LOOKING BACK AND LOOKING FORWARD – EARLY SPRING

It’s been a busy few months with lots of action here at In The Know Cycling.  I thought I’d pause for a moment as spring actually shows up in the Northern Hemisphere and look back over the last few months of activity and forward to forecast what’s coming.  I’d also like to share a few thoughts with you about this blogsite and get your input on what will be of greatest value to you in future posts (and offer you a chance to win $100 for doing so).

LOOKING BACK

I posted three category-wide, reviews this winter that each covered most or perhaps nearly all the best performing products in each field.  These were 15,000-word, exhaustive (or at least exhausting to write and probably to read) reviews that evaluated an entire category of gear or kit on specific performance, design, quality and cost criterion.

In December I posted THE BEST POWER METERS FOR ROAD CYCLING ENTHUSIASTS (click the story name to go to it).  It offered my explanation of what should matter (and shouldn’t) to enthusiasts trying to choose between power meters, how I chose from over 20 proven ones, and which I found are the best.

In January you all had the chance to get in on a $500 giveaway to anything at Power Meter City just for commenting about your 2017 goals and how a power meter would help you achieve them.  Your comments provided some great reading and, in more than a few cases, some impressive targets for this year.

Note also that Power Meter City gives you fine In The Know Cycling readers an exclusive 10% discount on all power meters (except Garmin and Stages) when you click through one of the links on this site to theirs and enter the code ITK10 at checkout.  Most power meters are sold at full retail price (aka MSRP or RRP) so that’s a fine deal indeed.

Coincidentally, I updated this review just last week adding my own take on a couple of relatively new power meters that have now passed independent accuracy and consistency tests.  One of these power meters provides the fascination (though I don’t believe the requirement for enthusiast-level training) of independent left and right leg power measurements for just $499/£485/€563.  You can read about it here and see who’s got it and all the other power meters I reviewed and recommended here.

This winter I rode the trainer a lot and got out on the road when the weather allowed to wrap up some other reviews on gear that I and my fellow tester and wicked fast and wicked smart cycling friend Nate started last fall.

With this testing done and spring on the way, I posted THE BEST SPRING AND FALL CYCLING KIT in February which reviewed a range of clothes and accessories from base layers to bib shorts and tights to jerseys, jackets and a vest to gloves and added in a few socks and booties and arm and leg warmers for extra measure. Phew, I think I need to add a wardrobe consultant to the ITKC team to keep this all straight.

As I write this with snow falling outside, I can tell you that I’m still wearing this gear and probably will for another month the way the forecast looks.  Thermal bibs never felt so good!

Piggy-backing on this cycling kit review, we did a £200 giveaway to anything at ProBikeKit UK which I called the Get-Off-Your-Trainer-And-Back-On-The-Road giveaway.  To have a chance to win, you told me and all our readers what months you planned to ride on the the roads this year and what kit you needed to ride comfortably.  Many of you blew me away by telling us that you ride outside year round regardless of the weather while others impressed with their plans to extend their road season earlier into spring and later into fall this year.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you that ProBikeKit UK also gives In The Know Cycling readers 10% off everything in the store up to a maximum of GB-£45 and about US-$55, CA-$75, EU-€50, AU-$75, NZ-$80 depending on exchange rates. Just go to the store from a link on this site, enter code ITK10 at checkout and you’ll enjoy another benefit of reading this site.

Recognizing that some of you catch up with some of my posts well after I’ve first published them and others come back to them several times during the year, I took the opportunity to update the spring and fall kit review just this past week by adding reviews of 3 more base layers, 2 bibs, a jacket and vest.

https://intheknowcycling.com/2017/04/02/looking-back-forward-early-spring/