I'm baaaaaack!!!!

And better than ever. New computer and now wireless high speed makes me much more efficient than trying to do everything on my cell phone. I am amazed at how strong of a signal I get, must be new tech in these rocket sticks, and I'm also impressed at the speed. Hopefully I can keep to my 5GB/month limit..........errrrr damn you 21MB/s !!

Testing - WTB Silverado Saddle

This shows the relief cutouts on the bottom.

WTB Silverado Team Saddle

Out of the box
Quite noticeable upon first encounter of this saddle is the low profile. Now it seems the trend of saddles has taken a minimalistic turn for the potentially worse. This is contributing to larger and thicker chamois to make up for the reduced padding at the saddle level. This is sort of the case with the WTB but in a subtle manor. It sort of sits in the middle between cushy and slab of wood. On the under side you can see some cut outs for pressure point relief which is helpful because this saddle is somewhat pointy in the hind quarters.

On the trail
Ok so this area is very subjective I know. What’s good for some is horrible for others, this saddle is no exception. It definitely brings out the love it or hate it opinions, there seems to be no middle ground for those just trying to get by on a universal saddle.
It seems to be tailored quite well to my bony ass. When I first used it I actually hated it. Rode it twice then took it off my bike and put on an Arionne which I was also using on my road bike at the time. Well for one reason or another I ended up coming back to the Silverado. I think it was because I needed to use it out of necessity having sold all of my other saddles at the time. I gave it a good two weeks and it really started to grow on me. Not only was I breaking it in, it seemed to be breaking me in too, lol. I must say out of all the saddles I’ve used, this one is the least prone to giving me saddle sores and never bothers me in the one area that I always seemed to get them before. I have put a lot of hours and miles on the Silverado, using it on a number of different bikes including my hardtail. Took me a while to warm up to it but I’m glad I did because it seems to fit me very well now.
The profile offers very little in the way of seating positions. At the same token it takes very little effort to slide forward into a climbing posture. It is fairly wide at the back and offers decent support but is still easy to pass through the legs for particularly harrowing descents. Probably more suited to a race saddle due to its singular position capacity and minimal padding. That said though I have done many a 4-6 hour ride with no complaints, but then again I am hardcore ;-)

Specs and features (actual)
Length: 28cm
Stack Height: 4.5cm
Rail Length: 7.5cm
Weight: 245grams
The saddle is pretty low profile, a nice characteristic for its intended use as a mountain bike saddle. Has a relatively low stack height, not too long, slender width but flares out fairly wide at the back.

Verdict
If you are looking for a cheap and light saddle this is about as good as it gets without getting too cheap. It comes in a couple different varieties with Ti rails and leather that are a bit more spendy. Still not too high in price though and they drop a couple grams. If you get a chance to ride one, make sure you get a couple good rides on it before you judge whether it is a good fit for you or not. I’d say it is on my short list of go-to saddles if I need something cheap and fairly light to throw on a bike. I would and have bought this saddle after market, which is a pretty good indicator if I like something or not. I give the Silverado two buns up.

Pros
-light weight
-cheap
-nice mountain biking profile

Cons
-love it or hate it fit
-no flash

Rating
Performance: 13.5 cm of snow out of a projected 16cm
Value: $3000.00 on your Christmas credit card out of $3150.00

An illustration of its tapered profile. Narrow at the front, wider at the back.

A bit of a hammock to the mid section. Just enough to be comfortable without making your butt gravitate right into it.

The adjustment on the rails.

Testing - Avid Elixir R Hydraulic Disk Brake Review

Out of the box
Well first impressions of this brake are great. It has a nice beefy look and great attention to detail. There is no bulky reservoir, it is nicely integrated into the master cylinder (aka brake lever). I instantly look for features like banjo fittings and pad retaining system. More on that stuff later.
The G3 rotors look great though I wish there was a centre-lock version.

On the trail
This is where the Elixir's really show their stuff. Braking power is among the best I've experienced. Even after some mileage it doesn't seem like they are suffering from rotor glaze at all. They still perform like new with that bitey metallic feel. This could be attributed to the aggressive slotting (or cut-outs) in the rotor. I can't tell yet if this will adversely affect pad life but a new, larger surface area pad should offset any extra wear from the new rotor.
Talk about power! These things are 1 finger braking at its finest. Not too grabby but keep adding pressure and the brake responds with a nice linear power curve with zero sponge (ahem Juicy).

Technical features
Lets talk about banjo mounts. I like em, they are easy to work on and give you an adjustable hose entry angle (no perverted jokes please). The Elixir R doesn't have them which is a bit of a shame. Saving grace is that they actually come on the upgraded CR model so it gives you an excuse to spend the extra $.
The master cylinder has an "easy" adjust lever position dial built in. It adjusts how far the lever sits from the bar, it has nothing to do with lever throw. There was a lever throw adjust on most of the Juicy models which really didn't seem to do much. Back to the Elixir "easy" adjust dial which really isn't easy to turn at all. Seems to get jammed up and mostly has to be adjusted while gloveless. Not a huge deal since you only really need to adjust it once to your liking and never touch it again.
The new pad retaining system uses a bolt like many Shimano systems to securely hold the pad and is waaaaay easier than that crappy Juicy system which sucked. With the Elixir you just loosen and remove the small Torx bolt and pop the old pads out and new ones in. Tighten the bolt back up and go ride.
The master cylinder may look beefy but it actually has a very small footprint on the bar. It does have a fairly long profile, especially for one finger braking, but thanks to its accommodating shape I easily mounted it to the inside of my XT shifters.

Verdict
I think this brake is my new number one. I'm not going to completely jump to conclusions here since I don't have a ton of hours on it and I have yet to bleed one. I already like it a pile more than the Juicy which was really a sub par brake with a lot of issues. I love how solid it feels with a nice snappy return action and no mush. It is sexy to boot. Specifically the Elixir R is the best brake I've used in the $200 category.

Pros
- light weight (Elixir R is actually lighter than the fancy carbon CR model)
- price
- braking power and consistency
- looks

Cons
- no banjo mounts on Elixir R caliper
- lever reach adjustment dial is hard to turn
- no Avid centre-lock rotor option

Rating
Value - 22 delicious advent calendar chocolates
Performance - 15 feet out of an 18 foot tall Griswold family Christmas tree.


Lever Profile, rather long but mounts inside shifter.


Cool G3 rotor. Great braking.


Pads just drop in. I didn't even have to take the wheel off.


Adjustment Dial. Hard to use, half of it is hidden by the shifter.



New, larger pads don't help with power but do accommodate a larger caliper piston which does increase clamping force.

One legged drills and Porsche spills

Just finished up a short fun one legged drill ride. One leg at a time for one minute at a time for just 20min. Boy if you ever want to feel useless on a bike give this a shot. Flex your abs and squeeze you butt for core stability and to support your hip flexors. Good little drill to compliment your program.

Oh and just on a side note I was sorta in a car wreck as a passenger in a $150 000 GT3. Hit the wall in turn 3 at Mosport at about 100km/h. No harm done to me or driver except mild whiplash but my heart does go out to the family of the GT3.

Benno

November Nights

So how is your November training going? Pffff training in November, yeah right.....right? Anyways no matter what you do don't be afraid to throw a leg over. Frozen dirt is super tacky and rolls fast, it's a good time and no damn bugs. The key is clothing in layers. I was at about Def con 2 tonight.


Light booties, gloves, touque, and my good friend SCMR-16 is how you do tempo rides in November. A good pair of clear glasses keep your eyes from glazing over.

Testing - Trail Tech SCMR-16 Bicycle Light

Every once in a while a product comes along that redefines your standards. It transforms you into a rolling salesman much to the annoyance of anyone caught in your path. The Trail Tech my friends is one of those products. Let me summarize it like this for you; it is more than twice as bright and half the price of anything else worth comparing to it.
Now this is not a flavour of the month thing for me. I used to night ride a ton in the winter when I lived in a town that didn't get so much white stuff. I have owned this light for 4 years now and put a ton of mileage on it. The SCMR-16 was conceived by the company Trail Tech for motorcycles and ATV's. Some riders have even used it in the prestigious and insane Paris-Dakar rally. It was designed to be hardwired right to your motorized vehicles power supply. Enter BatterySpace, sort of a slightly sketchy 3rd party battery company that offered a Lithium Ion battery solution to power this beast.
Though I had my concerns about the reliability of the battery I forged ahead and went through with the order.
After a lot of use I must say I have no complaints about my BatterySpace experience but I have still heard bad reviews so I don't give them a full recommendation. Trail Tech now offers complete cycling kits with LiIon batteries so I would suggest buying straight from them which my friend did.

Out of the Box
First thing that struck me was the bulk of the headlamp. Actually it came with a cheap useless bar mount and was never really designed to be used as a helmet light but that wasn't going to stop me. I jimmy rigged it with some strapping, a cut apart NiteRider mount, and half of a scotch tape roll core. The light got its own designated helmet courtesy of my old Giro Monza that didn't match my new kit (no one can tell in the dark). Soon to be moved to my Bell Sweep, going with the new Volt next year.
The battery is contained in a large-ish waterbottle but is surprisingly light. Everything connects together nicely with one way plugs which have a screw collar to keep them secure. A simple on/off switch which mounts on the helmet is easy to operate. All wiring was done by BatterySpace and I have no complaints.

The Details
The battery is a powerhouse and gets me about 3 hours of light, even after 4 years. It takes about 7 hours to charge, roughly twice as long as others but you gotta remember it is powering a 30 watt HID which is 2x the wattage.
Like I mentioned the bulb is a 30 watt HID which produces a ridiculous 1850 lumens. To put that into perspective, the $900 top of the line NiteRider is 900 lumens. There are two beam patterns to chose from, spot and flood. I chose flood which is perfect for singletrack. My friend has the spot which throws insanely far and is a newer slightly slimmer design.
The light can get hot, especially in warmer summer nights. It has an auto shutoff to prevent meltdown which can be abrupt and terrifying as day instantly turns to night. It turns itself back on when it cools down which is pretty cool.

Out on Trail
The good part about the extra power is that there is no real hot spot. I don't even need to point the light, it is just bright everywhere. It is a warm white light, not blue, and creates very little shadow effect giving great depth perception. Crazy though I still feel like I could use more light. I can out ride the reach of the flood on doubletrack so I was toying with the idea of running the flood on the bar and a spot on the head. This is just me being picky though. Ride this light on the road or around town at night and laugh as cars stop and flash their highbeams, drunk teenagers scream and run (no joke). Me and my friend also had a city bus stop to take a closer look fearing the apocalypse. This light is all business and does its job very well. I would buy another one in a heartbeat and probably will.

Specs
30 watt HID
1850 lumens
11.1 volt 10400mAh battery
$379 USD

Pros
Bright is an understatement
Very good value
Auto heat switch prevents melting

Cons
Big and heavy
Gets hot

Rating
Value - 1800 lumens out of 1850 lumens
Performance - 9000 mAh out of 10400 mAh

First Flakes

Well there was no denying or ignoring it. Small patches of sunshine were broken up by bouts of showers, sleet, hail, and yes big ol snowflakes. Got me thinking of last year and how the snow came fast and plentifull mid November and stayed for the season. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow. Can't wait to get out skate skiing again at Hardwood.
Also coming up is a yearly tradition of mine, The Tall Pines Rally. See I like motorsports almost as much as I like cycling. Snow always makes this event more interesting. You should check it out if you get the chance. Come watch celebraties like Dave Mirra and Ken Block throw down against the pros. Check out this link for more info.
http://www.tallpinesrally.com/
Keep er sideways,
Ben