Beef with the Industry

I have been riding bikes for many years now. I started with a beginner bike and worked my way up through bikes and now have a quality bikes for multiple disciplines. I also bought cycling clothes early on. It was mostly cheaper kits.(I tend to head straight for the closeout racks) I have decided that it is time to upgrade my clothing.

This may be more of a question/rant then a worthy post but are quality cycling clothes really worth the money?

I was reading through this months issue of Bicycle Magazine. They did a 4-5 page gallery of the new kit lineups from many different companies. There was maybe one kit that squeaked under the $300 mark. Am I alone in thinking that's a ridiculous amount of money for shorts and a jersey? Are people really spending that much regularly for cycling clothes?

I am always hunting for a deal. I also buy a lot of leftover stock from my LBS. My most expensive bibs were $70 and I cringed buying those. Maybe I just need to ride once in a top quality kit. I guess its just easier for me to see the value of a good bike and components. The same thinking roles over to clothing as well but I'm not there yet! For now I will probably replace my lower end bibs with the new equivalent.

I want some feedback from you, what are a few brands that you feel are worth their price tags? I hope to hear back from you!

Is Trail Work as Fun as Riding?

I love riding my bike. I have always enjoyed parking at the trailhead, mounting up on the bike and riding off on the sweet singletrack. I never really thought about all the hard work that was involved with getting those sweet lines into the woods. I passed a crew working on the trails I was riding and stopped to tell them how good of a job they were doing. I chatted with the small crew for a few minutes then rode off. After that ride I started to feel a little guilty for not helping more. So I decided to jump in with both feet!

Fitbit Surge Review

I typically talk about cycling related things on this blog, but today I want to write about a new product I bought. Being as I am still active with the military in a state guard capacity the need to run is always lurking. I have a great love/hate relationship with all fitness activities besides cycling. I use a Garmin Edge for my cycling but didn't enjoy carrying the unit on a run. Of course I have to track my activities. I feed off information! The reasons stated above as well as a great curiosity with my sleeping habits lead me to research a fitness tracker.

I had been looking at getting a fitness tracker for quite a long time before pulling the trigger on the Fitbit Surge.(Purchased by me) When looking at other brands Fitbit stood out to me for many reasons. The design was very simple and felt sturdy. I am a mechanic by trade and I have never been able to wear a watch without messing it up. I will cover this a little later. I researched the app and liked what I saw. I had set out to buy the ChargeHR but went with the Surge in the end. I really wanted the GPS.

The first day wearing the watch I almost took it back. I am not a watch or anything on my wrist kind of guy. I wore a RoadID for a while but even that had to go. Now I just put it on before a road ride. I stuck in there and kept wearing it. I believe it has been 3 weeks and it has become as necessary as underwear. The only time I take it off is to shower and that's when I charge the watch. That leads me right into battery life. I have had no problems with the battery life yet, I do charge a little most days and either run, bike, hike, or some sort of activity everyday. Got the battery halfway down one time on a road ride using GPS. I hadn't charged it the day prior and my ride was after a long day chasing my kids. The Surge was busy that day! I really like all the information that is at my fingertips during a run or hike or bike ride. Its also nice that it syncs right away with Bluetooth on my phone and PC. I was worried about the HR being off but I have tested alongside my Garmin with the strap and they are usually within 1 beat of each other.