We have to start this week’s WiR by congratulating not just Vicenzo Nibali, but Peter Sagan (for the green jersey), Rafal Majka (for the polka-dot jersey) and Thibaut Pinot (in white). We also want to offer special congratulations to Jens Voigt for not only finishing his 17th Tour, but for doing so in style – by launching an attack on the Champs-Élysées. It was a crazy tour. And while it will probably be remembered most for the crashes, it should be remembered for the amazing racing. After all, the podium positions came down to the individual time trial on the second-to-last day!
Unfortunately for the AeroGeeks team, it would seem that the bad luck that plagued the tour has also hit our HQ. Our Technical Editor has a broken wrist, our Multisport Editor is out two weeks with a strain, and our Chief Editor got a nasty virus. Not a way any of us had wanted to spend this last week. But the good news is that with the Chief recuperated, you can expect to see lots of great reviews and news this week!
For those visiting for the first time—welcome! One of our favorite ways to showcase our readers is our Readers’ Rides album on Facebook. You can check it out athttp://on.fb.me/12jEqE3. If you would like to have your bike featured in our album just tweet us at @AeroGeeks, Facebook message us, or email us at info@AeroGeeks.com.
This Week’s Posts
Wednesday –Oakley Radarlock XL – Final Thoughts
Crowd Funding
There were two great crowd sourced projects we wanted to touch on this week. First up is BackTracker. We first looked at the BackTracker in our last WiR. And last week Ray at DCRainMaker got a chance to play with a prototype BackTracker and came away impressed (and anyone who reads his site knows that impressing him isn’t always easy). If you get a chance, head over to his review and see for yourself.
Another great concept is Project X. Anyone who got a chance to check out La Course saw some great women’s cycling. And Project X is about funding Specialized-lululemon, owned and managed by Velocio Sports. This is the team that at one time included Kristen Armstrong (one of our favorite athletes of all time!). Ever wanted to be a team owner? Now is your chance! But even more than that, this is an opportunity to directly help bring women’s cycling out of the shadows of the men’s events.
AeroHair
A few weeks ago we shared Specialized’s research on the delicate topic of shaving. Well this week they touched on a question that is overlooked all too often – ponytail, bun, or braid? Tracy, our technical editor has often wondered what hair style would be best for race day. And thanks to Specialized’s Wind Tunnel, we have our answer.
Mail Room
The mail room has been busy these past few weeks and we finally caught up with all of our photo shoots on Friday. We already told you that Catalyst and BMC had sent some of their latest for us to check out, and here are our first shots of what arrived.
This past week we also received big boxes from Silca and XLAB. Silca sent us their extenders, disc wheel adapter and EOLO CO2 chuck. We will dive into the reviews soon, but we did want to highlight the extenders. While we haven’t ridden them yet (don’t worry, that is coming) we did get them mounted, and they fit like a glove – tight and seemingly rattle free. We can see why Flo is including them with any Flo 60s purchased in the first hour of this week’s preorder.
XLAB sent us three of their new inflators as well as a Stealth Pocket 400 and their Tri Tool Kit. Their Tire Mate offers a very interesting option for training rides – allowing you to use either CO2 or to hand pump a tire in a worst case scenario. The new Stealth Pocket 400 is designed specifically for bikes like our Quintana Roo CD0.1 with top-mounted cable ports and can hold up to six gels.
Finally BIA sent us their multisport watched that has some truly revolutionary features. The watch is actually two pieces, which allows it to be ultra-light on your wrist. BIA also includes functionality that no other watch on the market offers—the ability to send out a real-time SOS signal in an emergency. We have barely scratched the surface with the BIA but stay tuned for our thoughts.
