Author: Lars

Review: HEED Perpetuem Solids Long Distance Energy Chews from Hammer Nutrition

HEED perpetuem solid energy chew tablets review

I first became interested in Hammer Nutrition products in 2012, when I read a blog post by Tim Ferriss, the Four Hour Workweek guy. In that post, it mentioned how someone swears by Perpetuem by Hammer Nutrition for ultra endurance events.

So I bought some to try it out for century rides, and ended up also using it for the Leadville 100 in 2012. I use Perpetuem both in this form (the solid tablets), and as a drink mix, which I will review separately.

Perpetuem is Hammer’s energy product that is specifically designed and intended for longer periods of time. They say events longer than two hours. I’ve used these on shorter rides and they work just fine in general if that’s what is available.

The main difference is that Perpetuem has a little bit of protein in it, which supposedly makes a difference during longer events, but doesn’t really help on shorter events because your body doesn’t make use of the protein. (That’s my completely non-expert summary.)

Here’s what Hammer says about Perpetuem:

Perpetuem is a result of several years of research and thousands of miles of testing in a variety of endurance disciplines. Since its introduction in 2003, Perpetuem has allowed athletes to conquer the most extreme workouts and races with complete confidence! Perpetuem represents the ultimate, never-before-available link to satisfying the body’s fueling requirements no matter how long or difficult your exercise session or race.

Carbohydrates – As with all Hammer Nutrition fuels, we never add simple sugars to the carbohydrate profile. Perpetuem contains a specific maltodextrin, which provides nearly 87% of its caloric composition in long chain carbohydrates.

Protein – A calcium-enhanced soy protein isolate known as “XT” makes up nearly 10% of the caloric profile of Perpetuem, the same percentage that is cannibalized from muscle tissue during long, slow endurance workouts. This particular soy protein contains a very high amount of intact, cardiovascular-enhancing isoflavones.

Fat – A de-oiled “super lecithin” (extracted from the soybean) is ideal for consistently and reliably fueling the body and maximizing energy production from stored fatty acids.

The problem with the Perpetuem drink mix is that is goes bad after several hours if you premix it with water and just leave it in the bottle in warm weather.

The chews are big tablets. There are six tablets to a tube. Three tablets is 100 calories, so you get a total of 200 calories per tube, and about 33 calories per tablet.

If you read the reviews, people sometimes act like you are chewing rocks with these tablets. And Hammer has some kind of warning about delicate teeth in their description. It kind of made me hesitant to purchase the first tube.

But when I did, I found that they are no big deal at all to chew up. Much easier than something like Sweet Tarts, for example. The only thing I find slightly annoying is how they kind of stick to your teeth when you chew them.

I find the tablets to be extremely convenient, and very easy to get out of the tube. The top of the tube flips open, but is permanently attached so that you don’t lose the lid. You can keep it in your jersey pocket easily. It’s much easier than trying to open a Powerbar wrapper while you are riding, for example.

The downside is that you don’t really get very many calories per tube. If you want to consume 200 or more calories per hour, then do the math and you’ll see what I mean.

I’ve used these tablets on longer rides like the Leadville 100 and on the Shiner Gasp, with a lot of success. They provide a good source of energy, and cause zero stomach upset or problems for me.

I have not tried the Latte flavored tablets, but the strawberry and orange tablets both have acceptable taste. These are a very practical source of calories intended solely to keep you fueled, and not something that you would ever eat as a snack, like a Clif Bar, for example.

I like HEED Perpetuem in both forms, and recommend it for very long rides. I use the standard HEED drink on shorter rides of up to 50 or 60 miles, which I highly recommend and will also review separately.

Questions about this review? Did I leave anything out? Do you have anything to add? Leave a comment and let me know, and I will update accordingly.

                   

Review: Where to Buy Prescription Cycling Glasses

My prescription Adidas Adivista cycling sunglasses in use at Leadville 100

If you wear glasses and do not wear contacts like me, then cycling can be a drag. Regular prescription glasses may or may not work well when you are riding at 20+ mph. There’s nothing worse than a pair of regular glasses that seem to channel air right into your eyeballs.

In spite of this, I never wore any kind of prescription cycling sunglasses until the summer of 2012. The main issue for me was astigmatism. I tried a pair of bicycling glasses four or five years ago, and the shaped lenses gave me a serious fishbowl effect because of my astigmatism. I spent probably $500, and I couldn’t even wear them.

But last year, I rode the Leadville 100 mountain bike race. I attended the CTS Leadville camp in early August, and it quickly became apparent that at over 10,000 feet of elevation in Colorado, the sun was extremely bright and hard on my eyes. I was going to have to find some kind of solution for sunglasses.

A friend of mine told me about an online store that specialized in prescription glasses for various sports, including cycling, ADS Sports Eyewear. It just so happened that this store is located in the Dallas area. When I mentioned my astigmatism issue, he said that this store used a special technology to make their lenses called “Freeform Digital Lens Surfacing.” Actually, I think he just called it digital lens, but that’s what he was referring to. He told me that this kind of lens also worked with astigmatism.

I was skeptical, after my very expensive failure buying standard prescription lenses several years before. The last thing I wanted to do is spend another $500+ and end up with glasses that I couldn’t wear.

But I had to have some kind of solution, so I decided to call this store on the phone and see if I could come in. Turns out that their online store is also a regular prescription glasses store right off the George Bush Turnpike, near I-75.

The store had a small showroom with a very big selection of sports specific prescription eyewear. I saw prescription sunglasses for motorcycle riding, prescription goggles for skiing, prescription goggles for racquetball and tennis and more.

The saleswoman was very knowledgable, and initially suggested some Oakley Half Jacket sunglasses. They didn’t fit me very well though, and rubbed against my eyebrows, so we ended up trying on Adidas, and I ended up with the Adidas Adivista, which has adjustable arms on the sunglasses so that I can adjust them where they don’t make contact with my eyebrows.

I talked to the saleswoman about my astigmatism issue, and that I was seriously concerned that I was about to spend hundreds of dollars on prescription sunglasses that might not work for me. She told me that she had astigmatism too, and that she had a pair of digital lens sunglasses herself, and that they really did work. If they didn’t, then they had a good return policy for prescription sunglasses.

So I took the plunge, gave her my new prescription I had just gotten from my optometrist, and bought the glasses.

I ended up buying transition lenses that are clear in the dark, and get dark when UV light hits them. The disadvantage with transition lenses is that they WILL NOT work inside a car, because car windows block UV light, so the lenses won’t ever turn dark. But since I often ride at 6 a.m. with a headlight, I wanted a pair of prescription sunglasses that I could wear early in the morning as well as when the sun was up. So that was a limitation that I was willing to accept.

A couple of weeks later, the sunglasses were ready, and I went to pick them up. They handed them to me to take outside and try, and gave me a slip of paper that explains how your brain needs to adapt to new glasses, and that it can take a week or longer. The saleswoman hadn’t mentioned this, so I was immediately worried that the glasses weren’t going to work for me and it was going to be a repeat of my previous experience.

But here’s the awesome news. I went outside and put them on, and although they were different than my regular glasses and seemed a little bit weird, they did not have the fishbowl effect! I was able to drive home wearing them without a problem, and was able to ride with them the next day.

The weirdness wore off in a few days, and I now go back and forth between my regular glasses and these sunglasses daily, and don’t notice a difference anymore. So that digital lens stuff is legit!

That photo at the top of the post is me, wearing the sunglasses at Leadville. Success!

ADS Sports Eyewear did not ask me to write a review, and probably doesn’t even know who I am. I paid the full retail cost of the glasses that I purchased from them. I don’t think they have an affiliate program, and I don’t receive any kind of compensation for recommending them. I am writing this review to help others who might be looking for prescription cycling sunglasses, like I was last summer.

Review: Smartwool Headliner wool under helmet hat

Smartwool headliner wool cycling hat under helmet

I’ve been using the Smartwool Headliner Merino wool hat as a helmet liner for two winter seasons now. I bought it at full retail.

As you can tell from the name, “Headliner,” this hat is designed to be very thin so that it can fit under a bicycle helmet. I usually don’t have to adjust my helmet at all when I wear this hat, compared to my thicker polypropylene hat that I wear when the temperature drops below 35.

Wool is a terrific insulator, and works pretty well in both hot and cool settings in general. As a helmet liner, it starts to feel pretty toasty to me above 55 degrees, but I usually have a relatively warm head and warm hands.

Down to around 35 degrees, I found this liner to be warm enough. Once it gets below that, my ears don’t quite stay warm enough. For others who have cold ears or a cold head, you might want to adjust upwards 5 degrees from my usage.

The wool hat does not itch. It is made from Merino wool, which is a finer wool than standard wool. You can machine wash the hat. I wash it in cold and let it dry by hanging it out. I only wash mine every couple of weeks or so. One of the other great features of wool is that it doesn’t pick up stink. So even if I ride hard and sweat in the hat and put it next to my bike helmet to dry out, I can take a big sniff the next day and there will be no smell.

It features “single layer interlock knit construction, and a
contoured 3 panel design with clean finish flatlock seams,” as described by the manufacturer. I think what that means in plain English is that it is one thin layer of wool, sewn together in three panels so that it fits on your head right.

This would make a good hat for runners who want something really thin that won’t cause overheating.

The hat sits relatively high on your forehead, so it won’t impede your vision while cycling. The sides of the liner are designed to come down and just barely cover your ears, and that’s how it fits for me. I wear Adidas prescription cycling glasses, and I can either wear it with the glasses over the outside of the helmet liner, or under the liner.

If you read my wool cycling socks review, you might have noticed that my Smartwool socks made the bottom of the list in that review. But unlike those socks, I really like this helmet liner / super thin wool hat and fully recommend it.

Did I leave anything out? Have a question about this product? Do you own this product and like it or dislike it? Leave a comment and let me know so I can respond and update the review.

Review: Halo II Sweat Band for Cycling

Halo 2 ii sweat band for cycling bicycling

If you do a lot of road cycling or mountain biking when the weather is warm, then you’ve probably run into the issue of sweat from your head and helmet running into your eyes or splattering the inside of your glasses or sunglasses.

I wear prescription glasses or prescription sunglasses, and I absolutely hate it when I drip sweat on the inside of the lens because I am looking down as I am pedaling. You can’t wipe off the sweat drops because they are on the inside! Even worse is when the sweat drips into your eyes and burns like crazy. If I am carrying a water bottle, I will try to squirt my face clean to stop the burning. But if I’m riding with an energy drink, I can’t.

I used to ride with a regular headband that I picked up somewhere. It was an old Camelbak band that tied in a knot in the back and said Hydrate or Die on it. It did a good job except when it was really hot or if a ride was longer, and then I would sweat through the band and get sweat in my eyes or on my glasses anyway.

The Halo II Sweat Band is one of the greatest inventions in cycling accessories, as far as I am concerned.

First of all, it is one size fits all up to 7 1/4″ hat size, so you don’t have to tie the back of it in a knot. You just put in on your head and it’s on. It’s made in the USA.

Next, it is made of a thicker fabric that they call Dryline, which does a great job of soaking up sweat. It’s not so thick that it bothers you or causes a problem wearing it under your helmet. But it’s thick enough to capture a pretty good amount of sweat.

The Dryline fabric is treated with this silver ion antimicrobial stuff that prevents it from stinking. I can tell you that it works. I usually just wash mine out under the sink with plain water after a ride and hang it to try, and only wash it in the washing machine once a month or so. But neither of mine have any kind of smell if you sniff them.

The headband is 2 inches wide in the front to capture a lot of sweat, but it tapers into a smaller strip in the back so that it isn’t a giant strap on the back of your head. It comes in many different colors.

I find it very comfortable, and have ridden with it for just under 12 hours straight during the Leadville 100 mountain bike race without any problems.

The absolute best feature of Halo sweatbands is that yellow band you see that is inside the sweatband. They call it a “patented SweatBlock Seal.” It’s a kind of plastic like material, but it is still comfortable against your forehead. What the band does is channel sweat down the side of your face or back of your head instead of letting it run into your eyes, when the headband gets completely soaked with sweat.

It works, and it works well.

If you’ve ever cursed the burning feeling of sweat in your eyes, you need this sweatband, and you should buy it. It is truly awesome. If you’d like to see a video demonstration, the manufacturer has one on YouTube that shows how it works.

One tip for keeping the headband for a long time is to never fold the sweatband so that it bends the plastic strip, because the plastic strip can break if you bend it back and forth a lot, ruining the headband.

Questions about the review? Did I leave anything out? Leave a comment and let me know so I can update.

Review: Koki TukTuk Large Bicycle Seat Bag

Koki Tuktuk large bicycle seat bag review

I purchased the Koki TukTuk large bicycle seat bag in the spring of 2012, because I was looking for something very specific in a bike bag at the time. I was planning to ride the Shiner GASP 100, and I wanted to be able to fit two tubes, three CO2 cartridges and a patch kit inside my bag, along with two tire levers and a basic bike tool.

You see, the year before in 2011, I was riding with the lead group and flatted at mile 75 or so, and ended up riding the last 20 miles alone until a guy eventually caught me and I finished up with him. I flatted coming into a small town and rode my flat rear tire gingerly until I saw a spectator in a pickup who ended up having a floor pump, which allowed me to change my flat in just a minute or two. (I was carrying one of those tiny emergency pumps and would have taken 10 minutes at least to get enough air in my tire if I hadn’t found that spectator.)

In 2012, I not only had brand new tires, but tubes and CO2 cartridges to spare for the Shiner ride! Turned out in 2012 that I finished with the lead group of about six guys, with no mechanicals, so I didn’t need any of the extra stuff. But I sure had it ready in case I did.

So let’s talk about the bag.

It’s a very big bag, but it’s narrow and long, so it doesn’t rub against your legs when you are pedaling, and that is why I liked it. I also liked the very easy way that it attaches to the seat rails and seatpost. Velcro straps for the seat rails, and a rubber thing that goes around the seatpost and hooks back to the bag. Easy to take on and off, and also reliable and stable.

The inside of the bag is one big cavity, so it’s easy to arrange all your stuff inside. They also have a little keychain fob thing that you can attach to your keys, which means that even if you accidentally leave the bag unzipped and stuff falls out, your keys will still be secure! You’d probably hear the rattling, which would alert you to your problem.

The manufacturer describes the size this way:

SIZE :: 8×3.5×3 in
VOL :: ~80 in3
WT  :: 4 oz

Koki also makes a smaller “standard” version of this bag, which would be more suitable if you wanted to carry the typical single tube and basic tool assortment.

This bag is great, except for one major flaw, in my opinion.

If you look at the bag flap of the bag, you’ll see my problem with this bike seat bag. The rubber strap on the back that is described as a “rear blinky spider” is made out of rubber that is too soft and stretchy and not strong enough. I have three bikes and one blinky, so I have to move my blinker between bags and bikes. It was only after a few times of taking off my blinker that the strap broke, forcing me to clip my blinker on my jersey whenever I use that bag.

If you use a rear blinker and plan to take it on and off this bag, I’d say it is probably a deal killer. Other than that flaw though, the bag is a terrific large sized bag with lots of room in it. It’s well made in general, aside from the rear blinker strap.

Did I leave anything out? Leave a comment and let me know so I can update.