De Soto Clothing Company – Cycling Jersey and Bibs...
Local San Diego clothing company that does it right! DE SOTO SPORT was founded in 1990 by two San Diego triathletes Emilio De Soto and Dan Neyenhuis. With their combined 30 years of triathlon experience, they created many of the original concepts that are the basis for many clothing designs used in the industry today. From the transition pack, to the trisuit, tri shorts made with thin cycling pads, tri jerseys with zippers, running shorts with pockets, even the mesh running cap, all were developed first by De Soto. And, what’s even better is that 95%+ of De Soto products are made here in the USA. The De Soto product line is now comprised of approximately 75 different clothing items all designed with original and unique features including innovative fit, functionality, fabric, colors, and manufacturing technology. These include both mens and womens tri suits, tri bibs, tri shorts, tri jerseys, cycling bibs, shorts, jerseys, running apparel, compression wear, warmers, hats, socks, vests, fleece wear, and more. “De Soto goes out of their way to ensure their apparel uses only...
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The All-New Shimano SH-R321 Road Shoe
THE STORY OF THE 3 BEARS: Introducing the all-new 2015 Shimano SH-R321. So what makes this shoe better than the SH-R320? Don’t get me wrong, the SH-R320 is a fantastic shoe and was the best shoe that Shimano had designed and (essentially all) hand- built. Now, to answer the question “what makes this shoe better”, we need to go all the way back to the SH-R315. After many interviews with Pro Peloton riders, their feedback reminded me of the story of the 3 Bears … “The SH-R315 was TOO stiff, the SH-R320 was TOO flexible, the SH-R321 is JUST RIGHT. Since Shimano has always targeted the Pro-Tour riders for their high-end 3xx shoes, continuous rider feedback is required in order to make a better and better product. My experience with the SH-R315 was that even though it was a heat moldable shoe, it was designed without any extra room built in. After going through the Custom-Fit process, the 315’s were way too tight for me. Heating them back up really didn’t relax them that much. I am guessing...
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Female Cyclists ‘In’s and Out’s’...
Or, What’s the Best Saddle-type for a Female Cyclist? Reprinted from Cobbcycling.com The quest for a comfortable bike seat has probably been going on since the second day the bicycle was invented. It is the search for the Holy Grail, the quest for the answers to the Universe, the only thing stopping World Peace, it is on every person’s mind that straddles a bicycle. How can something as enjoyable as riding a bicycle, bring so much discomfort and still be overlooked or just accepted as being okay for that situation. For men, there seems to be a tendency to just “suck it up”, more miles will make it better and to just ride through the pain. Men have certain body parts that require different types of arranging to find comfort without getting crushed, women have a completely different set of issues. For women, the concept of suffering through it, is not that pleasurable, the thought of hours in the saddle has kept many women away from the sport. As a saddle manufacturer, we get many e-mails and phone calls...
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In case you were wondering … Gear Numbers
This can be viewed as a TECH NOTE for the cycle computer manufacturers as well as the GPS manufacturers. Last week I was testing several different GPS head units and cycle computers that ‘talk to’ Di2. But, after comparing the data, I noticed that something just wasn’t right. But let me take a step back. The Shimano D-fly wireless transmitter sends several pieces of data to ANT+ devices. These data of importance being Di2 battery level and gear position (front gear number, rear gear number). Its up to the cycle computer/GPS to take this data and display it in a value added format such as a graphical representation of what gears you are currently in and by recording time stamps, can tell the cyclist what % of the ride he/she was in what gear. So what’s the issue? After entering (a) Cassette Model 9/10/11, (b) Cassette type (11-23, 11-25, 11-28, etc.), and (c) Crankset Type (50-34, 53-39, etc.) into your cycle computer/GPS, it has enough information to display all kinds of data for you. And that’s the issue. In this example,...
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2014 Products of the Year
For the 2014 Product of the Year Awards, I have added the categories of HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, CLOTHING and HONORABLE MENTION. This was actually pretty tough to put together since every product I have tested has been top-notch from every manufacturer. Not a dud in the group. Every product I tested lived up to its manufacturers spec-sheet and every product performed extremely well and met/exceeded its intended purpose. For 2014, each manufacturer put a lot of quality back into their products and every manufacturer I have spoken with has up front and honest when answering any and all of my questions. Therefore, this made it extremely difficult to pick the best of the best. What I decided to do is create a THEME for 2014 … ELECTRONICS. Since Di2 has been out for awhile, I looked at what’s next. I decided to look at the ‘accessories’ built to support Di2. So here goes; HARDWARE – In keeping with the 2014 theme, I chose the Shimano d-fly SM-EWWO1 wireless transmitter. This small transmitter adds a whole new dimension to Di2 by transmitting Di2 data such as % battery remaining, current gear...
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Cyckit’s Aeroclam Hard Shelled Saddle Bag
INTRODUCTION CYCKIT Ltd, located in New Zealand, specializes in designing and producing integrated bicycling storage products which are targeted primarily for higher end users in the road bike market. Cyckit’s initial goal was to create a highly effective saddle bag without using Velcro and zippers which are two issues I have had with cloth saddle bags. The cloth tends to fray, the Velcro wears out causing the bag to either hang down or fall off completely and zippers get stuck the first time they get dirty, which is the worst thing that can happen as it prevents you from getting to your spare tube and C02. Cyckit’s founder, Pat Reardon, looked at the problems with current saddle bags and decided that there had to be a better way. After interviewing 125 road cyclists, common problems, issues and enhancement requests became evident. These being that the bag had to be completely secured under the saddle, seamless integration to the saddle (i.e., more aerodynamic), easy access to the contents, must fit most saddles and free of contact with the cyclist while...
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