Now what?

This is my local bike shop. Right now, it probably looks a lot like yours. It is littered with bikes and kit. In the back there’s an espresso machine. After rides (when there are rides) coffee and conversation is kindly doled out for free.

Like everything else in Europe, it is now closed. One thousand square feet of dormant, dark space. Before the spread of COVID 19 changed cycling and everything else, it and shops like it were already in peril, besieged by direct-to-consumer models that were pushing at the margins. What will happen when they eventually re-open? How many will pivot to a “shop-for-services” model, focusing on builds, tune-ups, fittings and aero measurements for athletes to augment sales and survive?

LBSs have been on the back foot for a while. We all know this. Part-sales like brakes, cassettes, chains, lubes, pedals, bar-tape, lights and batteries have already been lost to the Internet (partially because of how little shop floor space they occupy in physical stores). Bike sales aren’t far behind. Will COVID force their hand?

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While the world watches COVID, the way cycling does business is forever changing. The impact stretches beyond LBSs. The 2020 race calendar looks to have started with Omloop and finished with Paris-Nice. This week, Le Col started selling kit for indoor rides; races (for the time being) have moved to Zwift. Companies are doubling-down on digital for some semblance of continuity.

Castelli - from one of the world’s worst COVID regions - connected with their mailing list Friday in very plain speak with a discount code and an acknowledgement of the current pandemic. “Right now feels like the worst headwind or the biggest climb we’ve ever faced. And the end isn’t just around the next bend,” the company said. Small shops, builders and behemoth brands the world over followed suit, discussing how closures will change how they operate.  

Cycling faces some real risks in the current context. Small races will be cancelled and their long-term viability possibly jeopardized. Riders won’t be motivated to train (what for?); ride volume in general will decrease affecting kit designers. And on it goes.

In 2018, we interviewed Eric Min, the CEO of Zwift, on his platform as a vehicle for safer cycling. While few would have predicted it, even him, virtual rides are now a key lifeline; a reminder of how important cycling is for so many. It is a hobby, a passion and a vital part of our (social)lives.

Every climb has a descent, every sprint, a finish. I have a mountain of kit to write about for this blog, but in the current environment, staying healthy and staying inside are more important. COVID means changes for bike shops, businesses and cycling in general. This too shall pass. But for LBSs already facing headwinds, it just might be the domino that was needed to rethink their model entirely.

An antidote to chaos, Vitti Cycling shuns scale for style

Stand for something or stand for nothing. Of several well-articulated answers lobbed at me during a recent Hangout with photographer, designer and entrepreneur, Guido Vitti, this is the most memorable.

Memorable because it could be a Rule for Life, added to twelve others in a book of the same name. A guide to navigating a chaotic time in life and in modern design. It hangs in the air with the same effect. In reality, however, it’s just good advice given to him a long time ago; a principle that drives much of his work.

Vitti Cycling has taken its time crafting an image that is carefully curated on their Instagram. It is getting noticed. After shooting for big brands for two decades, he and partners now have their sights set on building their own, stitching together a kit co. that reflects interests rooted in research, careful sourcing, and manufacturing that ignores repetitive design, focusing instead on the classicism commonly associated with cycling’s post-war golden age.

“I’ve always wanted to bring my art and my aesthetic to what we see is a very repetitive marketplace,” he explains. “Ours is design birthed from a moment in time so often romanticized with all the benefits modern manufacturing can yield.”

Italian backroads are the backdrop for the company’s mood boards and the narrative from which they hope to create a cycling brand. Why would you make bibs anywhere else that looks like everything else, they say?

After their soft-launch last September, Vitti is getting ready to ramp up again this Spring. Their first full year in biz will see it add cold weather kit to the shop by Autumn. Over the winter, they’ve been busy building a narrative that will slowly drip throughout the year - a story intended to remind people why they ride. “Cycling lends focus which then lets me focus on my life,” Vitti explains. “That’s what’s so intoxicating about riding. What we see in the market doesn’t necessarily reflect that and other elements we’re passionate about.”

The cycling kit market is a crowded one, he admits, but their intent is never to be the brand of the moment. The next juggernaut. They just want to offer their stuff to people who ride at the exclusion of everything else. The noise and gradation that is dominant today can be done differently, they believe. A vision that sits at the crossroads of cycling’s past and present.

“Not to be flippant, but I really don’t care much what other companies are doing. Our kit is made for riding, for people who love cycling and who are modern-minded. That’s where we’re hoping we can make our bones in this industry.”

Taking on giants can be an impossible thing. Vitti, instead, will double-down in 2020 on casting its unique aesthetic out into the world. Probably a little riding, too. Kit review to follow.

Four reasons to train on rollers versus fixed wheel indoor setups

I’ve no idea if riding rollers for 30 mins several times a week will make me stronger. All signs however point to yes. In any case, I’m not sure I care. The puddles of sweat underneath suggest effort and benefit. I’ll take it.

I initially labeled them complicated when they came from Elite (stupid Internet) - which is probably why they sat unboxed for months. That, and I’ve not been motivated to do structured training for years. But now I get it. Rollers - these in particular - feel like more of a traditional training tool than many modern Smart Trainers; an analogue rebuke to omnivorous cycling tech.

Would I recommend them for a 3-hour Zwift? No. But I don’t want to Zwift. Ever. Elite’s Quick Motion rollers are the stopgap to foregoing high intensity efforts that I’ve been after. Here’s why I’d recommend them over fixed wheel setups.

Christ, they’re efficient. 15 x 30. Ramps. Big Blocks. My Strava reads like I’ve morphed from roller-curious to roller-obsessed, their awesomeness growing with each sync. It’s the first bit of structured training I’ve done in years (check out these recommended 30-minute sessions). They’re proving addictive. I might even be enjoying myself. I’m routinely downstairs in a grim but well-lit storage locker spinning 4 times a week. It is 2017 again. I care about having good legs come Spring, even if it means some turbo time.

Yes, you can do the same workouts on any trainer – rollers or otherwise. Rollers amount to more than simply turning the pedals however; they build stability, too, something I desperately lack. I’d argue I’m getting more of the training I need, and in small structured blocks that neatly fit into a busy-ish schedule. As my interest wanes in doing winter ride levels of laundry, I’m am defaulting to them more often.

If you lack stability and core strength, read on. I know I lack core strength. Despite this, I’ve not changed my training much other than recently adding 10 minutes of daily foam roller time to my routine. This is insane, given how, in two weekly 30-minute core sessions, I could compensate and be stronger, draw more power from a strong midsection and enjoy more general suppless. Slothfulness, however, generally wins.

Lightweight and compact, rollers are a natural companion for 30-minute efforts, warming up and cooling down.

Rollers have stepped in as a good solution. You can’t simply tune out on the QM’s, but are forced to engage core, arm and shoulder muscles if the desire is to stay upright, which it should be. The result is a muscular engagement you wouldn’t get otherwise - a tangible benefit that’s immediately transferable to more strength and better posture on the road.

They are compact and transferable. Euro flats don’t come with big basements. And heavy turbo trainers aren’t easy to transport, which is why many spatially challenged, highly mobile athletes opt for rollers. The Quick Motion rollers fold up to roughly the size of two large stacked shoeboxes. They also tuck well under bed frames. Pull them out, hop on your bike and start riding. Their simplicity makes them an easy relationship to have in your life, no matter where it is you want to use them.

They float. And floating is awesome. There’s about 5 cm of linear float on the QM rollers. So when pedalling at higher intensity or standing up, the give mimics some of the dynamism of actual riding (IRL). Initially this feels unstable, so much that you think you’re going to come off because the base moves slightly backwards and forwards. But once you get comfortable with the play, it gets easy (with a wall at arm’s length). With time, each movement is a game at which I’m getting skilled and strong.

Elite’s Quick Motion rollers retail for around $300. More at https://www.elite-it.com/en/products/home-trainers/rollers/quick-motion.

Will it ever be cool to wear team kit?

It’s January, which means we’re riding again after a couple well-earned weeks off the bike. For you, wherever you’re reading this, hopefully you’ve had the same. Spring racing feels not so far away all the sudden. Time to get serious. We’ve been filling the hours with back episodes of Life in the Peloton, on Elite’s Quick Motion rollers and plotting Spring editorial on HNH. Go time.

A number of pithy press releases have also come across the desk in Jan. Among them, news from apparel juggernaut, Rapha, about the company’s EF-sponsored team kit, updated for 2020 and now available on their site.

They are flashy. They are loud. They are a little bit 90’s. The question remains: will you break the “rules” and wear it? “My theory is that it is a result of kits being used as a tool to satisfy multiple sponsors and stake holders within the team, it ends up leaving a lot of kits looking like corporate manuals repurposed as kit – designs that don’t take the average fans’ taste into account,” says Angelo Trofa, who designed the EF and Canyon//SRAM kits for Rapha on why historically team kits aren’t worn.

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Flashback time: it’s 2010 and I am standing in the French alps. Armstrong is riding his last Tour. I am wearing a long sleeve FDJ jersey bought in Bourg-d'Oisans. I am cheering. Happy, even. I do not know better. It feels awesome.

Who wears pro team kit? Only posers and real pros, right? Cycling Tips nailed the sentiment that’s become cycling gospel in a 2019 post; while largely (somewhat?) true - who honestly wears Sky blue? - it is also slightly ridiculous.

"Our intentions with the EF Pro Cycling kit for 2020 was an evolution of the 2019 design, injecting a new angle whilst telling the same story,” explained Angelo Trofa, product designer. “We wanted to create something which went in hand with the aim of the team: To disrupt the pro peloton. Design references were pulled from late ‘80s and early ‘90s surf and skate apparel.”

Team kit isn’t worn because it isn’t earned. It’s really that simple. And from a fan POV, with sponsors, team names and riders changing all the time, team kit becomes a moment in time just as fast. (That Skil Shimano jersey might be vintage; looked at another way, just an open invitation for unwanted aspersions.)

HNH staffers aren’t pros, but we sure AF aspire to dress like them. Shaved legs, socks up high and an emulation of style that is such a massive part of cycling’s heritage. That’s the rub with the EF/Rapha kit: it’s still Rapha. Still awesome. Same everything. Yet that hesitancy remains.

If there’s one brand that will break the pro team kit “rule,” this is the one. While I don’t expect the road around me to be littered with bright pink, mullets and moustaches anytime soon, I do expect many will dawn the EF kit precisely because it’s as unique as several of the personalities they have riding for them.

Will you Karoo? Hammerhead makes a strong case for device migration

(PHOTO CREDIT: ABOVE) The Karoo is South Africa’s ‘soul space.’ A part of the country that attracts eccentrics, hippies, crafters and outsiders. (Thank you, Guardian travel ). Searchers of empty space and deserted gravel roads. And it’s from this dry, arid part of the continent that cycling’s most user-friendly head-unit borrows its name. So will it be your next bike device?

For Garmin and other cycling computers, Karoo’s migration from startup to competitor has been hard to miss. It’s used in more than 100 countries and has built a user community in unofficial support groups, with their blog content and through in-app Strava marketing. Never have I rode with such a chatter-inducing piece of tech. Fans include ex-pro George Hincapie; a Velonews profile of Bobby Julich’s Pinarello Grevil has the stealthy black square perched and ride-ready.

If you’ve eyed its features, you’re not alone. It is simple and intuitive to use (though I still struggle with a couple key features) and always improving (recent upgrades included support for e-drivetrains Di2, Sram, Campy EPS and Garmin’s Varia). Weighed against the feature-sets deemed essential by most (by HNH, anyway) - weight, nav and battery life - it is the market leader in many respects. Let’s look at it against those features and the device many will liken it to, the Garmin 1030.

The weighting is the hardest part - Somewhere in a New York City boardroom, a group of Hammerhead product managers and designers are scrutinizing Karoo’s hardware. It is noticeably large. As one curious onlooker remarked during a recent club ride, it’s downright beefy.

To be exact, the Karoo weighs 54 percent more than the Garmin 1030. In future iterations, it’s easy to imagine buttons cut (5 in the Karoo versus 3 in the 1030) and more reliance placed on the device’s phone-like touch screen. Once clicked in, rest assured, the weight is unnoticeable. Steering clear of a device for weight-weenie rage-inducing 68 grams is ridiculous.

The Hammerhead device is definitely beefy: 192 grams compared to 124 grams for the Garmin 1030.

Another item to note: though the company’s site says “the Karoo is compatible with any quarter-turn compatible Garmin mount,” it wasn’t with mine. If fit, but it was crazy tight. I was concerned about cracking the backplate so I only used the Hammerhead-issued mount.**

Navigation - Where Hammerhead has made the most compelling case for user adoption is with its navigation capabilities. Uploading or creating routes on the 1030 is painful by comparison; you have to download GPX or equivalent files, then navigate Garmin’s complicated file system to populate, sometimes requiring multiple attempts. The in-ride experience is also lesser then; following the triangle along the route isn’t hard, but it isn’t obvious or good, either. Garmin will surely remedy this; mapping is very static and out of step with other touch screen experiences.

Using the Karoo is markedly different. I often pull people’s routes from Strava when planning for trips or exploring nearby roads. Karoo has nailed this user-experience:

• Log-in to your Karoo profile online.

• Download the GPX file from Strava.

• Drag and drop the file onto your Karoo profile page, route builder section on your laptop.

• It auto-populates on your device.

Dead-simple. Route planning anywhere in the world will never be the same. The turn-by-turn instructions are easy to spot on the large colour screen and you can still view in-ride vitals (power, HR, etc…). One routing function I’ve not yet mastered is creating in-ride directions, though I now know this involves a long hold while stopped, dropping a pin in the desired location and routing directions auto-populate - something I’ll have to try again next time I need alternate routing options home.

The juice is loose - One of the options I’ve come to love most on the Garmin 1030 is the “auto-off,” which effectively leaves you with a blank screen while riding but still capturing data. This prolongs battery life to more than the stated 15 hours. The stated battery life of the Karoo is also 15 hours; you can play with the brightness and manually put the device to sleep, but the same auto-off function isn’t available. That said, the device keeps plenty of charge. One percent lasted for 10 kilometers on a recent ride where I came in on fumes. The battery life held fine (deep sigh of cold-sweat inducing relief).

Charge times from zero are also quicker with Karoo; getting to 100% took about 2.5 hours versus a 70% charge for the 1030 over the same time period. I’d have to say the devices are pretty even here; if you’re really after long battery life, the Garmin might even have the edge with the above mentioned auto-off capability. I rarely spend more than 4 hours consistently in the saddle however, so for my purposes, either device offers more than enough.

Migrating from the Garmin Ecosystem - Why isn’t the navigation better on other computers? Why are route uploads sometimes difficult? Because Hammerhead as modelled Karoo’s UI like a phone - now familiar and ubiquitous ecosystems for all - you can’t help but ask yourself these and other questions when starting to toy around and ride with it.

Yes it takes a little use to get familiar with the hardware, but any pain points are short lived. DC Rainmaker goes deep on device’s functionality more than I care to and here is a side-by-side comparison of both device’s functionality - but again, against features I think average athletes care about most, Karoo makes a compelling case.

I love the Garmin 1030 and most of the company’s power and GPS devices; they do have user challenges, however, which Hammerhead has addressed. I suspect, given their size differences, one makes a good acquisition target for the other, swallowing up a better UX into slightly better hardware. But that’s pure speculation. For now, Karoo will continue to evolve, as it has since its initial release, and the users who’ve grown to prefer it’s Android-powered OS, will continue to extol its virtues relative to the devices that have long-dominated cycling.

The competition is good. In the Karoo, it has given birth to a very slick, very capable, very user-friendly alternative many should strongly consider.

**I’ve since chatted about this with Hammerhead. They maintain that the “standard quarter-turn mount interface works with aftermarket brackets.”