Zoot CompressRx Recovery Tights

At first I didn’t really buy into the whole compression scene – I wasn’t sure if it was simply that I thought it better to let my body recover at a natural pace, or whether I thought the whole thing was a little goofy.

But then it occurred to me… I’ve shaved my legs, I routinely wear lycra, and think a big helmet with a bunch of holes in it makes me look cool. I’m already pretty much as goofy as it gets.

With multi-day races (TransRockies) and enduro events (Giver-8-r, Superhero Enduro) on my race calendar, I felt that exploring a decrease in recovery time might be worth the money. After checking with some friends savvy to the compression gear the recurring recommendation were the Zoot CompressRx Recovery tights.

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Smart Bike

A while back, Ken wrote an article on ‘The Future of Gadgets’, and the elegance of the un-cluttered handlebar.  Well, it looks like, and really we shouldn’t be that surprised, Apple has been working on this, and of course taken it to the next level. Why stop at providing consumers with a ‘smart phone’, when you can provide a ‘smart bike’ to go along with it?

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Disc Brakes in Cyclocross

Ahhh yes… Some good spills here, but this serves to only set the stage for the latest modifications to the rules taking effect at the beginning of the 2010-2011 cyclocross season.

The biggest thing (in my mind anyway) is DISC BRAKES!!

In my mind, this is huge – I know that especially in mountain biking the modulation that disc brakes brings to the table is a huge advantage. Not to mention for non-pros like me disc brakes are waaaayyy less maintenance, and they don’t squeal like little bitches on long descents ;-)

Here’s a full rundown of the changes:

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Sheldon’s epic rides

Well, it took some digging, but I finally managed to track down photos of all of Sheldon’s past rides.

It’s true, dear readers, sheldon wasn’t always the Element rockin’ stud he is today… Indeed these photos tell a very different story.

But I’ll let you be the judge…

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2011 Rocky Mountain Element

I always like behind the scenes stuff – be it movies, Discovery channel’s “How it’s made” or anything like that. Similarly, when there’s a little bit of background about what goes into making a bike, I eat it up.

It’s also really nice to see companies leaning on their pro’s for feedback and product development. I know it’s commonplace with most companies now, but it’s nice when that aspect of the relationship is highlighted (Specialized and Cervélo also spring to mind), and it’s always nice to see it first hand (well, through video anyway ;-)

Sheldon will be stoked about this one… Though I’m still baffled it’s taken Rocky until 2011 to upgrade their XC race rig to full carbon.

Spring is in the air

Arguably one of the most exciting days in any cyclists life has to be “new bike days,” and one of my co-workers, Sarah, has been lucky enough to experience a few of these days over the last few years as her riding needs have changed. Given her depth of experience I thought I would toss a few questions her way and see if she could impart some of her bike purchasing wisdom unto our readers ;-)

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Rocky Mountain Element 90

Steadily over my mountain biking career, I’ve slowly upgraded the quality of bike I ride. I started with a Cannondale M800. With full LX, it was a good entry-level XC race bike, with no suspension at all – full rigid baby, and if I recall it retailed new for $2,200. Then I went and got a Jamis Expert XC, which had full suspension, and the XT/LX kit treated me well for two solid seasons. This rig retailed new for around $3,500. The summer of the Transrockies, I took Ken’s Specialized Epic Marathon off his hands and learned what it’s like to ride a true high-end XC bike. Full SRAM XO. Full FOX suspension, with the ‘Brain’. This bike was light, fast, responsive – it’s an XC machine that retailed new for $5,500. Now, I’ve upgraded one more time to a 2009 Rocky Mountain Element 90.

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Is that your final answer?

Ken bought himself a new rig, and a road rig at that. I have to say, I’m pretty stoked for him. He was the first to move to full-suspension, and then the first to move to cyclo-cross and now, although I already have a road bike (it’s more just a training tool)  he’s the first to jump headlong into the roadie world. As you can see, it’s expensive keeping up with Ken. Everytime you turn around, it seems he’s adding to his quiver. It might be categorized as an addiction, but I’d have to call it a healthy one.

So in the last bikeridr post, Ken challenged me to see if I could guess what he bought, based on the few closely-cropped photos he provided. I accepted the challenge and now beers at the Prairie Rubaix are on the line. (Insert pressure here) The photos didn’t really gave away too much, other than the bike is really, really red, and kitted out with Ultegra, and a Mavic Ksyrium wheel set. So, what did he buy? What’s my final answer?

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Embracing the Dark Side

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
– Yoda

Isn’t suffering what cycling is all about? ;-)

There was a time I never thought I would own anything other than a mountain bike. I literally scoffed at the idea: “Why would I ever own a road bike?” I asked myself, “Road riders never look happy, and they can only go where the paved road takes them… LAME!”

Well kids… I have to say I’ve been converted.

Any cyclist who starts taking their off-season or early-season training more seriously can attest to the benefits of having a road bike. It enables you to start putting in some serious miles long before it’s possible on a mountain bike. From a training perspective it makes sense, but there’s more to it than just that.

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Project Uranus

Pearl Izumi hits it out of the park with their 4D Chamois and some heavy hitting journalism on “Project Uranus.”

From Road.cc:

US-based cycling clothing firm Pearl Izumi has revealed that it is working on a project, kept secret until now, to test its new chamois insert in outer space to help ensure that you get the maximum comfort possible during your ride on that most delicate of contact points with the bike…