Mamilian

Blog April 2, 2020

Abnormal high heart rate detected?

In general, I’m loving the Garmin Fenix 6, but there’s definitely some occasional weirdness going on with the optical heart rate sensor. Many new Garmin watches have a feature which can detect when the wearer has something funky going on with their heart rate when they’re sedentary. I turned it on, because why not? The default threshold is 100BPM, which seems reasonable for me personally, but it’s good that it’s configurable because…

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By Andrew Van Til

News April 1, 2020

The length of your crank doesn’t matter

I must admit that I’ve never spent much time thinking about the length of my crank. But, it’s easy not to question when it’s on the longer end of normal, and it just works. My first road bike came with a 175mm, and while I have had the opportunity to try out 172.5mm and 177.5mm, I’ve just stuck with it because I can’t feel a difference. Dylan, as he does, digs into…

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By Andrew Van Til

News April 1, 2020

Maybe in a velodrome…

Maybe I’m just being pedantic (likelihood is high), but I’m reasonably confident while it is true that when you’re moving faster, you move faster into the space someone else used to be. I have to question whether the space they used to be is in the same state as it was when they were there. Taking an easy factor into consideration, say an angled crosswind, where does the exhalate go from the…

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By Andrew Van Til

News March 31, 2020

Ah yes, that day each year where people do stupid things and we pretend it’s funny

It’s April somewhere, so Zwift has decided to go retro. Take it as a PSA, it’s not just you… This is our 6th April Fools’ Day on Zwift, and each year the HQ has come up with something fun for the community. Last year we were burning rubber, and the year before that it was Paperboy. 2017 we had big heads, 2016 gave us the old-timey effect, and 2015 we rode big…

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By Andrew Van Til

News March 31, 2020

Why is better controversial?

I think we could pretty much bucket every one of the “controversies” outlined in this video into those who don’t want to change, and those who embrace new tech (warts and all). I must fall into that second bucket, because on every single one, I’m solidly in the in-with-the-new crowd: ✅ disc brakes, ✅ road tubeless, ✅e-bikes are OK, ✅gravel bikes,✅indoor training. The video is kind of lame, with BikeRadar being very,…

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By Andrew Van Til

News March 31, 2020

Fitbit announces Charge 3 with GPS, er… the Charge 4

There certainly are people who loved the Charge 3, but really, really, really wanted to leave their phone at home when stepping out for a run, hike, cycle. I wasn’t one of these, and frankly I don’t why you would leave the phone at home – it’s your lifeline should anything bad happen while you’re out. Of course, built-in GPS doesn’t solve the real problem with Fitbit. But hey, if GPS and…

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By Andrew Van Til

Blog March 30, 2020

Missing the rep

I thought it was just a fluke, but it turns out that it’s every, single, lifting workout where my Garmin watch gets the rep count totally, and completely, wrong. Today was a new low, with zero detected repetitions during my “leg/back day” strength workout. How can it be this bad? With some basic searching out of the way, it doesn’t look like I’m alone in this either. The general consensus is that…

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By Andrew Van Til

Featured Review March 29, 2020

Giant Revolt 2 – Project Bike Step Two

Calling “done”, at least for now, with the aluminum Giant Revolt 2 gravel bike. Having kept only the frame, there were a lot of changes getting there. While I forgot to mention it in the video, I was able to get the bike down to 8.995kg with Shimano PD-M540 pedals (no bottle cages or other accessories), which is very competitive with other gravel bikes costing significantly more. Amazing bike.…

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By Andrew Van Til

Featured Review March 27, 2020

Peaty’s Tubeless Valves – 42mm

Selecting 3rd party tubeless valves is hard, mostly because there are so many to choose from. I opted for the Peaty’s because of the design and [will probably never need it] lifetime guarantee.…

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By Andrew Van Til

Blog March 26, 2020

Ride the risk

Processing risk is a really hard thing. We all need to determine what our tolerance is for risk, and what we get from riding, being outside, or moving for that matter. Anyone with stairs in their house is at risk for falling down them. If you have a pet, that risk goes up exponentially. Should we relegate ourselves to a single floor? Just stepping outside carries enormous risk. While there are coyotes…

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By Andrew Van Til