Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

A few weeks ago I reviewed the Garmin HRM-Dual and said that it was okay. Since then, I’ve been seeing dropouts in the Bluetooth connection that don’t seem to occur on my other devices, including my Polar H10. Here’s an updated review:

Mountain Fuel is a British endurance nutrition brand making products for runners, cyclists, triathletes and endurance racers at large. In this video, I’ll review their jellies (an alternative to energy gels), Extreme Energy drink, Ultimate Recovery drink and flapjacks to see how they stack up against Science In Sport, Torq, High5 and other brands.

It’s not quite a glove and it’s not quite a mitten: the Sealskinz split finger glove, also known as the lobster claw, is my go-to glove when the weather gets really cold. But it also broke really easily. Here is the video review:

There are mini pumps, then there is the Bianchi super micro. It’s really, really small for a bike pump.

I took me a while to get hold of because I wanted someone to recommend it but all of the shops said it was too small. Finally, an officially licenced Bianchi retailer said it was great (surprisingly), so I bought it from them. If there was any justice, at this point, it would turn out to be crap. But they were actually telling the truth and it’s a really good pump.

Here’s the video review:

Crankalicious is a British-based bike cleaning product brand and their Gumchained Remedy chain cleaning wipes are amazing. Mostly because they make it easy enough for me to actually bother cleaning my chain. Check it out:

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I spent an hour scrubbing my drive train with @crankaliciously and for the first time ever it actually looks clean again.

A post shared by Chris Worfolk (@chrisworfolk) on Apr 7, 2020 at 2:33pm PDT

Here is the video review:

Garmin have finally released a speed sensor with Bluetooth and it’s good. Here is my review.

The Garmin HRM-Dual heart rate monitor finally adds Bluetooth to their range. Is it as good as the HRM-Tri, and how does it stack up against the Polar H10? Find out in the video below.

If you are experiencing wetsuit chafing on the back of your neck and lube isn’t doing much for you, you may want to upgrade to the Mugrio neck projector. It’s a thick rubber collar that sits between your skin and your wetsuit and does a great job of protecting my precious skin.

Karhu is a Finnish running shoe brand and the Synchron is their support shoe. I wanted to love it but I don’t.

The shoe pinches my midfoot and digs into my plantar fascia underneath. It’s not as bad as the Karhu Fusion, but it is still uncomfortable. It’s not as tall as the Fusion, which makes it difficult for me to get my foot into it. The toe box suggests I am wearing the right size; the shoes are simply not tall enough.

It feels like quite a heavy shoe and after any period of time running, my toes start to get hot. They have a chunky sole but it does not give much back. Hoka have an annoying large sole but at least it gives something back; the Karhus not so much.

It is a shame because they look nice, albeit not quite as nice as the Karhu Fusion. But, alas, the Synchron is not the running shoe for me.

The Karhu Fusion running shoe is a story of heartbreak. Visiting Finland regularly and speaking some Finnish, the minute I saw the word karhu, I wondered if it was a Finnish brand. And it was. A legendary Finnish brand with over a hundred years of running heritage.

The shoes look great and the Fusion is tall enough to fit my foot in.

However, it is also uncomfortable. The mid-foot rocker digs into my plantar fascia and I came off a treadmill run in some discomfort. They feel heavy without providing much cushioning, so it is like running in a big shoe without the benefits you usually get from them. In fact, they pinch my midfoot the whole way around, from the bottom to across the top as well.

So, unfortunately, these are not my new running shoes of choice.