Kitli

Kitli was born on bike rides, road trips, and backyard adventures. It came to life between playground scrapes and camping trips, on the group chat full of parents swapping links and late-night messages that sound something like, “Has anyone found a water bottle they can open themselves and doesn’t leak?”

It started with a crew of kids who play hard—riding, climbing, digging, splashing—and the parents trying to find gear that can keep up. Muddy shoes. Dented helmets. Stained jackets. The stories of active families are told through the scratches and scuffs of well-loved stuff.

Kitli grew out of that chaos, curiosity, and community. It’s built on a simple belief: parents deserve better information, not more marketing. They deserve a place where real experiences and honest opinions matter more than paid partnerships.

Founded by a team of lifelong riders, testers, and outdoor professionals, Kitli exists to help families discover gear that survives your kid—the muddy, dented, joyfully chaotic way you actually live.

Because the best gear isn’t the stuff that stays spotless—it’s the stuff that survives the fun.

Who We are

Meet Bobby Lea
I’m a dad of two outdoor-obsessed kids who are happiest when they’re filthy—covered in mud, riding bikes through the woods, or doing endless laps on the pump track in our backyard. Most days, I’m just trying to keep up.

Before Kitli, I spent more than a decade as a professional cyclist, racing around the world and representing the U.S. at three Olympics. After retiring, I worked as a Gear Editor and a PR professional in the outdoor industry, testing and talking about the products that make life outside better.

Now I live on a small farm in Pennsylvania, where gear testing looks a lot more like real life—family trail rides, canal-path adventures, and the occasional mountain bike race that ends with ice cream instead of champagne. (Though for the record, I still love champagne—and a cold beer after a good ride.)

Meet Mike Festa
I’ve spent most of my life chasing bikes and the community that grows around them. I run the cycling club Philadelphia Ciclismo, raced mountain bikes at the pro level, and still line up at regional MTB and cyclocross races whenever I can. Around here, people joke that I’m the Mayor of Pennsylvania Cycling—mostly because I somehow know everyone.

I live in Devon, Pennsylvania, where I do my best to pass that love of riding along to niece and nephew. Watching them discover the same thrill that got me hooked is even better than racing itself especially when they say things like “send it” and “dirt nap”

At Kitli, I bring that same obsession for gear—tirelessly researching the best stuff, whether it’s for my bikes, my wife’s, or my nieces’. I’ve also got a weird love of turning chaotic data into organized, useful info so you—our community of parents—can find the gear that actually holds up and keeps the stoke alive.

Meet Shelby Lea
I’m a mom of two and the household’s unofficial head of research and development. I’ll happily spend hours reading Amazon reviews, comparing specs, and asking every friend I know for their recommendation—because finding the right piece of gear matters. Around here, I’m also Kitli’s Product Critic in Chief, because when something breaks, leaks, or disappoints, I’m usually the one dealing with the fallout.

Before life with two wild kids, I spent years chasing perfection in elite sport—first as a World Cup show jumper, then as an elite track cyclist. These days, I’m reluctantly learning to handle the rocks and roots of Pennsylvania singletrack, mostly because our oldest keeps telling me I need to “tap up” my mountain bike skills. Turns out, he’s right—and I’m secretly pretty proud of how far I’ve come.

At Kitli, I bring a love of precision, a healthy dose of skepticism, and the belief that good gear makes family adventure easier, happier, and a lot more fun.