Cycling Gear Reviews

Hincapie Alp Gloves

Today I headed out with my new Hincapie Alp gloves and poly liners. I used them a couple of weeks ago in a small blizzard, and they did great! My old gloves, Bellwether’s, worked well when I first got them, but after a few years they’ve lost their ability to keep out the cold.

When I left the house in the morning it was 30F. I pulled on the poly liners and the gloves, headed out, and didn’t think of my hands again! That’s pretty unusual for me as typically, after an hour or so, my hands are freezing and my finger tips start to hurt.

The poly liner gloves are fairly thin, you'd think they'd have little effect, but they really do help raise your hand temperature a few degrees.

I really needed the Alp gloves a few weeks ago, when I was doing 3 hr rides at night in sub-freezing temperatures. With my old gloves I’d start feeling cold after an hour, after 2 hours it would start being painful, after the 3 rd hour I’d be tucking my hands under my arms, rubbing them together, doing what ever I could think of to ward off frostbite.

The Hincapie Alp gloves are light and thin. They have a clip to keep them together, a detail but a useful one.

Quite a pleasure to ride in freezing temps and not worry about my hands going numb.

The construction of the Alp gloves is superb, they are fairly thin but by no means delicate. The detail in the gloves is characteristic of Hincapie apparel, attention to detail. The small grip pads on the palm and fingers of the glove are the Hincapie logo.

The best thing about these gloves is that they work. I haven’t taken them out when it’s been in the 20s, but I plan to! The second best thing is that being thin, you remain dexterous enough that you can fit your hand in your jersey pocket and pull out a gel or bar, you can even operate a camera.

I give the Hincapie Alp gloves a big thumbs up! If you ride in very cold temperatures (much below 30F) they might not be sufficient, even with the poly liner gloves. For those conditions you might try the Hincapie Black Ice, which are a lot beefier.

Have you found a pair of gloves that works for you?

Cycling Gear Reviews, New Cycling Gear

Bontrager RXL Cycling Shoes

Photo of Bontrager RXL cycling shoes
Bontrager RXL Cycling Shoes perform admirably!

The Bontrager RXL shoes arrived in a classy, understated box. I tried them on and they fit nicely, a little more roomy around the wide part of the foot than I’m used to, but better than many makes that tend to be tight around there. The shoes are crisp white, with a carbon sole, and gold accents. They look very cool. One thing stood out, they are extremely light. So light that I almost threw them out with the box! No kidding.

I took them for a few short spins to make sure they fit well, that the cleats were well adjusted, and that they wouldn’t start hurting after 20 miles. They felt great, so great in fact, that I forgot that I was wearing them.

Then I headed in to the mountains for a 60 mile out and back from Marion to the top of Mt Mitchell and back. Almost the whole outbound leg is uphill, the return is a descender’s dream, and a thrill. I was prepared for a little bit of discomfort, especially given the fact that I would be climbing for over 2 hrs, but there was none. I completely forgot about monitoring the state of my feet and the performance of the shoe, instead I was captivated by the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway and the views down on to the foothills below. And, it must be said, I was well engrossed in the suffering inherent in a sustained climb of 25 miles.

The Bontrager RXL shoe performed admirably. It was comfortable, stiff, secure and airy, allowing a liberal amounts of air to flow through and keep my feet cool. They felt good on the climbs when I was seated, and they felt firm and secure under out of the saddle accelerations and sprints. The shoes close snug where it counts, but leave ample room around the box area so your foot never feels cramped. With custom e-sole foot beds, you can get them to fit even better.

On the downside, these shoes look great new, but after a bit of real world immersion, they can start to look grubby. Clean them regularly and use your old ones when it rains, and the these brilliant white head-turners will last a lot longer.

On the whole, the Bontrager RXL shoes are right up there with the best.

New Cycling Gear, News

iBike Dash

iBike Newton

Update 09/19/2014: The iBike Dash has been superseded by the iBike Newton.

iBike introduces the new iBike Dash. By mounting your existing iPhone or iTouch in iBike’s Phone Booth, you can get all your cycling data, including power, on your mobile device. Pretty sweet!

Transform your iPhone or iPod Touch into the ultimate cycling computer utilizing the full computer functionality of you iPhone or iPod Touch to deliver a truly amazing cycling dashboard at your fingertips – a virtual co-pilot, navigator, and black box all in one.

Look out for a review of the iBike iPro coming soon.

Read more about the iBike Dash on iBike.com

Cycling Gear Reviews

Gary Fisher Cronus Ultimate

Gary Fisher is renowned for mountain bikes, and in fact is the inventor of the mountain bike, but it’s clear that the Fisher expertise extends to road bikes too.

The Gary Fisher Cronus Ultimate
The Gary Fisher Cronus Ultimate is a looker!

The 2010 Gary Fisher Cronus Ultimate is a feather light, rock solid road racing machine. The Cronus Ultimate is a full carbon bike with oversized tubes and a unique and stylish graphical flair.

The Specs

Bontrager RXL front wheel wide flange.
Bontrager RXL’s wide flange spacing.
  • Carbon frame and fork
  • FCC front end
  • Bontrager handlebars, stem, seat post and saddle
  • Bontrager RXL wheels

The Ride

The Gary Fisher Cronus
Gary Fisher Cronus

On the road the bike is a pleasure to ride, it’s very responsive, and behaves with discipline. Through  corners the bike holds a line beautifully, giving you confidence and urging you to push it further. Much of this can probably be attributed to the Fisher FCC (Fisher Control Column), which is basically amounts to a solid and stable front end, thanks to the large head tube, wide fork, and wide flange/hub on the Bontrager RXL front wheel. The bike feels equally at home climbing, cornering and sprinting.

The Bad

One thing that we did not like was the saddle. We found the Bontrager RXL saddle uncomfortable as it did not offer good support for the sit bones, resulting in much of the weight of the rider being borne by the tender regions of the the undercarriage. This may or not bother others. And the saddle is a minor flaw in an otherwise superb ride. Racers who adopt an aggressive position may find the Cronus’s head tube a little too big for their liking, limiting their ability to drop the handlebars somewhat, but for most racers and riders this should not be a problem. The FCC system while creating a rigid front end, also means it can be a little harsh. In a crit with a cobblestone pedestrian crossing on a turn, the shuddering front end was a little scary. This was an extreme case though, and any bike would have had problems, though the FCC system might exacerbate such extreme situations. In general the bike handles with precision and grace.

Summary

Overall, we really like the Cronus. It’s an incredibly good all round ride. The price tag for an Ultegra equipped Cronus in particular is very reasonable.

Looks: 5
Handling: 5
Comfort: 4
Price: 4

Resources: FisherBikes.com