VeloBalls

Bike reviews and cycling news that BITES

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FreeMaster Prescription Cycling Glasses – An unbiased review.

I’d never given prescription cycling glasses a thought before as I, until recently had worn contact lenses for nearly thirty years, I started wearing them in my early teens, honest! Okay it may have been VERY early twenties, but definitely no later than that.

Unfortunately after a painful eye infection I was advised to cut down my wear time from fourteen hours a day, seven days a week to no more than eight hours a day once or twice a week. I took the difficult decision to stop using contacts entirely; I couldn’t see the point of such short wear time.

After open wallet surgery for two pairs of vari-focals I then turned to the problem of cycling glasses. I have always ridden with cycling glasses, whether dark lenses, clear lenses or yellow night lenses. I hated dust and bugs in my eyes, especially when I used contact lenses. I tried cycling in my normal glasses and hated it, they were not suited to the purpose and the thought of an accident and my glasses flying through the air sent shivers down my spine.

With a reluctant ‘yes’ from my wife I started to look round for suitable cycling eye wear. I looked longingly at the big names, prescription insert (a small prescription frame attached behind plain interchangeable lenses) Oakleys and Rudy Projects were both pipe dreams and direct glazed (prescription lenses fitted into frame) budget tinted options seemed ugly and would be useless for winter commutes.

After trawling around the web I found the Base-Camp glasses by FreeMaster.   These FreeMaster glasses have interchangeable lens and blank prescription inserts that you get glazed at your own opticians.

I read the few short reviews under the product description and decided at £16.99 they were worth a punt, so I popped them in my virtual basket. Amazon then wanted to charge me £4 on top for delivery.  So I used the ‘add on item’ search to take the value over £20 free delivery threshold and found a Pyrex jug for £3.50… so I got the jug and the glasses for fifty pence less than just the glasses (plus postage charge), go figure! You’ve got to love Amazon.

FreeMaster Base-Camp glasses – what’s in the box?
On their arrival I checked the glasses over and I was very happy with the quality of them. The package consisted of the following:

  • Rigid zip case
  • Glasses frame
  • Six interchangeable lenses (Dark tint, Bronze tint, Yellow tint, blue tint, Mirrored tint, Polarised and clear.)
  • Two straps (one ‘normal’ string strap and a goggle type that replaces the arms)
  • Prescription insert.
  • Cloth case
  • Cleaning Cloth

All the lenses carry a U.V sticker indicating they exceeded the specification required for sale in the U.K. I assume as Amazon supply the product from their own warehouse then this information is accurate.

Getting glazed.
I took the the insert to a local optician Faye Newman at Personal-Eyez in Swadlincote.  If you’re curious you can find her on either Facebook or Instagram.

Faye offered to fit the prescription lenses into the glasses for a very reasonable £35 . The service and product I received from them was fantastic. Turn around was less than a week and Faye clipped the inserts into the glasses to make sure of the fit, even though she hadn’t supplied the frame or the empty insert herself.

FreeMaster glasses – on the road.
I have been using the glasses for a week now and I am really happy with them.  The mirrored and dark lenses come with top vents to stop fogging when you stop at lights etc. The other four lenses don’t, I can’t work out why this is the case.

The glasses sit securely on my head and comfortably around my nose. Whilst the edges of the insert can be seen out of the corner of my eye, they are in no way obtrusive. The wrap around style of the outer lens keep out bugs and dust as well as any ‘plain’ cycling glasses I’ve owned ever have.  I am currently using the mirror tint outers as they hide the insert, it can look a bit like you are wearing goggles underneath if you use the other outers, no big issue for me, but just looks better if the prescription parts are obscured.  I will still be happy with the overall look when I change to the clear or yellow lenses for winter commutes.

The case is a rigid one and can hold all the lenses and straps etc.

Conclusion.
Overall I’m amazed with the quality of the product for a total price of around £50 (including locally sourced prescription lenses) and would recommend them. If you are on the search for a similar item, you could spend a lot more money and achieve nothing more than a ‘name’ on the frame arms.

And if you are wondering if I’m happy with the jug then….. err…… it’s a jug what more can I say about it.

Click here to find out more about FreeMaster cycling glasses…

Simon Elson purchased the above item and has received no financial gains or goods from Amazon or Base Camp for the review and was not asked to write it by them.

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Garmin Virb Elite – BRUTAL review

Why review the Garmin Virb Elite?

The Garmin Virb Elite is not the ‘current’ or most up to date model in the popular Garmin cam range.  So why are we reviewing an old model?  Well, I’m glad you asked.  Although you probably didn’t ask did you?  Most of the products we review here at VeloBalls are brand new, or at least current models, like the great Source Fuse hydration pack.

But buying brand new comes with a problem that a lot of people find a big issue.  The price.  If you buy the latest model of anything you’re going to pay a premium just because you’re buying the latest model.  Whereas buying an older version can massively reduce the pain felt in your wallet.  Fancy cycling gear that is unaffordable becomes affordable to all but the most modest budgets.  I’m not even talking about buying second hand.  There are some products I wouldn’t be too keen to buy second hand.  Bibs for example.  Grim.  If you take a look at any massive marketplace like eBay or Amazon you’ll find plenty of sellers flogging brand new, older model, cycling products.

I paid around £110 for my Garmin Virb Elite.  This is not only much cheaper than the latest Garmin Virb model (the Virb Ultra), it’s also less than half the original list price for this camera.  So by buying a very slightly older model I got a brand new cam at a price that was an absolute steal.

I’m not going to bore you with an exhaustive list of the technical differences between my older Virb model and the newest model.  Instead, I’m going to show you what is ultimately the most important aspect of any video camera – the quality of the footage.  So watch a few moments of the video below and decide for yourself which camera shoots the best looking footage.

Garmin Virb Elite – a closer look

The Virb Elite is the last of the Garmin cameras to be built in the ‘bullet’ format.  The Virb Elite is long and fat, like a cigar.  The new Virb cameras follow the same box of matches body style of the GoPro range of video cameras.  I tried to find out the reason for the shift of shape but couldn’t reach a conclusion.  I’ve owned (and killed) lots of cheap GoPro clones and the Virb Elite feels a hell of a lot better than any of them.  I’ve destroyed so many cheap sports cameras that I’ve started to consider them almost disposable.  Cheap video cameras feel cheap; the Virb Elite feels expensive.  It might be a little on the heavy side but the heft it carries does make it feel very robust.

Weatherproof and robust, even when naked
While we’re talking about comparing the Virb Elite to GoPro cameras (genuine or otherwise), it’s worth pointing out that straight out of the box the Virb has a huge advantage over other cameras.  The Garmin Virb Elite doesn’t need to be put in a case in order to make it waterproof.  In my experience, cheap cams come to grief more through the failings of the crappy waterproof cases you mount them in, rather than the actual camera being crap.

The Garmin Virb Elite is rated waterproof to the IPX7 standard.  This means you can submerge the cam a metre underwater for up to thirty minutes without doing any harm.

I could waffle on forever about how good the Virb feels in my hands, but we’d both get bored.  It’s sufficient to note that the buttons are solid and responsive, the rubberised body feels robust and considering how many times I’ve already dropped this camera it hasn’t been marked at all.

Marmite and soft-focus
I’ve dropped this thing on its lens, on a gravel path, and it’s still unscathed.  I have no idea what the cover over the lens is coated with but it appears to be entirely resistant to fingerprinting.  I consumed some Marmite on toast while writing this part of the review and the lens over even appears to be resistant to light ‘marmiting’.  Perhaps not something Garmin deliberately designed in admittedly, but a good indicator of quality.

On every one of the cheapo clones I’ve used over the years, the footage quality takes a massive dip once you put the camera inside the waterproof case that came with it.  On some of the painfully cheap cams, I’ve used the quality of the lens cover part of the case was incredibly poor.  Everything I filmed looked like it was meant to be part of a soft-focus romance scene.  The latest Garmin Virb comes with a separate waterproof case (like the GoPro clones).  The fact my older Virb doesn’t need a case is a huge advantage.

Megapixel nonsense
The camera shoots full HD at up to 16mp.  If you know anything about photography you’ll know that these megapixel figures mean very little of importance.  As with pro digital cameras, the quality of the lens and the quality of the sensor is much more important than the megapixel rating.  This is why you can buy bewilderingly high megapixel cameras from Chinese websites for chuff all money.  The quality will be poop.  Megapixel ratings can be disregarded to a certain extent.  The latest Garmin Virb, the Virb Ultra, is rated at up to 12mp.  So 4mp lower than my older Virb.  I very much doubt the Virb Ultra (which costs three times more than my Elite) will be of worse quality.

Other stuff
This review is not exhaustive, and there’s little point in me listing all the teeny tiny details about this camera.  If you want to know every, single, detail about the Virb Elite you can get that info from Garmin HERE…

One feature that is worth noting is that the Virb Elite is one of the Garmin cameras that can connect with ANT devices.  So the Elite can record your heartbeat, cadence and a number of other bits of data.  What’s super-cool is the fact that the Virb Elite can overlay this data in real-time over the footage captured on it.  This is done using the free ‘Virb Edit’ software that is accessible to all Virb owners.  The software ain’t great if you’re into complex edits, but is perfect for exporting captured footage so that it can be edited in other software.

The Garmin Virb mount

The Garmin Virb Elite doesn’t need to be shoved in a little plastic box to make it weatherproof, but there is one downside to this fact.  The way Garmin designed the system used to mount the camera is nothing short of bewildering.  In fact I’d say the mount is probably the worst thing about the Virb Elite.  The camera clips (very snuggly) into a cradle.  Said cradle is then attached to a circular screw mount.  I can see the need for a secure system for mounting the system, but fact the mount is different to my other Garmin devices (like my Edge GPS) is a huge pain in the bum.

Garmin Virb mounting cradle
Garmin Virb mounting cradle

The hinge that sits between the cradle and the screw mount is similar to the type used by GoPro.  Very similar.  But not quite.  If it were the same then I could easily mount this camera anywhere using any one of the big boxes of GoPro mounts I have.  But I guess I can see why Garmin made their hinge mount different, but it does come across a little bit like corporate spite.  I tried shaving one of the GoPro clone mounts to see if I could use it with the Virb but the connection felt sketchy as hell.

What no handlebar mount?
The Virb Elite comes bundled with a modest set of mounts and a few sticky pads.  These mounts appear designed for sticking the camera to a flat surface.  Bicycles do not have an abundance of flat services.  The fact that Garmin didn’t think to include a handlebar mount is most frustrating.  I used one of the sticky pads to stick a cut-down GoPro hinge mount to the underside of my Edge handbar mount.  I couldn’t tighten the Edge mount enough to stop it from being pulled down by the weight of the Virb.  In fact I ended up snapping the mount.  I was not happy.  Not only can I not mount the Virb on my handlebars, I now can’t use my trusty Edge.

Garmin mount broken
DIY combined Garmin mount with destroyed thread. Grrrrrr!

So my hand was forced and I bought a third party combined mount.  The new mount was designed to have the edge sit on the top, and the Virb underneath.  Perfect.  At least it would have been perfect it hadn’t turned out to be laughably poor on the road test.  The third-party combined mount was about as stiff as freshly boiled spaghetti.  The footage from the test ride was unwatchable.  My only option now is to buy the official Garmin combined mount, which is surprisingly expensive.

Garmin Virb Combined mount
The laughably cack third party combined Edge / Virb mount

But I didn’t have a chance to buy an official mount before the test ride for this review.  I stuck the mounting cradle to my helmet instead.  I was tempted to drill a few holes through the mounting baseplate, so I could use some zip ties to doubly secure the cam, but in the interests of writing an honest review, I decided against it.  I put my faith entirely in the sticky pad that came in the box with the camera.

Garmin Virb helmet mount
Garmin Virb sticky pad mount, stuck to the top of my MTB helmet

Getting at the SD card
The Virb Elite uses a micro SD card as storage.  The SD card is stowed underneath the battery compartment.  The battery compartment is secured by a tightly fitting plate on the underside of the camera, which is held shut by a small rotating d-ring.  I can understand the need to keep the memory card safe in the inner guts of the camera, but it’s not easy to get at if you need to transfer footage by plugging the card directly into a computer.  There’s no easy way to get the battery out of the compartment, other than thumping it against the palm of my hand till it falls out.

The preferred method of import for the Garmin Virb Edit software is via the USB port.

Garmin Virb Elite battery compartment
Virb Elite with battery removed. You can see the Micro SD card sitting in the secure mount.

There is a mini-USB port on the rear of the camera (protected by a thick rubber ‘bung’) if you don’t want to open the camera to transfer footage.

Garmin Virb USB and HDMI ports
In addition to the USB port, there is a mini HDMI port
Garmin Virb Elite – the test ride

I like extreme tests.  Fairweather tests don’t stress products enough for me to really learn about them.  So the test ride for this review was done in the most extreme conditions I could think up.  With the cam stuck to my helmet, I headed to the Yorkshire Dales for low temperatures, heavy snow and persistent freezing rain.  As an aside this was the same ride I used to test the Source Fuse Hydration Pack.  Most of my cycling is done on a road bike, but I wanted a ride that would be much more brutal than some smooth, gentle gliding along on my old Bianchi.  So I took the camera on a mountain biking stag weekend.

On the day of the test ride we had an unpleasant mix of thick, heavy snow and driving penetrating rain.  The terrain was rough and while the bike I was on performed brilliantly my body was broken by the experience.  Conditions were not as bad as they might be elsewhere in the world, but for the UK this ride was extreme.

One of the best features of the Virb is the huge slider switch on the side of the camera.  Even with thick winter gloves and numb hands operating the ‘film now’ switch was very easy.

As I mentioned earlier in this review technical details are of little interest to me.  Cameras like the Virb live or die by the quality of the footage they film.  And rather than me try and explain the quality of the footage it would be best if you used your own eyes and watched the video below.

As you’ll see from the video there are gaps in the overlay data in the video.  I added the overlay data using the Garmin Virb Edit software, but the editing functions are a bit limited.  So I exported the whole video and imported into iMovie.  This appears to be where the issue arose.  Lacking data like this is an annoyance that’s worth noting.  A bit of research on various cycling forums reveals that I’m not the only person having this problem.

It’s a shame so much of the snow stuck to the lens, but other than having a hydrophobic coating added to the lens cover I’m not sure how much Garmin could do to solve this problem.  I was a little disappointed by how little the on-board microphone captured.  But sound quality isn’t crucial with sports cameras.  However, the sound was a lot better than on the GoPro clones I’ve used in the past.  The cheap clones suffer from an infuriating muffled rattle on the soundtrack.  So by default I mute sound when editing cam footage, but in the interests of transparency, I’ve left the sound switched on for the review video.

Garmin claims that a fully charged Virb battery will last up to three hours when filming at 1080p.  But the low temperatures of the test ride reduced the battery life to just over an hour.  An hour was nearly long enough to capture the whole of the test ride, but longer battery life would be appreciated.  That being said, the Virb lasted longer than some of the riders on this stag do!

Conclusion

There are a few oddities that let down the Garmin Virb Elite a little bit, but none are major enough to stop be recommending this great little action camera.  For example, the screen on the Virb is quite difficult to see in natural daylight, even on an overcast day.  But how often do you really need to look at the screen?  I set up the recording options in the comfort of my home and could see the screen perfectly.  When being used for recording there’s a bit green light that turns red when the camera is recording.  That’s really all I need.

Garmin Virb Screen
The screen ain’t great, but does it really need to be?

For the price, the Garmin Virb Elite is a great purchase.  The price is more than buying a GoPro clone but far less than buying the newest Virb model.  I was pleased with the image quality and ease of use.  Considering how little I paid for this cam I’m very pleased with my purchase.  If I had paid the full, original price I don’t think I would be quite as thrilled with the Garmin Virb Elite.

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Hydration pack review – Source Fuse

Hydration packs are a bit of an odd thing to try and review.  In my experience, a hydration pack either holds water and has a tube that works, or it doesn’t.  But cycling technology marches onward, so when the nice folk at Wheelies sent VeloBalls a Source Fuse Hydration Pack I decided to find out if the exciting world of bags of water has moved on since I last looked in on it.

Although I wouldn’t call myself a roadie at heart, I do spend most of my cycling hours on a road bike.  Hydration packs are not considered appropriate for road cycling.  Part of the reason could be the snobbery that we all claim doesn’t exist among road cyclists (see Rule #32), or it could just be for practical reasons.  Either way, this is not the time to be figuring it out.  Hydration backpacks are primarily used by mountain bikers, so that’s how we decided to conduct our tests; on a mountain bike.

Dales Bike Centre

Almost all of my mountain biking has been done near where I live in Suffolk (UK), which is a place entirely lacking in mountains.  Hell, we haven’t even got any big hills around these parts.  But as luck would have it my brother-in-law decided his stag do should involve a whole ton of mountain biking.  Mountain biking on actual big hills.  In Yorkshire.  So early on Friday morning, I found myself hurtling (at a sensible speed of course) up the A1.  Our destination was the Dales Bike Centre, which would be our home for the weekend.  The weather forecast was predicting low temperatures, rain and snow.  But hey, mountain biking can’t be all that tough, can it?

I have used a hydration backpack before.  I haven’t worn one for cycling for several years, partly because off-roading is a rare thing for me, but mostly because my brother-in-law borrowed my old hydration backpack and I haven’t seen it for years.  I wasn’t too bothered; my old pack never felt quite right when I wore it and had hardly any spare space once the bladder was full.

Source Fuse reviewThe Source Fuse Hydration Pack – a closer look

The first thing I noticed when I pickup up the backpack was how light it is.  Granted the bulk of the ‘worn weight’ of any rucksack is a result of the amount of junk you cram into it, but the fact the bag was really light when empty was a good sign.

When you’re cold and your gloves are wet zips are near impossible to operate.  You can easily find yourself stuck in a Catch-22 situation whereby you need to get into your bag to find dry gloves but can’t operate a fiddly zip because your hands are numb with cold.  So the decent-sized loops attached to the zip pullers on the Source Fuse were a nice touch.

Because I was on a stag weekend I knew that we would be cycling with people who probably hadn’t ridden bikes since they were children.  So I stuffed a whole lot of spare gloves, buffs etc in the hydropack for the inevitable moment when we found ourselves up on a hill and our friends were starting to suffer.  I’m not the best man on this trip (there is no ‘best man’), so had no responsibilities but nobody likes to see friends suffer unnecessarily when cycling.  So in summary I had to shove a whole lot of things in this backpack, and most importantly they had to stay dry.  I was able to fit in everything I needed to with space to spare, and the shape of the bag didn’t change or bulge at all.

I was impressed at how well thought out the ‘storeganizer’ inside the bag was.  There was a decent amount of separation between the compartments.  There are even some pen pockets, although I’m not sure what use a pen will be if you’re freezing your ‘taters off on top of a snowy hill.

MTB Hydration pack
Somewhere behind me in this photo, sitting on my back is the hydration pack

The importance of keeping the contents of the bag dry extended far beyond just needing to keep a few gloves and hats dry.  I was also planning to use my hydration pack to store several video cameras, and they definitely need to stay dry.  As if my camera equipment didn’t add enough jeopardy I was also carrying a lithium power pack.  If you were paying attention in chemistry lessons in school you’ll know that getting anything with lithium in it wet is a really bad idea.

Before heading for the hills I tentatively ran the bag under a kitchen tap and was relieved to see that the water beaded off the surface perfectly.  But the real test would be the heavy snow and rain we would be cycling in.  The Source Fuse comes fitted with a painfully bright orange rain cover that is stowed in a compartment on the bottom of the bag.  I’m not a fan of anything that covers the entire bag to keep it dry; because if you need to get to the contents of the bag quickly it’s just another obstacle.  So I took the slightly cavalier decision not to use the rain cover.

So how well did this hydration pack actually perform?

The test ride for this backpack was nothing short of brutal.  We cycled up and down the hills of the Yorkshire Dales in thick blizzards.  After just 6.6 miles the group was given the option to quit and head for the pub.  On a road bike in good weather conditions, a ride of six miles isn’t really a ride at all.  Hell, on a road bike six miles doesn’t even count as a warm up.  But on this day the howling wind, penetrating rain and befuddling thick snowfall were more than most of us could handle.  On a typical ride in Suffolk, my Garmin might register an elevation gain of around 500ft.  In just 6.6 miles in the Dales our elevation gain was a whopping 1,352ft!  I realise our Northern readers will likely scoff at this, and quite right too!  But with numb heads and hands, some of us conceded defeat.

While I was nursing a hot cuppa in the pub I realised I had been so consumed with just trying to stay upright on my bike I hadn’t made any mental notes about how well the bag I was supposed to be testing had performed.  I tentatively opened the bag to check the contents.  Everything in the bag was still bone dry.  I was riding with a Garmin Virb Elite fixed to my helmet and the extreme weather had played havoc with it.  So finding my other cameras and bits of clothing dry was a glorious surprise.

Wet hydropack
This is what the Source Fuse looked like after some fairly dramatic exposure to rain and snow.  The contents remained bone dry.

Before we had set off I couldn’t quite figure out how to stow the feed tube for the hydropack bladder, so I left it hanging loose.  It never once got in my way and was easy enough to get hold of and shove in my gob when I needed it, which was often.  The teat on the end of the tube was ‘switched on’ by rotation.  I left it on for most of the ride and it didn’t leak.  Water came out when I wanted it to and stayed in the bag when I wanted it to.  In order to get water out of my previous hydration backpack required a fair amount of biting on the valve, but the system used on the Source Fuse was much easier to use.

Hydropack Bladder
The sliding clip that holds the hydration pack bladder closed
Drying the Source Fuse
The Source Fuse is very easy to dry after use. Beer can optional.

The removable bladder in the Source Fuse was the best I’ve ever used.  Even when full it didn’t make the bag uncomfortable and a decent layer of insulation between the bladder and the back of the rucksack meant the water didn’t make me cold.  Other bladders I have used were filled via a screw cap and a small hole, meaning that drying the bag after use (very important) was near enough impossible.  The whole of the top of the bladder in the Source Fuse opens for filling and emptying, making emptying and drying really easy.  Once filled the bag is sealed via a sliding clip that snaps into place and feels reassuringly solid.

I wanted to draw attention to how easy it is to completely dry out the bladder because it’s really important.  If you can’t properly dry out the inside of a hydration pack bladder after use it can foul quite badly.  At the very least everything you drink from the bag in the future will taste grim.  At the worst, if the bladder can’t fully dry it will develop mould, which is potentially hazardous to your health.

 

Source Fuse Hydration Pack – Conclusion

I think the best conclusion I can give regarding this hydropack is that I didn’t really get any strong impressions from using it.  The water stayed where it should.  The water didn’t taste like it had come from a swimming pool.  The waterproof fabric kept my gear dry in challenging conditions.  The pack was comfortable enough that it didn’t trouble me – I could concentrate on the ride.

Ultimately I don’t want any rucksack I wear to make its presence felt in any way.  Most of the time I was cycling I almost managed to forget I was wearing a hydration pack at all.

So in conclusion, if you’re in the market for a hydration pack I can cheerfully recommend getting yourself a Source Fuse from the nice folk at Wheelies.

Find out more about the Source Fuse at Wheelies….

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Tannus solid tyres – an HONEST review

Like all humans who like to use pedals, I live in fear of a menace whose name is forbidden to mention on group rides, a terror that can strike on any road surface anywhere in the world. Yes, the P-word, the P-fairy (hmm, I never realised how wrong that sounds). P to the uncture. Flatties, unscheduled pressurizations, unplanned rubber ventilation, I’m afraid we can’t hide behind any of these names for this article, brace your good selves, I’m going to have to use the word can can’t put it off any longer, brace yourself (or look away if you’re a cyclist of a sensitive disposition) – p u n c t u r e.

Solid tyres, why do we want them?

I’m assuming you’ve ridden a bike before? Or do you enjoy repairing punctures in the dark, in the rain, with numb fingers? The prospect of a bicycle tyre that is not only puncture ‘resistant’ but for which punctures are a physical impossibility surely appeals to all bike riders?

If you’re commuting to work punctures make you late, if you’re riding with friends punctures make them laugh at you. Well, friends either laugh or are incredibly sympathetic, without actually offering to help with repairs.

Like a lot of cyclists, I made the decision to abandon traditional pumps (I hate hand pumps SO much) for a puncture repair and instead use Co2 cannisters. However, I’m always slightly scared of using Co2, it’s a fear-based on the fact that while nothing is likely to go horribly wrong, there’s every chance it could spectacularly. I feel a very similar fear when standing close to a large horse. But that’s my problem.

So leaving aside for a moment the finger-numbing filthy discomfort (and potential Co2 burns/explosions) that puncture repairs cause let’s pause to consider how much kit we have to lug about in case we get a puncture. Actually let’s not, it will be dull and we all know the score – ‘a friend’ buys a bike that weighs less than a kitten’s bobble hat, then hands a heavy bag of spares from the saddle ‘just in case’.

Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to worry about punctures?

So we’ve established that there are many things in life I enjoy more than punctures, so when I was at the SPIN Urban Cycling Show in early 2014 and spotted a company called Tannus who claimed to have perfected solid tyres I really wanted to believe they had cracked the code.

So after witnessing Tannus building some momentum in the UK cycling scene I got in touch with the UK representative and asked if I could take a pair for a test ride. Very kindly they said ‘yeah, go for it’. So I really wanted to love these Tannus tyres and shout their praises from the rooftops (by which I mean VeloBalls), but solid tyres have been attempted by others before, and have always failed. So why would Tannus be any different?

The problem with solid tyres

Solid tyres certainly aren’t a new idea, in fact, if you want to be pedantic (and please do, we love that) then you could point out that the solid tyres pre-date pneumatic tyres (ones that have air in them). So why didn’t our cycling forefathers stick with solid tyres?

Why on earth did they go to all the trouble of developing tyres pumped full of air? Probably because their ‘fundamentals’ were suffering from the brutal ride that solid wheels/tyres traditionally caused. So to the relief of crotches and bottoms everywhere, Dunlop developed pneumatic tyres and cyclists the world over forgot about solid rubber tyres.  For at least two and a half minutes. Ever since there has been a string of companies holding up their hands and proudly stating that they have solved the conundrum of creating solid tyres that didn’t suck.

In the past, ‘innovative’ solid bike tires have either weighed a ton, fallen apart, had more rolling resistance than steam traction engine wheels coated in a metric ton of super glue or (most alarmingly of all) tended to part ways with the rims when cornering.

But it would appear that Tannus solid tires were different, a theory I developed after realising that their popularity was growing, without the inevitable backlash of frustrations their forebearers suffered.

So with a mixture of excitement and trepidation, I loaded myself and my trusty (and slightly rusty) SingleSpeed onto a train and headed for E1 Cycles in London to get me some solid tyres. Actually, when I initially went to mount my steed in order to head to the station I discovered I had a puncture…

Solid tires – how are they fitted?

I had 700 x 23 tyres ‘hard’ tyres fitted.

Between getting off the train in London and arriving at E1 cycles in the East End I suffered another TWO punctures, so when the friendly staff at E1 told me the Tannus Musai tyres would be fitted in a jiffy I was about as ready as a fellow can be to shout a hearty ‘huzzah’. Instead, I thanked them and wandered off in search of coffee while they got to work.

After they had taken a look at the battered old Mavic Aksium wheels on my single speed (someone gave them to me because they found them behind their dustbin) the only questions I was asked was ‘would I like hard or soft’, and what colour would I like?

I only mention how old my wheels are in the interests of transparency – this test ride is far-removed from those carried out by the glossy magazines. I’m testing these tires on a fairly battered old bike, which I think makes the conditions closer to those experienced by the majority of VeloBalls readers. The only carbon involved in this test was the exhaust fumes I unavoidably inhaled while cycling through London.

I realise that not including details of how the tires are actually fitted is a bit of an omission on my part. The chaps in the shop looked a bit confused when I asked them how difficult they were to fit. I’m not putting too much gravity on this; I’m sure any skilled cycle mechanic would give a bit of a gallic shrug if I asked how tricky it was to true a wheel or any other bit of mechanical genius that I consider magical.

A friend who has fitted some Tannus Musai by himself assures me that while there is definitely a knack, fitting the tyres was certainly within the reach of us mere mortals. As I’m being so hopelessly unhelpful when it comes to details of the installation process I’m going to point you at this video:

Having watched that video a few times I’d say that unless you particularly fancy a challenge it might be an idea to get an official Tannus supplier to do the fitting for you. If you live near London then Andrés at E1 assures me that he’ll be more than happy to help.

Initial impressions

My ride from E1 to Liverpool St Station on my way home was less than a mile so my very first impressions aren’t that interesting. I arrived on Continental GP4000s tyres (well, the remains of them really) so switching to the Tannus was always going to be noticeable. But then I’m yet to find any tyre that rides as fast and comfortably as the GP4000s, but while they are fast and comfortable they do (in my experience) have as much resistance to puncturing as a balloon at a hedgehog’s birthday party.

singlespeed with solid tyres
(crap) photo of my SingleSpeed fitted with Tannus solid tyres, in a guard’s van, without an owl.

The test ride

This morning I took my SingleSpeed out for a jaunt around some of the rougher roads of Ipswich to give these tyres a proper test. The first thing that struck me was how firm the ride was; I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was harsh, but I was certainly feeling the ‘character’ of the road surface. Not unbearably so, and to be fair the harshness of the ride was not really too different to riding on fully-inflated Bontrager Hardcases.

I made a video review of the ride, you can watch it here:

Rolling resistance

When speaking to some friends who had tried previous incarnations of solid tyres (made by other manufacturers) the biggest complaint they had was rolling resistance. This meant that more effort had to be put into shoving the bicycle forward than with inflatable tyres. I wasn’t expecting the Tannus tyres to be entirely free of rolling resistance (no tyres ever are) but I was surprised at just how little they had. I’m not an expert in such things, but other (far cleverer) websites somehow figure the rolling resistance is 8% higher than with standard tyres (whatever ‘standard’ tyres are!).

Overall grip and control

Horror stories from the history of solid bike tyres include tales of slippage in some very alarming ways. Previous incarnations of non-pneumatic tyres didn’t hold the road very well, meaning that cornering, not just at speed, but at all, could be much more of an adventure than any cyclist would seek out.

Sure most of us like taking risks on bikes, but they’re usually risks whereby you have a good idea of the risk you’re taking, and mechanical sympathy (taking the form of good maintenance) helps mitigate that risk.

Going around a corner and having the tyres slip out from underneath you because the tyres aren’t gripping the road is a risk that can only be mitigated by changing tires (or not cycling in sub-zero conditions!).

The road conditions for today’s test ride was most unfavourable – it has rained recently and the general December weather has made the roads greasy and coated with a layer of grit and detritus that can cause an unscheduled dismount for inexperienced riders. Despite the fact I was riding with a suitable amount of caution I was being far from cavalier, and I felt totally in control with these Tannus tyres.

Perhaps more alarming than my bike parting company with me on a corner is having a tyre that isn’t securely fastened to the rim. There are reports by the owners of ye olde solid tyres of yesteryear that tell of occasions when they had to brake hard, only to have the wheel stop, but the tyre carry on turning!

Fortunately, I didn’t have to slam on the anchors for an emergency stop on my test ride, but having just watched that fitting video again I’m confident enough that if I did hit the brakes I’d stand a pretty good chance of stopping.

In the interest of addressing as many of the ‘old complaints’ as possible, I’m going to mention one last control nightmare – losing the tyre entirely. Yup, in the distant past some cyclists (riding other brands of solid tyre) have come a cropper when their tyres have popped out of the rim while they’re cycling!

I’m no expert, just ‘some bloke with a crap bike’ but I’m not worried that these tires will leap out of rims. Quite the opposite; I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to remove them! Good job – the manufacturer claims they last about 9,000 miles.

Weight

The tyres I had fitted weigh near as dammit exactly the same amount as Bontrager Hardcases, once you take into account the tube.  Impressive.  The low weight is probably due to the fact these tyres aren’t made of rubber at all, in fact, they’re made from a type of foam, er, sort of, that Tannus call ‘Aither’.

Price

No getting around it, these Tannus tyres ain’t cheap. You could almost buy four of the (almost) bombproof Schwalbe Marathon Plus puncture resistant tyres for the price of two Tannus Musai. I’ve been using Bontrager Hardcase tyres on my bikes for a few years, and despite the fact they’re not the most comfortable tyre in the world, I could buy six or seven for the same amount as a couple of pairs of these solid tyres.  But according to the official stats, the Musai tyres should outlive the competitors’ tyres many times over.

Tredz is currently the best bet for buying Tannus tyres online…

I’m intrigued with regards to the price Tannus has set for this product – if a company is introducing a radical new product to a sceptical market (and cyclists are notoriously sceptical) then there’s a big temptation to sell at a narrow profit margin to get the product established.

At the other end of the scale is companies like Apple who set their prices high and sort of impress and wow the market by claiming the high price is because their output should be considered as a premium product.

I have no idea how much profit Tannus makes on each tyre, but knowing a little bit about manufacturing processes (ha, I really do!) I wouldn’t expect the cost per unit to be exceptionally high. However, the high price could well reflect the research costs Tannus have incurred in the 25 years they have been researching the materials used in these tyres.

It’s worth noting that tyres aren’t the only product Tannus make, among a wide product range are some extremely safety-aware products like the padding used inside American Football helmets.

I’m digressing, and I’m resorting to pointless conjecture – let’s get to the summary!

Summary

Solid tyres are more than just not getting punctures, they’re about not having to check tyre pressures, making your bike ready to go with zero preparation. If you are a regular commuter preparation is no big deal, checking tyre pressures is as much a part of your routine as making your packed lunch, or packing dry underpants in case of severe rain. But when I want to jump on my bike to nip into town not having to check the tyres for either pressure or punctures is pretty cool.

It seems a little foolish to claim to be able to make a solid-gold summary after just one ride, so sorry if you’ve just read through all of the above 2,500+ words and were expecting a definitive answer. I can only give you one man’s subjective opinion, which I guess all reviews are really, but here’s how I now view Tannus Musai tyres and how they fit into my cycling life (I’ll try and keep this brief, honestly):

Solid tyres on my singlespeed

I never use my SingleSpeed for any journey longer than ten miles, partly because of the stupid 52/18 ratio I have, but also because if I’m going on a ‘leisure bimble’ I’d much rather use gears. So for all the journeys I make on the bike I have these tires fitted to I’m quite happy to put up with a slightly bumpier ride than I’m used to, I consider that a very small price to pay for not having to fix any punctures. To be fair I’ve had very few punctures with the Bontrager Hardcases I’ve been riding, but no punctures is a much more exciting prospect than ‘very few’ punctures.

Every cyclist has to make compromises with their equipment in some way, even a rider with a limitless budget will be forced to make a compromise at some point. The ride-comfort concession when using solid tyres is so minuscule it seems pretty much a no-brainer.

Solid tyres on a lightweight bike

Okay, so I’m fooling myself a bit here, my aluminium framed geared bike is no featherweight at about 11kg, but I wanted a clear way to differentiate between my commuting ‘getting around town’ bike and the bike I use for longer rides and sportives. So will I be rushing out to buy a pair of solid tyres for my ‘nice’ bike? Hmm, probably not.

For now, I’m going to stick with using the Bontrager Hardshells as my winter tyres – when I’m using gears on a long ride that tiny amount of extra rolling resistance the Musai give could start to feel like a lot of extra rolling resistance after fifty or sixty miles.

That being said, I’m not ruling it out entirely. It could only take a couple of roadside puncture repairs in freezing conditions to make me consider putting solid tyres on my lightweight bike a lot more favourably. But will I ever use solid tyres in place of my favourite summer tyres? I very much doubt it.

The real summary

I’m really looking forward to the next time I take my SingleSpeed to London; I’m going to be wearing a big smile on my face knowing that I’ll be able to ride those awful, pitted, violently undulating glass-strewn roads with total impunity from the puncture fairy.

Where to buy Tannus tyres

As always we’d recommend making your local bike shop your first stop in any serious search for bike gear, but if they don’t stock these solid tyres here are some other places you can buy them:

P.S. Yeah I know we’ve jumped between using the correct spelling ‘tyres’ in this article, and the spelling favoured by our American friends ‘tires’, and we would explain this choice if we felt like it. But we don’t, so ner ner ner ner ner.

by on

Northwave Fahrenheit GTX (Gore-Tex) Winter Road Shoes review

I bought my Northwave Fahrenheit February 2013  and have worn nothing else since.  I think the purchase of these boots still constitutes the largest amount of money I’ve ever spend on one ‘thing’ for cycling, and it was worth it more than anything else I’ve bought, possibly more than some bikes I’ve owned! Prior to buying these boots I spent at least a few seasons messing about with various socks and overshoes but could never get my feet to stop going numb or getting soaking wet. I’ve worn these boots in very low temperatures, and in very high temperatures and my feet are always just fine. I only bother wearing one pair of socks with these boots and they’re always just fine. Doesn’t sound exciting but I find that if you don’t have too much to rattle on about with regards to the comfort of any sort of cycling gear then there’s a very good chance that’s because they’re incredibly comfortable.

I’ve worn these boots in horizontal rain and my feet have stayed dry, I’ve worn them in icy conditions and my feet have stayed warm. Nearly two years on these winter boots still look great too, there’s no sign of much wear and tear, and I dare say I’ll get plenty more winters out of them yet. Some people might grumble at little at the price, but as with a lot of cycling gear you really do what you get pay for. Buy these and you’ll never be miserable on the commute ever again!