A few reviews

The weather was kind this morning and although it was a bit windy it was sunny and dry and my bike computer was showing 19 degrees by the end so all in all quite pleasant. I was out with Coastal Controller (who has IM France in a few weeks), Andy (a colleague from work, IM Austria in a few weeks) and Hamish (who I have ridden with regularly over the last year or so and completed a few sportives with). The ride was very pleasant and I recorded just over 72km in a whisker over 2.5 hours. But today was a day to review stuff, so here goes.


1. My new Litespeed paint job. Although I have posted a number of pictures on my blog they really don't do the new paint job justice. Today was the first time Jonny had seen it and he was impressed; in the sunlight the Italian pearl white metallic appears to 'shimmer' and the subtle logos are just so stylish (even if I say so myself). Less is most definitely more in this case.

2. Shutt Velo Rapide kit. You may not have heard of this company as they are relatively new but they produce a range of quite stunning cycling kit. See here: http://www.shuttvr.com/. Today I was trying their team jersey and coolmax socks for the first time. I'll start with the socks because they're easy -white, with a subtle logo on the outside. Co-ordinates well with the bike and my other kit (and that's, like, really important!) and do the job of a sock very well. Very comfortable, in that I wasn't aware of them at all during the ride, and kept my feet cool. Job done.

The Team jersey is made of merino wool mix and so has excellent heat management properties, keeping you warm when its cool and cool when its warm. Its very soft so feels nice against the skin. Its also quite stylish and attracted positive comments from my riding buddies. Having never worn merino wool before I was a little sceptical about the heat management promises, and had a base layer in my back pocket if needed. I'm glad to say that although Andy and Jonny were both dressed up for a full on winter ride my base layer stayed in my pocket, and even when Hamish and I ramped up the last few km into a 2-up TT style effort I never felt overheated either. So, good heat management properties, stylish and comfortable - what more do you want? A word of warning should you order any of the Shutt jerseys; I'm 5' 9" tall and usually wear 'medium' sized kit. I had to send the medium I initially ordered back as it was way too small, but the large is a perfect fit. Think Italian sizing and go one up and you should be fine. [Note: Please see comment from Pete of Shutt VR; only the race jerseys are 'slim' fit so order your normal size for any other styles].





3. And finally, the bike fit. As expected, my initial impression was that the saddle was too high, as I felt that I was over-extending my leg and being forced to point my toes at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Andy had a look whilst we were riding and confirmed this to be the case. But it was very comfortable and I tested myself on a couple of the hills and I was riding up them one or two gears higher than I had before (word of caution here, I have completed a solid block of training since I last did this ride so it may be that improved power output helped). On one hill I even rode up it in the big ring where previously I had always dropped into the small ring. I have no back or comfort issues to report either so the first impression is a very positive one, although I will wait and see how I feel in the morning.

All in all I'm feeling very positive at the moment. Train smart folks.