Monthly Archives

April 2019

Events April 30, 2019

Tour of the Mississippi River Valley (TOMRV) 42

Most of Illinois, and Iowa, is flat and covered with corn. But, there are scenic stretches of rolling roads along the Mississippi River, which is apparently perfect for cycling. I’m taking the TORMV organizers at there word there, for the cycling bit anyway, I have driven it in the past so I’m confident about the scenic part. I will be participating in the long version of the two day ride this June.…

News April 29, 2019

Wahoo releases BETA for SRM power meter data issues

It looks like the most recent ELEMNT firmware update introduced an issue with SRM power meters. If you have one, and would like to try out a BETA firmware that should address the issue: We do apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused. We narrowed down the issue to the SRM power meter and have a fix for it in our beta group. Anyone who wants to opt into that release…

News April 24, 2019

Garmin Announces Edge 530 & 830

The Edge 830 costs $100 more than the 530, but there isn’t much daylight between the two otherwise. Although, according to Garmin the 830 is smaller and lighter than the 530. Both are packed with features, and address two of my complaints with my 520 Plus: Wi-Fi frees you from the mobile for syncing and support for BTLE sensors. Today Garmin announced three new products, the Edge 530 (this review), the Edge 830…

Review April 18, 2019

Pioneer SBT-PM91 Bluetooth/ANT+ Dual Power Meter Installation and Setup

The Pioneer SBT-PM91 Bluetooth/ANT+ dual power meter provides power and cadence data, like most bicycle power meters. But also offers the flexibility to use as a left or right side only solution. It also has some extra functionality around left/right efficiency and balance not available from other meters. Doesn’t quite meet the claimed weight of 61g. 4g for magnets is excusable, I suppose. Maybe the 8g (69-61) difference is the CR2032 batteries?…

Review April 15, 2019

Garmin Varia RTL510 Bicycle Radar & Light

The Garmin Varia RTL510 Bicycle Radar & Light is a bit of bicycling magic. Yes, at $200 SRP (~$170 street), it is expensive, but the value it provides both as a smart light, and most importantly, a rear facing radar device far outweighs the cost and not awesome battery performance. I have no complaints with the packaging. But it is criminal that for a $200 device, Garmin only provides one, flimsy mount.…

News April 12, 2019

LUBRI DISC, half of a solution

I was planning to ignore this, as I do most Kickstarter news, but it just kept popping up in my feed, and I’m feeling a bit punchy today… OK, I must admit, that in concept, the LUBRI DISC seems appealing. Chain maintenance can be messy business. But this device is only addresses half of that problem, and does it in a way which is less than ideal. If you want your chain…

Blog April 5, 2019

Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 175mm 50/34 weight

As a confessed weight weenie, I generally try to find the weight of components before impulsively buying it. There are a couple reasons for this: first it helps slow down the process (i.e. fewer things that I need to explain to my partner later), and second if I’m going to add weight to the bike I want it to be a conscious, measured decision. So it was quite frustrating that I wasn’t…