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: Thu, Jul 23rd
Shimano teasers show up at the Tour — on the Skil-Shimano team bikes.Skil-Shimano is the only team in this year’s Tour de France with a component manufacturer as a co-title sponsor. Naturally with Shimano making such investment into this Continental Professional team from the Netherlands, it made sure to outfit it with its latest and greatest ...
Posted: Tue, Jul 21st
MTB Nats: The death of traditional cross-country bikes?The 2009 men’s podium at Mountain Bike Nationals at SolVista Resort in Granby, Colorado, looked like this: First place: Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Gary Fisher SuperFly 29er; Second place: Adam Craig, Giant Anthem X Advanced full suspension; Third: Sam Schultz, Gary Fisher ...
Posted: Mon, Jul 20th
JHK's sub-20-pound, national championship-winning Gary Fisher 29er.Subaru-Gary Fisher team rider Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski began his mountain bike racing career in Winter Park, Colorado, just south of the SolVista Resort, the site of the 2009 and 2010 Mountain Bike National Championships. For all intents it’s a home course for JHK and his wife, ...
Posted: Sat, Jul 4th
Tricking the wind: Astana's new Trek time trial machinesIn recent years many time trial bikes have sprouted nose cones and structural fairings to improve aerodynamic, but more recently the UCI has signaled that it intends to crack down on designs that infringe on its '3:1' rule, which says frame and components can't be more than ...
Posted: Fri, Jul 3rd
Armstrong's new ride: The 6-series MadoneBack before Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France he lived in Nice, France. In 1998, he, like many pros in the area, started using the Col de la Madone to test his fitness.
At 10 kilometers, the climb has been described by Armstrong as not easy, but not too hard, a ...
Posted: Thu, Jul 2nd
A conversation with Jim FeltWe recently bumped into Jim Felt, head bike designer of his namesake company Felt Bicycles, in the Cote d’Azur airport. He is in the middle of a three-week trip that first took him to Aigle, Switzerland, to visit the UCI, where he met with Jean Wauthier, the organization’s ...
Posted: Wed, Jul 1st
An Oakley photo galleryIn 2008, sunglass and apparel manufacturer, Oakley passed the $1 billion mark in terms of annual sales. That figure had been the goal of the company for the better part of a decade. That marked a milestone for an iconic brand whose futuristic building is perched atop a hill at ...
Posted: Sun, Jun 21st
Wrenched and Ridden: MRP’s 1.X ChainguideGiant Factory Team rider Adam Craig won the 2008 national championship cross-country race in Mount Snow, Vermont, using a single 35-tooth chainring and half of MRP’s System 3 Carbon downhill chainguide.
That race underscored his and other top cross-country racers’ ...
Posted: Mon, Jun 8th
SRAM launches 20-speed mountain bike groupYou’ve heard the rumors about SRAM XX. There’s been speculation about how many speeds it would have, what gear combinations would be available, how light it would be and what it would be made of. Now we have all the answers. XX is SRAM’s first complete off-road group, ...
Posted: Sun, May 24th
SID gets a new crownJulien Absalon (Orbea) has had a carbon crown and steerer for his 32mm stanchioned SID World Cup since late last season and now you can have one too. RockShox has announced that the SID World Cup, its flagship cross-country racing fork, will get an upgrade for 2010. After a ...
Posted: Tue, May 12th
Cinelli introduces its Columbus XCr stainless steel road frameCinelli’s XCr frame is an interesting experiment that mashes together classic steel bicycle frame craftsmanship with new world technology.
From the classy side, the XCr features its choice of steel for a material, exquisite Italian welding and craftsmanship, not to ...
Posted: Thu, May 7th
Yeti's team gravity racers are trying a new, lighter rig.Cross-country riders aren’t the only mountain bike racers with a weight obsession. The World Cup gravity crew has been working on trimming grams, too, and that’s a big issue when you have a bike like Yeti’s 303DH, which excels in just about every aspect … except for that ...
