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Posted by on Jul 27, 2018 in bikes, gear and gadgets, slider | 2 comments

My review of the Garmin Varia RTL510 radar tail light

My review of the Garmin Varia RTL510 radar tail light

As I mentioned in my post Testing my two Garmin Virb Ultra 30 cameras, I’ve been thinking more and more about the safety aspects of riding my bike, since I was hit by a car from behind last January. Due to wind noise, I didn’t notice the car until he hit me. I would have noticed that car much sooner, if I’d already had a Garmin Varia RTL510 radar tail light. I recently bought one and I love it! In this review I’ll let you know why and I’ll show you what’s in the box, how you attach the radar to the seat post, how to connect the unit to your Edge, how and when the radar works (and when it doesn’t) and the pros and cons of the RTL510. If you’d like to buy one, you can get just the light or a bundle containing the light and a small display. I chose to buy the light and control it with my Garmin Edge 810. Let’s unbox the...

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Posted by on Jul 6, 2018 in bikes, gear and gadgets, slider | 0 comments

Testing my two Garmin Virb Ultra 30 cameras

Testing my two Garmin Virb Ultra 30 cameras

Since my last accident I’ve been thinking more and more about the safety aspects of cycling. There were no witnesses of the accident in January, so it took a lot of time and effort to prove that the driver actually hit me. I’m pretty sure that we wouldn’t have had any discussions if I had a video of what actually happened that day. At that time I only had one camera, but I forgot to bring my bike mount from Sicily, so when I went out for a bike ride I had no camera on my bike. Because I was hit from behind, a camera on the front would not have been enough to show what had happened or to avoid discussions. That’s why I decided I needed a second camera to film everything behind me. There are several mounts on the Garmin website, but for attaching a camera to your seatpost, there’s only one option, the Virb tube mount. This mount is as bulky as it looked on...

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Posted by on Apr 11, 2018 in bikes, gear and gadgets, slider | 2 comments

A day at FF Wheels

A day at FF Wheels

I’ve been meaning to write this blog post for a long time now, but the guy who hit my bike with his car kinda threw a spanner in the works (and me to the asphalt). This blog post is not about the accident, but about he excellent service at FF Wheels. A few years ago, my coach advised me to buy a power meter. I decided I wanted a hub version, so I’d have the possibility to use the wheel on both my bikes. I wanted stiff wheels and after some online searching, I found a set of FF Wheels with a Powertap power meter. These FSR wheels looked amazing and had excellent reviews, so I ordered them right away. This turned out one of the best bike related purchases! The FSR wheels are indeed stiff and fast and I’ve been using them on a daily basis in sunny Sicily. This means that I’ve ridden over 40,000 km with this wheel set. Then, one day, I noticed a small...

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Posted by on Jun 9, 2017 in bikes, gear and gadgets | 4 comments

The Garmin Virb Ultra 30 – first impressions and some issues

The Garmin Virb Ultra 30 – first impressions and some issues

I’ve been posting many, many pics of the beautiful views I have during my bike rides in sunny Sicily, both on this blog and on social media. A few months ago, I decided I wanted to add a Youtube channel, so you guys would have an even better idea why many people, including myself, love cycling on this magnificent island. I chose the Garmin Virb Ultra 30 over the GoPro action camera for two reasons: 1. I can record a video or take a picture using my Edge 810 2. I can overlay data like grades, speed, elevation, etc. If you’d like to read a more in-depth review of the Garmin Virb Ultra 30, please check out this excellent review by DC Rainmaker. This blog post is about my first impressions after starting to use the Virb and about some issues I had with this camera regarding battery life and online video quality and how I solved them. The set-up: Garmin sells a handy Virb and Edge combi mount,...

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Posted by on Nov 3, 2016 in bikes, gear and gadgets | 0 comments

There, I fixed it!

There, I fixed it!

If you, like myself, don’t have magnet-less sensors, you probably use a wheel magnet and a cadence magnet for your Garmin bike computer. And if you have more than one bike, you probably bought one or two Garmin GSC10 set(s), consisting of a wheel magnet, a cadence magnet and three black zip ties. Nice, but why there are no Garmin sets with just a couple of wheel magnets? I never had to replace a cadence magnet, while I had to replace many wheel magnets. I believe I have 6 or 7 cadence magnets lying around and I probably won’t ever need them. Maybe it’s me, but I think those wheel magnets are just too damn fragile! And clearly, I’m not talking about the magnet itself, but the black u-shaped part, that goes around your spoke. The first ones I had, were made from some kind of bendy metal, so as soon as the magnet hit something (like the cadence sensor), that black part would bend and I’d either lose...

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Posted by on Oct 16, 2016 in bikes, gear and gadgets | 0 comments

Testing the Schwalbe Pro One tires

Testing the Schwalbe Pro One tires

Since I bought my first road bike, around 5 years ago, I have ridden nearly 50,000 km in sunny Sicily. While that may not be particularly impressive, I believe the fact that I never had a flat, sure is! So, are the roads on this island paved to perfection? No, not really. I was just lucky my bike shop advised me to go with Schwalbe Durano Plus. This tire has a gel layer that helps prevent punctures. For me they are the perfect tires and several pairs lasted for over 10,000 km.   I did always wonder whether the Durano Plus tires were much slower than other tires. I don’t race, but I am quite competitive on Strava, where my current tires haven’t prevented me from getting some good results. I decided to do some research and see what makes a tire fast and whether a faster tire would be a better option for me. Here are some aspects that affect speed: Tire width: I still use 23 mm...

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