Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

Storyblocks and YouTube have a copyright problem

Thursday, February 18th, 2021 | Reviews

Storyblocks is a royalty-free media subscription service that allows you to get stock photographs, audio and video to use in your products for a flat monthly subscription. I have used the service for a while and I like it, with a few caveats. One of which being if you use the music they provide on YouTube, you are constantly getting copyright claims against your videos.

It’s annoying because you have to go in and appeal each one. YouTube recently made this process more complicated so it now feels there is an even heavier presumption of guilt. These appeals are not monitored by YouTube but are considered by the copyright owner who can decide to accept or reject them.

Worse, one of my recent appeals was rejected even after I explained I had paid for a licence with Storyblocks. Storyblocks don’t seem to have a downloadable licence so it’s not clear what would happen if I re-uploaded a video if I ever left Storyblocks. What’s the point in paying for licences when they are not respected?

Endura FS260 rain cape review

Thursday, November 26th, 2020 | Reviews, Video

The Endura FS260 is a rain cape designed for cycling. Capes are lightweight and stuff into your jersey pocket when you are not wearing them, so you can set off with it in your pocket knowing that if it starts raining you will be able to pull another layer on.

In my opinion, the FS260 is a great option. It’s far below the super-expensive Gortex £300 options, and if you pick the correct colour (some are cheaper than others) you can get it for less than £50.

It does a good job of protecting me from the rain, although will not keep me dry in heavy showers. It also does a good job at keeping my warm and I often take it as an alternative to arm warmers.

The back covers my jersey pockets to keep everything dry.

The sleeves are a little long and it is not skin-tight, so if you are in a race situation, you are going to cause a fair bit of drag compared to something like a Gabba jersey.

Overall, highly recommended for cyclists, and it works well when running, too.

Best winter cycling socks

Tuesday, October 20th, 2020 | Reviews, Video

How do you keep your feet warm during winter cycling? In this video, I will compare regular socks with the Pactimo wool winter socks and Rapha winter socks, as well as discussing what else I do to keep my feet warm when the temperature gets down towards zero.

Mavic Crossmax cycling shoes review

Monday, October 19th, 2020 | Reviews, Video

The Mavic Crossmax SL Pro Thermo shoe is a winter cycling boot. It supports SPD (mountain bike) cleats but Mavic also produces a road version named Ksyrium Pro Thermo that supports SPD-SL cleats.

My hands and feet get very cold on the bike so I have been on a long quest to work out how to keep them warm. These shoes are the closest I have come so far. They do an excellent job of keeping the wind and rain out so when coupled some winter socks your feet should stay toasty.

They have a lot of fastenings. There is a zip along the front and velcro around the ankle. You can tighten it using a boa dial. Once you have the boots on, you can ignore the zip and velcro and just tighten using the dial. My socks do sometimes get caught in the velcro when putting them on.

They are reasonably light. I measured one shoe at 582 grams, which is only 10 grams more than my summer Mavic shoes. That said, my summer Mavic shoes (573 grams) are heavy compared to non-cycling shoes or even my Shimano triathlon bike shoes which come in at around 350 grams each. For a boot, they feel pretty reasonable.

I am a size 11 in a running shoe and I go for an 11.5 when I buy Mavic. That said, they are generously sized, allowing me to get my big socks in them, so I could probably have gone with an 11 as well. They are pricy, so it depends on how much you value warm feet.

Roka Pro Swim pull buoy review

Sunday, October 18th, 2020 | Reviews, Video

A pull buoy is designed to keep your legs floating while doing swim drills so that you can work on improving your arm stroke. In this video, I will review the Roka Pro Swim pull buoy.

What can I say? It’s a pull buoy. It is a good size: maybe slightly larger than the typical pull buoy you get at a pool but not so big that it will not fit in your bag. It has good buoyancy and allowed me to get into my stroke on pull drills. It is symmetrical so you cannot adjust the buoyancy based on its orientation but I never actually do that anyway.

Voodoo Limba bike review

Thursday, September 24th, 2020 | Reviews, Sport

In this video, I’ll review the Voodoo Limba cyclocross (adventure) bike from Halfords. It’s an entry-level cross bike that is more affordable than other brands and got me through my first few sportives and triathlons.

Unfortunately, it has been plagued with problems for me. The back wheel has literally fallen off twice. How much user error can you get from a quick release skewer? Once maybe, but they are just not that complicated.

The front wheel jumps violently to the side when I brake. I’ve had multiple bike shops try to fix it with no luck. I think it’s a problem with the axle but the wheels are generic so there is no practical way to fix them.

Nor are the wheels balanced. The front wheel constantly veers to the left, making it harder to handle and impossible to run with in transition.

The groupset is Claris, which is Shimano’s cheapest road groupset and it is terrible. The rear cassette constantly deindexes and is impossible to get reindexed correctly. And every time I change gear on the front rings, the chain comes off.

I’ve done all the standard debugging, like adjusting the barrel adjuster and re-aligning the brake pads with no success. I’ve also taken it to multiple bike shops and they have had little success also.

As a result of the issues with the brakes, and the wheels, and the gears, I don’t ride the bike anymore because I’m genuinely scared that I’m going to die. In my opinion, it is worth paying more for a higher quality bike.

Intake Breathing review

Thursday, August 20th, 2020 | Reviews, Video

Intake Breathing promises to open the nose of those of us who predominantly breathe through our mouths. Here is my review of it.

ISM PR 3.0

Wednesday, August 12th, 2020 | Reviews, Sport

I’ve been trying out the ISM PR 3.0 saddle. It is a split-nosed saddle designed to help blood flow, especially in the time trial position.

To its credit, it does feel pretty good. However, as other reviews have noted, I did get some discomfort on my inner thighs. The seat itself, which is supposed to be ISM’s most comfortable, felt rock hard to me. There was nowhere near as much give as my Fabric.

Ultimately, it wasn’t for me. Maybe if I was in the TT position the whole time it would be an option. But I’m not, so it isn’t the saddle for me.

Tacx floor stand review

Wednesday, August 5th, 2020 | Reviews, Sport, Video

Looking for a stand to hold your tablet while turbo training? Probably not. But if you were, you should watch the video below.

Huub tow float review

Monday, August 3rd, 2020 | Reviews, Sport, Video

In this video, I will review the Huub safety tow float. It follows on from my video last week about how to inflate the thing.