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Andrew Van Til

News December 4, 2021

OK, I’ll bite. WTF is a “Gravel Saddle”?

Huh, apparently there are gravel specific saddles now? Also apparently, a gravel saddle is the thing I’m missing because I’ve never gotten air like that coming over a hill. Good thing fi’zi:k has me covered. Or, I guess more specifically, CMA? Unless I’m missing something it looks a lot like the Terra Argo X1 is just a wider (?) carbon railed road saddle. There’s no magic to that, carbon rails are generally…

Featured Guide December 2, 2021

Pain Cave Setup – 2021

I spend a lot of time riding the trainer in my “pain cave”, so I’ve had to put a lot of thought into making it work from an comfort and ergonomics perspective. This video walks through the setup and some of the why I made the choices I made configuring it.…

Blog Featured November 30, 2021

Xert Take The Wheel

If you follow me on Strava, you probably saw this one coming. After thinking about it, and talking to a few people who use a coach, I decided to submit to Xert’s training guidance; at least for the most part. Just to clear some things up, I do think there is tangible value in having an IRL coach. A real person providing adaptive workouts, finding areas for fitness improvement, tips, nutritional direction,…

News November 30, 2021

Endura Expands MT500 Freezing Point Lineup

When I started riding my fat bike on MTB trails in the snow, I pretty much wore a mix/match of road cycling and random sportswear. As I spent more time out in the cold, and less time bouncing off trees (skills still aren’t where they should be, but hey, I’ll take the improvement), I’ve been upgrading some of that kit to things that are more purpose built for the task. The main…

Blog Featured November 24, 2021

Will Dynaplug Damage Your Carbon Rims?

When I found out about Dynaplug, I had some concerns around whether it could damage carbon rims if the brass tip made contact with the wheel. I would love to take manufactures at their word that a thing is safe, thoroughly tested, and works the way it should, but all too often it just doesn’t play out. So I figured it was worth buying one and testing what would happen if I…

News November 23, 2021

Esker Cycles is Crowdfunding Itself

I generally try to stay away from crowdfunding. My personal experience hasn’t been that awesome there. But, I also have to admit that this crowdfunding effort from Esker (a startup MTB brand that also owns Terren Tires) has me intrigued. Part of that is because the thing on offer here isn’t a sleek product, that is probably vapor, but a slice of the company itself. And while I have minimal interest in…

News November 23, 2021

All your Shimano Dura-Ace 9270 Weight Questions Answered

I’m not sure if I’ve ever started a Rides of Japan video, and not watched it all the way through. Content I want, presented in a way that is easy to consume; what’s not to like? Today’s installment will be a bit dry for anyone not interested in the weight of bike components, or how to setup Shimano’s new semi-wireless Di-2 system, but for me this is perfect.…

Blog November 21, 2021

PSA: Used Vector 3 + Rally XC Conversion Kit is a great cheap SPD Power Meter

DCR made a video about this when the Garmin Rally power meter pedals launched, so I knew it was possible. But, I hadn’t actually ever done the math around whether it would be worth it if you didn’t already have a set of Vector 3s laying around. Yesterday a friend of mine mentioned that he did exactly that over the summer; back when the Rally XC 200 were in short supply and…

Events November 20, 2021

Gravel Worlds – 2022

It would be a lie to say that I don’t know why I keep signing up for events that can only be described as masochistic. I know exactly why, not only do I sign up for these guys, but I sign up for the longest, hardest, version of them. And it’s because for reasons that I can’t explain, I let my friend, the one that’s actually good at these, talk me into…

News November 19, 2021

Canyon Aeroad Handlebar Saga Coming to An End

Remember the whole Aeroad handlebar breaking problem that was supposed to be sorted in July? Looks like it’s actually getting resolved now, as we near the end of November. A friend of mine has one of their SLX bikes, and just received the email below. Oddly none of the DIY/LBS options are on the table, and he’ll have to package up the whole bike (yeah, wheels too?) and ship it to California…

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