Gear Try-Outs

Throwin' the Horns

Recently I got a couple of new items to check out. These will be getting reviewed on The Cyclistsite in short order, so stay tuned for that. For now, here is some information and my initial impressions on these two cycling items.

First up, we have Ergon's new glove, the "HE2". Ergon has four new gloves for different mountain biking disciplines. The HE2 is geared for DH and Enduro type riding where the rider would likely be using a GE1 or GA1 grip. (Although in reality, you can use these with any Ergon grip, or any other grip, for that matter.)

The gloves came on an environmentally friendly, 100% recycled/recyclable cardboard display hangar. This is great, but the fine, faded looking print on it was hard to read! Good thing Ergon has a great website!

And on that website, you'll find Ergon's description of the gloves. I won't get all into that here. (Look for details on The Cyclistsite), but I will say a few comments about them right away here.

These gloves look very well made. Lots of stitching going on with the white panels against black, and the heel of the palm protector, in case you biff! One glaring omission here: No terry cloth sweat wiper. Weird! I though every cycling glove had that feature. Guess not anymore!

I've had one ride on them so far, and it is obvious they are still breaking in, so I'll wait for any performance judgments for a bit.

Mrs. Guitar Ted and the Alpha by Spy Optics

Spy Optics has re-entered the "performance eyewear" category with this new Alpha model and three others which are new for 2011.

The Alpha eyewear I received has a gray polarized lens on a matte black, semi-rimmed frame made from Grilamid which is crazy flexible, light, and holds its shape really well. Just perfect for the rough and tumble mountain biker!

There are all sorts of technologies going on here with the Alpha, which I will get into in my review pieces on The Cyclistsite, but for now, I have to say that these are impressive.

Haven't heard of Spy Optics? Well, these are not "cheap sunglasses", by any stretch. These are competitive with some brands you are familiar with, and have similar treatments and performance attributes. My initial testing shows that Spy Optics Alpha is a top notch piece of equipment. Right up there with my favorite eyewear. This should be a good test.

Well, that is if I can pry them out of Mrs. Guitar Ted's hands! She looks better in them than I do anyway! (Well, I think I look "okay" in them too, don't get me wrong!)