Archive for Equipment
July 4, 2008 at 8:16 am · Filed under Bikes, Commuting, Cycling, Equipment, Road
Here’s a quick pictorial introduction to the new bike recruit.
The Brompton is squeezing alongside the other two bikes and trying to carve out a niche for itself.
So far it’s doing very well and I’m beginning to worry about what I’ll do with the other two.
I wonder if I could have a go at a sprint tri with it? It certainly needs to have a go at some sort of challenge event just to cement it’s street cred.
A marvel of British engineering.
Here it is in transition mode - notice the sweet pea holder built into the Brompton bag - how useful is that?
Just to continue the bike porn theme, here it is in full glory.
I’ll just finish by plugging the WizzBike - the best bike shop I’ve come across so far. Superb service, it’s based in Brentford but well worth the trip if you are interested in Bromptons, folders or Pashleys.
Popularity: 1% [?]
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Tags: bike, Brompton, Brookes saddle, folding bike
June 12, 2008 at 10:53 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets
As you all know, I think the Garmin Forerunner 305 is the best thing since sliced bread but I’m so fickle it’s taken barely a thought for me to stick it on ebay and swap it for the new version - the Forerunner 405.
I’d like to say the new and IMPROVED Forerunner 405 but is it?
Reading the spec list it’s hard to see where Garmin made any attempts to improve on what had gone before, they missed out by not making it fully waterproof and therefore tri suitable, for example. Instead they appear to have simply repackaged the existing 305 as a sports watch that can be worn all day with the bonus of a nifty touch sensitive bezel control.
Out of the box, I decided I liked the look and feel of the watch very much. Garmin put a lot of effort into design and the strap closure is ingenious, a big improvement on the 305 which kept coming loose, snagging on my clothing and risked falling off. A minor point maybe, but Garmin are big on the little details.
The watch charged fully in 3 hours by the use of a strange bulldog style clip that slips snugly into a couple of recesses on the back of the watch. Another neat design but I fear it is just going to prove an inconvenience. With the 305 you uploaded data to the PC by slotting it into a USB docking station and it would charge at the same time as uploading. I’d leave my device in for a few minutes longer and thereby ensure I always hard a fully charged unit. With the 405, uploading data is automatic and will occur while the watch is still on your wrist, which now means I’ll have to remember to charge the unit separately.
In standby mode (ie time display only) the watch will supposedly last 20 days, although I’m down to 89% charged after 1 day so I doubt it will last much longer than a week. When used in active mode the battery life is expected to be in the region of 8 hours. So that’s another charging gizmo to be added to my pile of wires under my bed.
I thought the software was a bit of a faff to install, it didn’t happen automatically and I had to hunt around to see what it was that needed to be loaded up. It comes with Training Centre but after installing it I immediately removed it again because I remembered how pants it is. Instead I’m using the ANT uploader linked to Garmin Connect which is quite a neat online training log.
Setting up the watch is a doddle and it takes you through the process quickly with a mini tutorial that teaches you the basics of the bezel control. Basically:
- press and hold on the relevant label to access either time/date, training, menu or GPS functions
- slide around the bezel to move through menu options
- tap to accept
- tap in two separate places to activate the backlight
All very easy really. I had no problems using the bezel on the run, not that you need to use it much, you can tap to nudge the screen to a different view and in virtual partner mode you can increase/decrease the pace of your partner by sliding the bezel. I’m particularly fond of that feature as it means I can ensure I win every race now.
I’ve heard a few people fearing that accidental touches of the bezel would mess up the data but they shouldn’t worry. The start, stop and lap functions are all controlled by the big side buttons. Pressing the bezel during a run just alters the view - not a big deal. I haven’t tried it with gloves but as long as they aren’t massive affairs it shouldn’t be a problem.
For my first run I decided to set up a simple interval session, run 90 secs, walk 60 secs. I know that’s lame but I’ve got a cold and needed the walk periods to retrieve my hankies and have a good blow! Easy enough to setup, you don’t even need the manual. Features and settings are much more intuitive on the 405 than with its predecessor.
The intervals were well “signposted”, I was given a 5 second warning of loud beeps followed by a clear “chirrup” that marked the start of the next interval. I didn’t miss one and I appreciated the warning. A good feature.
I personalised the display I wanted to see on the run, you can choose upto 9 features to be displayed on 3 screens. On my main screen I had pace, time and distance and I accepted the defaults for the other screens. It’s well worth playing around though as there appear to be some great features. This is available on the heart rate screen for example and shows progress within your heart rate zones.
I had set the screens to auto scroll but will turn this off for the next run, I think it is more convenient to control the screen I view by tapping the bezel, that way I don’t have to wait for it to get around to the bit I’m interested in.
Back home, I was just unlocking my door, when the watch beeped to say it was uploading data. By the time I’d staggered through the hall to the laptop, my stats were already displayed on the Garmin connect website.
As a simple everyday watch its functioning fine, but I would have preferred the power save mode to be the time and date screen, not just the time display. It’s a fiddle unlocking the bezel so I can access the date feature. Its also quite chunky so if you have a small wrist you are unlikely to find it very comfortable and it will probably overhang a little. I don’t have a small wrist though so I’m alright Jack.
I’m pretty pleased with it so far and think there are clear signs of improvement, I’ll be scrutinizing it further though and am particularly keen to see if there are any improvements with the speed in which it locks on to a GPS signal.
Popularity: 16% [?]
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Tags: asics, Forerunner, Forerunner 305, Forerunner 405, Garmin, GPS
June 3, 2008 at 8:47 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets
The Nike+ Sportband is clearly not designed for use in British weather conditions, after this mornings run in the rain the watch has died on me. It was admittedly tipping it down but it’s supposed to be a running watch and runners run in the rain, they have to.
The screen has clouded up with condensation and half the display seems to have disappeared.
It’s quite a shame really as I enjoyed the motivating aspect of the online challenges. Oh well, at least it frees up another wrist.
Popularity: 11% [?]
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Tags: Nike, Nike+ Sportband
May 29, 2008 at 10:29 pm · Filed under Software, Technical stuff
So, here is the tube map showing progress to date, you may have to zoom out to catch the extremes, depending on the size of your screen:
**UPDATE** I’ve removed the image as it seems to be slowing the blog down and crashing folks computers, you can still view The Full Screen Map over here.
If you don’t know about google maps, it’s a particularly useful little gadget. Click on the “my maps” tab and then either plot a map manually or import a data file from SportsTracks or whatever GPS mapping system you have on the computer. There are a number of examples in the previous few posts. You can colour the map as you see fit and then copy the link to an embedded image. Very swish.
I’ve been including these embedded google maps to illustrate each section of the London Underground route but have been struggling to display all the sections together on one interactive block.
There are a stack of hacks for google maps out there as well but the two I have found particularly useful are, GPS Visualizer and Map Channels.
GPS Visualizer is an incredibly in depth utility. If you are into maps, you want to check it out. It enables you to plot multiple gpx tracks onto one image and will colour them according to an amazing array of variables such as speed or altitude. You could plot atmospheric pollutants with coloured blobs suggesting density or of course simple tracks showing how slow you actually run. I’m sure I could plot my geographical tube map using GPS Visualizer but to be honest I can’t be bothered to stay up all night trying to fathom out how to do it.
Map Channels is very easy to use. It requires you to have set up all your routes as google maps already but thats not a problem for me. You can then create maps with multiple map channels visible. If you set the colour and style of the track in google maps this will be replicated in Map Channel image. Incredibly easy and yet it includes a great number of style control options.
I’ve only just started playing with this one but I’m impressed by how well it has enabled me to display multiple, differently coloured tracks.
Popularity: 7% [?]
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Tags: google maps, GPS, gps visulaizer, London Underground, map channels, maps, tube
May 25, 2008 at 12:33 am · Filed under 100 mile Challenge, Apparel, Equipment, Gadgets, Running, Salomon Challenge, Shoes
I was enjoying a nice leisurely Saturday evening when JogBlog reminded me that today was the start of our double challenge combo.
Some months ago, Salomon contacted me (and several others) with the offer of oodles of snazzy free stuff in return for the completion of some crazy running feat. I am quite prepared to commit to almost anything 2 months prior to any requirement to expend actual energy, so I said yes, thought up some crazy feat, then sat back and forgot about it while enjoying the snazzy free stuff.
Unfortunately decisions made in haste have a tendency to turn around and bite you and today is the start of that lesson.
My challenge is to recreate the central London tube line (zone 1 and most of zone 2), running between stations to create my own GPS version of the underground map. Over on the right sidebar you can see a my challenge widget kindly provided by Salomon. It suggests that I will be doing this in a mere 11 days. This is a LIE. The challenge was for a crazy running feat not a suicidal one. My aim is to complete the task within 31 days. I’m also not a “he” but I’m prepared to let that one pass.
I’m not entirely sure what I have committed to, beyond the obvious - hours spent wandering around in circles trying to find the shortest route to the next tube station on the brown line, heck, maybe I’ll even get to learn the names of all those tube lines. It’s very difficult to work out the distances between stations. The London tube map is not to scale so I’ve been printing off geographical versions, tracing pieces of string around the track and totting it all up on my abacus.
An incredibly inaccurate estimate of the track length is 100km, but when you factor in the above ground restrictions, I can imagine my total distance coming closer to the 100 mile mark. This then explains the second challenge. JogBlog is aiming to run 100m in a month as part of her Salomon challenge so we’ve decided to coincide start dates for a little bit of competitive rivalry. Can either of us actually hit the 100m target? Can I do it first?
If I win I may even be tempted to throw a game of scrabble for her.
Anyway, back to today. By 8pm the pressure has built up sufficiently for me to consider a run. I grabbed the Garmin, Nike+, N82 with Sportstracker and iPod. Tooled up with hundreds of pounds worth of gadgets I get on a bus and head towards one of the seediest areas of West London. I was not in slightest bit surprised that when I puffed past a group of lads on the North End Road one of them said “Shall we mug her for her….” I didn’t hear the what for part, I wasn’t really hanging around at the point. Maybe they took a shine to my incredibly red Salomon XT Wings?
I wanted to start off slowly today so aimed to tick off one of the smallest sections of tube line on my map. That’s the district line (green line), Kensington Olympia branch and Hammersmith branch. I made a bit of a bodge though and included West Brompton into the mix which, although part of the district line, is actually on the Putney branch. So I messed up on the easiest section of the whole month, I may have to write tube names up my arm for the trickier sections. As it is, I’m running with the Nokia N82 in my hand watching the little dot moving around the google maps image.
View Larger Map
So todays tally:
Salomon XT Wings Challenge
6 Tube Stations complete
5.26 km total
Sports Tracker map with photos.
Warriorwoman vs Jogblog 100m Challenge Combo
3.3 miles total
…and in case you are all feeling sorry to be missing out on all these challenges, there is a third one starting on the 1st of June. Tis the annual Juneathon where you commit to run every single flipping day for a month. Head over to Joggerblogger’s joint to sign up and if you have a Nike+ thingummy you can join the challenge here as well.
Popularity: 14% [?]
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Tags: District Line, Garmin, GPS, London Underground, n82, Nike, nokia, Salomon Challenge, tube
April 28, 2008 at 11:10 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets
I’m supposed to be off work at the moment on study leave but it may as well be called gardening leave as I’m spending all my time on the allotment. Today I thought I’d make my non-studying day a little bit more productive by running to the plot and I’m glad I did as it brought me and the sportband just that little bit closer.
As usual I left the house with both wrists laden with super sporty gadgets but the garmin was playing me about big time. I was walking down the street exceedingly slowly but it was still taking an age sighting satellites. As I passed WHSmith I got bored and nipped in to see if they had anymore veg growing gazettes that I hadn’t yet read.
They hadn’t.
I went back out and the flippin garmin started back from scratch scanning the skies. A couple of minutes later, after numerous elderly folk had stood on the backs of my heels I decided it was time to start running - the gps would just have to run along behind me.
500m later the garmin beeped at me and asked if I was actually inside! I switched it off - power to the people! I was only running 2k so I couldn’t afford 10 mins at the start just to capture data, I could have walked it in that time.
No such nonsense from Nike+ Sportband. Just switch on, walk, press start - RUN.
My new discovery, the bit that makes me almost love the sportband, is all down to Buckeye. The training log over there on the righthand sidebar is driven by buckeyeoutdoor and if you have a blog you owe it to yourself to register and get yourself a widget - just look how cool it is! They’ve set up a Nike+ challenge and if you join that and then enter your Nike+ username in your profile, all your runs get automatically uploaded. In this day and age where I seem to be uploading my stats to about a million trillion different online logs, that sort of convenience is just impossible to resist.
Popularity: 20% [?]
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Tags: allotment, buckeyeoutdoors, Forerunner, Garmin, GPS, Nike, Nike+ Sportband
April 26, 2008 at 11:41 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets
I’ve taken my time to write this post because I’m not sure whether to come clean about my sins or to attempt a bluff.
I was sent the Nike+ Sportband to try out at the beginning of the week but as I don’t have holes in my running shoes I couldn’t possibly go running before I had some hi-tech means of carrying my speed sensor - you wouldn’t catch me putting gaffer tape on my Kayanos unlike Joggerblogger and Jogblog.
The little thingammy pouch that I ordered from ebay arrived just before I left for work on Wednesday though, so I pretty much had no choice but to pack my bags and prepare for an enforced running commute.
My first impressions of the strap weren’t great, I wondered why Nike would design the watch to have a ridiculous piece of plastic wedged underneath the usb face. It angled the watch and meant I kept catching it on my sleeve. Thankfully I spotted the photo of joggerbloggers sleak sportband before I went out in public, the plastic bit is meant to be thrown away! Moron. Now I’m wearing it as a watch although I have to ask the person sitting next to me to read it as I haven’t got used to deciphering the vertical numbers and the screen is too dark but I still think it looks cool.
Anyway, back to the running.
When I left the house it was chucking it down so I packed the long sleeve top again, of course when I left work it was flippin scorching and just to ensure that I got heat stroke at the edge of a deserted canal I left the building with my empty water bottle in hand. With no means of re-entering the building I had to set off sans hydration system - bollox!
3 seconds later the Sportband is telling me to start walking but the garmin is persistently ignoring my request to locate my position. I can’t start walking now or the garmin will have a paddy fit. By the time the gps picks up the Nike system has gotten bored and gone back into clock mode, who can blame it?
I was feeling hot, sweaty and lethargic so I pretty much ignored both gadgets for the first 4k as thoughts vacillated between diving in the canal and diving in the canal. When I entered Brentford I headed straight for the nearest shop where I knocked back a bottle of water before I reached the till and handed over 90p for an empty bottle of plastic.
I set off again but now thoughts were of cool beers, enjoyed by the rivers edge. As I’ve never been known to resist the lure of beer and I was just about to reach the Thames river bank, I rather shockingly dived into the next shop and came out with a can of Stella. Now beer can’t be shaken so I paused both gadgets while I wandered down to the river. I thought I’d just enjoy my can and then carry on with the run.
Oh baaaaad runner! I thought it would be rather pleasant sitting with my legs dangling in the river enjoying a refreshing brew but the reality was rather seedy. I’m clearly a runner - running clobber and shoes, beetroot face and sweat, not one but two running watches and headphones in ear, only I’m walking and not just walking, this is no-good can swigging bum walking. About 300 hundred proper runners came past me in and in the end I realised I wasn’t enjoying this whole cool beer thing and tipped it all away.
Running was pretty tricky from here on in, 300m run, huge gasp, hands to temples and then walk for 1km - repeat. Nice treat at the end as there was a new piece of graffiti on my steps. Not quite Banksy but it isn’t bad.
Painful but the Sportband faired pretty well.
Total garmin distance (running only): 5.78km
Nike Sportband distance (running only): 5.65km
No way of telling which was the most accurate but they were close enough to ensure that I’ll never bother calibrating the Nike Sportband.
Post run, the usb face automatically uploads (after inserting into the usb port of course) to the Nike+ website and displays whizzy graphs.
The Nike+ website is pretty good if you like online motivation. You can join no end of challenges to push you out of the door and it looks like the next Nike organised run will be a worldwide Nike+ only event. The sportband is a great way of a gaining entry to the event, its also got to be one of the cheapest available speed and distance monitors on the market.
Popularity: 32% [?]
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Tags: commute, Garmin, GPS, Nike, Nike+ Sportband, Stella, thames
February 3, 2008 at 11:14 pm · Filed under Equipment, Running, Shoes
I cut last weeks long run short to attend pressing matters at the allotment so this week I thought I’d reverse my priorities - head to the plot first and then leave the afternoon free for running. After a few hours of digging in the wind I couldn’t decide if I was more in need of back stretching run or a luxurious hot muscle soak waiting at home.
A mere 2k into the run and the muscle soak proposition was a clear winner, I was seriously considering a sharp left manoeuvre even though it might have been hard to try and pass off the short 5k loop as the weeks long run. Fortunately by 2.5k my spirits were soaring, I seemed to have discovered my new shoes. The run started to feel like a gentle jaunt across a sea of fluffy clouds and I was beginning to wonder if I could extend the run.
Don’t you just love new shoe days?
I’ve always run in Asics, I started with 2120’s but after a spate of problems with my ITB, a visit to the physio and a trip to the local specialty shoe shop to have my gait assessed, I moved up to the shockingly expensive Asics Kayano 13 model. I love everything about this shoe, except for the price, so when the Runnersworld Spring Shoe guide came out last week I poured over it in search of an equally comfy shoe at half the price of course it still nedded to be ideal for the overweight over-pronator. I found the ideal shoe but it wasn’t half the price, in fact I think it was a touch more expensive - Asics have brought a new Kayano model, the Asics Gel Kayano 14 and if possible it seems to be an improvement on my existing shoe.
So if I’m not prepared to settle for a cheaper shoe, I need to find a cheaper source for my fancy running shoes. I’ve just ordered from a new online retailer, Distance.co.uk, who were offering the Kayano 14’s at £88.99 with free delivery. Mine arrived the next day, so I’ll definitely be using them again.
Back to the run, I was springing along the track, realising that my mojo had returned. Full of the joys of running, I was back to sweating, puffing and grinning as the usual Richmond Park breeze did it’s best to flatten me.
I was still smiling at 9k so when I noticed the offroad track that has tempted me for the last couple of months, I cut across the road and headed for the hills.
I love it when running feels like this - when pace seems irrelevant and the spirit of adventure grabs you, I wasn’t even worried to dirty my new shoes.
I think I’ll be saving these for the Wilmslow half so I can look forward to a morning of running on clouds.
Distance: 12.36 km
Time: 1:43:19
Popularity: 28% [?]
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Tags: allotment, asics, runnersworld
January 11, 2008 at 12:47 am · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets
What a question - of course I do!
Just check out the ring of light, how have I managed to live so long without it?
It’s not too clear how the new Garmin Forerunner 405 compares to our trusty friend the 305. Sure there are the beauty enhancements and some wizadry that enables wireless upload to the PC as you stagger in from the streets, but I want to know if the satellite reception is going to be improved. It is going to be hard to improve on the Forerunner 305 but speedy satellite lock on is the way to go.
I’m still having one though - just tell me when. I might even consider entering a good ole US event if it means I could get it earlier.
*UPDATE*
Here’s a link to an important FAQ on the new forerunner 405, I’m a little disappointed that Garmin didn’t take the opportunity to make some obvious improvements to the forerunner series. It’s waterproof rating is still only sufficient for coping with sweat and possibly splashing in a particularly shallow puddle. Why didn’t they fully waterproof this beast so that it could become the clear option for triathletes? As it is, swimmers are going to go elsewhere for their gadget fix or continue to shove the unit under their swimming caps.
I can’t pick out any functional improvements at all, it’s just in a different box - quite a pretty one though.
Popularity: 25% [?]
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Tags: Forerunner, Forerunner 305, Forerunner 405, gadget, Garmin, Swimming
January 2, 2008 at 11:30 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets
It’s true, my Garmin is trying to kill me. While the BBC are issuing warnings for the UK softies to stay indoors for fear of catching a chill in the forecast cold spell, my Garmin thinks it would be fun to give me hypothermia. It has me standing outside, scantily clad in running gear, hopping from foot to foot while it lethargically glances from one satellite to another. I wouldn’t mind so much but the N82 locked onto a signal from indoors, and I don’t mean indoors but dangling from out of a window either - I was in the basement changing room of the gym. How does it do that?
I’m sneezing now.
New Years Eve turned into a productive, if quite expensive, evening, I was stone cold sober as I’ve gone tee total-ish (6 out of 7 days) and I spent the evening scouring the net for interesting races. I’ve signed myself up for the next 6 months. The next biggy is the Wilmslow half marathon at the end of March, so just as I was feeling smug that Jogblog had to stick to a punishing 1/2 mara schedule, I find myself needing to get up close and personal to the weekly long slow run myself. Aargh!
I signed up first and did my research later, which explains how I managed to enter a half marathon with a cut off time of 2:35:00. Flip! That also explains my rash decision to ditch the Stella, I don’t think I will knock 20 mins off my time through training alone, but surely life will be easier if I ditch a couple of stone by the wayside. I’m leaving 1 day of Stella in the mix to celebrate my weekly lsr, lets call it motivation.
Popularity: 23% [?]
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Tags: Garmin, n82, OGB, Stella
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