Welcome Friends!
Hi, I’m Lee McCormack and I’m the Lee in Lee Likes Bikes. Many of you have read my mountain bike books and articles; watched my videos; and taken my skills classes. Thank you.
I am the original Obi Shred Kenobi of mountain bike technique and dynamic mountain bike fit. No one knows (or has published) more about how bikes, bodies and trails interact. I’ve written 11 books and thousands of articles. My instructional videos have received millions of views. I have personally taught more than 11,000 riders of all styles and levels, including 2,000 volunteer youth mountain bike coaches. And I’ve performed dynamic mountain bike fits for more than 1,000 riders.
Mistress Cycles is born from my frustration with modern mountain bike geometry. The current trend toward longer/slacker/gnarlier bikes makes it hard for many riders to find bikes that fit them properly. In addition, some of the trendy features make bikes less safe to ride (do you feel like you’re being pulled over the bars, or that your front tire lacks grip?).
I got sick of hearing myself complain about mountain bike design, so I decided to design my own bike testing my ideas. From the first ride on the Pink Mistress (flying below) I knew I had to bring my ideas to the world.
Mistress Cycles use first principles of biomechanics and physics, laid over vast experience working with real riders in the real world. I know firsthand how actual humans (vs. elite pros) move, ride, think and feel. I know what you need in a bike, and I’m creating that bike for you.
Warm Embrace geometry
Mistress Cycles hold you in their Warm Embrace. Compared with mainstream mountain bike geometry, Warm Embrace does these things for you:
Prevents you from getting catapulted over the handlebars. This is the most common type of crash that sends riders to the hospital. Raise your hand if this has happened to you (and you’re not wearing a sling right now). Warm Embrace geometry positions the bike’s grips so you have optimal range of motion and muscular recruitment to control your bike. To learn more about the indisputable logic, read my book Dialed.
Yes, I wrote a book about dynamic mountain bike fit that has helped thousands of riders get their bikes dialed. I’ve asked every major bike company about the logic behind their sizing. Not one company has any provable logic, much less a book. They are all following the same geometry trends because they fear lost sales. That’s the reality of business at that scale.
Prevents you from crashing in turns. This is the second most common cause of mountain-biker hospitalizations. Mainstream bikes shift your weight toward the back tire, which lightens the front tire and makes it tend to slide out in turns (I know you know what I’m talking about). Warm Embrace positions you closer to the middle of your bike so your front tire grips … and you rip!
Makes pedaling easier. Mistress bikes use long-proven “slacker” seat-tube angles that work best for most riders. These angles help you pedal with your powerful butt and hips rather than your weak quads and knees, which improves your power and endurance.
Is just plain more comfortable. The tradition that demands cycling must be painful or it doesn’t count is BS of the highest stink. If you want to suffer needlessly, do that on your own time. Bike time is sacred. The more comfortable you are, the more you ride, and the more fun you have. In its need to sell more models of bikes, the bike industry has determined that there are two kinds of bikes 1) the super cool performance bikes that badasses ride and 2) the boring and uncool comfort bikes that nerds ride. That’s even more stinky BS! Mistress bikes are both more comfortable and higher performing. And, yes, you can be both a nerd and a badass!
To sum it up, Warm Embrace is more comfortable and safer. This gives you the confidence to pursue your most audacious mountain bike dreams, whether they be riding to the corner store for ice cream or charging down world class enduro tracks. Great riding technique certainly helps, and that’s why every Mistress bike comes with free access to Lee’s online mountain bike school, where you will learn all about bike fit and riding technique — and interact directly with the badass nerd himself.
Who is Mistress for?
I cannot over stress the difference between the riding experience of a full-time young, healthy professional bike rider with nothing to lose and everything to gain, and a normal person. I work with some of the top racers in the world, and I also work with real people who have jobs, families, injuries, trail trauma, health issues and … ya know … real lives.
The full-time pros who get paid to say the bike is great can make any bike work. I’m sorry friends, but you can’t. I’m not being a jerk here. Very few of us have the time, talent, financial need and frankly the ignorance to ride at a high level on an ill-fitting bike. We need bikes that work for us. The punchline is that these bikes work better for pros too.
Mistress bikes are for people who don’t need to be trendy or cool by riding the same bike everyone else rides. Mistress bikes are for people who ride for themselves, for their own reasons. Call us nerds, but I think that’s pretty badass.
We fit almost everyone. Right now, many mainstream trail and enduro bikes don’t properly fit anyone shorter than about 5’9″ tall. That’s half of men and most women. Mistress bikes are designed to perfectly fit riders between 4’10” and 6’8″. We fit even shorter and taller riders with slight compromises.
If you’re a beginner, Mistress’ Warm Embrace geometry helps you ride with much lower risk of being thrown over the handlebars or washing out in a turn. Everything you do on the bike feels more pleasant and less stressful. This gives you confidence, which leads to fun, fitness and improvement.
When you’re an expert, that confidence allows you to explore your bounds as a rider. I rode the prototype Pink Mistress trail bike at the 2024 UCI Masters World Downhill Mountain Biking Championship on a rowdy course in a field of downhill hikes, and I finished in 9th place. Warm Embrace Geometry really works!
Keeping it simple
We’ve seen what happens to bike companies when their owners get greedy (a la the post-COVID meltdown).
I don’t need or want to run a huge company. I feel compelled to provide these bikes as part of my mission to help people have more fun on their bikes. I will design and make the best bikes I can for all of us. I’ll take this one step at a time, and I vow to never be a slave to some offshore holding company.
Every decision about bike design and suspension performance serves my mandate for a bike that works so seamlessly you forget it’s there. Every decision about the company and logistics serves my mandate for a nimble company that stays true to my vision to help people ride and live more joyfully.
It’s that simple.
Please join the mailing list so I can keep you updated as I move toward taking orders:
Thank you for reading. Namastoke!
Lee