Specialized Armadillo long term review

I’ve been using Specialized Armadillo road tyres for the past four – five years. In that time, I’ve only had one puncture, and that was a pretty big nail which would have puncture most tubs, tubeless and tyres. I use Armadillo’s on my commuting bike and sometimes on my training wheels for winter training. I know other people who have used them for a similar time and have either not punctured or just got the occasional puncture.

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An Armadillo in action on rear wheel of training bike. Winter grit and thorns seem to have no effect on the tyre.

In summary, Specialized Armadillo are a very sturdy, strong and puncture resistant tyre. The inevitable downside is that they are heavier and with a poorer performance on rolling resistance. But, if you don’t mind some compromise in performance, you can get greater peace of mind and spend less time at the side of the road mending a puncture. This is important for the commute into town, where I don’t carry any spare inner tube or pump.

They are not completely puncture proof. It maybe a tubeless tyre with self-sealing slime liquid offers an even better puncture resistance system. But with the Armadillos a puncture is going to be a very rare occurrence.

This winter, I did ride quite a lot with a Specialized Armadillo on my front and rear training wheel. (I didn’t really plan to do this. It just kind of happened.) Now it is summer, I wouldn’t want to be riding an Armadillo whilst training. You feel there is some compromise in performance, and there are other lighter tyres which still offer very good puncture protection (e.g. the Continental GP and Gatorskin) Compared to a Gatorskin, the Armadillo feels slightly slower and a harsher ride.
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Durability

The Armadillo’s also seem to be much longer lasting than other tyres. My commute often involves a rough canal path and they haven’t needed changing for a long time. I think I’ve had my front tyre for nearly 3 years now. The back tyre needed changing after 2 years commuting. So even though they cost £30, they are good value. After three years, my front tyre is now looking tired and in need of a change it. Though I could probably get more use out of it, if I really wanted to.

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Exceeding the speed limit

Recently, I was researching an article – Cycling Facts – one interesting thing I came across is how in the 1920s American pedestrians were successfully demonised for crossing the road. A strong road lobby decided it would be good to shame pedestrians who wanted nothing more than to cross the road (and therefore inconvenience motorists). A law was passed making jaywalking illegal (In the US pedestrians can only cross a road at a marked crossing – if you cross the road where you feel like it, you could end up with a fine of $200). But, this law was also  accompanied with a sophisticated campaign to make pedestrians seem outdated and ‘dangerous’. – Successfully taking blame away from the real cause of the surge in road accidents – speeding motorists.

According to the BBC

Clowns were commonly used in parades or pageants to portray jaywalkers as a throwback to rural, ignorant, pre-motor age ways.

Another ruse was to provide local newspapers with a free service. Reporters would submit a few facts about local traffic accidents to Detroit, and the auto industry’s safety committee would send back a full report on the situation in their city.

“The newspaper coverage quite suddenly changes, so that in 1923 they’re all blaming the drivers, and by late 1924 they’re all blaming jaywalking,” Norton says.

Breakdown of all trips made in the US

  • Driving: 83%
  • Walking: 10.4%
  • Other (includes cycling): 4.2%
  • Public transport: 1.9%

Source: National Household Travel Survey, 2009

Speeding drivers

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Source: Gov.uk

Speeding drivers kill every year. In the UK, there are 2,500 deaths on the road. These are not caused by cyclists or pedestrians, but almost entirely by cars, lorries and buses.

Yet, speeding has no real social stigma. There is no outrage from British newspapers at the preventable accidents caused by speeding drivers. In fact, the only outrage you are likely to get is the fact that speeding cameras ‘caught you’ i.e. breaking the law.

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Rectory hill climb

The Hamptons Rectory hill climb will be part of the Chiltern Cycling Festival. It looks like it will be a good event with many cycle events lined up for the day. By the afternoon there could be a good crowd watching the pain and suffering of the hill climbers. The hill climb will be on closed roads, which will be good for riders and spectators. There are quite a few prizes, such as Solo clothing, and I hear a good entry.

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It will suit the short sprinting type of hill climbers. Depending on where the start and finish are, it’s not that dissimilar in length to Monsal Head / York Hill (Catford CC)

view-hill

It is steep, with a gradient of 14-15% at the bottom before levelling off near the top. Ironically, the hill climb finishes by the underground line (Metropolitan line from Amersham). There can’t be too many hill climbs where you climb to a London Underground train line.

leafy

During a long ride yesterday, I did 2.05 up the 0.5 mile hill. And two and half minutes up the longer 0.6 mile version.

But that was after 50 miles of trying to find “Old Amersham” without a map. I would imagine a winning time of something like 20-30 seconds quicker.

As much as I love hill climbs, it will be a tough one for me. It’s a day before national 100 and I might be in with a shout of a good placing in the national. 3 efforts of 2 minutes are not quite my forte.  It will be good to wear the national jersey – though using a granny ring will be very tempting. It’s looking like a good one to come along and watch.

Cycling facts

A random list of cycling facts – from the invention of the bike to the fastest time circumnavigating the world.

When Was the Bike Invented?

No one really knows exactly. The Frenchman Ernest Michaux invented a bicycle with pedal and rotary cranks in 1861, but it is doubtful this was actually the first design.

Early precursors to the bicycle include:

1817 – The Running Machine. Invented by the German Baron Karl von Drais, this had no pedals, no chains, but two wheels. It was propelled by pushing  your feet on ground. It was sometimes known as human horse. It was largely a form of entertainment for aristocratic families with their own estate. It never really caught on, but is important for giving idea of bicycle shaped objects.

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The Running Machine. Photo by Gun Powder Ma wikipedia

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The Velocipede – 1860s. In the early 1860s, two Frenchmen Pierre Michaux and Pierre Lallement put pedals on the front wheel and introduced the velocipede, which looks more like our modern bicycle. It had no chain and was very uncomfortable due to the wooden wheels. The velocipede helped the spread of the bicycle.

penny-farthing-classic

The Penny Farthing. A development of the Velocipede, this was faster due to the larger diameter of the front wheel. But, considered dangerous because of its height. Nevertheless Penny Farthings became quite popular and the first cycle races were on these high machines.

1890-Humber_Safety_Bicycle
1890 Humber Safety Bicycle

1885. The Safety Bike. It was around the 1880s, that the first safety bikes appeared. These are considered the first real bicycles. With their standard two triangle frames, pedals and chain, the basic design has remained unchanged. Starley’s 1885 Rover is considered the first real bicycle model.

When was the Pneumatic tyre

In 1846 Robert William Thomson  patented a pneumatic tyre. But, he was never able to make it a practical reality. In 1888, Scotsman John Dunlop invented the first practical pneumatic tyre, which created a much more enjoyable and comfortable ride. A year later, in 1889, the racing cyclist Willie Hume won 4 races using Dunlop’s tyres in 1889  The bicycle was ready for mass participation and the first puncture repair kit was invented pretty soon after.

Innovations for bicycles which later appeared in motor cars

  • Pneumatic Tyres
  • Precision ball bearings
  • Tension-spoked wheels
  • chain-drive,

Motor Engineers who started off producing bicycles

Henry Ford, Wright Brothers. Dunlop tyres, The Rover Cycle Company, Morris Motor Company.

Who were the first group to campaign for better roads?

Cyclists. In the US in the 1890s, it was cyclists who were prominent in the Good roads movement. A magazine Good Roads Magazine was founded in 1892 by cycling advocates. It reached a subscription of 1 million within 3 years. A year later (1893) after Good Roads magazine was founded, Charles Duryea produced the first American gasoline-powered vehicle, and within 20 years cars had replaced bicycles as the most popular users of American roads. But, those early motorists befitted from the campaigning by cycling groups.

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Everesting Beeley moor and more

Firstly, well done to Pee Jay for successfully ‘everesting‘ Beeley Moor over the weekend. I believe he was 3rd UK rider to complete this unique challenge.

If you want to see a decent interval session, have a look at his graphs for his ride on Strava

 

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Peter Johnson with Dave Brailsford who happened to be in the area.

  • 195 miles
  • 30,000 + Ft
  • 13 hours
  • If you want to donate to PeeJay’s charity

Other news

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Shopping baskets allowed. One for Dave Brailsford’s marginal gains.

I had a weekend off racing. I was marshalling at the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence ‘tri a  triathlon’ in Portishead.

Because I wasn’t racing, naturally enough it was a float day with pb’s set across the country.

One pb of particular note was Movistar Pro Alex Dowsett smashing the 10 Competition record taking a whopping 25 seconds off to reduce the 10 mile TT mark to 17.20. That’s an average speed of 34.5 mph or something suitably ridiculous. A great ride by a top pro.

 

Today I did seven * one minute intervals up Boars Hill.  That’s 7 minutes of training, but my mind was wandering to the idea of everesting something.

 

Buttertubs pass

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Buttertubs is a good testing climb from Hawes to Muker taking you between the two Yorkshire dales of Wensleydale and Swaledale. It is quite long and steep and affords great views on both the way up and down. The climb from Hawes to Buttertubs features in the first stage of the 2014 Tour de France, and is the highest point (526 metres) of the race during its sojourn in Yorkshire. It is #49 in 100 climbs (ranked 8/10) It also features in the popular Etape du Dales.

buttertubs On Buttertubs looking back towards Hawes.

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The real cost of cheap motoring

REAL-COSTS-OF-MOTORING

REAL-COSTS-OF-MOTORING

Other the past two decades, the real cost of motoring has fallen. Despite increases in petrol tax, motoring is getting cheaper – whilst other forms of transport, bus and train have been increasing faster than inflation. With the political popularity of freezing petrol tax, we are likely to see motoring continue to be relatively cheaper. But, although cheaper motoring seems attractive, the drawback is that it will contribute to a marked rise in congestion and very different costs to motorists and society.

Even a study by the RAC also shows that the real cost of motoring has fallen. – Even though you frequently hear about hard pressed motorists.

Cost of travel since 1988.

Screen Shot 2014-05-31 at 09.00.56

Spot the hard pressed motorist.

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The RAC state:

  • 28% cheaper to buy and run a car, excluding fuel costs, in 2008 than 1988. (RAC)
  • However, motorists do pay £45bn in fuel duty, VAT, new car tax and the road fund licence.

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Everesting in the UK

Here’s something that captures the imagination of cyclinguphill.com – the sport of ‘Everesting’.

photo Will cyclist - Tormalet
photo Will cyclist – Col du Tourmalet

‘Everesting’ involves choosing a hill and cycling up and down it enough times to gain enough vertical height gain to make a grand total of 8,848m.

8,848m is of course the total height of Mount Everest.

For example, if you fancied ‘Everesting’ Box Hill (130m height gain). You would have to go up and and 69 times in a day. Box hill climb is 2.5 km uphill and 2.5km downhill. Therefore each loop of 5km would mean a total ride of 345 km. But, obviously it would be no ordinary 345km ride.

There is even a website which records anyone who makes the first successful ‘Everesting.cc‘ of a particular climb.

The rules of Everesting

‘It does not matter how long the ride takes, but it must be ridden in one attempt (i.e. no sleeping in between).’

Basically it means cycling up a hill, do a u-turn at the top, go back down and then start the whole process again.

Wow, what a great way to spend a day!

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10 Annoying types of cyclists

We all know the bicycle is the best invention since stone age man first lit a fire and rolled a wheel down the hill to celebrate. But, those who ride a bicycle are not necessarily as super-cool as they might believe. Cyclists can just be as irritating and annoying as anyone else.

Irritating types of cyclists, could include:

  • Any cyclist with a better bike than you.
  • Any cyclist who has more bikes that you.
  • Any cyclist who overtakes you on a hill and says ‘jolly nice day’ pretending not to be even out of breath, when you know they are on the verge of collapsing when they get round corner.
  • Any cyclist who is faster than you.
  • Any cyclist who weighs less than you, despite eating more cake.
  • Any cyclist who pretends to never do any training, but still manages to do a 200Km sportive in sub 6 hours.
  • Anyone who starts an unofficial commuting race when you don’t want to get involved in such a petty unimportant thing.
  • Anyone who beats me in an unofficial commuting race.

But, this is a more detailed list.

1. The Winter Racer

It’s the middle of winter and most of your clubmates are happy to settle for some steady winter miles with the odd teashop thrown in. However, the winter racer will turn up on his £3,000 carbon fibre mike (sans mudguards of course) and insist on sprinting for every road sign or these days invisible strava segments. The funny thing about the winter racer is that when the real racing starts in the middle of summer, they tend to evaporate or fail to race very quickly. Winter racers for the times which don’t matter.

2. The Tester who bores everyone rigid.

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(Tester = time triallist). Time trialling can have a tendency to encourage a sort of obsessive behaviour. In particular, some testers will take any opportunity to regale you with their long history of their personal bests.

“…I set a 52:03 on the H25/8. Of course, if I’d had a 54 * 11 sprocket I’m sure I would have got a 51….”

In the old days you could settle for listening to pbs and perhaps the advantage of fixed wheel over gears, but these days we have power figures, and even CdA stats to throw in the equation. For every pb, there is now also a power pb. Not only will you hear all the times done, but also how much faster he could have gone, should power and optimal CdA be thrown into the equation.

3. The Urban Warrior

red-light-trackies

Maybe it is not fair to call these class of people cyclists – but they are certainly guilty of creating a bad image for all the other cyclists.. Urban warriors treat the road as an obstacle course. Red lights and one way signs are only part of the street furniture – something to be admired for their aesthetic beauty rather than being signals of when to stop. The urban warrior will charge along pavements and shout at anyone with the audacity to suggest he might have been in the wrong. The worst thing about the Urban Warrior is that every-time he gets on a bike, he spawns another 100 angry letters to the Daily Mail – ensuring cyclists are viewed with the same disdain usually reserved for slugs in a lettuce patch.

4. Mr Excuses

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It wasn’t fair, there was this big puddle

It was the headwind, sidewind, wrong bike, wrong choice of gears, too hilly, too early in the season, too late in the season, too hot, too cold, old war wound…. No matter what happens, Mr Excuses will always come up with a long list of excuses for why he didn’t do better / ride further. After listening to Mr Excuses, you really feel he could win the Tour de France, if only he wasn’t so cursed with bad luck and unfortunate mishaps. Of course, every racing cyclists is guilty of delving into the world of excuses.

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Castelli Nano waterproof overshoes

Castelli Nano waterproof overshoes are a lightweight aero / waterproof overshoe. I’ve been using for the past two years. I’ve just bought a second pair after the first one wore away (mostly due to crash damage)

At this time of the year, I nearly always wear these, even if it is a training ride. Although quite expensive for an overshoe, I’m a big fan of this. Buying a second pair is always a good sign.

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Features of the Castelli Nano overshoes are:

  • Easy to fit on shoe. I leave it on the end of the toes when taking shoes off and then just pull up ankles when putting shoes on.
  • Thin and lightweight to wear, you don’t really  notice them
  • It gives a reasonable protection from shower and spray. If it rains heavily, you feet will definitely get wet. But, then I’ve never come across an overshoe which can 100% keep your feet dry. It is useful for light showers or days when there is spray from the road. It does enough to keep the feet a bit drier and prevent wet feet for a little longer.
  • They give some warmth protection, especially in wet conditions, they help avoid the coldness from damp. They also help keep out the wind coming through cycling shoes built for hot conditions.
  • In mild conditions, it’s just a bit extra insulation, whilst remaining breathable and light – For days when a proper neoprene overshoe would be overkill, these can keep the edge off whilst it’s still cold in the morning.
  • They are easy to wipe clean and keep your shoes clean
  • They help improve aerodynamics, useful if your time trialling. If it is a big race, I will use the much more expensive Smart overshoes (£85) but for less important races, I use the Castelli Nano because they are cheaper and I can protect the £80 from overuse.
  • They are pretty sturdy for an overshoe. Over the years, I’ve tried many overshoes and find that they are prone to disintegrate pretty rapidly. I’ve tried wool based overshoes, but they tend to rip and shred quicker than this rubberised lycra. To say they get a lot of use, they have done well to last nearly two years. You can’t really expect thin overshoes to last any longer.
  • The zip is strong and sturdy – unlike many overshoe models

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