. When they say "pro" there, it means everyone in the race makes money doing it.
Not so in the U.S. For some, becoming a professional means little more than cherry picking a few smaller ...
Posted: Wed, Sep 23rd
CrossVegas: The ProTour comes to Sin CityRabobank rider Bram de Groot is a good sport. The Belgian came to Las Vegas to race CrossVegas, though he hasn’t raced cyclocross in years.
To open up his legs for the race, Giant’s Andrew Juskaitis took him for a mountain bike ride on Interbike’s Outdoor Demo Caldera ...
Posted: Wed, Sep 23rd
CrossVegas: Craig test-drives Giant prototypeGiant Bicycles brought a prototype TCX Advanced SL carbon bike to Interbike for Adam Craig to race in Wednesday night’s CrossVegas event, and VeloNews took an exclusive first look mere hours after team manager Frank Trotter finished building it.
Posted: Wed, Sep 23rd
Interbike Outdoor Demo - Hitting the roadA special request by Cannondale pulled several of us out to Interbike’s Outdoor Demo at an uncomfortably early hour on Monday and then to a “secret location” billed Area 88 — actually a local self-storage unit — via vintage Mercedes Unimog to see a “proof of ...
Posted: Fri, Sep 18th
Testing tubular cyclocross tires from Challenge, Dugast and TufoEditor's Note A version of this review first ran in VeloNews.com last December, too late for most cyclocross racers to make tire buying decisions for the race season. Matt has reviewed the information to make sure it is still relevant, and re-written parts. ...
Posted: Tue, Sep 15th
Tech Report: Gary Fisher Superfly 100 — a carbon full-suspension 29er.During the middle part of the 2009 racing season the Subaru-Gary Fisher team gave Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, a racer with a preference for hardtails, a new full-suspension bike.
To the surprise of many he raced it in some of the biggest events during the second half of this ...
Posted: Tue, Sep 8th
Despite the world's results, VeloNews' Matt Pacocha says tests show 29-inch wheels are faster.Editor's Note: For more on Matt's test protocol and tools and a review of three of his favorite 29ers, see Singletrack.com.
The 26-inch wheeled hardtail mountain bike is, indeed, dead.
OK, ...
Posted: Fri, Aug 7th
Advanced Placement - Giant’s new Anthem X Advanced SL and Trance Advanced SLYou’ve seen it, we’ve reported on it and everyone expected it to eventually be offered for sale and now it’s finally official: Adam Craig’s Anthem X Advanced SL carbon racer will be included in Giant’s 2010 mountain bike line.
The new World Cup-worthy ...
