All Posts By

Andrew Van Til

News August 3, 2023

4iiii Adds Apple “Find My” To Precision 3+ Power Meters

This is legit cool, on so many levels. TL;DR 4iiii is making it possible to track your power meter like an AirTag. If you already have a Precision 3 PM, there’s a $30 upgrade path. I don’t know how this will impact other PMs that are manufactured and supported by 4iiii, like my Specialized Power Cranks. I have emailed 4iiii, but I’m not expecting much. It’s old enough and niche enough, that…

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News July 19, 2023

Garmin Drops 14.23 Beta for fēnix 7/7 Pro, epix 2/2 Pro, Enduro 2, Quatrix 7, and MARQ Gen 2

There is a fairly large change log, listed below, but I think Garmin buried the lead here. This is a unified firmware for the fēnix 7 and fēnix 7 Pro, same for the epix. Which means that they have a unified firmware, so all the features that launched with the Pro models should now be available on the standard versions of these watches. Yay! I’ve only had the time to look at…

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Blog Featured July 12, 2023

The Caloric Deficit Diet

Every diet, no exceptions, if it works, it works the same way – through the magic of Caloric Deficit. Fad diets can make a lot of noise, and often demonstrate amazing stories of initial success. Some of them by a diuretic effect, but most of them actually do the business because restriction is “easy” in the short term. The difference is in the details, i.e. how you get there, which can play…

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News July 10, 2023

Garmin is nucking futs

I think it’s Great that Garmin decided to make a saddle clamp mount for the Varia radar/tail light. That’s awesome. But, you can buy a third-party version of one of these thing for $12. They want $50! I totally get that the OEM version is always going to cost more. That’s fine, but when I saw the email for the Garmin Seat Rail Mount Kit I thought it was going to be…

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News June 15, 2023

Zwift Play Looks Really Cool

If you’re willing to grab a Zwift Play now, you can get it for $99. At some point it will go to $150. If you race, this is a no brainer. If you don’t, still looks cool, but maybe less so. The biggest complication I see is that this requires yet another Bluetooth connection. Which isn’t a problem for most folks, but if you’re using an Apple TV (c’mon Apple…) you’re limited…

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Blog June 7, 2023

Is “Training with Torque” any different from “Training with Cadence”?

No. Not unless I’m missing something… As I’m sure you all know, and the author of the article below readily admits, we calculate power (i.e. the metric that matters) by using the incredibly simple formula “cadence * torque = power” in watts. So when Zach gets on his soapbox about Training with Torque, and how it’s all important and stuff, what he’s actually trying to sell is Training with Cadence by a…

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Featured News June 6, 2023

Unbound 2023 was a CF, and it’s the organizers fault

I wasn’t at Unbound 2023. Didn’t make it for a few reasons, one of them big, the others relatively small. I do know a lot of other athletically minded MAMILs who made the trip to Emporia last weekend for what should have been an epic and challenging race. That’s not what happened. Instead, in what I can only classify as an act of callous spite, the organizers decided that racers should hike…

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News May 31, 2023

Garmin Launches fēnix 7 Pro and epix Pro Outdoor Recreation Watches

There’s not a lot new with the just announced Garmin fēnix 7 Pro and epix Pro smart (ish) fitness watches. Garmin put their newest optical heart rate (OHR) sensor in both (which might enable ECG readings at some point), they put the flashlight that was in the fēnix 7 X in all of them, and… that’s about it. So if you already have a fēnix 7 or epix, there’s not a lot…

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