a midway bikelog

Kevin wrote a short post on the IceBike mittens, and it reminded me that i need to write a mini review of a couple of new bits of cycling gear. I did a nice 17 miles with Chris, Gina, Steve and biker7 (who’s name i’m blanking on, sorry) from the Como streetcar station over to mipples and back. It was a lovely day for a ride, all the way up in the low 20s for a change, with little wind. The roads were mostly clear, but icy and sloppy enough for a good test.

First is the IceBike mitts. Warmest cycling gloves i’ve ever owned, and arguably overkill for most people and conditions. My hands tend to get cold though, so i was willing to risk sweating a bit to keep the feeling in my digits. They work as advertised, very warm, and nice details for cycling. There’s a huge fleece snotpad, for starters, and a big swath of reflective striping on the back, great for signaling turns. The gauntlet part comes 1/2-way up to my elbow (i wear 36″ sleeves), so a lot of the warmth comes from simply trapping the air from the forearm on down. I ride drop bars on my winter bike, and there’s no problem operating brakes. It’s a singlespeed so I don’t shift, but they would be fine with most shifters too, aside from downtube or stem levers. They’re also a very simple design, so there aren’t any zippers to mess with or straps to adjust every time easy on and off. They’re big enough inside to easily ball up fingers if they need a warmup, and plenty of room for liner gloves for colder days, or when you’ll be taking them off often. Well-worth the $70 if choppers from Fleet Farm aren’t doing it for you (and really, that’s a good way to go too).

Next up, the Grip King pedal, a new Rivendell design made by MKS, also known (by some, including my 6-year-old) as the Gimli Battle Axe pedal. These were a splurge, for sure, but they’re in fact really nice pedals. I have no interest in toeclips & straps, and i like the MKS touring pedals i’ve been riding for plain pedals, but they do tend to slip in the wet. The Grip Kings have such a long platform you could probably ride barefoot, so much of the foot is supported. The surface grips aren’t of the meat-tenderizing sort, but they gripped well on a recent 20-mile ride in wet slushy snow with my regular light hiker shoes. They’re also pretty darn light pedals – about 440grams for the pair, if you’re the gram-counter type. I’m looking forward to comfortably riding these with Chaco sandals this summer, i think they’ll be the perfect pedal for them.