Two Things

I'm free! Finally I am free!

 Freedom For Cooks Crank:

Back in 2003 when I first put together my Campstove Green Karate Monkey, I used a Cooks Brothers crank set in the build. I set it up with a Big Cheese chain ring and ran the bike single speed for years afterward with this set up.

I actually wore out one Big Cheese ring and put on another, only to find that when it wore out as well, that hidden chain ring bolt was frozen together. I suppose several Winter's of use might do something like that. Hmm...

I freely admit I am not a BMX parts hound so I was at a bit of a loss as to whether or not the spider could come off this drive arm. It had an M8 bolt holding the spider to the crank arm, so I removed this, (and promptly lost it), then I found out the spider was peened on at the spindle and well.....

So now I had a real pickle. I couldn't get the ring off and I lost a "special bolt". Okay, so I bailed on this crank at the time and went with a 180mm White Industries single speed crank I had purchased with a square taper interface. This is the crank set on the bike currently.

Every once in awhile over the ensuing years I would fiddle with the Cooks crank and see if I could find a suitable M8 bolt or if I could remove the chain ring bolt. I guess last week was finally the time for release of trapped chain rings because I was able to finally get the dang nut apart!

Well, at least now I could clean up the arms and start searching again for a suitable M8 bolt amongst my massive stash of fasteners I have saved up over the years. The cleaning part went well. The arms are in decent shape and the spider still looks really nice. At least for a part that is likely 35+ years old and went through several Iowa Winters and gravel miles.

But finding a bolt? This was not as successful. I could find a ton of metric thread fasteners which would turn in three times and bind, indicating they had the wrong thread pitch. This took a while to get through all my fasteners so I ended up wasting a lot of time on this, but I know now I don't have a bolt for this crank arm.

I got to wondering, perhaps Cook Brothers used a SAE thread pitch on this bit, since it was produced in the U.S.A. This would make sense, but I just am not knowledgeable on these enough to say if this is the case or not. I also do not have SAE fasteners. I am a bicycle mechanic, after all!

One good thing came out of all of this though. In searching for the M8 fastener I found my lost Wahoo Elemnt ROAM. It was underneath a bunch of computer mounts in a bowl on the bench. Why? Uh.....I probably figured all the computer stuff should go in this bowl here while I was cleaning up one day and then I likely promptly forgot about it. This would totally track with me. Anyway, I found the Wahoo, so wahoo!   

SILCA SAGA

You may remember my ordering a gauge for my SILCA pump recently? Well, I did receive a package from SILCA. It was curiously light, and my red flags started to wave as I walked back from the mailbox. Hmm.... Something seems wrong here.

Well, as I opened up the bubble pack envelope, I saw the box inside and I knew immediately something was for certain way off. I opened up the box to find.......a spanner wrench?!

What?!

How...... I..... This was really weird! I mean, I could see sending out the wrong gauge, but a spanner wrench? This was super odd.

That's not a gauge!

 

Now that is a gauge!

I sent a quick email to SILCA and their answer was that someone must have been in a hurry in the shipping department and got their wires crossed. An actual gauge would be on the way pronto. 

Finally I have the gauge! And my Pista Plus pump is back in service again. I must say SILCA was very prompt and responsive during this entire process. I always received communication within an hour of sending an email and shipments were made ASAP. I have to say SILCA wins the customer service award from Guitar Ted Productions. I've not ever had such great, prompt, and courteous service from any company I've dealt with over the years. 

Yes, they made a mistake, but they rectified it and all is well. Now, back to pumping up tires....

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Paris Ancaster

 Paris Ancaster 2025 To Be UCI World Gravel Champ Qualifier;

Mark your calendars for April 27th, 2025 if you want to engage in the long-running Paris Ancaster event. Long associated with Spring Classic type road racing, the vent now identifies as a "gravel event".  

The top 25% finishers of each age group category in the "UCI distance" will achieve qualification to the UCI World Gravel Championships which the press release said will be in Nice, France in 2025. 

The event will have 100K, 75K, and 45K distances. You can find out more and register for the event by visiting www.parisancaster.com

Thanks to the media contact at Paris Ancaster for the event information.

Wahoo Elemnt ACE Is Real!:

Well, earlier this week you may have caught my post about the new Wahoo Elemnt ACE GPS device. If you missed that, you can click the link to read my take on the thing. 

Now, I know how these press release things work out and the companies that want reviews to drop right at product launch will send product out ahead of time to get into reviewer's hands to enable this "blitz" of information on the designated day. This is why you see "Product X" news across several online sites and reviews on sites and YouTube all on the same day. 

So, it was obvious to me that I'd find out a LOT more about the Elemnt ACE by checking out DC Rainmaker's review on the launch day, because, well.....you just don't launch an electronic cycling device without a DC Rainmaker review, that's why. You can check out the video I watched HERE. 

In that video I learned what I thought I would have guessed to be true. The Wahoo Elemnt ACE isn't 100% fully functional yet. I figured as much because when I got the Elemnt ROAM it wasn't working as well as it does now with the updated software that Wahoo sends out periodically for its devices, like any electronic computer device we use. 

So, while the Element ACE is 'real', it isn't really ready to go at 100% functionality yet. Seems about par for the course these days with electronic cycling computers. I'll stick with my Elemnt ROAM for the foreseeable future. And to boot, I don't need or want such a complicated device. remember when we rode with a six function computer and were happy? Maybe we need to reverse ship....

Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles

Salsa Cycles Shows New Cutthroat Color:

On Tuesday of this past week Salsa Cycles unveiled a new  color for their Cutthroat C model. The color is called "Tangerine", which is an orange to creamy white fade job. 

No big deal there, right? 

I did notice the "C" in the name for the first time which got me curious. Fortunately, Salsa has an archive of older models that goes back several years. I found that the first mention of "Cutthroat C" was in 2021. 

Now, this is all speculation on my part, but why add a "C" to the model name without a corresponding model different than the "C" model? Because if "C" stands for "carbon" I think most people looking at this bike understand it is made from carbon fiber. Unless......

Again - purely speculatory here - but what if Salsa had intended there to be an alloy Cutthroat, which would be less expensive, and did not come out with it because of the mess that the pandemic caused with supply chains and inventory levels? Problems still in play today. 

Hmmm..... Imagine, if you will, an alloy Cutthroat with Microshift 10 speed 1X gearing for a LOT less than a Cutthroat C. Maybe I'm crazy here. 

Image courtesy of FAIR Drop

FAIR Drop Offers Offset For Redshift Posts:

In talking with my friend, MG, about the Redshift ShockStop Seat Posts, he mentioned that he'd really like to try one, but any rearward offset post does not work for him. He actually prefers a very forward  offset. 

Well, not that I am trying to sell MG on anything, but he could make a Redshift post work for him now. Thanks to FAIR Drop, a Swiss company, who makes cradles to work with some dropper posts and Redshift's posts which offers a 27mm forward or rearward offset. 

The Redshift compatible version, shown in the image here in this post, is approximately $135.00 USD plus shipping. Kind of spendy, but it might be worth it if you like a Redshift post but cannot stand the  rearward offset, or if you want forward offset and cannot get that. A link to the Redshift compatible parts is HERE. 

I would be interested in this for my Honeman Flyer, as I could get forward offset with that bikes super-slack 70° seat tube angle and also be able to use a Redshift post. It would be definitely something I'd consider for a MTB with a dropper post. 

Lincoln Turkey Day Ride '24: Image by Rob Evans

A Turkey Day Tradition:

Of course, "turkey day" rides on mountain bikes, or whatever bikes, has been a thing for decades. (See "Appetite Seminar" as an example) So, when Rob from Nebraska saw my Turkey Burn ride reports here he sent in a few shots of their traditional Turkey Day Ride which has been going on for 20 years. 

Rob also did a nice video of the ride with a great historical bit at the beginning. It is on You Tube and you can watch it HERE if you want to see what Lincoln, Nebraska single track is like. (Note: It is super-similar to what we have here in my neck of the woods) Note - You have to check out the drop-in a guy does on a hand cycle!

Hey, I never said I had a corner on this idea! Do you have a turkey day riding tradition? Let me know in the comments if you do, or know of a ride for Thanksgiving. 

And speaking of rides on Thanksgiving......
 

Guitar Ted Productions makes for good bathroom reading!

Final Virtual Turkey Burn Posts Tomorrow, Sunday & Monday:

I hope that you have been able to catch the reports from the Virtual Turkey Burn Ride Challenge over the course of this week. The response to the rides has been very positive and I am eternally grateful to those who took part in the rides and sent in reports. 

I just wanted to remind everyone that the last five reports I received are going up here on the blog tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday. Look for Scott, and Ari on Saturday, and Steve and Warren on Sunday, and shiggy on Monday to give you some inspiration to ride cold weather in their reports. After those five go up that will conclude the reportage for this year. 

Keep in mind also that December is a big content time for the blog, so keep scrolling the page down to make sure you do not miss anything. I have quarterly reviews, bike reviews, and more coming along the rest of the month until the blog kicks off another New Year. 

That's a wrap on the week! Get out and ride those bicycles!

Wahoo Take Two

Longtime blog readers will remember my struggles to get along with Hammerhead's Karoo 2 and the Wahoo Elemnt ROAM GPS devices. Well, just before the Victory Ride, weekend before last, I decided to try to give the Wahoo a second chance. Out of all the GPS stuff I've had my hands on so far it was the best experience I'd had. 

I also figured that there had been enough updates since I had parked the unit last year that I may actually have a decent experience with the unit. And - spoiler alert - I did have a decent experience. 

First thing was to update the unit and recharge it. Surprisingly it still was holding a pretty sizeable amount of energy. The update did take a bit, but I expected that after having not updated the unit for many months. Then I download the route file N.Y. Roll had sent me earlier on. That went just fine. 

Only thing left to do was to ride. I had a fit trying to get the route to start, and I ended up having N.Y. Roll start the route navigation for me. But after that I was doing fine. A few notable things as I rode, in no particular order. 

I must have inadvertently turned off the sound for notification of turns because my Elemnt ROAM was quiet while everyone else's GPS units were beeping like crazy. Huh....... This wasn't an issue as I had the directional arrow to watch on the screen. 

It took me a while to get used to the subtle difference between how the map displayed when I was on route versus when I was not. I'd prefer that distinction to be easier to discern. Maybe there is an option within the unit that will allow for this? 

When I went off-route due to N.Y. Roll having a different final route, (I guess I downloaded an earlier version of his route), the ROAM did not go nuts trying to reroute me. The arrow just pointed in the direction of where the route was in reality, like a compass needle. Weird.....

When I returned to the route, the course showed up again and turns and all were spot on. That is, until the end and the Roam never did say I was back on the route again, despite the fact that I knew we were off route from Brandon until just outside of Urbana. By that time it didn't matter, but that shouldn't have happened. 

The Climb function was there and worked. I liked how it wasn't this screaming "CLIMB" alert but was quiet, (again, I must have turned off the sound?) and then the climb was these little roundish dots on the route that my arrow was "eating up" like I was playing Pacman. I thought that was fun.

My data was spot on for mileage, temps, and all of that. I was able to review the ride data later much like I used to do with my Lezyne Super GPS. I liked that. 

So, that is the story so far with the second go-round with the Wahoo Elemnt ROAM. I'll be trying it out more this Summer and I will report back.

Friday News And Views

Coros Dura GPS computer. (Image courtesy of Coros)

Time to Navigate Through Another FN&V!

Coros Finally Unveils The Dura GPS Computer:

After teasing this GPS device since April the Coros Dura finally has been unveiled. This new entry in the GPS device market for bicycles has a big claim and looks to unseat your Garmin, Wahoo, and Hammerhead GPS devices from your handlebars. Is it really a contender? 

Well, Coros claims that with all systems on, and with no benefit from the solar charger, (more on that in a minute) you can squeeze 70 hours out of the device for run time. They claim that you can extend that to 120 hours, still without using the solar recharging function. Pretty impressive if true, and if you've already seen DC Rainmaker's review, it probably isn't quite there yet.

As stated, there is a solar recharging function. Coros claims that in full Sunlight, a rider going out for an hour will gain 2 hours of battery time. Again, very impressive. But that solar function comes at the cost of  space on your handlebar. (And the recharge rate hasn't been verified by independent reviewers yet.)

According to my quick measurements of my Hammerhead Karoo 2 and Wahoo Elemnt ROAM sitting here, the Dura is larger both in length and width than those two computers. The touch-screen of the Dura falls in between that of the Wahoo and Hammerhead with the Hammerhead edging out the Dura by just a hair. 

The Dura combines the touch-screen with a dial as well, so I'm not sure how the user interface will be here, (Again - not the greatest yet) but all this comes at a fairly reasonable price of $249.00 USD. Coros is taking pre-orders for July delivery now. By the way, the Dura has a lot more value if you also buy into the Coros smartwatch ecosystem. So, if you have not chosen a path in regard to a GPS device, this may alter your decision. Might want to wait until the bugs get worked out first though.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments. By the way, I'll have an update on my Wahoo experience coming soon. Stay tuned....

Gravel Worlds Announces Live Coverage Of 2024 event: 

From the press release:

"For the first time in the event’s 15-year history, the Garmin Gravel Worlds gravel road bicycle race will feature live-streamed video.

2024 Garmin Gravel Worlds event coverage will begin before the Men’s Pro 150-mile start Saturday, August 24, and end after the final rider has finished late into Saturday evening. The live coverage will include lead and follow motorcycles for both the Men’s and Women’s Pro fields, as well as a fifth camera focused on riders deeper in the pack. There will also be live commentating from beginning to end. The live stream video will be free for viewers worldwide.

Thanks to expanded sponsorship from Goodlife Brands, the event has also added $10,000 to its Women’s Pro prize purse, while adding a fresh twist to the racing. The first twenty Pro Women to arrive at the second race checkpoint ahead of riders from the general race field, which starts 25 minutes later, will receive $500, regardless of where they finish the race."

Gravel Worlds will employ staggered start times, much like Unbound has, for thge event which is scheduled to take place on August, 21 - 25, 2024 in Lincoln, Nebraska from their recently announced new starting area. 

Other recent Gravel Worlds news can be seen HERE and HERE.

Have You Heard About This?

I was sent an email on Wednesday informing me that some ultra-distance cyclists would be coming through the area soon. Like right down my local bike trail! 

Apparently it is all around a race called The Great American Wheel Race. Here's the description from the registration page for the event:

"The 2024 inaugural Great American Wheel Race is a 3,600 mile self-supported race that begins at the landmark Seattle Space Needle on June 9, 2024, and ends at the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. This fabulous and scenic route across the U.S. utilizes established Great American Rail-Trails across the U.S. while linking other bike trails and the safest less traveled roads possible. The route consists of gravel paths, paved paths, gravel and paved roadways, with a goal to be separated from vehicle traffic as much as possible with gentle grades. Come “Get Some” and enjoy this phenomenal race crossing the U.S. from the West Coast to the East Coast."

You can "dot watch" this event, but for whatever reason, the tracking page on the event site is not functioning. However; THIS ONE on Bikepacking.com does work. I'm going to try to see if I can intercept a racer or two on their way down through here. Stay tuned.... 

Image courtesy of Hope Tech.

Hope Tech Offers Durable Gravel Wheel Set:

Often times we all get caught up in the latest aero, carbon fiber, light weight wheel set for gravel and I even can forget about the riders that aren't looking for that. Thankfully companies like Hope Tech from the uK haven't forgotten that some folks would like a wheel set that they can actually ride on without having to worry about weight limits, durability, and still have some nice features. 

Hope offers up the RX24 wheel set for your consideration. I thought it was interesting that this wheel set can be ordered up with 32 spoke hubs and rims. That's getting rarer to find these days as what constitutes a "high spoke count" wheel in pre-builts now days is 28 holes, maybe, with 24 hole rims being the average anymore. 

The rims are 24mm inner width, great for most gravel tires. (Hope recommends up to a 60mm tire) Plus the total system weight (rider and gear) is 284lbs. That's not going to cover everybody, but it is better than a lot of the bling carbon wheels will allow. 

You also get the reliable, rebuildable Hope hub here, which I have ridden in the older Pro 4  form, and can vouch that they do well. But again, Hope does support their hubs with parts and even their legacy hubs are still supported. 

Prices are reasonable. Depending on spec you'll spend somewhere around $600.00 - $800.00 USD. Check them out here.
 

Guitar Ted Podcast Update:

We have a new podcasts up now and it is about the evolution of gravel bikes and how they are not really innovating anything. That one went up last week. You can listen to it HERE. Then N.Y. Roll and I decided to hit up another episode before he vacates the area for New York for a couple of weeks.

I may be putting out a solo podcast yet today at some point, so if you see another episode up, you'll know I decided to do that. Otherwise it may be a while before the next episode is out unless I can get an interview I've been thinking about doing. We will see.

That's a wrap for this week. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! Get out and ride those bikes! The days are getting shorter starting now!

Friday News And Views

Luke Hoffman, Executive Director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. (Image courtesy of the IBC)

 Iowa Bicycle Coalition Hires New Executive Director:

Recently the Iowa Bicycle Coalition announced the hire of Luke Hoffman to fill its Executive Director position after former Executive Director, Mark Wyatt announced his departure. The Iowa Bicycle Coalition, an organization that promotes safe cycling in Iowa, educational programs, policy change at the government level, and growing a support community amongst cyclists in Iowa, now looks to Mr. Hoffman to drive these initiatives. 

Hoffman, a life-long cyclists from Iowa, will transition into the executive Director role with the aid of former Executive Director, Mark Wyatt who is staying on briefly to smooth out the change in leadership. Hoffman is already hard at work learning about the influencers and important issues in the Iowa cycling scene. 

Comments: The Iowa Bicycle Coalition mostly has been felt, in my experience, as the organization that implements changes at the Iowa Statehouse level through lobbying. The organizer also generally has a big presence at the Iowa Bicycle Expo, with their Iowa Bicycle Summit, usually held in January in Des Moines, Iowa. I spoke at the Iowa Bicycle Summit in 2017. 

Mr. Hoffman has already reached out to me, which I found pretty impressive since I don't generally see myself as being "that big of a deal", which...... I probably should, but I don't, generally, so the call caught me by surprise a bit. But since I've started working at The Cedar Valley Bicycle collective my aims have been more in alignment with what the Coalition is all about, so this is a good thing. 

Good luck to Mr. Hoffman in his endeavors! I loo forward to possibly meeting him at some point in the future. 

Time to dig back into this.

Second (Third? Fourth?) Chances:

You may not have noticed but I have not been using a GPS computer for cycling since early Summer. Boy! I gotta say that the rides I have gotten in have been just fine without that frustrating device. 

But a recent chat with a local runner in the Cedar Valley has me thinking I need to either figure this out or move on and never be a part of you folks that use GPS stuff. Well....at least not until things get figured out better.

See, the local runner, unprompted by myself, brought up a lot of the same things that drives me nuts about GPS units. His experiences were very similar to mine, plus he had some that were maybe more related to running that I did not have experiences with. 

But the chat did serve to bring to mind that I need to definitively figure out where I am headed in the near future. Either I use these things or I do not. I want to make up my mind and move on. The issue cannot be left undecided or I will end up wondering "what if" and that's no good. 

So, here are a few reasons I do not need GPS: Training, racing, navigation, data, and communication. I can do all of that stuff without a GPS at all. Would GPS computers like the Wahoo I have make things easier? Maybe..... It hasn't so far though. 

You might be thinking that I definitely need a GPS to do an event with. No, not really, I don't. While it is true that many race courses guidance is only provided via GPS, those tracks are almost always made available far ahead of the event on sites like Ride With GPS, and guess what? You can download cues for those, or, most likely, I'd write my own up and use the hard copy during the event. 

Oh yeah, and I don't do Strava or anything like that. I find that to be totally uninteresting. 

You might think that a GPS computer distance data would be more accurate than my hard-wired computer. Actually, that answer is "no" as well. Even my running friend, who used a traditional distance roll-out device to set up a quarter mile interval training route, has seen GPS not get the 1/4 mile splits correct on several other runners GPS units. And my roll-out measurement on my computer yields results that have consistently been dead-on with Iowa DOT mile markers. So, no- you don't need a GPS for that either. 

So the scales are tipped heavily against GPS in my view. Not only that, but I still have not been able to get one to work consistently well enough to be convinced otherwise. But I am going to try again. Stay tuned....

Speaking Of Technology...

The landscape for logistics for long, ultra-endurance events is changing due to technology. It's something that seems obvious when you stop to think about it. 

Maybe the pandemic put this sort of an idea on people's radar, but whatever it was, finding food and water became a heck of a lot easier than ever. It used to be that if you missed a store during open hours you were out of luck. But not anymore!

Riders have figured out how to leverage technology to gain an advantage over the long distance cycling challenges which are "self-supported" type events. Phone apps are one way this is being done. 

Call ahead and have an order placed outside in a bag with your name on it. Boom! When you get there, you have some savory vittles and maybe water waiting for you. Of course, it's risky. The village mutt might take advantage of your late arrival, but hey! It's take that risk or go without. 

Want to geek out on exactly how far down a rabit hole people go with regard to this? Check out THIS LINK and be amazed. Heck, I don't even understand half of that! It does reinforce my assertion that people will find every way possible to make an event easier within the rules, and sometimes outside of them.

Redshift Sports Expands Seatpost Offerings:

Redshift Sports makes a nice suspension seat post, but it only came in one diameter- 27.2mm. Well, now that will no longer be the case going forward. 

Redshift ShockStop Seatposts will now come in a few popular sizes and in some longer lengths. This should be of particular interest to fat bikers who ride in Winter on post-holed trails as this sort of seat post will totally change your riding. 

It should be noted that some of the sizes will not come into stock until late December of this year and January of 2024. You can check these out HERE. Note- This is the original ShockStop seatpost. The "PRO" model does not come in any other size but 27.2mm. 

Comments: Besides my take on these posts for snow riding with fat bikes, the ShockStop seatpost is a really well done suspension post. I like that the original is adjustable. You can make it really compliant or stiffen it up as much as you'd probably ever need to. (I mean, if you're going to make it nearly rigid, why bother at all) 

These are also a great post for bikes that do not have a lot of exposed seat post and allow some "give" to those riders with bikes like that which you wouldn't otherwise have available to you. Of course, these aren't for everyone, but this is a nice expansion in offerings for a suspension seat post in terms of sizes.

That's all for this week! Have a great weekend and get out for a ride if you can!

GPS Take 3: Wahoo Elemnt ROAM - Part 5

 Okay, I have a couple of things to share now about this GPS computer. I've been putting up updates here and there and the last one I posted was HERE. Also, in case you haven't figured it out, I received this GPS computer at no charge to test and review. 

The ride I just did on Sunday was a test of the Elemnt ROAM's ability to navigate me by prompts without being tethered to a phone using a GPS track I made for a loop through Southern Black Hawk County.  So, how did things go? This post will let you know....

First off, I was able to get things up and running by finding my route in the computer and bringing that up to ride by. The route was made by downloading a GPS file from one of my GPS computers, (may have been the old Lezyne, I cannot remember), into Ride With GPS, and then that was synced to the Wahoo unit.  This may be an important factor regarding what happened on this ride. 

The first section of my ride comes from my house and through a densely paved and alley way area of Waterloo, Iowa. there are a LOT of choices to go by, so if the GPS track was goofy at all, I could see that happening here, but thankfully the Wahoo cruised through this test with flying colors. 

The Elemnt ROAM had a bit of a hiccup on a bike path intersection here.

The first check came when I had a "Y" corner on a bike path. Going RIGHT would take me to the at-grade crossing of 18th Street, a very busy road, to get across to the 18th Street Bridge bike path. The LEFT choice takes you under the bridge, THEN right and LEFT, up a steep bit, RIGHT again, and RIGHT again, to the bridge. 

The above cue was confusing as my first choice would have led me astray had it been to the RIGHT as I would have ended up on the at-grade crossing. No bueno. But I get it. That's a tough section. 

The data dropped out here in Evansdale and yet the track was there. (Grey line)

The next weird thing happened in Evansdale when the GPS just stopped navigating me at all. I traveled about a half mile with no guidance, but the track was still showing up as a light grey colored line. Again, not good.

The thing finally came back on once I crossed the Cedar River, shown on the screen there.

I crossed the river and hey! There is the guidance again!

I liked the "cues" that would show up in these green boxes at times.

So, the unit does have a few nice things going on. Distance to the next cue. Seems pretty spot-on, that is until it starts counting down the feet to the cue, which is WAY off! I saw anything from 40ft on up to 100ft off for that. But the alarms are there, I have plenty of time to ascertain where to turn, and in a cool feature of this computer, the LED lights across the top stream toward the direction you are to turn to. That could be handy at night or in low-light conditions, but for me it was easier to see this cue to turn at a glance. 

See that little "Z" shaped squiggle in the track? Yeah, about that...

 Then I was on my way and everything was going fine with the exception of the feet to turn numbers which were comically way off. Then I was seeing a cue that was telling me to turn in 4 miles, which I inherently knew was incorrect because I know these roads so well. What the heck was going on?

Well, the unit insisted that I make the right hand turn on Kimball Avenue, a paved road I would never use, and when I did, almost immediately it flashed a weird diagonal trace back to Quarry Road, then it flipped to a reroute. At the time, I figured it was a flaw in the GPS track, and I've experienced this because I've done a ton of work using GPS tracks and sometimes the reference points drop data at intersections in oddball ways like that. I cannot count the times that sort of thing has screwed up my routes. 

Well, after looking at the track at home, I saw what happened and sure enough, it was a flaw in the GPS track. Great! 

Here the track is perfect, but the unit couldn't figure it out.

Interesting. I had been on Ansborough at this point for a quarter of a mile already.

So, then the Elemnt ROAM got screwed up as I turned from Quarry Road onto Ansborough. The initial prompt was good, but then the unit went immediately to what you see on the screen above and was telling me to turn again when the track clearly shows that I shouldn't. And I couldn't turn Left anyway. The road is dead straight here.

This happened three times going up Ansborough and then the GPS got so confusing that I just shut it off. The rest of the ride was a lot more fun, by the way. 

Conclusions: Okay, had I not known these roads I would have been lost in Evansdale, not to mention the snafu at Kimball Avenue. That's not acceptable to me. As it stands, the navigation is untrustworthy. 

So, was it a bad GPS file? Is this a Ride With GPS issue? Am I a dunce that doesn't know how to run a GPS computer? All are possibilities at this point. All I can do is try again with a new loop this time that I will carefully craft in Ride With GPS and then upload into the unit. Then we will try again. 

Could wildfire smoke have the effects some might suggest? Well, my iPhone works great in these conditions, and the smoke index was pretty low Sunday here. So, no I am not buying that excuse anymore.

By the way, I could write cues up by hand faster, but none of you want to read or hear that. So, onward with the GPS experiment. Stay tuned....

GPS Take 3: Wahoo Elemnt ROAM - Part 5

 Okay, I have a couple of things to share now about this GPS computer. I've been putting up updates here and there and the last one I posted was HERE. Also, in case you haven't figured it out, I received this GPS computer at no charge to test and review. 

The ride I just did on Sunday was a test of the Elemnt ROAM's ability to navigate me by prompts without being tethered to a phone using a GPS track I made for a loop through Southern Black Hawk County.  So, how did things go? This post will let you know....

First off, I was able to get things up and running by finding my route in the computer and bringing that up to ride by. The route was made by downloading a GPS file from one of my GPS computers, (may have been the old Lezyne, I cannot remember), into Ride With GPS, and then that was synced to the Wahoo unit.  This may be an important factor regarding what happened on this ride. 

The first section of my ride comes from my house and through a densely paved and alley way area of Waterloo, Iowa. there are a LOT of choices to go by, so if the GPS track was goofy at all, I could see that happening here, but thankfully the Wahoo cruised through this test with flying colors. 

The Elemnt ROAM had a bit of a hiccup on a bike path intersection here.

The first check came when I had a "Y" corner on a bike path. Going RIGHT would take me to the at-grade crossing of 18th Street, a very busy road, to get across to the 18th Street Bridge bike path. The LEFT choice takes you under the bridge, THEN right and LEFT, up a steep bit, RIGHT again, and RIGHT again, to the bridge. 

The above cue was confusing as my first choice would have led me astray had it been to the RIGHT as I would have ended up on the at-grade crossing. No bueno. But I get it. That's a tough section. 

The data dropped out here in Evansdale and yet the track was there. (Grey line)

The next weird thing happened in Evansdale when the GPS just stopped navigating me at all. I traveled about a half mile with no guidance, but the track was still showing up as a light grey colored line. Again, not good.

The thing finally came back on once I crossed the Cedar River, shown on the screen there.

I crossed the river and hey! There is the guidance again!

I liked the "cues" that would show up in these green boxes at times.

So, the unit does have a few nice things going on. Distance to the next cue. Seems pretty spot-on, that is until it starts counting down the feet to the cue, which is WAY off! I saw anything from 40ft on up to 100ft off for that. But the alarms are there, I have plenty of time to ascertain where to turn, and in a cool feature of this computer, the LED lights across the top stream toward the direction you are to turn to. That could be handy at night or in low-light conditions, but for me it was easier to see this cue to turn at a glance. 

See that little "Z" shaped squiggle in the track? Yeah, about that...

 Then I was on my way and everything was going fine with the exception of the feet to turn numbers which were comically way off. Then I was seeing a cue that was telling me to turn in 4 miles, which I inherently knew was incorrect because I know these roads so well. What the heck was going on?

Well, the unit insisted that I make the right hand turn on Kimball Avenue, a paved road I would never use, and when I did, almost immediately it flashed a weird diagonal trace back to Quarry Road, then it flipped to a reroute. At the time, I figured it was a flaw in the GPS track, and I've experienced this because I've done a ton of work using GPS tracks and sometimes the reference points drop data at intersections in oddball ways like that. I cannot count the times that sort of thing has screwed up my routes. 

Well, after looking at the track at home, I saw what happened and sure enough, it was a flaw in the GPS track. Great! 

Here the track is perfect, but the unit couldn't figure it out.

Interesting. I had been on Ansborough at this point for a quarter of a mile already.

So, then the Elemnt ROAM got screwed up as I turned from Quarry Road onto Ansborough. The initial prompt was good, but then the unit went immediately to what you see on the screen above and was telling me to turn again when the track clearly shows that I shouldn't. And I couldn't turn Left anyway. The road is dead straight here.

This happened three times going up Ansborough and then the GPS got so confusing that I just shut it off. The rest of the ride was a lot more fun, by the way. 

Conclusions: Okay, had I not known these roads I would have been lost in Evansdale, not to mention the snafu at Kimball Avenue. That's not acceptable to me. As it stands, the navigation is untrustworthy. 

So, was it a bad GPS file? Is this a Ride With GPS issue? Am I a dunce that doesn't know how to run a GPS computer? All are possibilities at this point. All I can do is try again with a new loop this time that I will carefully craft in Ride With GPS and then upload into the unit. Then we will try again. 

Could wildfire smoke have the effects some might suggest? Well, my iPhone works great in these conditions, and the smoke index was pretty low Sunday here. So, no I am not buying that excuse anymore.

By the way, I could write cues up by hand faster, but none of you want to read or hear that. So, onward with the GPS experiment. Stay tuned....

GPS Take 3: Wahoo Elemnt ROAM - Part 4

Okay, I have a couple of things to share now about this GPS computer. I've been putting up updates here and there and the last one I posted was HERE. Also, in case you haven't figured it out, I received this GPS computer at no charge to test and review. (Again, I'll post about why this statement needs to be here now later) Anyway.... 

First off, there was trouble the other day when I tried to do my 4th of July ride. I had intended on doing a ride I had uploaded to the device. A route of around 30 miles, which I actually replicated on the 4th, except that I went backward on it. 

Well, it wasn't in the device. It was on the app, but I am not familiar with that enough to know where to look, so I missed that on my phone. (But I didn't think you needed the phone for this?)  I was frustrated. My plan was to have the device give me turn-by-turn instructions and test to see if the device could accurately follow a route. However; that will have to wait until another time now. (I've figured out what I missed there) That said, through all the furious button pushing I was doing, I accidentally stumbled upon a page with what I was wanting to see for elevation. A current elevation readout!

Well, well! There ya go!

How did I stumble upon this? I actually did realize how I did this. I had the computer on, the GPS was all set to go, and I tapped the power on button with a short push. This brought up the page you see above and what's more, I can minimize or maximize data on that screen using the two buttons on the right. 

The only thing I can find about this function of the Power button on Wahoo's site is that a short push will let you toggle between "workout pages", whatever THAT means. See, this is what is whack about these devices. You have to go to the website, sift through all the questions, or search the site, and maybe you'll find what you are looking for? Maybe. 

This is dumb. It's frustrating and dumb. I mean, there is no reason that I should have to go back into the house, sit at my PC and try to find out what the heck this thing can do. I could use my phone, but I'm not going to try and squint in the bright Sunshine right before I am supposed to go ride to see what I "might" find out. No..... I am going to ride. Again, a real owner's manual with everything I need to understand written in a cohesive, easily understood and searched manner would go a long way in mitigating this stupidity. 

And to be fair, this isn't a Wahoo only problem. It's pretty much ubiquitous with regard to many consumer electronic devices. 

But I have a running elevation to look at now, and that's really awesome. Well, it is if I can actually see it as I am rumbling over the gravel chunder out there. Actually things were so rough at times on the 4th I just quit even trying to look at the screen. No fault of the device, but t just goes to show you, these things are not always a good idea to look at while riding. 

More soon....

GPS Take 3: Wahoo Elemnt ROAM - Part 4

Okay, I have a couple of things to share now about this GPS computer. I've been putting up updates here and there and the last one I posted was HERE. Also, in case you haven't figured it out, I received this GPS computer at no charge to test and review. (Again, I'll post about why this statement needs to be here now later) Anyway.... 

First off, there was trouble the other day when I tried to do my 4th of July ride. I had intended on doing a ride I had uploaded to the device. A route of around 30 miles, which I actually replicated on the 4th, except that I went backward on it. 

Well, it wasn't in the device. It was on the app, but I am not familiar with that enough to know where to look, so I missed that on my phone. (But I didn't think you needed the phone for this?)  I was frustrated. My plan was to have the device give me turn-by-turn instructions and test to see if the device could accurately follow a route. However; that will have to wait until another time now. (I've figured out what I missed there) That said, through all the furious button pushing I was doing, I accidentally stumbled upon a page with what I was wanting to see for elevation. A current elevation readout!

Well, well! There ya go!

How did I stumble upon this? I actually did realize how I did this. I had the computer on, the GPS was all set to go, and I tapped the power on button with a short push. This brought up the page you see above and what's more, I can minimize or maximize data on that screen using the two buttons on the right. 

The only thing I can find about this function of the Power button on Wahoo's site is that a short push will let you toggle between "workout pages", whatever THAT means. See, this is what is whack about these devices. You have to go to the website, sift through all the questions, or search the site, and maybe you'll find what you are looking for? Maybe. 

This is dumb. It's frustrating and dumb. I mean, there is no reason that I should have to go back into the house, sit at my PC and try to find out what the heck this thing can do. I could use my phone, but I'm not going to try and squint in the bright Sunshine right before I am supposed to go ride to see what I "might" find out. No..... I am going to ride. Again, a real owner's manual with everything I need to understand written in a cohesive, easily understood and searched manner would go a long way in mitigating this stupidity. 

And to be fair, this isn't a Wahoo only problem. It's pretty much ubiquitous with regard to many consumer electronic devices. 

But I have a running elevation to look at now, and that's really awesome. Well, it is if I can actually see it as I am rumbling over the gravel chunder out there. Actually things were so rough at times on the 4th I just quit even trying to look at the screen. No fault of the device, but t just goes to show you, these things are not always a good idea to look at while riding. 

More soon....

GPS Take 3: Wahoo Elemnt ROAM - Part 3

 Last time I left you off here concerning the Elemnt ROAM, I had reported that it was a 'waaaay better experience" than my previous GPS tries, and I still stand by that. 

That said: I got the climb screen to freeze up again.

I swiftly swapped over to the normal data page and it went right back to working again, and it never did that again. You might think I needed to do an update. Well, thanks to one of you readers, I did that before the climb page freeze. So, clearly there is an issue there. 

But overall, things are going well. I have had another unique experience that I wanted to pass along here, plus a surprise finding. Maybe it won't surprise any of you, but for me, it was a big surprise and it caused a bit of a data skew that, in my opinion, was funny. 

First, the surprise. I swapped over the mount to my Twin Six Standard Rando v2 bike so I could use the unit with it. I didn't think about how I had two sensors on the bike from the Sigma GPS computer I tried. I had forgotten about them. One was a speed sensor and the other was a cadence sensor. I believe the cadence sensor magnet is dead, as I recall seeing a low battery indication on that the last time I used the Sigma, but at this point of the story, I wasn't cognizant of that fact. I was not remembering the sensors at all.

Check out that maximum speed, baby! Oh yeah!

As I fired up the computer, and waited for the unit to obtain the GPS, it detected the speed sensor and paired with it. Now, I did not know that until the unit beeped and told me a sensor was paired. That's when I remembered: "Oh! Yeah! I have a speed sensor on here that is working!". 

As I rolled off, I may have done something wrong and not paired the sensor correctly or I moved when I wasn't supposed to, but I did something because 83mph! 

What the....??!!!

Then as I rode that speed walked down until after a couple blocks it settled into a believable readout. However; that set the maximum speed and well, the average was screwed up too! Ha! No big deal, but maybe someone can explain what I did , or did not do, there because I have no idea. Oh! And this sensor got those little lights to work on the unit that tell you how far below or above average speed you are going. That was nice too. Apparently you cannot have that without a sensor? (Throw in comment concerning poor instructions here.)

This was also the same ride I got the unit to freeze up on the climb page. Also, I had the unit not tracking me correctly after I made a right hand turn out in the country. This was on the climb page and it was when I was following the "VAM" (Vertical Ascent/Meters). The road was climbing and flattened out right before the corner, the right hand turn went to an ascending portion of the road and after about 50 yards it descended for approximately a 1/4 mile run. 

The turn was made and the climb data showed me waaaaay back on the grade instead of near the top. Then I descended. The VAM went negative as the GPS was still tracking me as traversing the road which was ascending, or in other words, the GPS was showing me traveling underground! Cool! Now I'm a gravel mole!

That was pretty laughable so I switched off that page for the remainder of the ride. That wasn't all the weirdness I discovered either. Nope. My desk was traveling at 9+ mph at one point last week as well. Check it out....

This popped up as I was trying to see if I could edit a page.

Yeah....I have no idea. All I know is that GPS is weird. Weird and maybe not quite ready for prime time, at least not for me, at any rate. Again- best GPS experience for me so far by a mile, but still not without its quirks and mysteries. And is it really accurate then? I don't know, but if I had to bet, I'd say probably not.

And I still cannot get elevation read out in a running fashion as I could with the old Lezyne.  

So, as of now I still have not done a turn-by-turn test, but that will happen once I have a three hour window or more to use for a ride. So, we'll hold off on a final verdict until that time happens. If it comes through as a reliable guide for riding, then it will be useful. If not? 

Well, I will have tried.

GPS Take 3: Wahoo Elemnt ROAM - Part 3

 Last time I left you off here concerning the Elemnt ROAM, I had reported that it was a 'waaaay better experience" than my previous GPS tries, and I still stand by that. 

That said: I got the climb screen to freeze up again.

I swiftly swapped over to the normal data page and it went right back to working again, and it never did that again. You might think I needed to do an update. Well, thanks to one of you readers, I did that before the climb page freeze. So, clearly there is an issue there. 

But overall, things are going well. I have had another unique experience that I wanted to pass along here, plus a surprise finding. Maybe it won't surprise any of you, but for me, it was a big surprise and it caused a bit of a data skew that, in my opinion, was funny. 

First, the surprise. I swapped over the mount to my Twin Six Standard Rando v2 bike so I could use the unit with it. I didn't think about how I had two sensors on the bike from the Sigma GPS computer I tried. I had forgotten about them. One was a speed sensor and the other was a cadence sensor. I believe the cadence sensor magnet is dead, as I recall seeing a low battery indication on that the last time I used the Sigma, but at this point of the story, I wasn't cognizant of that fact. I was not remembering the sensors at all.

Check out that maximum speed, baby! Oh yeah!

As I fired up the computer, and waited for the unit to obtain the GPS, it detected the speed sensor and paired with it. Now, I did not know that until the unit beeped and told me a sensor was paired. That's when I remembered: "Oh! Yeah! I have a speed sensor on here that is working!". 

As I rolled off, I may have done something wrong and not paired the sensor correctly or I moved when I wasn't supposed to, but I did something because 83mph! 

What the....??!!!

Then as I rode that speed walked down until after a couple blocks it settled into a believable readout. However; that set the maximum speed and well, the average was screwed up too! Ha! No big deal, but maybe someone can explain what I did , or did not do, there because I have no idea. Oh! And this sensor got those little lights to work on the unit that tell you how far below or above average speed you are going. That was nice too. Apparently you cannot have that without a sensor? (Throw in comment concerning poor instructions here.)

This was also the same ride I got the unit to freeze up on the climb page. Also, I had the unit not tracking me correctly after I made a right hand turn out in the country. This was on the climb page and it was when I was following the "VAM" (Vertical Ascent/Meters). The road was climbing and flattened out right before the corner, the right hand turn went to an ascending portion of the road and after about 50 yards it descended for approximately a 1/4 mile run. 

The turn was made and the climb data showed me waaaaay back on the grade instead of near the top. Then I descended. The VAM went negative as the GPS was still tracking me as traversing the road which was ascending, or in other words, the GPS was showing me traveling underground! Cool! Now I'm a gravel mole!

That was pretty laughable so I switched off that page for the remainder of the ride. That wasn't all the weirdness I discovered either. Nope. My desk was traveling at 9+ mph at one point last week as well. Check it out....

This popped up as I was trying to see if I could edit a page.

Yeah....I have no idea. All I know is that GPS is weird. Weird and maybe not quite ready for prime time, at least not for me, at any rate. Again- best GPS experience for me so far by a mile, but still not without its quirks and mysteries. And is it really accurate then? I don't know, but if I had to bet, I'd say probably not.

And I still cannot get elevation read out in a running fashion as I could with the old Lezyne.  

So, as of now I still have not done a turn-by-turn test, but that will happen once I have a three hour window or more to use for a ride. So, we'll hold off on a final verdict until that time happens. If it comes through as a reliable guide for riding, then it will be useful. If not? 

Well, I will have tried.