Product Review: Vittoria Pro Home Trainer Tire

We've featured this trainer tire once before on this site (in prep for last year's indoor riding season) but it's worth posting again. For under $40 you will think this is the best bike money you've ever spent - we certainly did.

To summarize last year's review, this tire made a HUGE difference to the quality of our indoor trainer ride. It is so much quieter and smoother than any other tire we've used, and it also does an excellent job of preventing slippage when you're moving from a tempo drill to some speed work.

Since we last posted a review we took apart our Tacx Fortius roller to clean it up and found all kinds of rubber debris build-up from previous tires that we used, and realized how much a conventional tire can wear and potentially cause problems for your roller and flywheel. In contrast, the Vittoria Pro Home Trainer tire shows almost no signs of wear and hasn't contributed in the least to any potential flywheel or roller problems. Trust us, these tires are money very well spent.

New for this year we just discovered that Vittoria is also making 26" mountain bike sized trainer tires. We don't have of the 26" tires in stock but we can certainly order them if you give us a shout.

Video: Winter Bike Racing

Time for a random bike video...with winter getting closer maybe it's time to get pumped up for some winter racing. It looks like Winnipeg isn't the only place on the planet to get some winter racing in...

Events: CX Provincials

Cyclocross Provincials is coming up this weekend:

Date: November 7, 2010

Location: Windsor Park Golf Course/King George Park

Times: (Remember that daylight savings goes into effect on this day):

Citizen race at noon 12 PM, 20 min + 2 laps
Kids U13 race at 12:45 PM, 10 min +2 laps (modified course)
U15, U17, all women, male 40+, male 50+ – 1:15 PM (35 min + 2 laps)
U23, Elite (24-29), male 30+ – 2:30 PM (45 min + 2 laps)

Registration: Registration opens at 11:00 AM and ends 30 minutes before your event. You must hold a UCI/CCA racing licence, MCA citizen licence or KOM licence. Registration forms will be available online and at registration. Please download the form and waiver, fill out and bring the completed form and waiver to the race.

Cost: $15 for U17 and above. Free for U15 and citizens holding a MCA citizen license. Cash and cheque only. Make cheques out to the Woodcock Cycle

Categories: The provincial championships are based on age. Because cyclocross is on next year’s calendar, the age category you race in is based on your age as of December 31, 2011. Additional categories may be added based on registration numbers.

For more info visit the race listing on the MCA site here.

Product Review: Chariot Ski Kit

Well it looks like we'll be able to enjoy at least another week of warm(er) weather but this time of year there's no telling when the snow will fly, so we figured we'd get you prepped with this quick video on how to install the Chariot Ski Kit. If you have a Chariot, or are in the market, and you also cross country ski this kit is the perfect solution to combine the two. We sometimes have the kit in stock, but we can always order it. Check it out.



Here's a very brief video to let you check it out in action.

Product Review: Mountain Hardwear touks

Mountain Hardware calls them 'touks'; we've also seem the word spelled toque, touque, tuque, etc. Whatever the spelling, we have a bit of a touk fetish so we're happy to be stocking this new-to-us brand of fine looking cool weather headgear. Plenty of styles to choose from, most for around $30. Check 'em out!

Bike Feature: Cannondale Bad Boy

Remember when the words "bad boy" were something negative? No, we don't either - honestly, the words bring a mischievous grin to our faces, as does the Cannondale Bad Boy.

This is kind of a subversive do anything bike that lets you slip into the coffee shop or a local alley cat race unnoticed - it lets you do the talking. But, it has a wide vocabulary: It's a zippy commuter that allows for fairly wide tires that also make it great for some cross country adventure.

The parts aren't particularly flashy, with some Alivo bits and lots of house brand pieces, but it's all well built and does the job very well. It feels sort of like a road racing bike that's been adapted for fast urban and trail riding - if that's the kind of thing you're after you owe it to yourself to take this out for a test spin. We got a few in on a late season sale so they're priced at just $720, down from the regular $850.

Product Review: Kinetic Road Machine trainer

We don't usually copy and paste the spec sheet from a product when making posts to this site, but lets face it, a stationary trainer is a technical piece of equipment (do you really care what colour it is?), so here are the spec's of one of our favourites, the Kinetic Road Machine - in stock now, just in time for this crappy weather:

-6.25 lb. flywheel for realistic coast-down
-PowerTap calibrated resistance unit
-Sealed fluid chamber with magnetically coupled driveshaft
-Thermodynamically neutral silicone resistance fluid -15-second coast-down from 20 mph
-Consistent resistance at multiple temperatures
-80 cooling fins to dissipate heat
-Lowest operating temperature of any fluid trainer
-Smooth, quiet resistance from 5-3,000+ watts
-Guaranteed not to leak
-2 1/8” roller reduces tire wear

News: Mountain Hardwear gear is here

Okay, first off we need to admit that we haven't really 'tested' any of the Mountain Hardwear gear that recently arrived in the shop so we can't write up an informed review just yet, but their line comes highly recommended and being able to see and feel it first hand we think it's going to live up to the billing.

We have a number of new men's and women's jackets in stock: Some our down filled for those really cold Winnipeg winter days, other are shells for when you're layering, and there's stuff in between. No matter what you're after come in to check the new stock out before the snow starts flying.

As we have opportunity we'll post reviews and share a little more detail on our favourite stuff.

Events: Grand Forks Cyclocross Races

Our friends to the South have forwarded us some info about upcoming cyclocross races in Grand Forks. One of the race dates conflicts with our Provincial Championships, but the others are worth a look:

UND Cycling is proud (and slightly shocked) to be putting on a 3-week series of cyclocross races in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The series will begin on Halloween, Sunday October 31st at 2 PM in Riverside Park. See attached fliers for more details.

Follow our websites for information about the rest of the series: www.und.edu/org/cycling OR undcycling.campusdakota.com.

Events: Cross Country Ski Swap Shop

Can it already be time for cross country skiing? Well, not quite yet but as hard as it is to imagine ski season is approaching quickly. In anticipation, the 29th annual Cross Country Ski Swap Shop will be held at the Windsor Park Nordic Centre, 10 Des Meurons Street on Saturday, Nov 20th.

Drop-off of items to sell is on Friday November 19th from 4:00 to 9:00 PM. CCSAM takes a 15% commission on all items sold. Photo ID must be shown when items are dropped off -- this is a City of Winnipeg licensing requirement.

The sale is on Saturday November 20th from 9:00 to 4:00 PM. The admission cost is $1 per person or $2 per family.

Volunteers are needed for set-up and take-down, security, sales, and cashiering. Please contact Karin in the CCSAM office at info@ccski.mb.ca or 925-5639 if you'd like to volunteer.

This is a great opportunity to buy or sell equipment, especially kids' gear which is always in demand. For more info, please see www.ccski.mb.ca/events_information.htm

Product Review: FRS Chews

If you're like us you're always looking for a good tasting, easily digestible, simply and conveniently packaged little energy boost that you can take with you on rides. Seems like a straight forward request, but it's not fulfilled as often as we'd like. Fortunately one product that definitely fits the bill is the FRS Healthy Energy Chew.

These chews taste great and go down easily, and the four backs that we have in stock are perfect for a pre or mid ride energy boost. They're just 40 calories each so you won't void all that calorie burning by taking a couple but they will help you push those pedals the rest of the way home. The packs also happen to fit very nicely inside a back jersey pocket - a simple but great feature.

A four pack of chews is just $2.50, and we have plenty in stock now.

Product Review: Gekko headlights

We've posted a bit of info about these once before but as the days continue to get shorter we figured it was worth mentioning them again.

Gekko headlights are an ingenious little invention: They have 3 simple LED lights that clearly identify you to motorists, pedestrians, and other cyclists on the road, and they can fit almost anywhere on almost any bike due to their unique design - they simply wrap around any bike tube, front fork, or handlebar.

They're not really meant to cast much light to allow you to see in the dark - we've got other lights for that purpose. But, if you do most of your riding/commuting in areas where you don't need help seeing as much as you need to help others see you these guys are just the trick, and they're a very reasonable $30 ea.

Bike Feature: Campy equipped Focus

Every now and then it's fun to post a bike that we all lust after, such as this Campy Super Record equipped Focus road bike. It's pretty much as nice as a road bike can get.

It was special-ordered in for a customer and was being built up when this pic was taken. A price wasn't available when the pic was snapped but that's probably a good thing - let's all just gaze at it and pretend like we can afford it.

NYF Jersey

We're trying to avoid making some kind of "do you want fries with that?" joke.

This fine jersey made by Sugoi is safer for your health than it looks because you won't actually be staring at the french fries while you wear it, but you'll probably cause the further downfall of all those unhealthy motorists who catch a glimpse as they pass by you on the road.

Joking aside, we remember when almost all cycling jerseys were boooring - pretty much a plain technical shirt in your choice of annoying solid colours. Wow, have things come a long way. Now we can embrace our not-so-inner dorkiness and wear random graphics while riding.

Actually, we think this is a pretty cool jersey, and we like that it has a slightly relaxed fit to compliment the relaxed look. There's nothing wrong with a racer cut, but sometimes it's nice to be a little more laid back.

This jersey and all others in stock are on sale right now! Check them all out before we pack most of the bike stuff up for the season and roll out the skiing clothes.