Monthly Archives

March 2020

Blog

Where have all the 53 chainrings gone?

I run PRAXIS Works rings on my Specialized Power Crank, and while I’m currently rocking the 50/34 I’ve been considering swapping in a 52/36 for a long time now. That said, I live in Illinois, so I could even get away with a 53-tooth 1x setup with an 11-23 in the back… So when I was at CABDA I took the chance to ask one of their product managers about why they…

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News

Garmin Varia $130 @ BikeTiresDirect.com

I absolutely love my Garmin Varia radar tail lamp. While nice-to-have, it adds an element of safety that I don’t want to do without. Just like a rear-view mirror in the car, knowing what is behind you is incredibility helpful in all sorts of scenarios. With that out of the way, looks like BikeTiresDirect.com is selling it for $130, which is the lowest price I’ve seen for new, and just above what…

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Blog

Warranty Comparison: Cycling Clothing

The topic of clothing warranties came up on a recent group ride coffee stop, and it was really interesting to hear other’s experiences with different OEMs. I have never checked the warranty policy on any item of clothing before purchasing. Ever. But, given the cost of many of these items (it’s pretty easy to drop $200 on a set of bibs), maybe I should be… Pearl Izumi: As you can probably tell…

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News

WAHOO Introduces Stealth Into ELEMENT Lineup

If you’ve been eyeing the ELEMNT BOLT family of bike computers from Wahoo, and the killer feature that blocked the “Buy Now” click was the color options… There’s now another one “Stealth Black”, which is black, and stealthy? More importantly, the price also dropped to $230. Which might actually make it easier to make the purchase :). Also out today is a firmware update for the whole ELEMNT family, although just documented…

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Blog Featured

A Plant Biased Diet

About three months ago (early December) I began a “Plant Biased” diet experiment. It came as quite a shock to my family because I like meat, dairy, and eggs. There’s almost nothing I like more than butter braised steak, or an egg, ham, and cheese sandwich (what I used to eat for breakfast most days). But my cholesterol and blood pressure weren’t on great trends, so I thought it would be worth…

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News

Woohoo!!! Recovery beer is good for your brain

Or at least that’s how I’m interpreting the results of this study. Even better, although not for those new to the pub, is that the benefit of alcohol to brain health requires a long-term commitment to moderate consumption; where moderate consumption is in the range from 1-13 (wow, 13!) alcoholic drinks per week. Moderate consumption is good for your mental health, and now your brain as well. So make sure to take…

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Events

Horribly Hilly Hundreds – 200K

Assuming I make it, the 200K Horribly Hilly Hundreds will combine the longest distance, and the most elevation gain, I’ve ever completed in a single ride. I expect that it will be crushing. But, that’s kind of the point in endurance cycling. Isn’t it? Set a goal, do what you can to train and plan to achieve that goal, and suffer until you get there. Been talking a good game so far.…

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News

Case study: An incomplete power meter review

Testing a power meter isn’t hard, as long as you have the appropriate control. It doesn’t matter how cost competitive the meter is. Accuracy matters. Capture the data, do the analysis, and show it all. So we can double check your work. It’s simply not good enough, to call it at this: From our tests the Avio ran a few watts higher compared to power meters we know to be accurate, but…

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News

Whoa, what’s up with the new Strava?

I’m both confused, and enthused with this new listen-to-your-users-and-deliver-what-they-want thing from Strava. Astute readers will notice I didn’t say customers there, because, at least now, all of us aren’t Strava’s real customer. It would be great if that changed, and I think if they keep it up this adding-useful-features cadence, and started delivering more real value for the paying users there’s a real chance that they could do that. Making the app/platform…

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