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Review: Zefal Wiiz side mount water bottle cage

zefal wiiz side mount water bottle cage

When I bought my 2012 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Carbon Comp 29er, I quickly discovered a limitation with the frame design when it came to carrying water bottles. The frame only holds one bottle, and it’s such a tight space that it was difficult to get the bottle out of my water bottle cage.

Fortunately for me, someone told me that there was something that I didn’t know existed — a water bottle cage that has a side entry and exit of the water bottle.

I did some searching around and found the Zefal Wiiz side mount water bottle for under $10! Zefal is a great brand, and the cage only weighed a reported 65 grams.

The cage is designed so that when you install it, you can flip it so that the bottle exits either on the left side or the right side. It’s easy to switch back and forth between sides if you change your mind. I’m right handed, so I went for a right side exit.

So how does it work? In a word, perfectly.

I’ve never ejected a bottle onto the trail with this cage, so I give it a very good rating on holding the bottle. It is also extremely easy to pull out with your hand when you are ready to take a drink.

If you are in a need of a water bottle cage with a side exit, I recommend this cage. Cheap, works great, and lightweight. It’s a winner.

 

Review: Fresh Start body cleansing washcloth system wipes

fresh start body cleansing w

 

I got a package of these Fresh Start “rinse free bathing” washcloths in a goody bag at the Leadville 100 in 2012.

To be honest, I almost didn’t even bother to bring them home with me in the car when I was packing, but I threw them in the car instead of throwing them out. I left them in my car, because I figured they might come in handy at some point, since I have a first grader who sometimes makes messes in the car.

They sat in a seat pocket for a few months and I had pretty much forgotten about them until I went to a cyclocross race in the fall that was near Austin. After the race, I wasn’t going to go back home and was heading over to someone’s house in Austin. I was completely sweaty and dirty, and I was going to be in the car for at least an hour and needed to eat lunch, and didn’t want to get my car seats dirty and sweaty. When I was packing up my bike I spotted the Fresh Start wipes and opened them up.

That’s when I learned how convenient and terrific these things really are!

I’m sure some people carry Wet Ones or baby wipes in their car for cleanup. But those are tiny and hard to clean up with. You have to use a bunch of them, and then figure out where to throw them away. Fresh Start wipes are different because they are HUGE, in a good way. They are 9 inches by 11 inches, which is sort of sized between a really big washcloth and a small hand towel.

They are much thicker than something like a Wet One or a baby wipe. I would describe it as twice as thick as those really expensive paper towel brands, but in a type of material that doesn’t rip or tear or fall apart. Even so, they are listed on the package as biodegradable.

They only have a mild scent, if any, and do not leave any smell on you when you use them.

When I was looking on the manufacturer’s web site to get more information before I started my review, I saw that they make several different versions of these, aimed at sports activities, hunting and fishing, and even specifically for amateur wrestling.

Fresh Start recommends that you use three of these to completely clean yourself off with, and they even have a system where you wipe your face and neck and chest with the first wipe, and then your arms and perineum (a discreet way of saying your butthole, I imagine) with the next wipe, and then your legs, back and buttocks with the third wipe. This would be if you wanted to take the equivalent of a complete shower with them.

I found that for my purposes, each towel was big enough that I could use a portion of it to clean off my face and head and neck, and then another portion to clean off my arms and chest, and then another portion to clean off my legs and back, and then the back side to finish up cleaning armpits. That would leave me clean enough to take off my cycling clothes and put on regular clothes and make it the rest of the afternoon until I could get home and take a real shower.

This is a product that I never knew I needed until I tried it out. Until Fresh Start, I usually opted for using my dirty cycling jersey to wipe off my sweaty arms and armpits and then just went home stinky until I could take a shower. With these, I can get clean enough that I would feel comfortable staying out the rest of the day if I were not able to get home right away to bathe.

I’ve never seen other wipes that are this particular size, and I think they are really great.

This is a terrific product to keep in your car in general, to travel with, and to keep in your bag of cycling stuff when you go to a ride or a race. I recommend them.

Review: Specialized S Works The Captain 2.2 29er mountain bike tire

 Specialized The Captain 2.2 29er tire review

I’ve been riding a Specialized S Works The Captain 2.2 since last summer, and I completed the Leadville 100 on it in 2012. I use it as a front tire, and use the Specialized Control level Ground Control 2.0 as my back tire.

I run The Captain tubeless, with Caffelatex as my sealant. I have not had any flats since I installed this tire, and I haven’t heard the sealant ever plug anything up during a ride, which tells me that I have probably been puncture free. I have around 1,200 miles on my tire, and it’s still in very good shape. Granted, I do train on the road with my mountain bike more often that I ride it off road, so I’ve probably worn it down a lot less than someone riding it on rocky trails.

I purchased this tire last year when I was preparing for Leadville. I rode a 2012 Specialized Stumpjumper Carbon Comp dual suspension 29er, which came with a Purgatory front tire that is designed more for trail riding than XC. The Purgatory was a totally terrific, grippy, confidence inspiring front tire. But it was heavy, and it didn’t seem to roll very fast on smooth surfaces, so I didn’t think it was a good choice for such a long, relatively non-technical ride like the Leadville 100.

One thing that drew me to The Captain in the first place is that Ned Overend had a hand in designing it. If Ned had anything to do with it, it HAD to be good.

I actually started out with The Captain 2.0 as my front tire. But I am a very timid descender, and I felt kind of fearful on the long downhills when I went to Leadville for a Carmichael training camp in advance of the race. I decided that I would go bigger in front, and bought a 2.2 Captain. The weight isn’t listed on the Specialized site, but I’ve seen it elsewhere at 595 grams for the 2.0, and 665 for the 2.2, which is pretty good for a 29er tire.

I don’t know if it was just mental or if the 2.2 really grips that much better than the 2.0 in front. But either way, I felt a gigantic boost in confidence on the 2.2 and was very happy that I made the switch and went bigger.

The Captain in action at the 2012 Leadville 100.
The Captain S-Works 2.2 in action at the 2012 Leadville 100.

Here’s what Specialized says about the tire:

The Captain is the perfect tire for control and predictability over any trail. Along with sharp-edged center knobs and a tightly spaced knob sequence providing traction and speed, there are stable shoulder knobs which allow aggressive cornering. An open transition space makes self-cleaning a great trait when Mother Nature gets angry.

  • Casing: 120 TPI

  • Bead: Foldable

  • Butyl wrapped bead = 2Bliss Ready

  • Center Compound: 70a / Shoulder Compound: 60a

The Captain tread view 2.2 s-works

Overall, I am very happy with this tire. Good grip, good weight, rolls fast, tubeless compatible if you want to run it that way, and no punctures for me so far. What’s not to like? I’m using it again this year for the Austin Rattler 100k qualifier for Leadville, and I’ll use it for Leadville again too, if I get in and go this year.

Questions or comments about this tire? Let me know below.

My Cheap But Effective Energy Bar

cheap energy bar rice crispy treat

I start my ride in the morning at 5:40 a.m., which means I haven’t had anything to eat since the night before. I typically ride anywhere from 27 to 47 miles before work. I can ride a shorter ride with no calories at all, but I’ve found that I feel a little better if I have at least something in my stomach before I head out.

I don’t want to consume too many calories, and I also don’t want to spend a ton of money on energy gels or Powerbars or other “real” energy bars that can cost $1 to $1.50 each. A serving of an energy drink can also be expensive, and tends to make me hungrier than eating nothing at all.

I discovered an inexpensive alternative — Rice Krispies Treats!

These come 16 to a box from the grocery store, and they’re cheap! They only have 90 calories, which is just enough to give me some fuel and not so much that I am adding too many empty calories to my diet each day. Rice, sugar and marshmallow, so they have plenty of instant carb fuel to keep you going. And the box says No High Fructose Corn Syrup on it, which appeals to me. Although strangely, it does say “corn syrup” in the ingredients of the marshmallow part of the treat, without the “high fructose” part. I’m not sure what that means, so I try not to think about it too much.

See the Kellogg’s nutritional information.

This is my day to day “energy bar” when I just need enough calories to get me through a regular training ride.

When I am racing or riding events, or riding for longer than a couple of hours, I will typically use some kind of commercial energy drink or energy bar like those from GU, Hammer Nutrition or somewhere else.

If you need something quick, cheap and easy, I recommend Rice Krispies Treats.

What do you use as a cheap energy bar or drink when you ride? Leave a comment!

Review: Clement Xplor MSO 700 x 40 gravel grinder tire

Clement Xplor MSO gravel grinder tire 700 x 40 review

I recently purchased a Clement Xplor MSO 700c x 40mm tire to test and see if that’s what I want to run for the Dirty Kanza 200 race this year. I rode it last weekend in a 100k semi-wet gravel grinder on my Orbea Terra TLT cyclocross bike, so I wanted to write a review of my experience so far with the tire.

The first thing you’ll notice about this tire is that it is seriously wide, at 40 mm. Previously, I have been riding a Stan’s Raven 700 x 38 cyclocross tire, which sounds almost as wide but doesn’t feel or look it. The Clement is much beefier.

I am new to gravel grinding, so I was drawn to this tire because of the extra wide 40 mm side. I put it on the front so that I could drift through deeper sections of gravel without that scary feeling where it seems like you have completely lost traction and you’re just kind of floating on the outside edge of control.

I ride my Stan’s Raven tires tubeless, as they are designed to be ridden. But the Clement is not described anywhere as a tubeless tire. So I have been running it with a tube for now. I saw a blog post where someone had set this tire up tubeless successfully, so I hope to try that out so that I can ride it with sealant, at slightly lower pressure, and without the extra weight and pinch flat potential of a tube. Not that I’ve never actually pinch flatted a front tire….

When I rode the tire the first time on a pavement ride, it felt like riding on a wonderful, cushiony cloud. The extra volume of the tire gives you a really nice and plush feeling. The tire ran a little bit noisier than my Stan’s Raven, but it still rolled fast enough that I wasn’t struggling to push it over pavement. I even did a short group ride where I rode this bike and everyone else was on a road bike, and was able to hang okay. So although it is a relatively heavy tire with a lot of tread, it still rolls very fast, considering.

The XPlor MSO comes in a 60 tpi and a 120 tpi version, and I bought the more expensive 120 tpi version. It is a folding bead tire. I read somewhere that it also has a Kevlar layer for flat protection, but I can’t find any information on the manufacturer’s site to verify this is the case. The tire has a claimed weight of 485 grams. (Compare to 360 grams for my Stan’s Raven tubeless 700 x 35 cyclocross tire, a narrower tire.)

Clement Xplor MSO tread view tire review

So how did the tire do on the Red River Riot gravel grinder? In short, it was completely awesome. I ran the tire at 40 pounds, and probably could have gone lower than that. But traction was outstanding at 40. It even did well going through some of the muddier spots, clearing itself pretty quickly on the other side. I never felt any scary moments on it. Maybe that means I wasn’t riding fast enough, but I’m new to gravel, so that’s my excuse. It rolled very fast and comfortably on dirt and gravel. No flats.

I am very happy with this tire, and plan to use it as my front tire for the Dirty Kanza 200. (I’m still trying to decide what I am going to use for my rear tire.)

Here is what the manufacturer says about this tire:

The X’Plor MSO is a 700 x 40mm adventure tire designed for mixed conditions. The combination of smooth-rolling center knobs and aggressive shoulder lugs provide great traction and durability for dirt roads, trails, cyclocross, urban assault and even pavement. The MSO will fit on your cyclocross bike, commuter, and touring bike.

The MSO tire is named for the airport code of Missoula, Montana, home of the Adventure Cycling Association and the inspiration for countless cycling journeys.

Clement’s X’Plor adventure tire series is designed to bridge the gap between pavement and blazing your own trail. Each tire within this series is designed for multiple conditions from off-road touring to gravel racing to just getting outta’ Dodge.

Product Features:

Size: 700 x 40 mm
Tread: Smooth-rolling center knobs and aggressive shoulder lugs. Soft rubber compound for extra grip and shock absorption.
Casing: 60tpi or 120tpi versions available.
Details: Clincher, folding bead, color black

UPDATE:

I used this tire in the 2013 Dirty Kanza 200, and it performed flawlessly. I set it up tubeless, and ran it at 37 pounds of pressure, as a front tire. I used Caffelatex sealant, and successfully finished with zero flats in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Great control in the gravel. Good comfort with the wide 40mm tire size. This tire is not listed as a tubeless tire, so I would guess that it completely voids your warranty and you are on your own if you run tubeless like I did.

Questions about the tire? Have you had experience with this tire yourself? Leave a comment and let me know!