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Dual Power Eyewear Dual SL2 Sunglasses

Several years ago I needed to have eye surgery and when I started looking for a surgeon a good friend of mine, a man who had been blind for about half of his life, insisted that I see on particular because he was “the best.” My friend said, “God only gave you one set of eyes so you better take care of them.” My friend has since passed away, but I remember his advice every time I buy a new pair of cycling glasses. One of my favorite pair of cycling sunglasses is the Dual Eyewear Dual SL2 Sunglasses.

Dual Power Eyewear Dual SL2 Sunglasses

Dual Power Eyewear Dual SL2 Sunglasses

The simplest way to explain the Dual SL2 Sunglasses is to tell you that they are a great pair of sunglasses with a pair of reading glasses built-in. The reading glasses portion is available in three powers (+1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 spot diopters). These sunglasses are incredibly lightweight (only 20 grams) and the shatterproof lenses are made of scratch-resistant polycarbonate. The glasses provide 100% UVA, UVB, and UVC protection. The rubber nose pieces on these glasses are perfect for cyclists—I’ve not had them slip a bit even on off-road trails. The lenses are available in two colors (smoke and brown). In addition to the SL2 Dual Eyewear offers several other models of sunglasses and every pair comes with a nice storage bag/cleaning cloth. They also sell lenses in three other colors: clear for night rides, and both amber and rose lenses for cloudy days.

My distance vision is a perfect 20/20, but I do need a bit of help reading fine print (8 point type or smaller), and especially in low light conditions. I can read a text-message on my iPhone without glasses, but I have trouble reading the very small type found in the maps application. The Dual SL2 Sunglasses look like regular sunglasses, but they have a barely noticeable magnification area built into the lower part of the lenses. What this means is that now you can read even the smallest print on your GPS, bike computer or cell phone without having to switch glasses!

The Dual SL2 Sunglasses retail for $50 online and I would highly recommend that you buy at least two pair. Once you have tried these on your bike you are going to want another pair for your car. After my first bike ride with these glasses I ordered another pair the same day.

The highest bit of praise for these sunglasses came from a U.S. Marine (my youngest son). I had these glasses sitting on my desk when my son came in and picked them up. He doesn’t need the magnification area on the lenses, but when he tried them on he said, “These look and fit better than my Oakleys.” If you know anything about Marines, you know how much they love their expensive Oakley sunglasses!

Dual Power Eyewear is based on Boulder, Colorado. They offer a generous 30-day 100% satisfaction guarantee, but I doubt if you will ever need it—once you try these out you are going to love them!

 

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Penguin Brands Sport-Wash

Penguin Brands Sport-Wash for cycling clothing

Penguin Brands Sport-Wash

It doesn’t take a long bike ride to leave your clothes smelling like a locker room. The moisture wicking fabrics used in cycling clothing does a great job at moving moisture away from the body, but they can’t move odor-causing bacteria out with it. The bacteria left on your clothing reproduces incredibly fast and the odor it creates is not easily removed by normal laundry detergents. If you really want to keep your cycling clothing from stinking you need to wash it in Sports-Wash by Penguin Brands, Inc.

Sports-Wash is an unscented, biodegradable laundry detergent that reduces odors and prevents color fading. It is also residue-free and non-allergenic. In addition, it restores the factory-applied Durable Water Repellent (DRW) finish to clothing.

Sports-Wash is also notable for what it does not contain. It contains no bleach, fabric softeners, or scent. I have noticed a slight smell as the clothing is being washed, but it rinses right out and leaves no residue.

Penguin Brands, Inc. claims that Sports-Wash will remove blood and grass stains. Fortunately, I have not had the opportunity to test this claim, so I will have to take their word for it.

My dear wife is kind enough to hand-wash all of my cycling clothing (yes, I am a lucky man). She uses one capful of Sports-Wash per sink full of dirty clothing. Sports-Wash retails for $18 for a 42-ounce bottle. I buy Sports-Wash at a local Dick’s Sporting Goods store, but it is also available on Amazon.com. Sports-Wash is more expensive than normal laundry detergent, but your expensive cycling clothing will last a lot longer if you wash it in a quality product like this.

 

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Favorite Embrocation Cream: DZ Nuts InHeat

DZ Nuts InHeat Low Heat Embrocation Cream

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.

 

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What Is In Your Vitamin Supplements?

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?

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.

 

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Andy Pruitt’s Complete Medical Guide For Cyclists

Complete Medical Guide For Cyclists

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.

 
 

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Serfas Women’s Bicycle Floor Pump Contest Winner

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

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!

Winning Number

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 on March 10, 2013 in Life On Two Wheels

 

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Frame Defender Contest Winner

Ray From Seattle

Ray From Seattle

This past Monday we held contest to give away a Frame Defender Kit (a lightweight bicycle frame protector) to some lucky reader. The rules for the contest were simple: just pick a number between 750 and 1,000 and leave the number in the comment section for the review. The contest ended at midnight on Friday, February 8, 2013.

The winning number was 844 and the person closest to this number, without going over, was Ray, a stay-at-home dad from Seattle (the name on his Gravatar is Papi). Ray started riding his bike as an adult for the first time a year ago. Last year he rode over 2,000 miles—mostly solo. This year he plans to do the same amount of miles, but pulling his 2-year-old in the trailer and his wife riding with him. Ray also runs the Beware The Under Dad blog. The photo on the left is of Ray as he was riding in the Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic last year.

As in our other contests we used a random number generator to select a number between 750 and 1,000 and that is how 844 was selected as the winning number. We have several other product giveaways already planned—and unless we can think of a better way to hold a contest we will probably follow the same format we used this time.

 
6 Comments

Posted by on February 10, 2013 in Life On Two Wheels

 

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MiiR Stainless Steel Bottle Contest Winner

Sarah's Doodles

Sarah

Last week we held our second product giveaway of 2013—a contest to give away a MiiR Stainless Steel Water Bottle to some lucky reader. The rules for the contest were simple: just pick a number between 500 and 750 and leave the number in the comment section for the review. The contest ended at midnight on Tuesday, January 29, 2013.

The winning number was 562 and a reader named Sarah guessed the exact number (the first time that’s happened). I’ve only been following Sarah’s blog (Sarah’s Doodles) for about two months—I found it in the WordPress Reader under the “running” topic. Sarah describes herself as “a 24-year-old yo’ pro’ living in Cincinnati with a love for running, 90′s pop music, peanut butter and everything in between.” Sarah does have more than a little sarcasm on her blog (I really admire that in people).

Winning Number

Winning Number

For your information, we had around 70 readers enter the contest. We used a random number generator to select a number between 500 and 750 and that is how 562 was selected as the winning number. We have several other product giveaways already planned—and unless we can think of a better way to hold a contest we will probably follow the same format we used this time (translation: your suggestions for a better way to hold a product giveaway would be greatly appreciated).

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2013 in Life On Two Wheels

 

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MiiR Stainless Steel Water Bottle (Product Review and Giveaway)

I own a lot of water bottles and my collection takes up nearly the entire upper shelf in one of our kitchen cabinets (my wife is a very patient woman). However, I am not really a “collector” since I use these bottles—some are insulated and others have unique features that make them more suitable for certain rides than others. A few weeks ago the folks at MiiR asked if I would be willing to try out a couple of their water bottles and I jumped at the chance.

MiiR Stainless Steel Water Bottle

MiiR Stainless Steel Water Bottles

The MiiR Stainless Steel Water Bottle is made of 18/8 stainless steel and holds 600ml (20 ounces). The bottle is 9″ tall (7″ without the lid) and will easily fit in the water bottle cage on your bicycle. This bottle is lightweight (only 6 ounces) and is very comfortable to hold. While this bottle is dishwasher safe (top rack), they recommend hand washing.

With so many water bottles on the market, what makes the MiiR bottles different? I suppose durability would have to head the list, followed by ease of use—one twist of the lid (cap) and the bottle is ready to use. While this bottle does not have a sports cap like most cycling-specific bottles, you don’t have to worry about throwing this bottle in a gym bag or even tossing it in the back of your car! I also liked using this bottle when I was riding on muddy trails. The worst part about cycling in the mud is finding a way to keep the spout on your water bottle clean. It’s not that I am scared of drinking a bit of mud—I am not that picky. However, last year I was riding off-road and saw a horse emptying his bladder on the trail in front of me when it dawned in me that mud was not the only thing clinging to my bottles! With the twist lid on the MiiR you don’t have to worry about what you might have picked up on the trail.

MiiR Stainless Steel Water Bottle

MiiR Stainless Steel Water Bottles

The MiiR Stainless Steel Water Bottle (600ml size) retails for $18 and is available from the MiiR online shop. This bottle comes in five colors (orange, white, stainless, green, blue). When you buy a bottle you will also need to choose a lid—they have two types available, wedge (pictured above) or wingnut. These lids sell for $5 and come in numerous colors so you can create a truly customized bottle. MiiR also has several other bottles, including insulated bottles, available on their Website and they offer free shipping on any order over $40.

MiiR is a very environmentally conscious company. Their lids are made of BPA-free polypropylene #5 plastic and every bottle is 100% recyclable. In addition, $1 from every bottle sold goes directly to building water wells in developing nations. I have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time in Third World counties and it is so sad that nearly one-quarter of the world’s population does not have access to clean, safe drinking water. I sincerely applaud MiiR for their efforts!

As my regular readers know, I seldom keep the products that are sent to me for review—most of the time I give the products to random visitors who comment on this blog. Once again I’ve decided to hold a contest for one of the MiiR Stainless Steel Water Bottles. The folks at MiiR sent me two bottles and I only needed one to test, so I am giving away the Cadmium Orange bottle pictured above (that’s the one I didn’t use). To enter the contest all you have to do is pick a number between 500 and 750 and enter it in the comment section below (you don’t actually have to make a comment). The contest ends at midnight (CST) on Tuesday, January 29, 2013. After the contest closes I will use a random number generator to pick the winning number. If no one has the exact number the person with the number closest to, but not over, the winning number will get the orange MiiR Stainless Steel Bottle. In case two or more people chose the same number the first person to pick the number will be the winner. This contest is for U.S. residents only and only one entry per household allowed. When the contest is over I will publish the results in the comments section of this article. I will mail this product to the winner via Priority Mail at my expense.

 
99 Comments

Posted by on January 25, 2013 in Product Reviews

 

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Serfas ST-17i Multi-tool Giveaway Winner

This past Monday we announced our first product giveaway of the year—we held a contest to give away a Serfas ST-17i CO² Inflator / Mini-tool to some lucky reader. The rules for the contest were simple: just pick a number between 200 and 500 and leave the number in the comment section for the review. The contest ended at midnight on Friday, January 11, 2013.

Serfas ST-17i Multi-tool Giveaway Winner

Meet Joe, Winner Of The Serfas ST-17i Multi-tool

The winning number was 339 and the person closest to this number was Joe (AKA, Joboo) who guessed 333. Joe is an avid cyclist who lives in the north woods of Minnesota and he is also is the blogger behind The Adventures of Joboo and His Trusty Pugsley. I’ve never had the opportunity to meet Joe but I’ve followed his blog for a several years—he writes a lot about his Surly Pugsley and his blog was one of the reasons I bought my first Fat Bike, a Surly Pugsley Necromancer.

random number generatorFor your information, we had around 70 cyclists enter the contest. We used a random number generator to select a number between 200 and 500 and that is how 339 was selected as the winning number. We have several other product giveaways already planned—and unless we can think of a better way to hold a contest we will probably follow the same format we used this time (translation: your suggestions for a better way to hold a product giveaway would be appreciated).

 
17 Comments

Posted by on January 13, 2013 in Life On Two Wheels

 

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