Circle-360 - Bike Stuff

Road Tubeless Tyres

2011-04-13T09:20:00.001-07:00

Its been a long time since I posted, but my last post was regrading Tubeless road tyres. I just read a new article which is very interesting by Lennard Zinn on velonews

By Lennard Zinn
Published Apr 13th 2011 7:33 AM UTC

Q.Dear Lennard,
So earlier this week, I upgraded to road tubeless using an Ultegra wheelset and a pair of Fusion 3s. I inflated the back tire using a CO2 cartridge, and the front I had to take to a bike shop so they could fill it with their compressor (the mechanics gave me a look when I said “road tubeless” and told me I was suicidal, but filled my tire anyway).

So now, my front tire is great, but my rear wheel keeps losing most of its air overnight. I think the bead is seated correctly, because I can pump it up with a hand pump. And I can ride an hour on it just fine, and it still feels hard when I get back. It just won’t hold air overnight. (And yes, I have sealant in there, Effetto Mariposa Espresso).

I can’t figure this one out. What could be the matter? And is it even safe to be riding it?
— JL

A.Dear JL,
Yes, the bead is probably now seated correctly if you can pump it with a hand pump. Cover the tire and rim with soapsuds and inflate the tire. See where the air is coming out, and rotate and tilt the wheel appropriately so that the place where air is bubbling out is at the bottom so the CaffeLatex can go there and plug the hole. That will fix your problem unless the rim is leaking.

If air is bleeding out of the rim around the spoke nipples, the seal on your valve stem is leaking. It’s probably simply needs a bit of sealant, but it could also be a bad valve stem. Remove the valve stem, put some CaffeLatex around the rubber seal at its base, and put it back in. That has fixed every one I’ve ever had leakage there with, other than on rims that had gotten corroded around the valve hole by a corrosive tire sealant. Only hand-tighten the valve-stem-retaining nut; you want to be able to remove the valve stem without tools should you need to install a spare inner tube on the road.

I suspect that it’s simply the time frame that makes it seem like it’s behaving differently when sitting than when riding. I’ll bet it leaks while you ride, too, and if you were to ride all night long, it would be as soft in the morning as when you leave it sitting inflated overnight.

Assuming you’re using current tubeless-compatible Ultegra wheels and those Fusion 3s say “tubeless” on them (I don’t know why Hutchinson uses the same model names for tubeless and non-tubeless tires…), then yes, it should be safe to ride on. The beadlock of the road tubeless tire with a tubeless-compatible road rim is very good and generally keeps a deflated tire on the rim better than a deflated standard clincher stays on.

One thing to keep in mind is that road tubeless tires are folded tightly in the packaging, leaving kinks in the bead at many places around the rim that tend to not seal along the rim shelf. For a tire that won’t seal, simply put a tube in it and ride it for a while. It will take the proper shape soon enough. Then take the tube out, wet the beads, put in the tubeless valve stem and a couple tablespoons of CaffeLatex sealant, and pump it back up. It may not even require an air compressor or a CO2 cartridge to seat the bead, once it’s been ridden a while.

As to your interaction at the shop, I absolutely cannot understand why so many bike shop employees try to discourage customers from using road tubeless tires. I’m convinced it is simply because they have not used them successfully themselves. I think that indicates rather poor shop training on the part of road tubeless tire and wheel makers and a lack of interest in keeping up with what is current on the part of the shop personnel.

I was super irritated when one of my bay-area customers ran into roadblocks like this with his own local bike shop. He has Fulcrum 2-Way Fit (meaning they are tubeless compatible as well as compatible with a standard clincher and tube—characteristics shared by all road tubeless wheels) wheels and Hutchinson Fusion 2 Road Tubeless tires on a bike we built for him. He wanted to replace his worn tires and wanted a shop to do it for him. Thinking ahead more than most customers would, he looked on the Fulcrum website for Fulcrum-authorized retailers in his area and went to one of them.

An employee there started right off telling him how he thought road tubeless tires suck and recommended against using them. But at 6-foot-8 and 245 pounds, this customer is prone to flat tires and wanted the same reliability he’d gotten used to. I think the shop didn’t even have any road tubeless tires in stock and had to order some in, requiring a second trip for the customer. Finally, the shop went ahead and slapped on a pair of road tubeless Hutchinsons without wetting the beads and without using sealant inside (Hutchinson even sells its road tubeless sealant by the gallon with a twist spout—couldn’t be easier for a shop to use it!).

My customer managed to get all of about eight miles down the road on his first ride before one tire went flat and he ended up calling me. I spent some time on the phone bringing him up to speed on how to do it himself. The bummer is that he’s a busy executive who would rather not spend his time working on his bike and would like to leave that to somebody else. Now he understands the system and can educate the bike shop employees who stand in his way on how to use a simple system that they should already know. I’m still shaking my head at how an “authorized retailer” of a wheel brand that makes road tubeless wheels does not understand how to use them.

I ride Hutchinson tubeless tires on all (three) of my road bikes and never have bleed-down issues unless I haven’t ridden one of them in months. (I also ride tubeless tires on my mountain bikes, and often on my cyclocross bikes.) On bikes that don’t get much use and hence don’t run through tires during the course of a season, I do replace the sealant at least annually.

Besides providing a very nice ride with good grip and lower rolling resistance due to the ability to run lower pressures without fear of pinch flats, road tubeless tires have completely eliminated flat tires for me. I simply do not get flats anymore on my road bikes, and I’m a big guy. One of the things that was a pain for me when doing all of that testing of carbon clincher wheels for VeloNews (you did read that test in the magazine, didn’t you?) was that I couldn’t use road tubeless tires in them. I was constantly having to fix flats out on the road, since we have a lot of sharp stuff on the roads here in the wintertime. There are few things I dislike more than changing road tires in cold weather.

I have discovered that if I wear through the tread to the point that I can see the casing, a road tubeless tire no longer holds air. And once, I hit a sharp rock at high speed that cut my rear sidewall, requiring, of course, installing a tube and a boot to get home and then replacing the tire. This would have destroyed any tire, but it was cool to see that the tire stayed on despite the high speed and curvy descent. Wanting to see what it would do, I rode the rest of the way down the mountain—over a kilometer, and the tire stayed on until the final switchback, when one bead finally came off.

I only wish that road tubeless tires were offered in larger diameters and road tubeless wheels were offered in bomb-proof models. I have many customers who are near or over 300 pounds and who climb in very low gears. High rider weight combined with lots of torque due to pedaling a low gear with lots of leg power can snap spokes in short order on the available tubeless wheels. And while Stan’s NoTubes makes a road tubeless rim strip that would seal up any road rim, including on bomber wheelsets we build here for customers like that, I’m a bit leery from a liability perspective about selling tubeless tires with rims not specifically made for that application. I also am more comfortable philosophically with having the little beadlock ridges that road tubeless wheels have on the inboard edges of the bead shelves to lock and seal the bead.

The (un-stretchable) carbon-fiber bead on a road tubeless tire is square, rather than having rounded corners, and it snaps into the square shape of a road tubeless rim’s bead hook and is further retained by the hump. Stan’s rims have a lower bead hook specifically for tubeless use, but his rims are known for being lightweight, not for being ideal for 300-pound riders. So, rather than sending a 300-pound guy out on road tubeless tires on wheels not made for it, I just tell him that he’s simply going to be dealing with frequent flat tires unless he uses super heavy-duty tires and tubes that ride like a truck. It’s a real shame to not be able to offer riders like this the rolling and cornering performance, comfort, and freedom from punctures and pinch flats that road tubeless tires offer.

I’ll get off of my soapbox now. JL, if you get those tires and rims sealed properly with that CaffeLatex (same stuff I use, BTW) and don’t continue to ride them after the tread is completely off, you can expect great performance and flat-free riding with them. Don’t give up, and don’t listen to bike shop employees who try to convince you to not use them!
— Lennard

Hutchinson's Tubeless Tyres

2010-06-01T23:25:00.000-07:00

Hutchinsons Tubeless Tires

A week ago I got a set of Hutchinson's Fusion 3's, a new tubeless tire from Hutchinson. This is a claimed 290gram tubeless tyre designed to be used with compatible rims. The Atom is the race tire and is more performance, less puncture resistant. The Fusion is still classed as a race tire but it gives up some performance for durability.

Features & Benefits
- smoother ride (less skipping due to lower pressure)
- less rolling resistance, faster ride.
- needs less inflation (holds air better)

Mounting
A lot of people told me I would need an air compressor to mount, as the air can leak out very quickly requiring a high volume of air, to mount the tyre. this turned out to be wrong. I mounted them fine with a floor pump, one point to note: make sure the bead is seated around the valve in a secure manner before pumping rapidly.
A lot of advice out there recommends that you add a small amount of tyre sealant inside the tyre when mounting, to fix pinhole punctures and so forth, that you get from normal riding.
I did not use any Stans sealant on this initial instal, instead I carried a sealant and inflator kit - Hutchinsons Fast Air. But I am planning to add sealant soon.
6/5 I added Stans tubeless sealant to to my wheels.

In Use
I have about 150 miles on them, so far so good. grip is excellent and the very rounded profile of the tyre affords good cornering. The tyre is noticeably smoother than a tube version. Does less rolling resistance make me go faster? - no idea.
6/5
Clicking 65 more miles on these tyres. Noticing the real smoothness of these tyres, they are really good, makes riding less fatiguing, smooths out uneven surfaces, cuts down road buzz. So a real test today...there is a lots of rubbish on shoulders of roads, today I encountered something that slashed a 3/8" inch gash in my rear tyre. Fortunately, very very fortunately I had just put Stans in there before the ride. Without that I would have been screwed. Stans say their sealant seals up to 1/4" slices, and it's true. There was some spray and mess, but it sealed by itself and got me home, no adding a tube required. Pretty big gash, Stans did good.

Weight
This is really a 315gram tyre. Not a 290.

** More to come as I get more miles on these puppies **

Oakley Jawbones - Performance Shades

2010-05-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Oakley Jawbones

(Matte White with Gloss Black)

5/29/10

shown with one permission and one blue iridium lens.

It's been a long time since I have paid over $200 for some sunglasses, well these were $225. The Oakley Jawbones are one of the latest "sports" glasses. They offer a radical design style and performance which has been seen on many pro athletes, including Lance, Cavendish and other top roadies and bike dudes.

Why Jawbone? - well one of the key features is the way that the lower portion of the frames open, the part that looks like a Jawbone, allows you to swap lenses and securely holds them in place.

this image shows how the nose piece snaps open to allow

the Jawbone to swing out so that you can change lenses.

after unlocking the nose piece, you can see how the jaw swings open.

Shows the elastomer / rubber padding inside of the frame where the lens sits.

This ensures the lens fit well and don't rattle around. Nice quality touch.

nice detail on the Oakley "O" on the arms of the glasses

Here are all the the lenses I have

Black Iridium Vented, Good for bright sun or snow. these are the darkest

that Oakley makes. These lenses give a cooler shade to things.

I don't use these lenses as much as I thought, I think the

warmer view of the Blue Iridiumsbelow is nicer.

Good for most brighter / sunny times. VR28 Blue Iridium Vented

These lenses give a warmer shade to things

These are perfect NW lenses, rainy to overcast days, they improve the clarity

a large amount and give a warmer tint, so it makes Portland seem not so

much depressing in the rain!

Permission Lenses

So what makes em so good? - removing the style aspect which is personal.

1) Customizable - You can go on the Oakley website and design your own glasses, down to coloring and the surface finish of each part specifying logo treatments, engraving on lenses and types of lenses. If you want to match your bike or your fav cycling kit, it's now possible. This is also cool if you have a team of riders and want to keep some consistent brand look.

2) Fit - the way these fit your face is fantastic, they come with two sets of nose pads to accommodate different size faces. The nose pads in essence control how much offset from your face the glasses have , this is noticeable around the eyebrows and of course nose bridge. These glasses are a pleasure to wear, they are never tiring on your head and they become invisible. They offer true comfort.

3) Switchable lenses - you can select different shades for various conditions, or should you scratch, you can easy replace. The lenses are fast and easy to switch, which encourages you to slect the right lens for the situation.

4) Coverage - The design wraps around your face and has a large lens which covers a large amount of your field of view, providing seamless eye coverage and protection. When compared to glasses like the Radar or M Frames which have no frame at the bottom, you may think that the Jawbone gets in the way of vision, I thought that too, but it's designed well so it doesn't.

I could also add to the list Quality of Optics, but this is a well known fact that Oakley make superb lenses with minimal eye fatiguing distortion, high impact resistance and second to none clarity. They put these lens technologies in all the glasses they make.

Whats no so good?
Well, they are that good you won't want to take em off, you might end up looking like a dork in some situations which don't warranty a sporty radical style. A night at the prom for instance... leave em at home when these occasions happen. trust me you will get more chick.

Since these glasses are of high design quality, i'm going to be a little bit critical here, and this is being very picky due to the overal super high design quality of these products

1) The glasses come with a nice protective case, semi hard which is fairly bulky and one of those eva molded foam thingamy jobs. For the most part there is also a material sock which I use most of the time. (Shown in the picture below)
The sock has a little area / sewn off section for a spare set of lenses. This sock could have been designed much better, the spare lenses easily fall out of the sock and the glasses are tricky to get into the sock. Little bit of an afterthought.

2) I chose my glasses to have a glossy / shiny black lower jaw, if I were to do this again, I would choose a matt finish. Why? This is not an esthetic preference , more functional, when wearing the glasses, the gloss surface causes some unwanted reflections inside the frame.

Bottom Line

Money well spent. Versatile glasses that look great and function brilliantly.

Update 6/11/2010

A nice chap from Oakley contacted me, to ask me about the lower glossy black jawbones, I told him the deal , that I thought the glossy was bouncing light around inside the glasses , a few days later some matte black lower bones parts showed up at my house. I installed them today. On my ride today it was a bit overcast, but i will be keeping the Matte finish lowers on to see if it removes the reflections I pointed out in #2) above. I will keep it posted.

WHEELS: Dura-Ace WH 7850 C24 TL Tubeless Carbon / alloy Road Wheels

2010-03-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

Shimano Dura-Ace have a lineup of solid wheelsets, with quite a few models. Noting that I ride quite a few hills, and that I did not have ultra deep pockets for sew ups, I knew I wanted to stay towards a low profile, light weight, clincher wheel with the possibility of trying the new Tubeless technology, as available from Hutchinson.

Several wheels are available:
WH7850 C24- TL (Carbon Tubeless) 1460gram
WH7850 C24- CL (Carbon Clincher) 1386gram
WH7850 - SL (Scandium tubeless) 1515gram
These are all in the $1100 to $1400 range, which is premium, but not super esoteric like the $2300 of Zipp wheels. For further info see the Shimano Wheel Website

All the wheels are low profile, aerodynamic 24mm profile rims.
Both theC24 wheels use a Carbon skin on the rim, where the Carbon makes part of the structure and keeps an alloy breaking surface. The Scandium SL is all alloy, no carbon. Tubeless Technology : The SL and the TL have been designed so they can be run straight from the box tubeless with special tyres from makers such as Hutchinsons. The advantage here is lower rolling resistance, smoother feel. I have heard of people running the CL's as tubeless, but this is not endorsed by Shimano, pressures on the tyres bead interface to rim are much higher in a tubeless design and the TL and SL have been designed to accommodate this.

I chose the WH7850 C24-TL's. There are a few Grams heavier than the CL's but I wanted to be safe in the choice of tubeless compatible.

Quality
As expected from Dura-Ace, the hubs are beautiful, laser etched logos, premium finish.the hubs are solid, precision and spin like butter. The rear hub is laced to a well done asymmetrical rim equalizing the tension between drive and non drive side spokes and providing increased rigidity. The front wheel is radial laced.
Black carbon wrap on the rim is highlighted with the red screw in rim type nipples.Spokes are bladed and black in colour, the wheelset oozes class, it's not the "hey look at me wheelset", it's the subtle yet confident version, this is best seen in the hubs.

Initial ride thoughts.
Since I did not have any Hutchinsons to put on right away, I ran the wheels with regular inner tubes and tyres from my old wheelset.
Initially, I noticed,
-These wheels are light and spin up fast.
-Stiff, but initial response makes them feel they are not quite as stiff as the Mavic Ksyriums (im used to the older SSC SL models)
-The ride quality is great, very smooth, not the normal chatter of an aluminium rim, I attribute this to the Carbon overwrap.
- Downhill cornering 28 - 45mph was very confident, solid and a trustworthy feeling was had. They made me want to pus the corners more in descents and I felt like I was going faster.
These above statements were made using Michelin Carbon Kyrilion tyres, a durable tyre, not a race tyre. I recently switched out to some Cont 4000's which will provide a better "feel" on the wheel.

Well after a few more miles , about 300, I can say I really like these wheels, when mixed with a steel bike, they are very buttery smooth feeling, a lot of road noise gets absorbed and it can feel like you are gliding, even on rougher surfaces. The quality of the bearings is great and you get a lot more roll for your power. Out of the saddle and hammering, I could not feel any give in the wheels (161lb rider), they stayed solid. I have not used them on a carbon frame yet, but I expect the performance to be spectacular.

I have been told that these wheels make a unique noise, nice, but I have not experienced this yet.

more to come.....

Park TS2.2 Truing Stand and Oakley Jawbones

2010-02-24T09:20:00.001-08:00

coming soon!!!

Heart Rate Monitors (Suunto vs Polar) *updated

2010-01-24T13:59:00.000-08:00

Bicycle computers can be great, knowing mileage and speed is a plus. Now when you want to get to some more serious training and improvement you need stuff like Power or Heart Rate. People will debate for years about which is better to track and understand, but this is not the point of this write up. Hands down, Heart Rate Monitors (HRM's) are a lot cheaper and offer better value than high end pro level systems that measure wattage / power at the cranks (SRM System) or in the hub at the rear wheel (Powertap). Nowadays there are a lot of companies that offer products that can monitor and analyze HR specifically for cycling, the better known companies are Polar, Suunto and Sigma.

For a few years now, I have used HRM's with good success, here's what I have to say about the equipment:

Polar S725

For a few years I used a Polar watch (s725 $320 at the time) to monitor, speed, heart rate, altitude and temp (cadence could also be added) . This was a higher end decent product which connected to the PC and allowed post analysis of a ride. A few things really disappointed me about the Polar setup.
- Analysis software was only PC compatible.
- Aesthetics were very low on their products, some of the ugliest work I had seen.
- There user interface / navigation around the watch and all the features was pathetic.
- The watch was a bit bulky, the thickness on the wrist seemed too chunky.

Things I really liked.
- The bike mount (allowing the watch to sit on the handlebars)
- The quality of the software and information on the PC
- The clarity of the LCD display on the watch, good human consideration, decent size information with high contrast.

Suunto T3c

The last bike show I went to, I walked into the Suunto booth and was impressed by their equipment. Really good looking stuff, fully featured, slimmer packages and seemingly overall better han the Polar gear. Suunto are known for their ABC products which are for hiking / climbing / orienteering. Along with their ABC range they also have "Training" products. A little bit cautious I ordered up a T3c (a mid range end model $150) to give it a test. Now here's the bad news.
4 months old, it's been in for repair twice. The unit is very unreliable and looses its paring with the heart strap on many occasions. In fact when you need to rely on this product, jump on your bike / go for a run... guess what ... yep it doesn't work. The first repair call, Suunto replaced the HR belt, did this fix the problem, um... no. What does this lead to...easy... NO TRAINING DATA ! if the sytem don't work, well it cannot do it's job. How frustrating.
Several interaction with a confusing website then calls to the consumer service department and I have no watch and a letter into Suunto. Did I get a lemon? I have not heard from them yet, it's been about two weeks and I have not herd from them. So the jury is still out. more to come....

Here's the update, today I got my 2nd time Suunto back. I sent it in on the 4th of Jan and it's the 29th today, not so impressive turn around time. Suunto did send me a brand new watch / system, they said the old was irreparable. I returned the product on the 4th after speaking with a CS rep and explaining the situation and telling them I wanted a refund and they could keep the watch. I enclosed a letter requesting a full refund. Since I got no refund and the process I have been through leads me to conclude:
- Sunnto staff cannot read.
- Sunnto products are little to be desired
- Suunto have a ridiculously long service time of over 3 weeks.

Suunto 5 thumbs down. Get it together.

What now?
Well my boss just bought a new Polar watch about a week ago, a very fancy one. Hum... what to do, I need something I can rely on. Jumped on the polar website, did some scanning found a product that meets my needs. The CS400. It's close to twice the price of the Suunto, but has many more features.

Polar CS400
Classed as Advanced Cycling Training :For demanding cyclists who require more advanced training capabilities. This is a cycling specific computer with no gps, but advanced training and down-loadable data.

Product Features

This computer mounts to your handlebars and is not a watch.

Feature set wise this product is not a whole lot different than the other Polar S725 I used to have.

Out of the box it measures

- Speed (avg, max, min, graphs)

- HR (avg, max, min, graphs)

- Temperature

- Altitude (calculates acent and decent)

- Grade / Incline

- Stopwatch, time and laps

- Distance, trip, total

- Ability to sense multiple bikes with different wheel sizes, bike 1, bike 2

- Cadence (you have to puchase an additional sensor)

- Power (you have to purchase an additional sensor)

The product comes with

- Computer handlebar mount and zip ties

- Speed Sensor and Zip Ties

- Heart Rate Strap

The product doesn't include

USB IR Device to transfer files to your PC. (These are about $50)

Speed sensor for an additional bike. (about $50)

Usage

The information on the display is clear and easy to read. Layout of the screens are configurable on the PC and on the fly.

The 5 buttons (4 on side , 1 on top) are fairy easy to use. A litle stiff, but I think this is designed so that if they are knocked lightly / by accident, they do not activate.

The unit is mounted on the handlebars and you twist to pop in and remove, at first it's a little tight, just as the bracket wears the firs couple of times.

The computer can be removed from your bike and your workout downloaded to your PC through IR (not included) and lets you plot your rides as graphs using pro Trainer software (included), which you can analyze.(here's an example)

This is good for post ride analysis and to log work outs miles and how you feel on particular days. The Pro Trainer software allows you to create training plans and upload to the unit with ease.

Installation

Cake.
Speed Sensor is easy to install and fits a range of forks from fatty carbon to skinny steel.

Handlebar mount is ok. If you have super fancy bars, mainly carbon and scuplted tops, it can be tricky and you might want to experiment / move around a couple of times. I have some Shimano Pro Carbon Stealth bars with funky tops and I had to mess around and reposition.Ii expect if you have regular 31.8's then there will be no messing what so ever.

Setup

Pretty good, polar have done a lot to improve their interface on the unit and a lot of the functions you can program on the computer and transfer to the device. All of the basic parameters can be imputed without the use of a PC. Overall it only takes 15-20 mins including mounting of speed sensor to be up and running.

Nice things

- Heart Rate straps get sweaty, on this one the electronics can be removed from the material (strap) on the HR strap, which allows you to fully submerge in water the strap to clean it without the worry of damaging the electronics.

- Training plans / Interval plans can be created on the computer and uploaded to your computer, to assist in training.

- Reliable!!! I have used it 20 times so far, no problems what so ever, turn it on, its ready to go, picks up heart rate in a snap, no issue.

- In the resting state, i.e. not monitoring, the unit has a graphic that can be cutomized in the PC and uploaded, really of no use, but cute.

- one of my biggest beefs of the older polar stuff is that it's god dang ugly, thank goodness polar got a new product designer with some taste! this unit is aesthetically much better. Although I am going to reserve my comments on some of the starship enterprise wrist worn polar units of 2010. :)

No so nice things

- Pro Trainer is PC only software

- IR USB is not included in the box.

- IR USB adapter comes with driver software that is on a mini cd rom, stupid things that a lot of computer drives don't take. I had to download drivers off the polar site, easy google. Went good, but was annoying because of the mini cd.

Sugoi comes through! (replacement high end bib short)

2010-01-12T23:00:00.000-08:00

It's always good to have this kind of posting. About a week ago, I sent a message to Sugoi which basically said I had a problem with one of their products,
I emailed a ton of pictures explaining the situation and let them know that I had used some of their bib shorts for a while but was having issues with the gripper gel on the legs cracking and coming off, thus causing difficulties holding knee warmers up and so forth.
I explained that I use my gear a lot and had experience with many other bib shorts by Pearl izumi, Capo, Castelli, Santini, Adidas, Voler, Craft, Assos and that their grippers lasted a little longer thus had raised my expectation bar. (This is not to say that there were not other flaws with other manufacturers bibs.)
Well, I didn't hear anything back from Sugoi immediately, but today, I had a brand new pair of RS Bib short waiting for me when I got home. And what's more, in their cycle of product development, it looks like they have improved their product even more in the chamois area.

I am very chuffed to receive a new pair and really did not expect it. I think that says a lot about the company, listening to consumers and generally doing the right thing.

So while I am on the same subject I have to say I love their ultra lightweight jacket. It's called the Helium and early season Jan, Feb, March, April I take it everywhere with me, very small, very light, great wind blocker and light rain. I think I may have reviewed it in my other blog posting Helium jacket.
I have to say in general I have been impressed by Sugoi, they offer a high value product, I would say they compete with the likes of Pearl Izumi, but maybe one notch higher in quality / value scale.
One thing I remember a long time ago, is their packaging design. Clean,, modern clear foil bags, very tech looking and impressive!
Sugoi Website
I know for cyclists bib short preference is a very personal thing. But next time you are in the market for cycling gear bibs or not, you should definitely consider them.

Dark Nights, bright lights

2009-11-27T23:36:00.000-08:00

From mini flashing things to big hunking lights, I've used quite a few. most have been good, a few have been shitty.
In general in the US , it's normal to have a red colour on the rear and a white on the front.And if you live in Portland it's law to have a front and rear.

For general commuter stuff I recommend Planet Bike lights, they offer a high value for money and are well designed. At the moment I have an older front LED Blinkey called a Beamer and a rear SuperFlash, that stay on my commuter bike most of the time. These type of lights/flashers are good for use in the city where you want to draw attention to your presence but you don't really need a headlight to illuminate the full road ahead of you. All the Planet bike stuff has well designed bike mounts which are durable and easy to use.These type of lights seem to work well because the batteries last a long time (100hrs) and they take normal size batteries that you can get anywhere.

My front light is about 5yrs old now and still going strong. Designed well, strong and easy clip to handlebars of different diameters.Quickly removable, waterproof. Uses standard AA batteries and will set you back about $24.

My Rear light is fairly new. It has a very bright flash and two smaller led's, easily grabs the attension of a driver approaching you from behind. It is nicely designed, has a solid mounting bracket and uses standard AAA batteries. This will set you back about $28 and well worth it.

Oh yeah, PlanetBike also give 25% of profits back to bike advocacy....well sorted!!... a big win win as those douche bag marketing guys would say.

If you ride your bike on very dark roads, roads without streetlights or trails in the woods at night, you should check out NiteRider lights, they make amazing stuff. Part of my regular commute has no street lights. I grabbed a Minewt Mini USB $99.

This is a light, not a flasher. It's used to illuminate the road so you can see where you are going, because it is so bright it also draws the attention of motorists. It has a separate battery, charger, and light unit. The battery on this model is rad, it can be charged with the charger at home and charged with a USB cable from your computer at the office.... so you will never be out of juice. A full charge lasts 3hrs. The battery comes with a velcro strap so you can mount it to your handlebar stem or top tube close to the headtube. It could also be rigged to go on your helmet, NiteRider sell a helmet kit for this reason. I like mine on my handlebars. The actual light unit mounts to the handlebar easily. The led / light unit is banded to your handlebars by a rubber band / o ring which works very well and is very secure.

Is it bright enough?
- Yes 99% of the time it's great, no street lights, no problems... there has been a time when it's pitch black and raining, it's as if teh road and rain absorb all the light you can throw out...absoutley worst conditions and I wished I had more light, in reality I would have needed a light which could output 7x the light for this situation

Is it waterproof?
- Of course

Do you take it off when you lock your bike up?
- Yes, most places I go, I could prolly leave it on, but it's still $100 to replace. it's surprisingly quick to take on and off.

Is the USB charging thing just a gimmick?
- No it really works and I keep a USB cord at work for this reason. Very handy..

Cycling Rain Jackets

2009-10-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

A thin layer of misty fog, fresh dew and a damp forest, yes brilliant we agree. Shivering cold, wet and each mile feels like five when trying to find your way home, not so brilliant. As you probably know riding in the rain can be refreshing or an utter disaster.
Fortunately there are a ton of good products out there that keep you on the happy path. Fabric technology has come a long way providing performance which works for you.

I will be evaluating the following gear with a few criteria in mind.
- Waterproof.
- Breath-ability
- Fit
- Overall features and functionality.

A few questions to ask yourself:-
- How often am I going to be riding in the rain?
- What am I going to be riding for? commuting ? training?
- Whats my budget?

Technologies & Fabrics
There are garments manufacturers (Showers Pass, Gore) who use specific fabrics developed by others who specialize in performance material for example Goretex and Event. Then there are garment manufactures who develop their own or rebrand a technology for example Pearl Izumi or Sugoi

Within garments there are two types:
Soft Shells - these are soft jackets, that normally are a bit thicker material and normally have more insulation properties. They look more like a regular jacket. Material technology has enabled these materials to have waterpoof coatings or waterproof membranes sewn into the fabric.
Hard Shells - this is what is more traditionally thought of as a waterproof material, it makes a crumpling noise when gathered together and looks like a shell, more ridgid than a soft shell.

The choice between a soft or hard shell is a tough one. I have used both and I have found that the best softshells are not as waterproof as the best hard shells. Also hard shells retain the water resistance for a longer duration with respect to life of the garment, this maybe due to the fact that some soft shells use a treated fabric wear the treament wears off after time. Nowadays material science is changing and there are some soft shells on the market now that are supposed to be as durable and water fast as the best hardshells, a good example of this is the Trainer Jacketby Showerspass, which is a high end, high performance Soft Shell with taped seams. One thing to note is that a Soft Shell will have more insulation, so if you are in a balmy environment, where it can be warm and wet, you may want to stay with a Hardshell so you can run the most minimal layer underneath when it's warm and wet.
Here's a quick feature table to compare:

	Hardshell	Softshell	Membrane(thin hardshell)
Weight	Light	Light	Lightest
Windproof	Yes	Yes	Moderate
Waterproof	for sustained periods	for short periods	Lightest
Packable	Small	Not really	Smallest
Insulation	None	Some	None
Waterproof	Sustained periods	Short periods	Light shower
Breathability	High	High	High

Burley Rain Rider (Hard Shell) $130
I have had this jacket for many years, at the time of purchase it was considered one of the best rain jackets of it's time. It's made in Eugene, Oregon from quality materials and with great construction quality which makes for a durable garment. I'm not fully sure that they are manufactured anymore, but you might find one on craigslist or e bay. This is by far the most waterproof jacket I have had, this is at the expense of breath-ability, for which it has none. If you do any uphill riding in this jacket where your body temperature rises, the vapor will stay in the jacket and condense on the inside. Ventilation is built into into the jacket but the material itself will not breathe, Ventilation is provided by an air vent on the back and two chest air vents along with armpit zippers which can be fully opened to vent. There is also a zippered front pocket, soft neck material and velcro flapped arm cuffs. The jacket fit's looser so you can wear it over street clothes if need be. The jacket is cut for a cyclist, (low in the front and long in the back). This jacket is idea for a casual commuter, going into work maybe wearing work clothes underneath on a fairly mellow commute (read flat). I have only seen this jacket in Yellow, but I think it may come in Blue also.

Sugoi Helium (membrane - thin hard shell) $100
This is a thin membrane jacket, it's designed to stuff in your pocket or bag when you go out for a ride and the weather is fine, but it may turn, maybe showers maybe rain. It is geared more towards the training / racing type of person, but due it it's low weight and ability to cram in to a very small space, it could be ideal to keep in your bag all the time as a commuter. 90% of the time I carry this jacket with me everywhere. The jacket will easily crush up and fit in a single rear pocket of a typical cycling jersey. It folds up very small, think the size of a tennis ball. This is a very breathable jacket which is very form fitting. the jacket has minimal pockets and minimal reflective elements. The jacket features a small side / rear pocket with internal routing for your headphones to pop out the collar, a nice touch.
I have found that this jacket is not really what I define as waterproof, it's a lot more water resistant, good for drizzle or passing showers but will saturate easily when the skys dump rain on you. This jacket is great to run several layers under and makes as a flexible addition to your wardrobe.The Helium comes in a ton of colors, red, black, neon, blue, white, grey and so forth.

Pearl Izumi Gavia Jacket (Soft Shell) $160
I have used this jacket for over 2 years, This soft shell is very versatile, it's highly water resistant, breathes well and has some thermal insulation to it. It's like a heavyweight jersey / think lightweight jacket with insulation, the material has some thickness if you pinch it between your fingers. The jacket can be layered up with several underneath, so you can use it down in cold conditions. This seems to be a great Chicago jacket for the cold with not a ton of rain. The version I have does not have taped seams unlike some. Taped seems ensure the waterproof aspect. In this case long wet rides or large downpours, water will get in and at a point the material will become saturated. The jacket comes in a few colours including the mandatory yellow / goldenrod.

Showers Pass Elite 2.0 (Hardshell) $220
At $220 it seems a tad steep, and it is, but this is the bees knees, the high end of all breathing all waterproof jacket. This is my latest addition, it's a hard shell with no insulation, it's designed very specifically for cycling, shorter front longer back, like the other jackets here. All seams are waterproof taped and it is constructed from a high quality Event fabric which is highly waterproof and very breathable (the spec's I cannot remember) The jacket has a nice high neck with a soft lining. On the back is a waterproof pocket with an angled zipper for easy accessibility. On the chest is a small pocket and on the inside an opening so you can feed your ipod wires up to your ears keeping the cables on the inside. A vented back flap with reflective stripe and logos, reflective band stripe on the sleeves. Zipped armpits round off the package as far as venting is concerned. The jacket packs down surprisingly small despite it's rigid feel. Available in Goldenrod, Black and Red.

Really the choice here can be determined a lot by your riding habits, distance , duration and intensity. I love my softshell, but slowly the features and quality of the Showerpass is taking over, also a lot to do to the fact that where I reside has a very rainy season.

** Update **
I just used my Showers Pass Elite 2.0 for approx 3 hrs in constant rain this morning. I have nothing bad about the jacket to report, the fit is great, the material performance is close to brilliant, it breathes and leaves you totally dry. The front pocket is a nice touch, great for an iphone. Now if only my shoe covers and spandex on my legs performed like the Elite ! Highly recommended jacket and i'm glad that I can see the high value behind the $220.

Seeing how impressed I am with the jacket; I might have to plump for some of these, they seem to have a list of awesome features and are constructed with the same great waterproof Event material as in the Elite 2.0 jacket .....the Roadie Waterproof Pant

P.S. If you think the price is high on the jacket, you should check out some other high end gear - Rapha gear, very expensive , I have not used this, so cannot comment on performance of their products. Anyhow, for the $220 in Showerspass, you get a lot of performance and a jacket that's seems like it's going to last.

Autumn / Fall / Winter Riding Gloves

2009-10-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

Having weather appropriate gloves at the right time makes a massive difference to your riding comfort. It means the difference between a good workout or commute to painfully cold / wet / uncomfortable fingers impairing the control of your bike. As with anything that protects your extremities, gloves are essential. Over several years of riding I have used some terrible and excellent gloves, so here's my wisdom:-

The basic 6 basic features I inspect in gloves are :

• Resistance to Wind

• Insulation

• Resistance to water. (Waterproof-ness)

• Material Durability

• Fit

• Grip

Craft Tempest $35
I have had this glove in my collection for a while, it's a good Autumn/Fall glove. Made from one thin layer, wind proof and pretty water resistant (not downpour proof). The material has held up well and the palm grips and finger grips are good with Shimano brifters. This glove has a minimal interference and minimal padded feel and allows you to feel the bike well. The fit is not super tight or loose, offers finger flexibility and does not feel bulky.

In general I have fairly poor hand circulation. I would wear the Tempest down to 55c.
This is my fav Autumn glove.

Craft Running. $23
This is a very light glove, with no insulation - practically useless for me, since my hands run cold. Low insulation, single layer construction, the fit is good. There is no palm or finger grips which makes things a little hard for brifters sometimes. Constructed from polyester, the material is durable and drys fast. The Defeet gloves offered a bit more insulation and a better feel with the palm material and finger grips.I cannot use these gloves below 60 degrees. This one remains pretty useless in my collection, but works as a nice liner glove, should you need something to slip on under some big gloves for some added warmth.

Defeet Duraglove $15
This is my least expensive glove in the collection. It's a synthetic material (nylon) and I understand they also make a wool based one. The gloves offer minimal wind protection since the material is like a thick knit but a sharp wind can cut through them. The palm and fingers have a grippy rubbery pattern on them which is very good for brakes , shifters and bars. The glove fits a little loose as the knit seems to stretch. It is possible you could use these gloves as a heavy liner. The cuff is knitted and ribbed, easy on and off. the consuruction and material are super durable. It's a versitile glove. On a warmth level, they are a bit warmer than the running glove but nothing like the Siberian or the PI Lobster Amfib, which offer a lot more insulation. I would say this is an early Autumn / fall glove.

Craft Siberian. $65
This is the latest addition to my collection, it is basically a Tempest with a layer of insulation. The Tempest are pretty dang good, so I have high expectations of these, and at $65 I should have! The jury is still out on these gloves as I have only gotten 35miles of riding in them, initial reaction is very good. I have now done many rides at around 38 degrees, this glove is great, the fit is great for shifting and the grippies on the fingers work well. The gloves cuff is nice for pull on and off and also has an extra velcro reinforcement, should you need to batten them down tight. the nice thing is most of the time you can use the sweater cuff, for on and off ease.

Pear Izumi Lobster Am-Fib $70

It was mid winter in Chicago, the temperature just dropped to around 28 degrees, I had been riding around with not so well insulated gloves, my fingers felt like they were gonna snap off, I rolled into the local bike store and picked up these. they only had XL left, so the size was not perfect. These gloves are very windproof and offer a lot of insulation. With the dry cold of Chicago, I have not tested them in the wet. The Lobster design takes a little getting used to, surprisingly the design works, keeps your fingers warm and still allows you to operate shifters and brakes. The materials were of good quality and construction.

Pearl Izumi Pittards $43
This glove is a couple of years old now. I have used them a lot, in the very cold and very wet. They are a great Autumn heading into winter glove. They are not 100% waterproof or windproof, I would say closer to 80%, the issue with the wet is the retention, as the material thickness which provides the insulation, also retains the water and makes for a soggy glove if you get drenched in the first 20 mins of your ride. The Palm is made from Pittards leather, which is a flexible high quality material. The palm offers a good grip on the bike. I like the fit of these very much, not too tight, not loose, good movement in the fingers without feeling sloppy on the bike. Since the ones I have and pictured are a few years old, the newer 09 style might have changed a bit in the fit department, so if interested may be worth re evaluating. The glove cuff is like a hoody sleeve cuff, just pull on, no messing around with velcro, yet keeps the heat inside. On the thumb there is a soft snot wipe, which is well designed and got used a lot. The materials are high quality and it's a workhorse glove, I expect mine to last a few more years. If it's not totally pissing it down, this is a great glove.

Pearl Izumi Gavia $45

These gloves could have been the best thing ever, if it was not for the fit, which drove me crazy, so much that I don't want to use the gloves. The fit was very poor, material was cut incorrectly for the shape of the main hand and wrist, fingers seemed ok but restrictive. They seemed very windproof and I did not test in the rain. They have a nice integrated snot wipe and a zipper on the cuff, which can be a bit awkward for quick on and offs. Generally a tight fitting glove. No problems with using the brakes and shifters and they had good grip. The materials generally felt of high quality and seemed durable.

Oh and maybe I should write about my race gloves $8.99 from Home Depot, Handyman Grey with yellow accents. They are actually pretty good, super form fitting like Mechanix gloves, no insulation but robust. because of the super snug fit, I probably would not like to use them all the time, thus the gloves above.

Chrome Messenger bags & backpacks

2009-10-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

Chrome four or five years ago were pretty small company known by a select few for messenger bags. But now Chrome is becoming a known name in cycling backpacks and bags. Probably due to the massive success of their single strap messenger bags, which became a fashion statement in urban areas. Take Portland for instance, it's not too uncommon to see people walking around on Hawthorne with a messenger bag, and they don't even have a bike! I have been using Chrome for a while, maybe 6 years now, it started of with the typical messenger bag (Metropolis) , which has fantastic quality, accessibility and bag features for an around town bag, that was originally designed for messengers.
I remember my first impressions of Chrome bags , it's Quality, they are constructed form a ballistic nylon and waterproof liners, all made in the US and designed for years of abuse.
When my commute to work became a 30 mile round trip exercise with a couple of hills in between, I had to rethink the single strap messenger bag. When loaded and climbing hills, the single strap took it's toll by uneven distribution of load between shoulders, so I switched. I plumped up and got 2 backpack style bags.

The first was the Backbone which is a massive bag, it is the largest size in the messenger pack series perfectly capable of holding a lot of grocery's, or even 2 weeks laundry to the laundromat but probably way too much stuff than what you may normally need to carry to work. The Backbone makes it easy to forget about jumping in the car and driving to the store, just grab your fave bike and the backbone.
If you race bicycles, it's a great gear bag as it can fit kit, clothes, shoes, food, water bottles,bulky helmet , bike parts and tools easily. makes riding to the race easy.

Backbone Advantages:
- Massive Space
- Good fit to body
- Good back padding
- chrome durability and high quality materials.
- easy to access compartments.
- has better pockets than the rolltop bags (see review below)
- large boxes are easily strapped under the front flap of the backbone, enabling you to carry large things with the design of the flap.

Backbone Disadvantages
- Not quite as downpour waterproof as the roll top bags
- If your a person who likes lots and lots of compartments, this bag is not for you. The Soyuz shown below maybe a perfect fit.

The second Chrome backpack I have is the Pawn. this is part of the rolltop backpacks, a rolltop design means the main compartment is closed by tolling the top and securing on the velcro fastener, this providing a watertight space inside. This is the smallest size rolltop in the line. I find this size perfect for commuting and general around town activities. On a normal day, I can get a change of clothes in here, bike tools, inner-tubes etc and still have a lot of space.

Pawn Advantages:
- Totally waterproof
- Good fit to body
- Good back padding
- chrome durability and high quality materials.

Pawn Disadvantages:
- Due to the small size of the bag, I found the waist strap pretty useless, it got in the way most of the time, until I cut it off! Obviously this is personal preference and on larger size bags the waist strap maybe useful.
- If your a person who likes lots and lots of compartments, this bag is not for you. The Soyuz shown below maybe a perfect fit.

One aspect with all Chrome bags is that the airflow on your back is poor leading to sweaty back. I think this design flaw is inherent to a lot of backpack manufacturers. One brand addresses this but after having experienced one for a while, I decided I would rather put up with sweaty back. Deuter make a bag with a suspended airflow back, this reduced the carrying capacity slightly. The durability and utility factor come nowhere near to Chromes bag, that said, their bags are of a different marketing position and really don't go after the same consumer as Chrome.

Why buy Chrome?
- you want a durable bomb proof bags.
- you can select the colours you like.
- you want a versatile solution that can be used everyday
- lifetime, no questions asked warranty

Other interesting Chrome products:
I have not tried this product yet, but from my prior experience with Chrome the Soyuz looks like it would be a stellar bag. This has more pockets and compartments / laptop specific and much more oriented towards the urban commuter.

Also check out the Soma messenger laptop bag.

Krietler Rollers - Challenge 3" rollers

2009-10-04T19:51:00.000-07:00

Having had trainers before with resistance units, I was lured by the butter smooth and realistic ride promised by rollers I also wanted a set that I could take them to the velodrome for use as a warm up tool. Krietler is considered one of the top brands of roller.
I looked at their website www.kreitler.com and decided upon a set of 3" Challenge Rollers and Compact frame. Rollers come in different diameters and the 3" ones seemed to provide a good balance. Or as Krietler would say "The Alloy 3.0 Rollers have approximately 40% more resistance compared to the 4.5 rollers, offering the best combination of resistance, cost, and portability"
As you can see in the photo above, these rollers are superbly engineered, nice cartridge bearings (which i think are replaceable) and great riding surface. Quality.
The compact frame is a smaller and lighter frame which the rollers mount to, which when coupled with smaller diameter rollers offers a more compact and portable solution than the large drums and standard frame. The compact frame is basically a shortened and bit lowered frame and restricted to bikes with a wheel base of 38 to 42cm. I ride a 58cm bike with a fairly large wheelbase and the compact frame had no problems accommodating the length of the bike safely.

Buying the stuff....

I ordered direct from the company, it was easy and fast. The setup cost me $445, which is about the same price as a high end rear wheel trainer.

The parts took a week to come and require some minimal self assembly / configuration for the wheelbase of your bike.

Why Buy?

If your a Trackie, these are perfect for warm ups or in between races, they improve your pedal circle and powerstroke. If your a roadie, these ride very smooth and make you work on your cadence and generating an equal power stroke between the left and right sides of your cranks and overall help your pedal circle. Because you are not supported they also keep you aware as you have to concentrate on balance and use muscles that you would not do on a rear wheel trainer.

Overall Verdict
5/5 Stars
I would recommend the Krietler rollers based on their quality, features and excellent smooth ride. This is definitely a top notch product which will last many years. If you need help with your pedal stroke or need a warmup at the velodrome, these are the ones for you.