Product Review 2014 Part 3 of 5, Power Bar Products and Mavic Gear (Shoes, Helmets, Gloves, Rain Jackets, Warm Riding Gear and Pedals)

Mavic Ride Gear: Anthony and I were lucky enough to use Mavic Notch helmets, Crossmax shoes, Crossmax XL pedals for all-mountain riding/enduro racing.  

We were also given rain jackets, road helmets, gloves, arm and leg warmers and XC Fury shoes. Yes we could have made do with just enduro gear, but it was REALLY nice to have more streamline gear for road riding. Especially since group road rides are basically underground road races.

Over the last two years we have both hit our heads hard enough to test the Notch helmets properly. They work!

Crossmax shoes are amazing for hike-a-biking and for transferring power in a race. 

For hike-a-bike, the stickiness of the rubber lets you scramble slick rock faces and if in sand or rubble the ankle cuffs keep debris out. 

When racing, they feel the same as the XC Fury, the top-of-the-line XC race shoe (now my "road shoe"). 


The only thing we ran into was that we wanted more ratchets on the retention. We couldn't always get the shoe as tight as we would have liked. Anthony got a size smaller then took his shoe to a ski boot shop, warmed the shoe (in a waterproof bag) in a crockpot of warm water then used a tool to stretch the toebox a bit, perfect.

Mavic wind and rain jackets are perfect, the Crossmax H20 Jacket  even has zippers which open to release more fabric creating space for wearing over an Osprey pack, even has routing for the hydration hose. The women's Cloud jacket is a great fit and takes up a tiny amount of space.

I don't actually run road pedals/shoes but use the Crossmax SL pedals on my road bike. Diaz ran Zxellium Elite road pedals. After a season of riding said he would prefer a little more retention which I would guess is available with the higher end pedals.

I really appreciate the support Powerbar has given over the last five years, stoked for more great snacks in 2015. PowerBar also provides snacks for my clinics which has been awesome!  

PowerBar Snacks: 

Favorites anytime snack: Chocolate Peanut Butter Wafers, Toffee Chocolate Chip Harvest Bar and Apple Cinnamon Crisp Harvest Bar (not pictured)

Favorite enduro race snack: Raspberry (no caffeine), Strawberry Banana (1x caffeine) and Cola (2x caffeine) Energy Blasts

Favorite race gel: Chocolate