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Battenkill Pre Race Jitters

Here we are on the eve of the Tour of the Battenkill.  I've done my training, I've ridden my dirt roads, I've spent the past week relaxing and letting my legs do nothing.  Still, facing some of the steep dirt climbs of the race course and the sheer length (64 miles this early in the season is a bit tough) have me jittery like a college freshman drinking a pot of coffee the Sunday before finals.  Well, I've got my plan as to how I'm going to tackle this race, I went on a very easy ride to stretch my legs this afternoon, and now I'm rocking the compression leggings and formulating my plan. All that's left is to execute it tomorrow morning.  Let's see how that will (hopefully) play out:

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Lazer Helium Helmet Review

In cycling, only one thing is more important than the bike itself: the bucket you strap on your noggin.  You see, eventually that important bike that you baby so much decides it no longer wants to be ridden by you and tosses you off down the tarmac.  With the myriad of helmets out there (all meet very similar safety certifications) it falls to the rider to decide what helmet is for them based upon cost, availability, fit and (most importantly, of course) style.

Ok, maybe style isn't important, but looking like a mushroom is never a good thing.

When it comes to a helmet, I've been a big supporter of Lazer for several years now.  Lazer protected my head and prevented even greater injuries when I crashed and ended up with a 5 day stay in the hospital a few years back.  It just so happens that the helmet I was wearing was a Lazer Helium.

Check out my review of Lazer's high end road helmet after the jump.

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Avoiding the Fred Situation: Does The Jersey You Wear Matter?

As many of my post ideas begin, I was recently clicking around an online cycling forum and stumbled across a discussion that struck me as interesting.  A simple question of “will I get made fun of for wearing a pro jersey on my ride” sparked a huge debate about the legitimacy of purchasing and wearing pro team gear.  There's a lot of worry about becoming a cycling fred, showing up with gear that your legs can't back up, apparently…

Of course, there were as many opinions as there were posters, ranging from “whatever makes you happy” to “some deity will kill kittens if you wear that Sky jersey on a ride.”  With such a wide range of opinions, it's not easy to sort it all out, but I'll do my best for you.

Click through after the jump to figure out how to avoid becoming “that guy.”

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K-Edge Chain Catcher Installation

K-Edge braze on chain catcher kietEven the most well tuned and perfectly aligned derailleurs can drop a chain every now and then.  Rough roads, poor shifting technique and just freak occurrences can lead to chains dropping off the inside chainring.  This circumstance is annoying in the least, delaying your ride and forcing you to mount the chain back on the drivetrain.  At worst, the chain may damage the bottom bracket when it comes off, or become jammed into the drivetrain (ask Andy Schleck about jammed chain woes.)  Preventing dropped chains is as simple as installing a chain catcher (sometimes called a chain watcher) on the front derailleur braze on clamp.  This simple little part will help to prevent chain drops in even the nastiest road conditions; in fact, they are so effective that the vast majority of ProTeam racers use them in the spring classics.  If it's good enough for the pro peloton, it's certainly good enough for me.

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Chain-L No. 5 Review

 

Nothing quite piques the senses like “the world's most legendary fragrance,” but if you're expecting to dab this behind your ears, you're sorely mistaken.  In terms of price, this little bottle of amber colored wrenching sauce is pretty much on terms with its aromatic European namesake, so when I plunked down eleven bucks and change for it, I figured that it better live up to its name.

I've used a lot of different lubes in my day (that's what she said…) and I've always had a couple of complaints: they're messy, they don't wear into the chain and need constant re-application, and they just plain don't work.  In the realm of “just plain don't work” I've penciled in anything that contains the words dry, wax, clean, light, long lasting or spray on.  Essentially, I've found one decent lube out there (Finish Line Ceramic Road Lube) but it was filed under the “messy” header and the “constant reapplication” headers.  Actually, it received a “messy as hell” header as opposed to the regular one, but I digress.

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