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Review of leg warmers

February 4, 2014 by tejvan

I’ve accumulated quite a few leg warmers over the past 10 years. This is a review of the different models I’ve been using.

From left to right

Specialized
Altura ergofit
DHB Vaeon Roubaix
Castelli nanoflex
Blue ‘prorace’ – discontinued.

Not featured here, I’ve also tried on some Impsport custom legwarmers.

Features I look for in leg warmers:

Not too tight so when cycling you don’t feel they are restricting your movement.
Stay in position, don’t roll down your leg
Warm. – different degrees of warmth depending on conditions. I like to have a thin pair, and a warmer pair.
Zip is useful for taking off over cycling shoes

To a large degree, some of these features need picking the right size as much as the individual brand.

Specialized

I like the Specialized leg warmer because it has a soft and flexible fabric. When you put it on, it doesn’t appear too tight. They are also quite thin, which makes it good for those times when it’s warming up, but not quite ready for shorts.

I have size L. It is prone to slip down, but if you put it underneath a pair of shorts, then it stays fine. Because it is thin, it dries pretty quick.

I’ve had it for over 5 years and has lasted well. Simple, but effective. They seem to have discontinued this model, which is a shame because it has been a very good product. The new Specialized leg warmer is called the Specialized EZ, I haven’t tried it, and unfortunately, it’s a bit more expensive (up from £32 to £40). Specialized EZ at Evans

Altura Ergofit

This was one of the most expensive leg warmer. The idea is that it comes pre-cut in the shape of a leg. It doesn’t lie flat, but has the bend built into the knee. The idea is that anatomically designed for your leg, it stays in place whilst offering greater freedom of movement.

Initially I ordered a size L, but this proved too big for me. It wouldn’t stay up and was very long. I sent it back and got a size M. This definitely stayed up, but it was a real struggle to get the leg on. The end of the leg warmer is stiff and small, to get it over your foot you have to take off your socks and really give it a good yank. Also, after a few weeks, I developed a hole in the stitching. The leg warmer felt quite tight when riding.

This has been the most disappointing leg warmer, because it isn’t comfortable and is difficult to get on, causing the stitching to come loose. It may just be unlucky with the sizing, but large felt too big, and medium felt too small. It seems a good idea to have an anatomical fit for the shape of the leg, but somehow it didn’t work for me. If you look at other reviews, other people are more positive, so you might have a different experience.

Altura Ergofit at Wiggle
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Clip on SKS Mudguards review

November 22, 2015January 27, 2014 by tejvan

For the past four years, I’ve been using different types of SKS mudguards on my winter training bikes. Overall, I’m very pleased with the product. They do the main job of keeping the worst spray off your clothes. They are also quite easy to fit and adjust. They have also proved satisfactorily resilient.

Original SKS race blades.

I bought these original SKS race blades about four or five years ago. I can’t remember how many years, but they are still going strong.

After a few years, I once had a problem with the black supports coming away from the metal mudguard, but a bit of super-glue did the trick and they are still working on this Ribble.

SKS Race blade mudguard

This came out about two years ago. I was sent a free review copy. I was pleased to get a free review copy because I probably would have been willing to buy. They are an improved version of the original race blades. They have better adjust ability and a bit longer protection at the end, with those clip on flaps. They look pretty elegant with a smart carbon finish.

Advantages of SKS race blades

They are quick to fit on. No tools are needed. Just adjust with your hands. If they do rub, it is usually easy to fix by moving the different parts of the adjustable mudguards.
You don’t have to take off brakes to fit.
They are good for road bikes with narrow clearance between wheel and frame/brake
They are light only 250 grams, and are quite unobtrusive on the bike.
They are quiet with no rattle, like I used to get on the old fashioned mudguards.
They are like quick release wheels. It’s less than 30 seconds to take off, and perhaps a minute or two to fit on. Excellent if packing a bike up.
They have proved quite robust.
You can choose the wide road version or narrow road version depending on size of road tyres. The narrow are for 25″ and less.
With a bit of fiddling, they fitted my unusually shaped forks on this Ribble. There is also quite a narrow clearance between wheel and frame on this bike. Though whether they fit all bikes, I’m not sure.

Disadvantages

Unlike traditional mudguards they don’t offer all round wheel protection. You get even more water and mud flying out by the rear brake, so it needs a bit of cleaning.
They are not quite as solid as the more traditional muguards. If you lean your bike against wall with mudguards, they may get put out of shape, requiring adjustment.
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Stages power meters

January 16, 2014 by tejvan

Stages power meter promise reliable power meter recording at a relatively cheap price. Whilst many SRMs can go for over £2,000. Stages power meters will be £599 (For Shimano 105) to £799 (Shimano Dura Ace 7900). Not only that but they are lightweight (20grams) and easy to switch between bikes.

This summer I spent quite a bit of time researching power meters and I came to the conclusion, I wanted to get the cheapest one. For me, this was Quark, I ended up spending £1,400 and it was a big hole in the cycling budget.

Quark Elsa

Firstly, the Quark experience has not been so good. A few weeks after buying (and after one race) it broke. We spent ages trying to fix the power meter reading, but the problem was in the crank arm itself so with help of Beeline we sent it back to the distributor. After a delay they sent it back saying it worked. But, it didn’t work, and they hadn’t even put a battery in it. Then we had to send back again. Eventually, four months after it stopped working (Sep 15) I’ve finally got it back in working condition yesterday (Jan 15). It would have been interesting, if not useful being able to use for the hill climb season. It was a lot of toing and froing between the bikeshop. Though in retrospective, I was glad I bought it from Beeline, as they were very helpful in dealing with the Quark distributor.

Whilst the Quark was in the workshop, getting returned , I came to hear about a new power meter called Stages which you just fit to a crank arm. I soon started to regret buying Quark and thought if I’d waited I could have saved £800 and the pain of my Quark not working. Stages seemed to give everything I want from a power meter.

Advantages of Stages

Very light 20 grams! (important for hill climbers)
Easy to put on – Even easier than Quark. Even I a self-confessed non bike mechanic could move Stages around without even having to drive bike to bikeshop (something I dislike having to do)
Much cheaper than other power meters.
You don’t have to worry about changing wheels / changing bikes. As long as you have same crank arm (which I do) it is quite easy to take off and put on another crank arm. This is a big bonus for me, because I have so many different bikes and wheels.
Reviews suggest consistent power meter readings.

Too good to be true?

I’ve already splashed out £1,400 on a Quark, but I plan to leave this on my time trial bike. Once you get used to riding power, you want to see what you do on your other bikes. Even though I only used it for four weeks, I would like to have power meter on road bike to measure hill climb interval efforts. The problem is that I often change from road bike to TT bike almost every day. If I was a pure time triallist one pm may be enough. But, I’m not. Stages seems the obvious choice for a second power meter. Only £700 or £800 so it’s pretty enticing because it doesn’t blow the budget completely.

Altura night vision flite jacket – long term review

January 7, 2017January 9, 2014 by tejvan

I’ve been using this Altura night vision jacket for over a year. I received it last year as a free product for review.

In summary: it is an excellent light weight / breathable jacket, that you can keep in back pocket or saddle bag. Even after consistent rain for an hour, you stay relatively dry and warm, yet you don’t sweat excessively.

The first downside to the jacket, is that in my case the zip didn’t work. I can’t undo it, without a long time of frustrating tugging and pulling. I have to leave zipped up, and just put over my head. On noting this flaw in the product, I mentioned to the Altura rep, who sent the jacket in the first place. He replied by saying, ‘OK, please don’t mention in your review.’ I never heard anything else, like perhaps a replacement jacket. It wasn’t exactly the most amazing piece of marketing strategy and customer care.

In fairness, I think I was unlucky. Looking at other online reviews, I’ve not noticed anyone else complain about a broken zip. Perhaps if you had bought a jacket, you would have got better after sales service. The bizarre thing is I keep thinking the jacket is so good, it’s worth buying one just to get one with a working zip, but in the end it doesn’t seem worth the £70 just for jacket with a working zip so I use this good jacket which needs unorthodox putting on. It means I have to stop to put it on, but to be honest I’m no good at putting on jackets whilst cycling – like the pros anyway.

Sizing

I chose a size L because I’m tall, (6ft 3″) and have long legs. I’m as thin as the proverbial hill climb whippet (36″ chest maybe) so it is inevitably baggy. But, it’s not too bad, I’ve usually got quite a few layers underneath anyway. It does make a difference having a waterproof jacket which goes down just past your wrists. Helps to keep your hands warm. I like it because it seems designed for the racing position. It’s a little on the short side when standing up, but quite good in position.

Waterproofing and breathability

When looking for a waterproof jacket, there seems to be a three way trade off

Price
Waterproofing
Breathability

To score highly on both 2 and 3, you need to pay a lot. At £70, this jacket is quite expensive for a small fold away jacket, but it offers an excellent combination of waterproofing and breathability. This is definitely a proper waterproof jacket (as opposed to ‘water resistant’) I’ve been out in some heavy rain, and feel securely protected from the worst of the weather. But, it’s never too hot, and you can go as hard as you like up hills without becoming excessively sweaty.

Assos T.607 F.I Mille S5 – long term review

January 7, 2017December 18, 2013 by tejvan

A review of Assos T607 F1 Mile shorts after a year of using them.

Summary They are very expensive for a pair of shorts – around £160. But, they are probably one of the best cycling products I have bought in recent years. They have really made long 5-7 hour winter training rides much more comfortable. I used to get all kinds of pain and discomfort, but these shorts mean I don’t even think about that aspect of cycling.

Admittedly I have worn some pretty cheap and unconvincing shorts in the past. This was a big step forward from a pair of shorts costing £40 to nearly four times the value. But, I couldn’t go back to the older shorts now.

A year ago, I also bought some F1 Assos Uno cycle shorts for £117. They are also excellent, But, I find I tend to wear these T607 more often because I prefer the insulation and they are slightly more comfortable than even the F1 Uno.

The problem with cycling is that there is always a temptation to spend lots of money – weight saving carbon fibre, cool clothing, new bike e.t.c. It’s always hard to know whether spending these great sums is justified.

Firstly, it’s not often you buy a pair of shorts, and with it you get an owners manual. There’s some rather discouraging warnings.

Do not machine wash
Do not wash with other clothes.
Do not ride near brambles
Do not get caught in velcro
(Do not get pushed into barbed wire by TV motorbike) (youtube)

Overall, there seems to be a strong warning emanating from this owners manual – Assos shorts are not designed to last. Not the most reassuring thing to read about something just costing shy of £160. Because of this I have taken care of these shorts more than any other piece of clothing I have owned.

I have hand washed them, I have taken a pee, according to the users manual, I have even avoided jumping through bramble whilst wearing them

One year on, I have got considerable use out of them, and they are still going strong. The padding is starting to be slightly worn, but it doesn’t look like it needs replacing. I’m hopefully of getting another couple of years use out of them.

Sizing

Assos warn that proper sizing is very important. Get a size too big and it won’t stay still and move around. Get a size too small and it will stretch the seams and over time disintegrate (there’s a lot of talk about the shorts disintegrating). Rather worryingly, they say most professionals usually start in size L, and later in the season move down to size M. All very well for professionals who don’t have to pay £150 to change sizes. But, I want to get size right first time. I choose size L because it fitted my height 180-185cm, (but not the weight of 80kg).

I have worn the large sizes for over a year, and it still fits fine. There is no need of wanting to move down a size. But, for obvious reasons, you want to take care with getting the right size. Importantly, there should be a stretching of shorts when you stand up in them. The important thing is that they fit you whilst in the cycling position.

Comfort of Ride

The fabric is amazingly comfortable, the shorts are comfortable everywhere. As Assos states, when you stand up, it feels tight because it’s designed to be worn in the cycle posture. And I don’t think you need a Swiss owners manual to tell you these shorts are not designed for ‘social use’ (though the ever-thorough Swiss do actually tell you that they don’t recommend wearing these shorts in a ‘social situation’)

The manual tells you to not pull the shorts into place, but merely let the shorts do the work. I oblige and let the fabric move into position, as I set off down the road. The dimpled padded insert is considerable and really well designed. Not like some old shorts where the rather feeble padding seems to stop at an inappropriate point.

After two hours into the ride, you realise you’ve hardly noticed your saddle or seating position. It’s very comfortable. After five hours in the saddle, the first signs of hardness start to appear. But, this is relatively mild. At the end of the ride, I was really praising the design of the saddle. It’s done a lot to improve the ride quality over other cycle shorts. It is a big step up from any other cycle shorts that I have experienced. This winter I have been doing rides of up to seven hours. I’ve never experienced any real discomfort. I used to suffer from a lot of the dreaded saddle sore. But, this past year, I have rarely suffered, apart from after a few time trials (where I wear skinsuit and not these shorts)