Giordana Silverline Lobster Glove Review

The Giordana Silverline Lobster glove was my first adventure in to the realm of lobster claw style gloves. They cost me $40 at the LBS. They've a nice, soft fleece lining on the inside. The thumb and index finger go solo inside the glove while the rest of the fingers camp out along side one another although they are divided by the fleece liner. The outer portion of the glove on the top has a windproof membrane, a terry cloth, fleece like wipe on the thumb, and a neoprene insulation on the inside with some textured plastic for, I'm going to assume, a better grip.

I've had these for a few months now, and used them pretty regularly on commutes where the temperatures dip below 40F. The lowest temperature was probably around 0F to a bit in to the negatives. I tend to be a weenie in the cold, so take my comfort range for what it's worth. Before I address that, though, I have to say I almost always use a glove liner underneath my winter glove to extend the temperature range, and it also seems to significantly reduce the amount of perspiration inside the glove even when my hands are toasty warm. The glove liner I use is made by Icebreaker and is 98% merino wool and 2% elastane. They have lots of little tacky dots on the inside allowing for excellent dexterity. A very nice thing to have on when you get a flat tire in the freezing temperatures!!!

So, thus far, I've been comfortable with this combo for a few hours slightly below freezing. 25F. Below that, my index finger and thumb start getting very cold while the rest of the fingers are generally pretty comfortable. Above 40F and I start getting too warm.

The windproof membrane works well. I can certainly tell it's eliminating all that nasty cold from the top of my hand. The neoprene also seems to insulate nicely. The nose wipe is wide and useful. The thumb seems to not have the windproof membrane under the wipe. I usually don't notice it, but when it's very cold and windy I can feel the chill penetrating in to my lonely thumb! The grips, if you can call them that, are a joke. The grid pattern is way too hard, and is more like plastic. I really don't know why they didn't use something softer and more rubber-like. By completely removing the grid, the glove would not lose anything. That's how bad it is. I've troubles removing my water bottle.

Besides the two minor issues I have with the gloves, I think they are pretty solid. I do think there may be some better options. Craft makes a similar glove, but differs in that the index lives with the middle finger so only the thumb flies solo. I think that makes more sense. The craft gloves also have a much tackier grip. PI also has the lobster claw, but it looks way too heavy for high intensity cycling in all but the coldest temperatures. Of course, there are others, too...

So, my advice is to steer clear of these gloves. I think the lobster claw is excellent, though, and if I cycled more often in freezing weather I'd probably invest in a better pair. Things to look for if you are in the market: windproof top, snot wipe, make sure all fingers share space with another finger besides the thumb, make sure the grip is tacky, and finally, try liner gloves!!!

Bebop pedals revisited

I've used the Bebop SL pedals for quite a few months now, and have put probably around 3,000 miles on them. Most of these miles are commuting down a flat path to and from work. I've also gone on a few century rides to Bear Mountain.

I think they are good pedals. I don't think they are great pedals. There are some very serious drawbacks to the bebops which I ignored at first, but now have come back to haunt me forcing me to remove them from my Redline.

The low stack height creates a problem I think will eliminate them from all but the most die hard fan who uses mountain bike shoes. I've yet to use them with road shoes, but will have the opportunity when an adapter arrives some time next week. I originally used the bebops with Lake mountain bike shoes and was forced to trim a rather significant chunk of rubber from both shoes where the spindle travels beneath the shoe. Recently, I bought a new pair of commuter shoes which have Vibram tread similar to a light hiking boot. I thought I would be able to get away with no trimming since the shoes did not have the massive lugs like the Lake shoes, but, unfortunately, I was wrong. The spd part of the Shimano shoe is set quite deep so you can actually consider walking around without sounding like a tap dancer. Good for most every pedal besides the bebop. I bought a tool at the hardware store which is for shaving down rubber tires, etc hoping to grind down the tread some. It turns out the Vibram sole is ridiculously tough stuff. I gave up after 15 minutes. I think the only thing that would work on them is a grinder. After the frustration of wasting $10 for the tool and time spent scraping away settled in, I started thinking why the heck should I have to grind my brand new, nice vibram soles down to accommodate a stupid pedal??? They are good pedals, but they aren't that much better than the numerous other models out there in the market. So, off they go in to a plastic bag for storage.

Temporarily, I'm using my old crank brothers egg beaters. They don't require trimming, and are extremely simple to mount and clip in. They are heavier, don't offer free float, and have a far less durable and smaller cleat. They work though and don't ruin my fancy commuter shoes!

New Bling

My Dura-Ace crankset FINALLY arrived. The crankset hung out in customs for a bit too long to my liking then the mail room at work had a brain fart and lost it for a few days. I should've had them last Monday. Instead, I received them this Monday. 175mm length of shiny, silver bling. It even looks sexier than the FSA K-Force I previously had and also felt lighter in the hand, and, in fact, is lighter (confirmed at the bike shop)

So, who cares how it looks, how does it perform? Well, I thought I had some good gear before with the upgraded Stronglight Teflon chain rings on the top of the line K-Force FSA crankset. The Dura-Ace makes the FSA seem pretty lame in comparison. It was immediately noticeably stiffer in the bottom bracket area. Great and all and I like it when as much as my power as possible is being transferred. But the best part is the shifting. The dura-ace chain rings simply shift significantly better. Immediate response after I flick the trigger. POP on to the big ring. Absolutely no hesitation. This is nice. Really nice. I hope it always shifts like this!

On the way home, I decided to get my "long distance" weekend bib short - something I've been hemming and hawing over for awhile like which brand, etc. What is a long distance weekend bib short you say? One day a week I ride far. Having bib shorts that are extremely comfortable is an obvious very good thing to have and could even make or break the day's ride. The Hammer bibs are great, and I think they are more than adequate, but I feel like there may be a better bib out there for the extreme mileage/hour days. A more expensive bib. A much more expensive bib. The debit card is still crying.

Oops, I jumped ahead. So I peeled off the bike path around 65th ST. on the west side and headed up the hill past the gaudy Trump towers and banged a right on West End Ave and jay walked, etc my way across the street to Toga Bike Shop. A high end bike shop that probably has the best selection of gear for a roadie in NYC. Debatable.

So I browse through the 300 pairs of bibs mostly sorted by size and grab three pairs of high end bibs to try on. Castelli, Gore, and Giordana. $149 to $229. Ouch. I hope the $149 are the best fitting. Ha!

I start with the cheapest first, the Giordana Tenax Carbon, hoping to see a difference as the price increases. They feel great. They are super high tech looking. The chamois does not look as fancy as the ION SL that comes with the Hammer bibs. Overall I could certainly, probably, live with these as a day to day short but I don't think they are "the" high end long distance weekend ride short.

Next up is Gore Xenon Bib short. Super silkly material. Very well made. Great leg grippers - much better than most I've seen. I tried these bad boys on and, wow, they are excellent. They definitely feel better than the Giordana. The chamois is very high end. I think I recall reading somewhere it's the same that Assos uses. The fit is perfect. These just might be the ones. $179. Yikes.

And, finally, the Castelli. Too high end. Too expensive. Fit is perfect. But, I don't think they are better than the Gore. In fact, the Gore may be slightly better. Unfortunately I can't afford both to take home and test. Maybe next year.



So, I ended up getting the Gore Xenon. I'm looking forward to this weekends ride to see how they work out. They are pretty amazing technology wise and seem to be superior to anything I've ever worn before. Better be for nearly $200 after tax.

Signing off...

Padded vs Unpadded Gloves

When I first started mountain biking quite a few years ago, I remember going to a shop and asking for the thickest padded gloves they had. The mechanic asked me why I wanted pads, and instead suggested it was better to have no padding at all so you have more control of the bike. Made sense. So I got gloves with no padding, and besides a pair of Specialized BG gloves which had a pad on the palm, I never used padded gloves throughout my years of mountain biking. And the majority of the time I was riding a single speed with a rigid fork. I never had any issues with comfort even during 24 hour continuous rides.

Road riding is so much different than mountain biking in so many ways and I wonder if it's better to use padded gloves on the road? Almost all gloves available on the market today offer some sort of padding from minimal in one spot to gel or silicone all over the place from the fingers to the palm. So I decided to test it myself to see which worked better for me. Currently, I have three pairs of gloves. Pearl Izumi pittard leather gloves, which have foam padding all over the palm. The other two pairs are made by Castelli. One pair is the Rosso Corsa and the other is their logo glove. The rosso corsa is the top of the line, 50 dollars!, glove with silicone padding strategically placed (all over) with mesh between the pads and mostly mesh on top. The logo glove is a synthetic microfiber palm with no padding on the palm and a lycra top. Both are slip-on and have loops to aid in removing the glove. Something all gloves should have, but don't.

The last three long rides I've done I've used each pair on one ride and noted a few times, mentally, throughout the ride what I liked and disliked about them. It should be noted I'm using Specialized S-wrap tape - a cork tape with an elastomer integrated throughout to supposedly dampen vibrations. It's slightly thicker than Cinelli or Deda tape and feels great.

Pearl Izumi: Crunchy when cold. As the glove ages - it lasts a long time, longer than most - the leather gets stiff. It loosens up after I start riding each time, but if it's really cold it takes a lot longer to do so. The padding feels cumbersome and is overdone, in my opinion. It feels bulky. I never have discomfort issues with them on. I do not like the velcro closure. I'd rather have a slip-on model. The velcro closure creates the cyclist dot syndrome - white hands with a dark spot near the thumb. When it's warm the leather gets damp and never dries until you take them off. By the end of the day they appear notably darker and even soggy. I do not like this. The microfiber wipe does not work as well as a terry cloth wipe. Both Castelli's are far better gloves, in my opinion.

Castelli Rosso Corsa - The padding feels great and it seems like it aids with protection of the hands. For short riding or racing this glove is probably not ideal because you lose some handling due to the thick silicone pads which move around a bit if you are really cranking hard or sprinting. The grip, however, is very inspiring and tacky. Just not precise. The mesh breathes very well on the palm. No wet palms like the PI pittards. The mesh tops also are very comfortable. The terry cloth wipe absorbs well and is excellent for it's purpose. I think these are great gloves and the best I've used to date.

Castelli logo glove - The lack of padding seems to not cause any issues, but I think with a non-padded tape on the bar it might be an issue, for me at least. These gloves are very adequate for long distance rides on the s-works tape. They are not as comfortable feeling as the Rosso Corsa, but I'm not talking about the lack of padding here. The microfiber palm is warmer feeling, and the lycra top does not breathe as well as the mesh top on the Rosso Corsa. The logo glove also has the terry wipe so all is good in this area. The grip feels more in control than the Rosso Corsa. If these were 'cooler' feeling I would probably make them the go to glove for long rides, but, alas, they are not so the Rosso Corsa is first place for me. I will use them for commuting.

I'm surprised the non-padded glove was just as comfortable, but I attribute this to the S-works tape. Perhaps it is redundant to use padded gloves with such highly cushioned tape. I shall keep my eyes open for other non-padded gloves that offer a more breathable top, and hopefully, eventually, switch to the combo of a nicely padded bar with a non-padded glove. Overall handling is improved with no loss in comfort, and, even better, they are generally cheaper!

The Weekly Long Ride

This week's long ride goal was 215 miles. I ended up riding 213 miles total, which is close enough, in my opinion! The original plan was to get things ready after work on Friday then try to get a few hours sleep before heading out around 2:30am. I was pretty anxious to hit the road so after lying in bed for about an hour I convinced myself it didn't matter if I left at 9:30pm or 2:30am. I would just arrive at my parents house earlier which would make them super happy.

So out of bed I get, don the cycling clothes, and head out the door and in to the noisy Friday night of Manhattan. I quickly left Manhattan and entered the Bronx. New territory almost immediately. I knew I had a quick turn to make on to Riverdale Ave for my ticket out of the city, but I didn't really know exactly where it was. I just took the first random street and luckily it turned in to Riverdale Ave. Northward!

This was the first night I would really get to test my Dinotte 200L with the 4 cell battery. Specs say 200 lumens and 8 hours with the 4 cell battery on high. I put it on the helmet this time due to the Shimano cables sticking out and blocking the light when mounted on the bar. I could hardly feel the weight atop my head. I've used a few different lights over the years and I have to say the Dinotte comes with the best accessories and smartest mounting features I've seen. They are very simple and just work. No slippage, very light, and durable. Light years ahead of the Niterider MiNewt in all regards which the Dinotte replaced, and while not as bright as the Light and Motion HID, significantly lighter and sufficient output with slightly better mounting and much longer battery life. And most importantly, I think the Dinotte is bright enough for most night riding conditions on the road. It fills an entire street lane and throws out the beam quite far. The battery lasted as long as I needed it to, which was around 6 hours.

The first few hours of the ride were uneventful. I pedaled my way out of the metro area, and entered much more pleasant forested, country roads. I saw racoons all over the place, a few deer, and some other furry monsters, possibly beavers or woodchucks. I love the random noises emanating through the woods at night when the winds are calm and that wet, humid sticky spring air blankets everything. The sky was lit up by a nearly full moon. Night riding. Go do it if you haven't yet. It rivals the sun-filled days.

4.30am. Thump! PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Doh. I hit a pretty large hole in the road and pinch flatted the rear tube. A car passed me shortly after and slowed down to a crawl eyeing me suspiciously. I had stopped right outside a driveway in a rather wealthy area and I guess I was suspect. The man rolled by and turned in to the next driveway just past where I was working on the tire. A few minutes later he walks out in the street and looks a bit drunk and asks in a very heavy accent whether I can patch my tire or not. I said yes and he stumbles back in to the darkness. Okay, then. Next. In goes the Forte Lunar Light (52 grams) tube. I pump it up with a quickness with my C02, bracing for the inevitable BANG, but, again, to my surprise, nothing so terrible. I guess these ultra light tubes are A OK. Off I go.

Shortly after the flat tire event, the sky started to brighten. That means the temperature starts to drop. Let the shivering begin. I froze for the next hour or two. The bike was wobbling all over the place on the faster descents. I'm not a big fan of dawn in the Spring:) C'mon 8am!

I was still able to enjoy the scenery. I was fortunate enough to be crossing a dam on a pedestrian only bridge just before the sun crept over the hills. Beautiful! I took a pic with my very below standard 1.3mp camera on the Blackberry Pearl.

The rest of the ride was rather uneventful. It got warmer. That made me happy.

I finished around 10am at my parents, and staggered in, to their surprise, and was craving some milk so the b-line was made straight to the Frig.

A summary of the ride would be extremely hilly. I'd love to share it with you but it would take forever to input the roads in to map my ride. It's definitely one of the hilliest rides I've done to date. It included 60 miles of major climbing about 50 miles in to the ride that was nearly continuous. I knew about this piece as it's the main route I take to get to my parents. I don't have an altimeter but gauging from past races I estimate a total elevation gain of 20 to 25,000 feet overall over the 213 miles. Brutal!

The lack of sleep coupled with riding all night made my stomach not so happy. Nothing terrible, I just had no appetite - maybe it was the intake of too much fiber from the bars (i ate two that I normally don't eat when riding and they have lots of fiber and quite a bit of fat from nuts.) I ate a big bowl of granola - definitely not ideal but all I could think to eat - then went and passed out for a few hours. I woke up around noon feeling pretty groggy, but forced myself up to go eat some more food. I still didn't feel so hungry. I lounged around all day feeling tired and basically did nothing. I did start drinking very strong beers in the late afternoon though:) Dinner came, and I ate a bunch of food, finally getting a slight appetite, but still not what I usually have after such a long ride. O well, I give up. To bed I go!

The next day I woke up and after 4 trips to the bathroom I finally had a raging appetite - more than most of you wanted to know I'm sure. So, perhaps the fiber suspicion was correct! Two hours later I was hungry again. and so on for the rest of the day...

I went for a 24 mile recovery ride, if that is possible in the CT hills, on Sunday. The weather was just too nice to not go out on the bike. Not a cloud to be seen and temperatures in the high 70s. Calm. I felt great and enjoyed the views and for the most part did not ride very hard. The legs felt solid still with no soreness.

Then I heard a metallic clinking sound in the right pedal/cleat area. I discovered a lot of play on my pedal but could not tell exactly where it was. Great, just as I thought everything was perfect on the bike. Love the new Pro 3 race tires, by the way! A touch nicer than the GP4000 I had before. I inspected the pedal when I got home and it wobbled quite a bit on the crank arm. I thought at first it was not tightened all the way. So I grabbed the wrench and, nope, it's tight. Look closer and see that the actual interface the pedal screws in to is wobbling wildly within the carbon crank arm. FSA K-Force is the crankset I have. High end, really expensive, neat looking, all around uber fancy cranks. They are only a few months old. I ran to the internet and a quick search turns up this happening to A LOT of people. And, worse, the crank is trashed. So, tomorrow I have to deal with that. I decide even if they replace the crankset I do not want these anymore due to this poor manufacturing, or design (whichever) so I ordered a Dura-Ace Crankset from Pro Bike Kit in the UK. A whopping two hundred dollars less than most US online sites. Crazy. The FSA cranks are very disappointing.

So that's all for todays ramblings...

New Tires and Chain

Last night after my commute home, I finally worked up the courage to mount the new tires I received a few weeks ago. I usually dread putting road tires on the dt swiss rims because they can be extremely difficult. Last time, I had sore hands for 2 to 3 days afterwards. I procrastinated as long as possible before putting these on in anticipation of a frustrating one to two hour battle. The old rear tire was very near the end of it's life (I just put the darn thing on last month!) and I did not want to risk getting flats on the long ride tomorrow. So, out go the Continental GP4000 25c tires, which served me well and kept me from getting any flats throughout their entire life of service on my bike. Out go the generic tubes as well. Why dump perfectly fine tubes?? O, you shall find out soon enough!

The new tires I bought are 23c. They are also a different brand. I could not resist the hype around the Michelin ProRacer3(PR3). They are slightly lighter than my previous Continentals, and obviously a touch more narrow. At least, the specs say they are more narrow and lighter. The PR3 are supposed to be one of the fastest rolling clincher tires on the market, lightest with puncture protection, and reasonable lifespan. I'm sold. They were only a few dollars more than the Conti's.

Also, I decided to weightweenie my bike even more by switching to ultralight tubes. I've had the tubes for a few weeks now, sitting in their box, in my bicycle tool cage between the two bikes mounted on the wall. I glanced at them on numerous occasions and slight tremors of fear and trepidation would pass through my mind thinking about the likelihood of FLATS. I was scared they would blow up when first inflating, or at best, flat within minutes of the first ride. 55 grams they weigh. Vittoria EVO presta tubes. Thats less than half what my generic tubes weigh! They feel incredibly light in my hand. I also dumped the generic tube in my bag on the bike and replaced it with a 52 gram Lunar Light tube from Performance bike. The tube is nearly half the size of the generic so now I have a much more reasonable fit in the bag. No more stuffing things in and having them pop out when I unzip the bag to grab the chapstick! I dropped a half pound off my bike by just changing out the tubes! Add the tires in and we are talking 3/4 a pound!

Back to the mounting. I took a deep breath and started mounting the first bead. To my surprise, the first bead was very easy to get on. It's not loose, or anything, but I didn't have to work nearly as hard as I did with the previous GP4000. Is this a sign of things to come?? I put the tube in, and started putting the other bead on. Shockingly, I didn't have to fight at all! It went on in less than a minute and I didn't have to use a tire lever on the last bit. YES! Finally, a tire I don't have to be scared about if I get a flat out in the middle of nowhere.

Now, time to inflate the tube. Will it explode, or perhaps I pinch flatted it while mounting the tire? A few easy pumps. No gunshot yet. A few more. The tire is staying on. Ok, go for it. I pump the front tire up to 100psi, bracing for the inevitable ear-shattering BANG, but none to report. Maybe I'm in the clear! Still have to make it through the night...

So, I tackle the rear tire and it goes on just as easy as the front. Same with inflation.

I wipe the sweat that never came, and put the new Dura-Ace chain on. I just put the old one on last month! I need a chain and tire sponsor!!!!!!!!!

This morning the tires were not in shreds on the floor, and I didn't wake up to any loud explosion. I guess I'm safe, but still have to ride the bike for the final test.

I start to ride this morning to work, and, as usual with new tires, stuff was sticking to them like crazy. Nothing better than having NYC grime splattering on your frame and legs. I thought, at least the tires didn't explode yet. I made it all the way to work with no flat! I guess I'm in the clear. I'm still convinced I'll get some flats on my long ride tomorrow. Probably during the night when I'm in the middle of the Bronx.

The new tires feel noticeably faster than the GP4000. They are also significantly smaller. I could definitely feel the difference in the ride when I hit bumps. The front is slightly more jarring, but nothing terrible. But, the ride on the smooth pavement feels smoother and better. I guess the reviews I read are pretty accurate! Lighter, faster, smoother rolling, and about as close as you can get to a tubular tire. Not bad at all.

Performance Bike's cycling rain coat

This weekend a wet start was predicted. Normally I would not be concerned about getting a bit wet, but the ride started at 3am and the predicted temperature was also rather low at around 40F. I thought about wearing my Arc'Teryx Gore-tex XCR Theta shell, but didn't want to deal with carrying it after the rain abated a few hours in to the ride.

So, I checked performance bike because I had heard they have lots of rain gear with their own brand for reasonable prices. I opted for their cheapest, minimalist jacket for $14.99. It's bright yellow (they also have clear) with venting from the wrist (underside of arm) all the way to the armpit and down to the side of the waist. The venting is a few inches wide and a mesh material. The rest of the jacket is made of something very similar to a PVC shower curtain. It goes down far in the back to protect your butt. There is a reflective strip across the entire back for visibility at night. Elastic cuffs on the sleeves. Velcro holds it closed all along the front. Definitely no bells and whistles.

Does it keep you dry? YEP! It worked perfectly, and after it wasn't needed it packed away nicely into the rear pocket of my jersey. Not bad for Fifteen dollars.

Highly recommended. Save your hard earned $ and get this instead of the fancy gore-tex shell!

Brooks Team Professional

This, hopefully, is my last post regarding saddles. I've ridden two times now on the Brooks Team Professional. Once while commuting, and the other being a 3 hour hammer fest this morning. Tonight I'll commute and go for a long night ride to make sure I have it set up precisely before the 300km brevet this Saturday.

I'm very happy with how the Brooks feels. Conflicting reports say it is either super comfortable from the first assuming you set it up properly, or it's a rough start but after a few hundred miles it becomes your favorite couch. I'm still trying to convince myself to feel uncomfortable while perched atop it. It just doesn't make sense for a saddle that feels so hard with absolutely zero cushion to not cause any discomfort. O well, I guess I'll have to accept the fact it just works. I really enjoy the super slick feeling of the seemingly high quality honey colored leather. The hammered copper rivets and rails are also super sexy.

On my first ride initially it was a bit disconcerting, and I thought perhaps I had it set up improperly because I felt like I was sliding all over the place. Upon inspection when I got home, I did, in fact, have the seatpost up a touch too high, and I think I needed to tilt the saddle up to very slightly nose up. In other words, barely perciptible to the naked eye.

This morning I started to really appreciate the shape of the Team Professional. It seems like it was shaped specifically for my butt. It holds it o so nicely while spreading the weight very evenly. No sitbone pain predicted here!

Conclusion: Ignore the 500gm's of hand crafted leather saddle and just ride! I highly recommend this one, and personally think it's nicer than the Selle An-atomica. The Selle is no slouch in comfort either, but I think I prefer the very firm and slick feel the Brooks offers.

Battle with the Saddles is FINISHED, or maybe not.

YES! Finally, the saddle I should've bought quite awhile ago, but didn't because of it's hefty weight, is the winner by a long shot. The winner is the Selle An-atomica. The idea for the saddle originally started out as a modified Brooks saddle, but now it is it's own entity. The leather is a bit softer than a Brooks, it's waterproof (maintenance free) and the rails are much longer. This thing rides like a dream. It felt a bit awkward at first, and I needed to adjust the tension a few times at the start, but I soon forgot about the saddle underneath me. I probably still need to adjust it a bit more but I'm going to ease in to it so I can really feel the difference as it tightens. I hammered for five hours this morning and not once did I even think about my poor ol' sit bones. AMAZING. I've simply never had this before with a saddle. The thing moves with your butt and even when hitting bumps it absorbs much of the shock. It's like a hammock for the butt! For all your long distance riders I strongly recommend giving this saddle a try.

UPDATE!!!: This morning (5/14) I was attempting to modify the An-atomica to reduce or eliminate the chafing I was experiencing on the hind side of the thighs by shaving the sides down some, and it appears I may have shaved them a tad too much. Tragically, I've ruined the saddle. I had no idea the side skirts were that involved with the support of the bum, but it appears that is definitely the case and I had some odd sensations due to the narrowed skirt when commuting this morning.

So the battle with the saddles rages on. Since I knew there was no chance of receiving another An-atomica before my 300km brevet this weekend in the Berkshires, today I went and purchased a Brooks Team Professional at a local bike shop. The proof hide has been applied, and we shall see how it feels on the commute home and later tonight on a longer night ride to test the lighting system I recently upgraded to. The Brooks is way better made than the Selle An-atomica with sexy, huge, hammered copper rivets mated to a very firm honey colored leather. The shape is more appealing to my bum being slightly narrower in width as well as tapering in much sooner towards the nose. Shockingly, it is even slightly heavier than the An-atomica.

Great bibs at an even greater price

I recently made the change from shorts to bibs and have to say I regret not doing so A REALLY LONG TIME AGO. They are superior to shorts in every way. The only negative I can find is the majority of the bibs out there cost A LOT. An example: I just placed an order for some Assos Fi UNO for my 'special long distance weekend bib' and they cost $155 dollars. And that's their lower end model. Most cost over $200. Of course, these prices are Assos, which many consider to be the best bib available, and not for other brands. A quick search through other high end brands will yield similar prices, though. And that brings me to the title of this post... While perusing the web a few weeks ago I ran across a post on Bike Forum about bibs and many people recommended Voler bibs for the best bang for your buck. And as I read on I learned that Hammer Nutrition uses Voler bibs with their own logo and they offer the same Voler bib with an upgraded chamois (Volers top of the line) for LESS than the cheaper Voler bibs. So, as long as you can stomach some advertising you can get yourself some great training/general riding bibs for $50. I've used them on all day jaunts and short training rides. No complaints. They simply work. Excellent compression, nice feeling fabric, and I like that they have no silicone on the leg grippers - but they still grip perfectly fine. They feel better than my Pearl Izumi Microsensor shorts which cost nearly three times as much as the Hammer bibs.

I've now a small collection of Hammer bibs, but also bought some Performance Ultra bibs which were about ten dollars more than the Hammer bibs, on sale. I think the Ultra's are great shorts as well, but they seem like they will not be as durable. The fit is excellent as is the Escher fabric used through the lower part of the bibs. After two rides totaling about 450 miles, though, the insides are already showing signs of wear on the seams on either side where they graze the saddle on occasion. The Hammer bibs do not have this issue nor do they have the seams in, in my opinion, somewhat odd locations on the chamois like the Ultra's. I don't notice them when riding, but they just don't seem like the best place for stitching to be. I'm not a bib designer though:)

You can get a discount of 15% off the Hammer bibs, or any other product by using me as a referral with the code 75865 - or click the picture in the top left corner of the blog. If you haven't used their nutrition products I also highly recommend those. Perpetuem is great for endurance events along with their various flavors of gel - I like tropical, but others like banana are OK, too. Heed is nice in the water bottle. It's barely sweet but adds some flavor along with some electrolytes.

On Footbeds

With the increase in mileage new pains or discomforts are bound to occur. I use Northwave Aerator 3 shoes pictured above - mine are the blue and white - and they come with a pretty pathetic flat leather insole over a nicer cork sole. My foot would slide back and forth unless I really strapped myself in which would usually create numbness after a short period of time. So I opted for slippery feet. After a few weeks of this I remembered I had a pair of green colored Superfeet which are designed primarily for hiking type shoes. They are significantly thicker than the stock leather insoles but also about 50 times more supportive. I stuck them in thinking I would not be able to fit my foot in, but to my surprise it was quite easy and only required a slightly adjusting of the straps. I couldn't wear thick winter socks but the normal cycling socks were no problem! So now I have super supportive cycling shoes. Immediately I noticed a significant increase in support, pedaling efficiency, and power. It also seemed to line my legs up better probably because my arch was no longer collapsing under heavy load.

All seemed lovely in footland, but a few weeks ago I did a back to back century over the weekend through very hilly terrain and had some pretty uncomfortable hot spots under the balls of both feet. Back to the drawing board. I thought perhaps it was simply because I was not used to pushing for so long and hard, but figured I should check to see what else is out there.

Shortly after, I ran across Specialized bg insoles. These things sounded ideal. They have the support of the Superfeet but also have a metatarsal button to keep the ball of the foot better cushioned. I went to a local bike shop to see what arch size I needed, and ended up with the ++ or blue colored version. The next day was the 200km brevet so I figured what better way to test them. I'm very happy to report they work perfectly!

I've gone back and forth between the Superfeet and the Specialized over the past few weeks to really make sure which one I like and after riding with the Superfeet each time I always crave the Specialized. They absolutely eliminate hot spots, and the metatarsal button really makes the overall comfort of the foot increase substantially. Settled! Highly recommended for all of you who still use the stock insoles in your cycling shoes.

Battle with the Saddles

This weekend was probably the most uncomfortable I've ever been on a bicycle. And I didn't even ride that far. The Selle San Marco Concor Light is the most evil, twisted torture device I've ever found to put under my butt. On Saturday, I headed out for my 157 mile weekend long distance ride early in the morning under a very grey sky which promised (lies) to be decent later in the afternoon. It started raining shortly after I got over the GWB and didn't let up until I gave up and turned around after about 25 miles of northward pedaling. The rain isn't exactly what made me turn around. It was the fence post I was straddling. My butt HURT and I was only an hour in to the ride. I think it's too narrow for me. It also has very little padding. My 163lb body simply needs more cush, I guess.

On Sunday, I went for another ride assuming it would provide discomfort but feeling the need to put in the miles. I managed to crank out 90 miles and for the most part was in constant mild pain. I had to stand often and when I did my butt would feel like it was burning!

Today, I remembered I had an old, heavy Specialized saddle in the parts bin so I put it on basically just as a temporary remedy until the "rolls" by San marco arrives in a few days. Ah, what a relief!! The specialized was very comfortable but it should be. It has quite a bit of cushion. I don't really like the material it's made of as on longer rides I think it would get pretty hot and nasty, but for commuting it's perfect.

The Rolls better be the last saddle I ever need to get. It is the opposite of everything I've tried recently being a tank, wider, longer, and pretty cushy. I suppose it's similar to the specialized but of much higher quality with a nice leather and titanium rails.