I'm not sure WTF is going on here, but this guy has stones bigger than any monkey

http://www.bigringriding.com/post/8771049365/andy-wilko-wilkinson-delved-deep-into-the-sore

File this one under "more reasons to fear the ER, and be in awe of it at the same time"
Newest technology is to skilp the intravenous administration of drugs and go STRAIGHT INTO YOUR BONE.
Yeah, that's right. Black and Decker Drill into the marrow and then WHAMO.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20947209

Get on your bike, eat your greens and avoid that clutcher.

@Jules, just come visit me at the Mount Sinai ED, I know just where our intraosseous access drills are (we've got two). I've never used one, but how hard could it be? [cue evil laughter] mwohahahahaa....

I got to use the IO drills a couple of times when I was a paramedic. Very cool. Yes, the patients were "out", both heart attacks from what I recall. Fun times!

How do you report this one to your insurance ?

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/video-mayor-drives-over-merc-in-tank-to-clear-bike-lanes-2837507.html

I like this one: quite a good way of describing things. I especially like his way of describing a crash to non-cyclists.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jun/26/this-much-i-know-david-millar?INTCMP=SRCH

Nice piece. I'm on thin ice critiquing anyone's spelling, but I believe it's Girona, nor Gerona.

Adam, Jonathan Vaughters uses a remarkably similar anecdote in the documentary "blood, sweat, and gears." But his is more like "strip down to your underwear, get in your car, accelerate to 30mph and throw yourself out the door." Word had it JV was polishing that quip for some time. Guess it goes around.

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2011/08/training-talent-10000-hours-and-genes.html

Science of sport...

Danny M... Slaying it, as usual. Mad skilz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShbC5yVqOdI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Will there come a day when athletes are tested & given training & nutrition plans specific to their microbiome?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/health/16cancer.html?pagewanted=1&hpw

Crazy stuff.

http://garmin.blogs.com/my_weblog/2011/08/garmin-brings-power-to-the-people-with-vector-1.html

Whoa!

1500 bucks
March 2012

damn you Look pedals, will you never give up your market dominance? I wonder what the reliability/validity of this system is versus the more traditional strain gages employed in SRM and PT set ups. I confess, I feel like the fact that wind speed is part of a calculation that gives you your wattage sounds a little jankity.

Wait, is airspeed measurement a component of this? If so, that's an absolute dealbreaker. Pitot tubes have no place on a bike, let alone an airplane, because they notoriously fail. I couldn't find anything about any airspeed indicator. Where did you get that?

'Vector works by measuring the normal deflection in the pedal spindle as you pedal, throughout your entire pedal stroke. By comparing the measured deflection to a factory-calibrated deflection caused by a known load, Vector can determine how much force you’re applying to the pedal. With force measurements, the cadence measurements from Vector’s integrated accelerometers, and time, Vector accurately calculates watts. The force sensors are permanently and securely sealed within the pedal spindle, one of the most robust components on the bike."

Oh, I misread the blog..."integrated accelerometers and time."

They need to add vector to a mtb style pedal as well so we can use it for cross 2012 !

(Yes Stephane, a comment re Cross ;)

No speedplay

I will save my pennies over the next 7 months...

A few questions to power meter guys our there:

1)Does anyone have SRM? If so, how much did you pay and why not a powertap?
2)I am a little confused about pricing for our club sponsored power meter deal. How much is the TOTAL for the hub/wheel build, I'm not sure if the prices are just hub and not including wheel.

Adam, I was looking at it. Powertap is best value. If you get it built at wheel builder they'll apply the discount, you could get power for under 1k. SRM/Quarg (you're buying a crankset) is next level up $2800/$1800. Garmin seems like a nice middle ground.

Thanks John, appreciate the info.

Was looking into power meters seriously and this Garmin option seems neat. I am also in the market for an Edge 800 which I intended to put on my training and racing bike. Garmin might go with it nicely.

Any chance we could get onto Garmin for sponsorship?? Even only 10% We're the biggest club in NYC-surely that's leverage. For a 30% discount, I'd even be happy with a club name change: Garmin-Kissena. Just like Garmin-Cervelo but would probably spend less time whining about Cav beating up on us all the time.

@Adam

I've run a 6 year old SRM (campy square taper BB and PCV) for the last 4 years (it was 2 years old when I got it from ebay).

It does exactly what I want, when I want, without fail.

I've had it serviced a couple of times, for battery changes, etc but that is the only maintenance it has ever needed.

The Powercontrol is simple to use, 3 basic screens of useful info (current, avg, max). Single button to start/stop intervals.
I don't need anything else.

I bought an SRM because I want power whether I'm racing carbon wheels, doing a crit on alloy box section tubs, logging winter miles on some old beaters, or the bike is on a trainer with a really crappy trainer wheel/tire on it.

The Garmin pedal based solution would provide the same allowance for wheel changes, my only concern would be the fact it is V1.0 of the product. SRM (and cyclops) and have had many years in the business to iron out clitches. I believe the Quarq suffered poor reliability in it's first 12-18 months and even with competitive pricing it doesn't appear to have taken any significant market share from SRM/Cyclops.

Personally I just want to use a powermeter as a reliable tool, and I would worry that I'd be doing regular firmware upgrades, etc to the new garmin product.

I'm a speedplay user so I'm a little bummed about the single pedal choice.

That said I've been running my Zipp 404 Powertap for almost 5 years with zero issues. Winter, summer, rain, trainer, race etc... and a couple of gnarly crashes too. I sent it in for a rebuild/ant+ upgrade and they were fast, friendly and cheap.

I love it, but want experiment with some different wheels, so I've been exploring the alternatives.

Quark seems to be the price-peer of Powertap. Not sure about quality/reliability though.

Jules et al,
Before getting all hot and bothered over the Vector, heed the words of Ian who noted t his is V1.0 of the Vector. Wait until the product has been to market at least a year--and has undergone serious road miles. SRM has been around since the mid 1980s, PT was started by one company that was done in by reliability issues, Quarq has been around since 2005 or so. Anyone remember the bottom-bracket mounted power meter? Ergomo? Ring a bell?

I'm convinced the Quarq is consistent, and their Qalvin calibration iPhone app is pretty helpful, though they need an Android version--and SRAM's purchase probably is helping with this.

It is interesting that Vector decided to go with Exustar rather than Speedplay as originally planned. Don't know what happened here. It also should be noted the mount holding the transmitter looks much more durable than the original version.

Also, thanks to wireless transmitters, swapping cranks is pretty easy these days.

Yeah, I'm not about to rush out and get a first-generation power meter. I've heard the following about Quarq from Purdy:

"seems like every single one has to be sent back in the first 6 months for some reason or another, but the customer service is great and they seem to work fine after that"

Interested to hear people's experiences with quarqs vs SRM

For what it's worth I actually tried & FAILED to purchase an SRM earlier this year - they promised & promised but couldn't ship. Eventually I had to vote with my feet.

Jules,
I've had both the SRM and Quarq. The SRM is what the Quarq is based off of--it was an reverse-engineering project for founder Jim Meyer. The SRM is an impressive unit, built to last a lifetime and easy to calibrate. The Quarq might not have been so reliable when they first debuted, but the one I tested in 2010 and the one I bought several months later have both been fine. I don't like that you have to recalibrate teh unit each time you take off the rings, I don't like some of teh other limitations (last year, doing something like a Dolimiti Compact, 52/36, was not possible to get +/- 2% accuracy, as well as a few other chainring combos). That written, it seems like my Quarq has been accurate, stable, and Quarq has been getting better and better at their firmware. I figure they'll work out all the quirks. especially with what is almost certainly a cash infusion from SRAM, and seems like they've overcome some.

Wump,

Thanks. I too anticipated that the involvement of SRAM would improve reliability etc, although tellingly the manufacturing locations for SRAM components, Zipp wheels & Quark all are remaining separate.

My big question really is, "how does it do against the PowerTap?" My PT auto-zeroes, and basically never gives me any grief. I'm not excited about having to calibrate anything with weights - even if it's done with a nifty iphone app.

I guess the thing to do would be ride with both & measure the differences; but that seems way to obsessive even for me.

Perhaps my second question is for another thread, but - compact vs standard? I am starting to think that unless I can magically (or chemically :P) transform myself into a 1600 watt sprint-man-beast, my dreams of pushing a Big Ring should remain dreams, and I'll stick with the Compact throughout the season, not just for BKill & TOC type races.

I think we try to initiate riders in this with our club rides, but I agree it is really important to have quality riders you feel comfortable being inches away from. We have a ton of great riders to learn from and even somebody like me who has ridden for 25 years, still have stuff to learn about riding in a group.

http://carolinacyclingnews.com/2011/09/01/lost-art-of-the-group-ride/

Nice article Dan. Oft overlooked:
To stand up smoothly and not throw your bike back.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/sports/in-cycling-the-fast-lane-brings-increasing-danger.html?_r=1&hp

Not exactly earth shattering info, but I like the Craig Lewis quote at the end: "I’m not going to be missed. It’s not a loving sport." And, of course, McQuaid came off as....McQuaid.