I know what you're thinking: "Kristin Armstrong is riding new pedals?" No, but Lance Armstrong is. You know this is a significant event since VeloNews decided to post a story about the switch complete with a near 20-year history of LA's relationship with his Shimano pedals. I suppose the bike media are just clamoring for another Lance story after the drought of drama since he and Contador parted ways and began preparing to actually ride bikes rather than take jabs at each other in press conferences.
For those of you who aren't get into that kind of thing this is kind this is basically the equivalent of finding out that your favorite athlete uses Colgate instead of Crest. Ok, maybe there's a little more to it than that, but the Look and Shimano pedals are pretty much the same design, even though this latest Look that Lance is now using substitutes a "crabon fibre" spring where a steel or titanium would usually reside.
The logic behind the change? Performance? No. Light weight? No. Lance wants to ride the same pedals as his teammates so that he can steal their bike during a race emergency.
Nu Freds Get Excited - SRAM to Drop Apex Group Soon
Rumor got out yesterday that SRAM is going to release a budget group called "Apex." From what little I can see in the photo the shifters appear to have the same shape and function as the Red/Rival/Force pieces and it appears that unlike their other road groups the Apex crank will use an inboard cartridge bottom bracket rather than the now ubiquitous outboard cup/bearing BB (presumably to lower costs).
I assume that the Apex group will slot in under the Rival group, which generally retails for less about $800. Since SRAM does such a great job of trickling down technologies to their lower-level groupsets while still beating up on Shimano and Campy in terms of weight, value and (quite arguably) performance you should expect to see this grouppo on all kinds of "upper entry-level" bikes. I predict that once again SRAM will undercut Shimano and that the Apex group will provide similar or better performance than 105 at a lower price.
Quick Take - Clif Quench Fruit Punch Sports Drink
Last night I tried Clif's Quench sports drink in Fruit Punch flavor and I have to say it wasn't too bad. I liked the fact that with 90 calories per 16 oz. serving it fits somewhere in between traditional sports drinks and low calorie electrolyte replacement beverages. It wasn't particularly "quenching" for my tastes, however. It does tastes a bit salty (more like PowerBar Electrolyte) and Clif even lists "Real Salt" on the ingredients. I remember reading an article once where a nutrition company said that they tried to mix hot-weather drinks that actually weren't too thirst quenching for their athletes, the logic being that such a drink would actually encourage them to drink more. With that in mind the nearly all-organic Quench might be just the thing for long, hot summer training rides.
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2 comments:
I have to say that I'm usually agnostic on things like pedals (or any product which I'm not quite confident how to pronounce, like "SRAM"), but I have some concern for the branding of their new product line, "Apex."
My trusty Mac defines Apex as:
apex |ˈāpeks|
noun ( pl. apexes or apices |ˈāpəˌsēz; ˈapə-|)
the top or highest part of something, esp. one forming a point : the living-room extends right up into the apex of the roof | figurative the apex of his career was when he hoisted aloft the World Cup.
• Geometry the highest point in a plane or solid figure, relative to a base line or plane.
• Botany the growing point of a shoot.
• the highest level of a hierarchy, organization, or other power structure regarded as a triangle or pyramid : the central bank is at the apex of the financial system.
I think it creates some significant moral hazard when an inferior product is branded as its best, and I don't know any solution except for a personal letter of explanation and apology from the producer and delivered to me, by hand.
Then again, I'm not in the market for new shifters, so maybe I'm not the target audience.
This post sponsored by the letters polear.
Micah, while I understand (and even share youre concerns) I believe the marketing concept is to make the consumer believe they're getting something they're not, a-la the Suzuki Swift.
Of course, such obfuscation (intentional or otherwise) is not new at SRAM, since last year they furnished custom Red components which where not in fact red but white (and in one very special case, yellow).
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