RSS

Author Archives: All Seasons Cyclist

About All Seasons Cyclist

Providing real world product reviews for avid cyclists. I live between Chicago and Milwaukee and enjoy cycling twelve months a year. With the proper clothing there is seldom a reason to ever miss a day on the bike!

Serfas Speed Stem Bag (Product Review and Giveaway)

01 Apr

On the back of nearly every cycling jersey you will find three pockets and they are usually sufficient to carry a few carbohydrate gels and your cell phone. However, on longer rides you are going need more room to store extra gels, bars and drink mixes (unless you are one of those folks who stops at every convenience store they pass). My favorite way to add a little carrying space on my bike is with a top tube bag. Most of these bags attach to the bike with a couple of Velcro straps—one strap goes around the top tube and the other around the stem tube. I own several different styles of top tube bags and recently the folks at Serfas sent me a Serfas Speed Stem Bag to review and it quickly became one of my favorites!

Serfas Speed Stem Bag

The Serfas Speed Stem Bag is made of 100% polyester and only weighs 4.2 ounces (119 grams). The medium-sized bag (the one in the photo above) measures 8.75″X3.5″X2″ and has 61 cubic inches of storage space—enough space to hold a dozen packages of carbohydrate gels. If you don’t need this bag to carry your carbohydrate gels or bars, you could always use it to keep cell phone close at hand. The inside of this bag is lined with a soft Microfiber fabric and the top of the bag (the lid) is made of mesh so you can see inside the bag as you are riding. However, if you are going to be riding on a rainy day I would strongly suggest you keep your phone in a Ziplok bag to keep it dry.

Serfas Speed Stem Bag with Mesh Top

The most unique feature of this bag is the way it closes. This bag has a magnetic strip along the top and when you flip the lid to the closed position it automatically catches and seals itself shut—you could do it blindfolded! I’ve not had any trouble with this bag accidentally opening, but I would not recommend it to those of you who enjoy jumping your bike off of the roof of your house—I don’t imagine the magnetic strip could handle a jolt like that.

3M Scotchlite Reflective Material On The Sides

On the sides and back of this bag is a strip of 3M Scotchlite Reflective Material. When the headlights from a car hit this reflective material it bounces the light back and makes you extremely visible. I ride a lot in low-light situations and wish that all of my gear had a piece of reflective material like this!

The medium-sized Serfas Speed Stem Bag retails for $33 and is available from the Serfas Website, as well as most bike shops and Amazon.com. They also have a smaller bag (6.25″X3.5″X2″) with 42 cubic inches of space at it retails for $30. Both sizes of this bag are available in three different colors (Red, Black, or Grey). The only drawback of top tube bags is that it is possible they could get in the way when you stop if you have an extremely short-frame bike (I had no trouble at all).

The folks at Serfas gave this bag to me for review and I told them I would be having a contest to give it away when the review was finished. I now truly regret telling them that because I really like this bag. So, I am keeping the one they sent me, but I purchased (at full retail price) another one so I give it away to one of my readers.

If you would like a chance to win a brand-new medium-sized Serfas Speed Stem Bag then leave a comment below telling me why you need this bag. The contest ends at midnight (CST) on Friday, April 5, 2013. After the contest closes I will read through the comments and choose a winner based solely on my incredibly subjective mood at the time—however, humor in your entry is highly encouraged (just keep it clean). The last time I ran a contest like this several readers “donated” their entry to other contestants (something I had not planned on). So, if you don’t need this bag yourself you are free to comment on other entries. So I can remain impartial until the contest is over I will not be responding the comments. This contest is for U.S. residents only and only one entry per household allowed. I will send this product to the winner via U.S. Mail at my expense. Good luck!

30 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on April 1, 2013 in Bicycle Bags & Panniers, Product Reviews

Tags: bag, bicycle, bike, contest, cycling

Favorite Embrocation Cream: DZ Nuts InHeat

29 Mar

DZ Nuts InHeat

According to the calendar the first day of spring arrived last week—but it is hard to tell because of all the snow and ice on the ground where I live. On cool mornings cyclists in my area of the country have to decide whether to put on knickers, leg warmers or knee warmers for our morning rides. A few years ago I started applying DZ Nuts InHeat Low Heat Embrocation Cream to my legs before riding in cool weather and have been very happy with the results.

If you are not familiar with embrocation creams here is the Reader’s Digest version: they are creams that contain vasodilators and when rubbed onto your body they warm up the skin and underlying muscles. These creams also create a weather-proof barrier that protects your skin from the elements, like rain and sleet. The DZ-Nuts Website says their cream was “developed and tested on the European roads by Garmin Transitions and Columbia HTC professional cycling teams to be an essential training and racing tool.” For many male cyclists embrocation creams are the main reason we shave our legs. Warning: Never shave your legs on the same day you use an embrocation cream!

If you have never used an embrocation cream before you are probably wondering how this product works. About 15 minutes before you go out for a ride on brisk day you massage this cream into the exposed areas of your legs. It will take several minutes for you to feel the cream working, but once it does you will feel the warmth and be able to ride for several hours in cool weather without having your legs cramp up from the cold.

When your ride is finished you will be pleasantry surprised that the cream did not pick up road grime as you might have expected. I’ve used this cream on long off-road rides on dusty trails and haven’t had much dust stick to my legs.

It has been my experience that the greatest amount of heat is felt once your ride is finished. While you are riding in cool weather you don’t really feel the cream working, but then again, you aren’t feeling the cool air on your legs either. Once you put your bike up and go inside you can feel your legs getting warmer and this will keep your muscles from getting tight after a ride. The DZ Nuts InHeat Embrocation Cream washes off easily with just soap and water, but you can still feel it a bit even after you are out of the shower. My advice: When you get into the shower try to wash off the cream with soap and cool water—hot water opens up the pores of your skin and makes this cream heat up again.

Second Warning: Make sure you put this cream on your legs after you put your cycling shorts on! If you put the cream on your legs first and then pull your cycling shorts up some of the cream will stick to your chamois. This cream has capsicum in it (think red-hot chili peppers and police pepper spray). If the capsicum comes in contact with your nether regions you are going to experience a level of pain that the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay never even dreamed about (I speak from experience—and a very painful one at that).

DZ Nuts InHeat Embrocation Cream comes in three strengths (low, medium and high). The low heat cream is good for rides down to around 50 degrees (Fahrenheit). I’ve not used the other creams because when temperature gets down in the 40′s I really prefer tights. A six-ounce tube of DZ Nuts InHeat retails for around $22 and you should be able to get 15 or 20 rides out of a single tube.

In case you were wondering, the “DZ” in DZNuts is for cycling legend David Zabriskie.

20 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on March 29, 2013 in Cycling In The Rain, Product Reviews, Spring And Fall Cycling

Tags: bicycle, bike, cycling, sports, triathlete, triathlon

Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey

25 Mar

I own more pieces of Pearl Izumi cycling gear than any other brand because they consistently offer high quality clothing that shows evidence of meticulous attention to detail. Between shorts, tights, jackets, jerseys, vests, gloves and base layers I probably own 60 to 70 pieces of their gear. A lot of their clothing carries a small tag to tell you when the clothing was manufactured. When you look at almost any piece of their clothing you can see small changes that take place from year to year—and always for the better. One of the finest pieces of cycling wear I have ever purchased is the Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey—and if spend a lot of time cycling in cool weather this thermal jersey will make your rides a lot more enjoyable (and you’ll look better too).

Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey

The Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey is made from a fabric composed of 63% polyester, 27% Minerale polyester, and 10% elastane. I don’t know exactly how they form the polyester into this thermal fabric, but it is extremely comfortable, highly breathable and incredibly warm—and yet it is very lightweight. This jersey also dries quickly after washing and is odor resistant.

Full-length zipper with draft flap

This jersey has a full-length front zipper with an internal draft flap with a zipper garage to seal in the heat. There is a drawstring around the neck that adjusts in the back—you can open it up a bit if you start to overheat.

Zippered front pocket with reflective piping

The front pocket on this jersey is large enough to easily hold an iPhone or other cell phone, and there is an opening in the back of the pocket that allows you to pass a headphone cable through. Around the zipper is a piece of highly reflective material (and this jersey has several other pieces of reflective piping as well).

Three rear pockets plus a zippered sweat-proof pocket

On the back of this jersey you will find three full-length pockets along with a small sweat-proof zippered pocket. In addition, there is a piece of elasticized gripper material on back of the jersey to keep the hem in place. You will also notice that the back of this jersey is cut longer than the front to keep your backside warm (and to keep you from offending anyone riding behind you). The Pearl Izumi Website says the recommended temperature range for this jersey is between 45˚F and 55˚F and I think these numbers are correct. You could also use it in slightly cooler weather if you wear a thin thermal base layer under it.

The Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey is not cheap! The men’s version retails for $160 and is available in three colors (Red, Black, and White). The women’s version is $10 cheaper and comes in four colors (Red, Black, White, and Hi-Vis Yellow). Prices for this jersey on Amazon.com range from $110 to $150. If you just can’t justify spending that much money on a thermal jersey you might want to consider the Pearl Izumi Select Thermal Jersey—it is missing a few of the nice finishing touches the P.R.O. jersey has, but will certainly keep you warm (and save you about $50).

18 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on March 25, 2013 in Bicycle Clothing, Product Reviews, Spring And Fall Cycling, Winter Cycling

Tags: bicycle, bike, cycling, jersey, winter

Nair Shower Power For Men (II)

21 Mar

Nair Shower Power For Men

I wrote this article two years ago, but since spring is finally here I thought it was worth reprinting since a lot of guys will be doing some manscaping real soon…

Sorry ladies, but this product review is not for you. There is nothing in this post that would be of the least bit of interest to you. Please do yourself a favor and skip this post and come back next week.

OK guys, now that the ladies are out of the room, let me tell you how lucky we are. Guys often joke about the reason their wife or girlfriend is in a bad mood. I have decided that female mood swings have nothing to do with hormones—they are just ticked off by the fact they have to shave their legs!

I’ve been cycling for ten years and had never thought about shaving my legs until this year. There are many reasons cyclists shave their legs, such as making your legs easier to massage, easier clean-up when you crash, and sometimes just to make your muscles pop. I decided to shave my legs so I could use embrocation creams when I ride in the rain or in cold weather (I like the DZ Nuts InHeat Embrocation Cream).

My legs are about as hairy as Bigfoot, so I trimmed them with a body groomer first. The very thought of shaving my legs with a razor conjured up images of the bloody shower scene in Scarface. So, I decided to skip the razor and take the easy route with Nair Shower Power For Men. This is a chemical product (like lye) that you apply to your legs, wait a few minutes, and then wash off the chemicals (and your leg hair) in the shower. The directions are easy to follow and if you follow them correctly most of your leg hair will be gone. However, along with the hair you are also going to lose a layer of skin and have chemical burns that make you look like you’ve worked in a damaged Japanese nuclear reactor. In addition, the next day you will probably have red bumps all over your legs due to ingrown hairs.

A 5.1 ounce tube of Nair Shower Power For Men sells for around $10 and is good for about two applications. I’ve used this product twice and will not be trying it again.

After talking with other cyclists I decided to try another product, Nair For Men Body Cream. This product is about half the price of Nair Shower Power For Men and is a bit easier on your skin, but still nothing I would recommend—too many ingrown hairs.

Finally, I decided to just shave my legs with a disposable razor. However, since I did not want ingrown hairs I shaved them with a Bump Fighter Razor, a product usually used by African-American men to prevent ingrown facial hairs. This product worked like a charm! The Bump Fighter Razor is not sold everywhere—I found mine at a local CVS Drugstore and then ordered the refills from Amazon.com. In addition to being a great razor the Bump Fighter Razor is a lot cheaper than Gillette Mach 3 razors and gives a better shave and I haven’t had an ingrown hair since I started using them.

35 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on March 21, 2013 in Health And Hygiene, Product Reviews

Tags: bicycle, bike, cycling, health, hygiene, triathlete, triathlon

What Is In Your Vitamin Supplements?

18 Mar

It is with great fear and trembling that I approach today’s subject, i.e., vitamin supplements. It seems like every time I mention vitamin supplements I make someone upset—so here is the deal: If you think vitamin and nutritional supplements are a waste of time and money then please stop reading this article and come back in a few days when I have another product review. However, if you do take supplements then this article will probably be of interest to you. In an ideal world we would be able to get all of our needed vitamins and minerals through a normal, healthy diet. Sadly, I’ve never met anyone who has been to that ideal world, so, like many of you, I take a handful of supplements every day.

What Is In Your Vitamin Supplements?

The problem many of us have with taking supplements is finding a place where we can read current, accurate information about the quality, dosage, and side effects of the vitamins we take. For the past several years I have subscribed to ConsumerLab.com, an “impartial and independent third-party evaluator of health and nutrition products.” To put it simply, ConsumerLab.com tests many different brands of supplements and then makes a report about how each brand stacks up. It is amazing to me how many times a company will sell of bottle of vitamins that claims, for example, to have 100 mg of vitamin C in each tablet, but after testing it is revealed that each that it only has 60 mg. of vitamin C per tablet. ConsumerLab.com recently reviewed nearly fifty different brands of Coenzyme Q-10 (CoQ-10) and they found one brand that only had 3.8% of the amount of CoQ-10 that was listed on the label! However, under-reporting the active ingredients is only half of the story—many supplements also contain contaminates! Do you really want to take a vitamin supplement that has lead in it?

In addition to rating the contents of the supplements, ConsumerLab.com also does a price comparison for all the brands they review. One of the biggest things I’ve learned from reading their reviews is that the price of a supplement has almost no correlation to the quality. Sometimes the most expensive brand of a certain vitamin will fail their tests, but one of the cheapest brands will pass with flying colors. Before they give you the test results for any vitamin or supplement they reviewed, ConsumerLab.com will also tell you what the vitamin is supposed to do and how they evaluated to product.

The membership fee to join ConsumerLab.com is $33 a year and this gives you access to all of their reviews (and there are a lot of them). I realize that many people will think $33 for an online subscription is pretty expensive, but that price is nothing compared to what some people spend on vitamins that are mislabeled, missing key ingredients or contain hazardous additives. As regular readers know, there are very few products that I have ever placed in the “highly recommended” category, but a subscription to ConsumerLab.com is definitely one of them.

43 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on March 18, 2013 in Product Reviews, Sports Nutrition

Tags: bicycle, bike, cycling, fitness, nutrition, sports, vitamins

Walz Cycling Cap Contest Winner

17 Mar

This past Monday we held contest to give away a beautiful Walz Cycling Cap to some lucky reader. The rules for this contest were different from any we’ve had before—to win the cap readers had to leave a comment telling me why they needed this cap. The contest ended at midnight on Friday, March 15, 2013.

Contest Winner Jim from Fit Recovery

After reviewing the nearly fifty comments that were left I have selected Jim as the winner (his comment was left under the name of bgddyjim). Jim lives in Michigan and runs the Fit Recovery blog. I always try to post a photo our contest winners—the photo above was taken by Jim’s wife after he completed the Dawn Farm Ride for Recovery 100k last April. If you haven’t read Jim’s winning entry yet, I’ll post it here for your enjoyment:

“My need for that cycling cap began a bit more than 42 years ago when I was born to the son and daughter of immigrants, parents who eventually sat me on the toilet sideways, by the way (!). You see, I was born with an amazing head of hair. When cut and well maintained, said hair is glorious, wavy and beautiful. Having this beautiful head of hair is however, also A CURSE! You see, and you might want to grab a box of tissues at this point, my amazingly glorious hair is more water repellant than a duck’s ass. When I ride my road bike sweat drips mercilessly into my eyes! To make this horror story complete, my local bike shop only carries cheap cotton cycling caps with the World Champion rainbow on them! Please give me a moment to compose myself, my tears are threatening to short-circuit my keyboard… OK, I’m back… In any event, if I were to win just this simple cycling cap and it worked to save my eyes while blistering about Michigan’s (your own HOME STATE, btw) roads, I might be able too, with YOUR HELP – for the first time in my short cycling career, get over my phobia of society putting a stigma on me if I buy a product online rather than exclusively from my LBS which is amplified by the fact that my grandparents were immigrants and my mom sat me on the toilet sideways! Think of the service you would be providing the good old US of A! You (and Walz) could be that guy! (Sniffle, sniff).”

Poor Jim! My heart was heavy and my eyes were misty as I read his tragic story. I wasn’t the only one who thought Jim should win the cap—several other bloggers even pleaded his case for him (something I had not anticipated when I announced the contest). However, I do need to make one correction in Jim’s entry: Michigan is not my home state—I am a refugee from Indiana, a place where I lived until I was 18 years of age (I would have left before then, but I didn’t know we were free to leave).

13 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on March 17, 2013 in Life On Two Wheels

Tags: bicycle, bike, cap, contest, cycling, fashion, style

Andy Pruitt’s Complete Medical Guide For Cyclists

15 Mar

Complete Medical Guide For Cyclists

I live in the far-north suburbs of Chicago and some of the greatest medical schools in the nation are located just a short drive from my house. I’ve been able to a lot of spend time with several young medical students and I have to tell you they are the brightest people I’ve ever met in my life! However, as brilliant as these med students are, they are never going to learn everything about medicine (and they will all quickly tell you that). Even physicians who have practiced for many years will sometimes have trouble diagnosing conditions they are not familiar with. Unless your physician specializes in sports medicine they are probably ill-equipped to deal with some of the routine problems cyclists encounter. The one book that has helped me more than anything else with medical and physical problems related to cycling is Andy Pruitt’s Complete Medical Guide For Cyclists.

While the title of the books says “complete medical guide” it really deals more with “physical therapy” than with medicine, but that is fine with me—diagnosing medical problems from just reading a book a few entries on WebMD can be rather dangerous.

The first four chapters of this book deal with how to properly fit your bike by adjusting saddle position, handlebar position and cleats (or pedals). In my opinion, the majority of medical problems cyclists encounter begin a poorly fit bike. Pruitt explains how to find your ideal position on the bike and this alone is worth the price of the book.

The second section of the book deals with “Remedies For Cycling Injuries” and it covers the majority of things that cause us pain, such as patellar tendonitis, back pain, Achilles tendonitis, carpel tunnel syndrome, saddle sores, and road rash. Pruitt not only explains the cause of these problems, but offers suggestions on how to overcome them.

The last section of the books deals with “Getting The Most Out Of Cycling” and discusses issues such as overtraining, weight loss, performance testing, developing a training program, stretching and rehabilitation.

While this book is very thorough, there are a few things it does not cover, such as cold weather cycling (something I tend to spend a lot of time doing). I have yet to find a book that deals specifically with winter cycling—most of what I know about this topic has come from trial and error (a lot of error) and from reading some of the “adventure cycling” books where experienced cyclists tell you about how they overcame problems with things like hypothermia and frostbite.

One section of the book I do disagree with is the chapter on “Health Maintenance” (chapter 15). Pruitt devotes just five short paragraphs to vitamin supplements and his basic opinion is that cyclists “get all the vitamins they need from their daily meals.” However, in the next chapter (“Aging and the Cyclist”) he does mention the need for older cyclists (you know who you are) to take omega-3 fatty acids, acetyl-L-carnitine and absorbable diindolylmethane (DIM) for their anti-inflammatory benefits. Reasonable people can disagree, but I am a firm believer in vitamin supplements—and if you don’t like the idea of taking supplements, well, don’t take them.

Andy Pruitt’s Complete Medical Guide For Cyclists is published by VeloPress and retails for $19, but you can find it on Amazon.com for around $12. This 6″x9″ paperback book is well illustrated with photographs throughout and has 224 pages. This book will benefit any cyclist, regardless of how long they have been cycling—from “weekend warriors” to distance cyclists.

29 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on March 15, 2013 in Book Reviews, Health And Hygiene

Tags: bibke, bicycle, cycling, injury, sports, velopress

Walz Cycling Caps (Product Review and Giveaway)

11 Mar

When I was a young man (back when the planet was still cooling and dinosaurs roamed the earth) my best friend and I had a lengthy conversation about the worst automobile drivers in America. We came to the conclusion the most dangerous drivers were “old men who wear hats” (by the way, my friend is nearing retirement age, now lives in Florida and wears a hat—just sayin’). That being said, I try to avoid wearing any sort of head covering except for my bicycle helmet. However, when the folks at Walz Cycling Caps sent me one of their products for review I had to reconsider my opinion about hats and caps. While I will never look as good wearing a cycling cap as Yehuda Moon does, there is something about them that is just plain cool. If you would like to see how cool you can look in a cycling cap just read the last paragraph of this article to find out how to enter our latest contest.

Walz Cycling Caps

Walz Caps is located in Oceanside, California and they specialize in manufacturing quality cycling caps—in fact, that is all they make. The cap they sent me (the one in the photo above) is made of 100% wool and is incredibly soft. Walz Caps makes these wool caps in over two dozen different colors and patterns, including tweed, houndstooth, herringbone—they even have a few that only mad dogs and Englishmen would love. If wool is not your style, Walz Caps also makes caps in cotton or a moisture wicking 100% circular knit polyester. These caps are thin enough to be worn under your cycling helmet.

The majority of caps sold by Walz Caps retail for $20, but you can have your cap personalized for a small additional charge. If you really want to get fancy they can customize your cap with embroidery, screen-printing or even full dye sublimation (great for cycling clubs). Walz Caps offers free shipping in the United States and they will ship internationally via USPS first class international mail.

Regular readers know that I seldom keep the products that are sent to me for review. While my grubby little hands did touch this cap while I was photographing it, I did not wear it because I wanted to be able to give it away (and no one wants a used cycling cap). In prior contests I had readers choose a number within a certain range and then used a random number generator to select the winner. However, because the snow biking season is almost over I am in a strange mood—so the rules for this contest are a bit different. If you would like to win this beautiful cycling cap then leave a comment below telling me why you need this cap. The contest ends at midnight (CST) on Friday, March 15, 2013. After the contest closes I will read through the comments and choose a winner based solely on my incredibly subjective mood at the time. I probably won’t respond to the comments left below, but I promise to read and consider every one of them. This contest is for U.S. residents only and only one entry per household allowed. I will send this product to the winner via U.S. Mail at my expense. Good luck!

50 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on March 11, 2013 in Bicycle Clothing, Product Reviews

Tags: bicycle, bike, cap, contest, cycling, fashion, style

Serfas Women’s Bicycle Floor Pump Contest Winner

10 Mar

This past Monday we held contest to give away a Serfas Women’s Bicycle Floor Pump to some lucky reader. The rules for the contest were simple: just pick a number between 1,000 and 1,250 and leave the number in the comment section for the review. The contest ended at midnight on Friday, March 8, 2013.

Elizabeth from Triathlon Obsession

The winning number was 1,001 and Elizabeth, a New York resident and the blogger behind Triathlon Obsession, hit the number exactly. She did her first triathlon about 8 years ago as a dare, and just this year she picked up a sponsorship and is now a part of the 2013 Trisports.com Team of Champions!

The Winning Number

For your information, we had around 60 readers enter the contest. We used a random number generator to select a number between 1,000 and 1,250 and that is how 1,001 was selected as the winning number. This past Monday I noticed that someone had selected 1,001 and I immediately thought that there was no way on earth they could win since the rules stated that the winner would be the person who selected the number closest to, but not over, the winning number. Since Elizabeth chose 1,001 the only way she could win was if the random number generator chose 1,000 or 1,001—I nearly fell out of chair when 1,001 popped up!

13 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on March 10, 2013 in Life On Two Wheels

Tags: bicycle, bike, contest, cycling, random number generator, sports, triathlete

Cat’s Tongue Heavy Duty Cleaning Towels

07 Mar

If you have read any of my articles about washing and waxing your bicycle you already know two things about me: first, I am almost obsessive about starting each ride with a clean bike, and second, that I am always on the lookout for new cleaning products that will make the job easier. A few weeks ago I was sent a package of Cat’s Tongue Heavy Duty Cleaning Towels and they really make the job of cleaning up a bike a lot easier!

Cat’s Tongue Heavy Duty Cleaning Towels

Cat’s Tongue Towels are pre-moistened cleaning towels that are smooth on one side and have a heavy-duty texture on the other side. Even though the textured side feels gritty, it is a non-scratch cloth that does an amazing job of scrubbing away dirt, grease, and road grime. I live north of Chicago and at this time of the year our streets are covered with road salt—and when you get back from a bike ride the tire rims are thoroughly coated with a thick layer of salt dust that is very hard to get off. The textured side of the Cat’s Tongue Towels took this layer of salt off with just one quick wipe!

Cat’s Tongue Towels measure 8” x 12.25” and one towel usually cleans my entire bike (even if it is covered with road salt). These towels are coated with a citrus scented degreaser that will remove sealants, adhesives, and oil-based stains. These wipes work without the need for water or rinsing, and are aloe fortified to make them easy on your hands.

Cat’s Tongue Heavy Duty Cleaning Towels are available in either a 30-count canister or individual pouches. The Cat’s Tongue online store has a package deal that has one canister and ten individual pouches for under $20. They also have several bundle packages available (the more you buy the better deal you get). I would suggest you buy a canister for your garage (or bike storage area) and carry an individual package in your saddle bag to clean up after you fix your next flat tire.

Two more important notes: 25% of the profits from the sale of Cat’s Tongue products are donated to the Pan Massachusetts Challenge, an annual bike-a-thon that raises money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition, this product is made in the U.S.A. (something I really appreciate).

17 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on March 7, 2013 in Bicycle Repair, Product Reviews

Tags: bicycle, bike, cycling

All Seasons Cyclist

Author Archives: All Seasons Cyclist

About All Seasons Cyclist

Serfas Speed Stem Bag (Product Review and Giveaway)

Favorite Embrocation Cream: DZ Nuts InHeat

Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey

Nair Shower Power For Men (II)

What Is In Your Vitamin Supplements?

Walz Cycling Cap Contest Winner

Andy Pruitt’s Complete Medical Guide For Cyclists

Walz Cycling Caps (Product Review and Giveaway)

Serfas Women’s Bicycle Floor Pump Contest Winner

Cat’s Tongue Heavy Duty Cleaning Towels

Search This Site

Categories

Email Subscription

Top Posts & Pages

Archives

Blogs I Follow

Blogroll

Follow “All Seasons Cyclist”

Author Archives: All Seasons Cyclist

About All Seasons Cyclist

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Search This Site

Categories

Email Subscription

Top Posts & Pages

Archives

Blogs I Follow

Blogroll

Follow “All Seasons Cyclist”