I find the thought of engaging in a debate pertaining to the impact strength of plastic over titanium or any other ferrous metal to be superfluous. With that I will proceed to dunk another devil dog into my glass of milk...

If like me your feet (and hands) suffer a lot in the cold (poor circulation in my case) then I find that thick socks really do help. I wear Bridgedale Summit socks, which are actually designed for mountaineering, and they keep my feet nice and warm.
Fitting them inside shoes can be a problem. I've found the answer to be having a winter set of shoes a full size larger than usual.
Then I just wear thin windproof booties over the top - nothing with any fleece.
It's not an expensive solution. Those socks are $18; decent windproof booties are about $30-45. Shoes are super cheap. I just picked up a used pair of Shimano R310 from ebay for $20 (I destroyed my previous pair a couple of weeks ago falling off my bike). That's less than a pair of Assos booties or those special winter shoes.

(btw: no Assos hate here: The Fugujack is the best jacket i've found for keeping me warm in the winter. I wear that with just a base layer down to 20 deg.)

Great info - thanks for posting this!

Rohloff hubs...

14 internal gears, very little maintenance, 1400$

Apparently they are popular in Europe for touring as well as racing

Thoughts? This is the first time ive heard of em.

in a word...heavy

Customer Service seems to be too busy to take my call, so figured i'd try here;

problem: my joule 2.0 has been flashing memory full. the issue is, even when I clear out all the ride data from memory, it flashes "memory full" as soon as I start riding again.

Can't figure it out. it's happened for the last month or so.

Looked online and found a few users with a similar problem but no solutions.

Mike,

I don't know if this matters with the Joule but it certainly is an issue for the older head units. I've found that I need to clear the data from the head unit twice before it is actually cleared after downloading to the computer. This issue cropped up when I updated about a year ago. It made updates more of a pain. I also found that I needed to also check the date again that it didn't revert back to January 1st, 2005 after clearing so I didn't keep doing the same January 1st ride over and over again. Like Groundhog day but without the charming Bill Murray.

hmmmm.

So as far as I can tell, the memory is completely cleared, yet it says memory full.

Next step, firmware update / reset.

Then, try customer service earlier.

Mike

Mike,

I have the older style cpu, not the joule. I've only encountered the memory full on very long back to back rides when I didn't download or clear in between. The only suggestion I have besides clearing would be to remove the battery for a few minutes and then install a new one. You could also reset the odometer in setup mode. I like to do this every January 1st so my odometer reading is for the current year.

I was also once told you can flip the battery over and hold in place for a few seconds to try to reset the cpu, but I wouldn't advise it without getting an official Saris ok first.

Mike,
Do the firmware update first. Shouldn't need to reset. Then call customer service.

Ahh training with power...I miss it...(I miss it like a bleeding rectal wart!)

Looking for a solid pair of winter gloves - would appreciate it if some Kissenas could tell me which they prefer. Thanks in advance!

Anybody have experience with removing the knob on boa lacing systems? This morning I got ready for a ride today and, as luck would have it... BOTH of my shoes are suddenly jammed up. One won't tighten, and the other won't loosen. Both do the opposite totally fine, though. I haven't had any problems with BOA until now, and I'm hoping that I can simply pop the dial off and clean or untangle them. I blame 2012.

I prefer layering thinner gloves as opposed to a single thick glove. As I mentioned before I suffer from cold hands and feet more than many other people, so eventually I plunked down for Assos 3 layer glove system about 4 years ago.

I usually only wear the first 2 layers: the silky inner glove and then the windproof glove. I'm OK with that down to 27 or 28. The lobster outer shell I need to add in temperatures below that, but they have kept me warm down to 17. Colder than that I use the trainer.

One thing I did learn is that your hands and feet stay warmer if you keep your core properly warm. So by wearing a bigger jacket I can wear thinner booties and gloves.

(the body protects the internal organs in cold weather by concentrating blood volume around them, increasing blood pressure. This means there is less blood flowing the extremities so they feel the cold more.

This is also why even if you go for a pee just before the leave the pub on a cold winters night - you'll need another pee within 3 blocks. It's increased blood pressure around the bladder caused by this diversion of blood constricting the bladder and causing that sensation. At least that's the excuse I've started using since I reached my 40's)

I really like the cannondale lobsters. I wear them below 40. Even if my hands get sweaty they still remain warm. I bought XLs and the extra room is luxurious.

yes. I have experience. I have Specialized shoes with Boa. You can get a replacement spool kit from Specialized dealers; it usually has at least a lace, a spool, and a tool. Call around to see who has it in stock.

I don't know if the Specialized tool, which comes in the kit, works with Lake. However, you can go to boatechnology.com to see all the options. You can order directly from them. And you can probably figure out if the Specialized tool works with Lakes.

MAybe some of the Lake shoe owners have taken apart their Boa systems and can report on them.

mine came with some tiny tool which is probably now lost. If I can find it I will let you know. You'd probably have more luck with a dealer or store.

I have the tools and a wire up in piermont, they can jam, and sometimes taking them apart and respooling can fix it. i may have a reel here also. go to boatechnology, go to warranty, and theyll send you the tools, reels and wires for free. do it. do it ahead of time to have spares. specialized use normal tools. sometimes, they use an obnoxious tiny 2 prong tool instead of the tiny torx, i used really small snap ring pliers to undo it.

Thanks all for the quick response. I just went ahead and ordered the repair kit.

I wear pearl izumi lobster below 32
Otherwise, the pearl izumi fingered is good 30-40 deg.
the Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Barrier WxB Glove are on sale at colorado cyclists

Unintentionally hilarious (and useless) article about dressing/packing for cold by the legendary Steve Tilford:

http://www.cxmagazine.com/how-to-pack-winter-clothes-gear-cyclocross-steve-tilford


Highlights from the article include:

"Packing is hard"

"I never get cold when racing"

"except my hands, they're always cold, ever since that time I fell in a pond two years in a row...in Nam."

thanks for the info guys!

for finger warmth: want to maintain greater dexterity for braking and shifting than puffy/insulated gloves offer? I've found that wind-block gloves (non-insulated) over a thin wool liner glove works great. Wool continues to insulate even when wet --so clammy hands like mine stay warmer. This works down to mid-30's maybe even below freezing. If it's super-cold, you can slip a hottie in between the wind-block glove and liner glove, on the dorsal/top side. Letting that rest just behind the knuckles warms you down to the tippy-tips of your fingers.

for feet/toe warmth: Although it takes precise positioning and the right shoe-to-bootie interfacing, inserting a hottie hand-warmer inside the bootie (over the instep your shoe) will keep your feet and toes toasty. I don't think this would work well with thick socks, as it's a tight fit with very thin socks.

face: a very thin balaclava is very handy for alternating chin, mouth and nose covering --or just in full convertible mode (as a neck warmer). And you can use the head/ear cover or not, as you please. However, I find this accessory bothersomely hot if it's above 30 degrees or so.

More powertap pain - do the HR strap and USB cradle wear out? does the hub and/or CPU wear out? Im starting on the 4th year with this unit and I've started getting weird HR readings and now - after doing everything saris says to do (new poweragent and firmware, batteries) I can't download via USB. Any thoughts?

And don't forget about the tires. Yes, these are not clothing items, but an important way to stay warm on a winter ride is to not stop for a flat. If you haven't already, switch to heavy weight tires for rides this time of year. Shed the light weight summer slicks for something which will stand up to the winter roads and debris. I have always had very good luck with Conti 4-Season, though there are many other very good ones to choose from.

Charlie L, that's a really good point. I'm riding Conti Gatorskin Hard Shells this winter (25mm). They've been bomb/trainer proof so far. A certain 2 on the track was riding his 22mm flourescent Schwalbes yesterday on a long ride, and if it weren't for his lightning quick change it would have cost him a finger.

When I was doing cold weather groups rides, I would make threats about throwing any one who showed up at the GWB with summer racing slicks on their hoops off the ride. Ragot always reeled in this threat, more than once we both wished we did un-invite those who showed up with the wrong gear.

Hey all. Greetings from Minnesota. I have two cold-weather recommendations, which are particularly geared toward people who commute, or train on singlespeeds or fixed gears or who just plain old don't shift much when training in the winter. Also geared toward people who don't like spending absurd amounts of money on disappointing, "high-tech" glove-type things.

For the cold (good town to 20F; with gloveliners, good down to around 10F): Fox River Double Ragg mittens:
http://www.amazingsocks.com/web-pid-9988-Fox-River-Double-Ragg-Mitt-item.htm

For the colder (used them down to -25F) - Trigger mittens:
http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Mittens-Leather-Weather-Survival/dp/B002B93CVW

Hey Mattio, thanks!
I need me some new gloves. Whereabouts in MN?