Friday News And Views

Analog calendar, digitally produced!

It's That Time Of Year Again: Part II

I like paper calendars that you can hang on the wall. I don't use them so much for keeping appointments, or for putting notes down on them, or for anything much beyond using them for a visual reference of time.

Well, there is that and imagery. I like calendars as a kind of monthly change of imagery. You know, its almost like a new picture on the wall every month. I like that aspect about calendars with big, colorful imagery.

Now it is getting around to that time of year again where a new set of 12 images needs to go up on the wall, and of course, the better the images, the....well, better! To that end, I have come across a calendar by none other than the mountain bike dude extraordinaire, Mike Curiak.

If you don't know Mike, well you should click that link and get to know him a bit. If you like the outdoors and cycling, I have a feeling you might enjoy what you find there. If you do know about him, he needs no introductions from me. Just know that this calendar has some really great imagery, and all taken by Mike hisself. Click here for details on how to get yourself a calendar. I paid and got mine in the mail yesterday! (Thanks Mike!)

Fargo Gen II Update: I have been poking around on this build since I got this in, and last night I got it mostly done. Here is a rundown on what parts I decided to throw at this build.

Drive train: This was a bit of a decision. I could go to 10 speed, since that is what almost all mountain bikes are going to be sooner than later. I could go with SRAM, or I could go with......SRAM. Yeah, you see, Shimano STI and mountain bike derailleurs do not play well together in the 10 speed world. Okay, so if I went with Shimano, I go 9spd. Then there was the costs. STI or SRAM brifters are expensive! I could do bar end shifters and Tektro 520 brake levers for under half as much money. That's substantial. Then I looked at a SRAM or Shimano set up. SRAM would mean that I would have to get deraillers. I had Shimano derailleurs front and rear sitting around.

Decision made. Shimano 9spd bar end shifter with a SLX front derailleur and a Ultegra 9spd rear long cage.

Moving on- Brake calipers and rotors- Avid BB-7 mtn, wheels from Velocity. Blunt SL hoops laced to Velocity hubs. Tubeless of course. Cane Creek Thudbuster SL post, Salsa stem, On One Midge Bar, Bontrager Rhythm saddle. Generic head set that will get replaced with a green Sotto Voce Chris King to match the installed green Chris King bottom bracket which supports a LX level two piece Shimano crank with 42/32/22 gearing. SRAM 9spd cassette out back. Pics soon. Stay tuned....

Ergon HE2 Gloves.

Tuxedo, ebony and ivory, yin and yang. there is just something about a good black and white scheme, that if done right, just looks really classy.

Take for instance these Ergon HE2 mitts. We got to review these and the post on that can be found here. This will not be about how those gloves worked, but I am going to say that these hand covers are possibly the coolest looking, classiest All Mountain, Trail type gloves I have ever seen.

The overall look is just too nice. I kind of felt guilty if they got a little dirty, you know. Kind of like when you are wearing that nice pair of pants and playing a game of catch that turns into a re-creation of "Super Bowl Whatever" and the next thing you know, you've got grass stains on your knees and your gal is coming out to the car to go to the movie.

Well, you know what I mean!

The good news is that the Ergon gloves are washable. That restored my faith in wearing them for mountain biking. Not that I actually washed them, mind you. Just knowing I could was enough. I didn't wash them for fear that they would return to the shrink wrap fit that I didn't really care for at first when I got them. I was told they would stretch out, and they did- to a perfect feeling fit. I wasn't about to ruin that by washing them! Fortunately for me, Ergon HE2's and "The Funk" never got hooked up during my review. (By the way, I hear they do just fine after washing, so all my worrying was for naught!)

Well, at any rate, the things looked "mahvelous dah-ling!" Much better than a mountain bike glove has a right to.

Okay, there's another week gone by and 2011 is fast coming to a close. Get out and make some tracks on yer bicycles and take some pics! have a great weekend!

Friday News And Views

Analog calendar, digitally produced!

It's That Time Of Year Again: Part II

I like paper calendars that you can hang on the wall. I don't use them so much for keeping appointments, or for putting notes down on them, or for anything much beyond using them for a visual reference of time.

Well, there is that and imagery. I like calendars as a kind of monthly change of imagery. You know, its almost like a new picture on the wall every month. I like that aspect about calendars with big, colorful imagery.

Now it is getting around to that time of year again where a new set of 12 images needs to go up on the wall, and of course, the better the images, the....well, better! To that end, I have come across a calendar by none other than the mountain bike dude extraordinaire, Mike Curiak.

If you don't know Mike, well you should click that link and get to know him a bit. If you like the outdoors and cycling, I have a feeling you might enjoy what you find there. If you do know about him, he needs no introductions from me. Just know that this calendar has some really great imagery, and all taken by Mike hisself. Click here for details on how to get yourself a calendar. I paid and got mine in the mail yesterday! (Thanks Mike!)

Fargo Gen II Update: I have been poking around on this build since I got this in, and last night I got it mostly done. Here is a rundown on what parts I decided to throw at this build.

Drive train: This was a bit of a decision. I could go to 10 speed, since that is what almost all mountain bikes are going to be sooner than later. I could go with SRAM, or I could go with......SRAM. Yeah, you see, Shimano STI and mountain bike derailleurs do not play well together in the 10 speed world. Okay, so if I went with Shimano, I go 9spd. Then there was the costs. STI or SRAM brifters are expensive! I could do bar end shifters and Tektro 520 brake levers for under half as much money. That's substantial. Then I looked at a SRAM or Shimano set up. SRAM would mean that I would have to get deraillers. I had Shimano derailleurs front and rear sitting around.

Decision made. Shimano 9spd bar end shifter with a SLX front derailleur and a Ultegra 9spd rear long cage.

Moving on- Brake calipers and rotors- Avid BB-7 mtn, wheels from Velocity. Blunt SL hoops laced to Velocity hubs. Tubeless of course. Cane Creek Thudbuster SL post, Salsa stem, On One Midge Bar, Bontrager Rhythm saddle. Generic head set that will get replaced with a green Sotto Voce Chris King to match the installed green Chris King bottom bracket which supports a LX level two piece Shimano crank with 42/32/22 gearing. SRAM 9spd cassette out back. Pics soon. Stay tuned....

Ergon HE2 Gloves.

Tuxedo, ebony and ivory, yin and yang. there is just something about a good black and white scheme, that if done right, just looks really classy.

Take for instance these Ergon HE2 mitts. We got to review these and the post on that can be found here. This will not be about how those gloves worked, but I am going to say that these hand covers are possibly the coolest looking, classiest All Mountain, Trail type gloves I have ever seen.

The overall look is just too nice. I kind of felt guilty if they got a little dirty, you know. Kind of like when you are wearing that nice pair of pants and playing a game of catch that turns into a re-creation of "Super Bowl Whatever" and the next thing you know, you've got grass stains on your knees and your gal is coming out to the car to go to the movie.

Well, you know what I mean!

The good news is that the Ergon gloves are washable. That restored my faith in wearing them for mountain biking. Not that I actually washed them, mind you. Just knowing I could was enough. I didn't wash them for fear that they would return to the shrink wrap fit that I didn't really care for at first when I got them. I was told they would stretch out, and they did- to a perfect feeling fit. I wasn't about to ruin that by washing them! Fortunately for me, Ergon HE2's and "The Funk" never got hooked up during my review. (By the way, I hear they do just fine after washing, so all my worrying was for naught!)

Well, at any rate, the things looked "mahvelous dah-ling!" Much better than a mountain bike glove has a right to.

Okay, there's another week gone by and 2011 is fast coming to a close. Get out and make some tracks on yer bicycles and take some pics! have a great weekend!

Friday News And Views

Let's Try This Again...

Gates Redux: You may have read on this blog last year about my Gates Carbon Drive belt experiences, which weren't all that encouraging. Well, Gates hasn't been sleeping, and are working on solutions.

The latest is called "Center Track" and as the name suggests, the belt has a groove in the center that "tracks" along a ridge in the center of each cog. This has the effect of keeping the belt aligned on the cogs despite slight discrepancies caused by misaligned cogs, or flexing due to pedaling. The Center Track technology steps up the belt width to 12mm as well, which also alleviates tension issues, according to Gates.

I'm going to mount this on the Trek, Gary Fisher Collection Sawyer. Well, in fact, I did. Trouble is that due to a very limited number of Center Track combinations available now, the belt I have was juuuusssst a bit too short. It wouldn't work. So, Gates is sending out another, longer belt, which ironically enough, will be almost too long. Strike one: "The Chain"  is more adjustable than "The Belt". (But we already knew that from last time.) It's still true. More to come......

Ergon HE2 Gloves: Ergon, the company known for its grips and backpacks, has now branched out into gloves. The HE2 by Ergon is the one I am trying out now. It is Ergon's take on a glove for endurance riding and all mountain pursuits. I'll tell ya this much right off the bat: It ain't like any other glove you've had your mitts in.

First of all, I'll say that almost any cycling glove gives my hands fits. Too snug and my hands go numb, almost instantly. I was recently pleased to find some gloves that made my hands really happy, but the Ergon HE2 needed trying out, so I laid those aside for a while.

The HE2 fits like a second skin. Like a race jersey for your hands. The feel is startling at first. In fact, I was sure that within minutes I would be hating them for making my hands go numb. The tips were right against my finger tips, almost to the point of having the seam go under my finger nails. This was also disconcerting at first, but I gave them a tryout anyway.

After a few uses, the gloves stretched just a bit, and the feeling of snugness went away, for the most part. Still, they fit like a second skin, and you know what? My hands never went numb. Not even for a second. On the bike, they were great, almost like not wearing gloves, but better. Grip is enhanced, and of course, with that snug fit, tactile feel is top notch. In fact, these are the only gloves I've ever worn that I didn't want to immediately peel off to do something like use a tool, reach into a pocket for something, or pick up something off the ground. I could text with them on, and even operate the tiny buttons on my Panasonic LX-3 camera. Pretty impressive!

However; I found it almost radical that Ergon did not put on any "nose wiper" material on the thumb, or back of the glove. (Can it even be a cycling glove then?) I also did not like the Velcro closure, finding it too tight, short in length, and restricting. And my wrists are pretty small for a guy my size. I would like to see Ergon adopt a closure, or more appropriately, an opening that simply stretched wide for entry, and then relaxed, like the aforementioned gloves I linked to. Finally, for a rough and tumble glove meant for endurance racing, back country, and all mountain use, the lack of finger tip protection on the outside/back of the fingers, and the "euro-trash", driving gloves styling were odd here.(Note: There is a really nice "pad" of carbon-fiber-like material to protect the heel of your palm.)

Did I like them? No, not at first, but I did end up grabbing them over the others for a recent ride. They are pretty darn good gloves, as long as you can get by the snug fit, sparse features, and the quirky styling. I guess I don't dislike them, and I may end up really liking them in the end. They just are so different. Now I just have to get them and the helmet I left behind back in a Suburban in Northfield back again! (DOH!) A final review will be seen on The Cyclist soon.

Speaking of Northfield.... That criterium deal fried my legs and feet. I don't know what it was, but my legs have been like two limp meat-sticks since that Monday in the sun, and I have been super tired all week. I just hope I can recover soon.

Okay, ya'all have a great weekend, and hopefully you all get some fun, adventurous, and safe bicycling in this weekend.

Friday News And Views

Let's Try This Again...

Gates Redux: You may have read on this blog last year about my Gates Carbon Drive belt experiences, which weren't all that encouraging. Well, Gates hasn't been sleeping, and are working on solutions.

The latest is called "Center Track" and as the name suggests, the belt has a groove in the center that "tracks" along a ridge in the center of each cog. This has the effect of keeping the belt aligned on the cogs despite slight discrepancies caused by misaligned cogs, or flexing due to pedaling. The Center Track technology steps up the belt width to 12mm as well, which also alleviates tension issues, according to Gates.

I'm going to mount this on the Trek, Gary Fisher Collection Sawyer. Well, in fact, I did. Trouble is that due to a very limited number of Center Track combinations available now, the belt I have was juuuusssst a bit too short. It wouldn't work. So, Gates is sending out another, longer belt, which ironically enough, will be almost too long. Strike one: "The Chain"  is more adjustable than "The Belt". (But we already knew that from last time.) It's still true. More to come......

Ergon HE2 Gloves: Ergon, the company known for its grips and backpacks, has now branched out into gloves. The HE2 by Ergon is the one I am trying out now. It is Ergon's take on a glove for endurance riding and all mountain pursuits. I'll tell ya this much right off the bat: It ain't like any other glove you've had your mitts in.

First of all, I'll say that almost any cycling glove gives my hands fits. Too snug and my hands go numb, almost instantly. I was recently pleased to find some gloves that made my hands really happy, but the Ergon HE2 needed trying out, so I laid those aside for a while.

The HE2 fits like a second skin. Like a race jersey for your hands. The feel is startling at first. In fact, I was sure that within minutes I would be hating them for making my hands go numb. The tips were right against my finger tips, almost to the point of having the seam go under my finger nails. This was also disconcerting at first, but I gave them a tryout anyway.

After a few uses, the gloves stretched just a bit, and the feeling of snugness went away, for the most part. Still, they fit like a second skin, and you know what? My hands never went numb. Not even for a second. On the bike, they were great, almost like not wearing gloves, but better. Grip is enhanced, and of course, with that snug fit, tactile feel is top notch. In fact, these are the only gloves I've ever worn that I didn't want to immediately peel off to do something like use a tool, reach into a pocket for something, or pick up something off the ground. I could text with them on, and even operate the tiny buttons on my Panasonic LX-3 camera. Pretty impressive!

However; I found it almost radical that Ergon did not put on any "nose wiper" material on the thumb, or back of the glove. (Can it even be a cycling glove then?) I also did not like the Velcro closure, finding it too tight, short in length, and restricting. And my wrists are pretty small for a guy my size. I would like to see Ergon adopt a closure, or more appropriately, an opening that simply stretched wide for entry, and then relaxed, like the aforementioned gloves I linked to. Finally, for a rough and tumble glove meant for endurance racing, back country, and all mountain use, the lack of finger tip protection on the outside/back of the fingers, and the "euro-trash", driving gloves styling were odd here.(Note: There is a really nice "pad" of carbon-fiber-like material to protect the heel of your palm.)

Did I like them? No, not at first, but I did end up grabbing them over the others for a recent ride. They are pretty darn good gloves, as long as you can get by the snug fit, sparse features, and the quirky styling. I guess I don't dislike them, and I may end up really liking them in the end. They just are so different. Now I just have to get them and the helmet I left behind back in a Suburban in Northfield back again! (DOH!) A final review will be seen on The Cyclist soon.

Speaking of Northfield.... That criterium deal fried my legs and feet. I don't know what it was, but my legs have been like two limp meat-sticks since that Monday in the sun, and I have been super tired all week. I just hope I can recover soon.

Okay, ya'all have a great weekend, and hopefully you all get some fun, adventurous, and safe bicycling in this weekend.

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!)

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!)