Newsletter Issue No. 1250
November 12, 2026
The Do’s and Don’ts of Tire Levers
Jim’s Tech Talk
By Jim Langley
The thing that inspired today’s article was a recent social cycling post in which a well-known former USA cycling champion from the 70s railed about a popular bicycle tool company’s tire levers because he keeps breaking them. Both the racer and the company will go unnamed here, so as not to offend or embarrass him, and because the failures were not the fault of the company, which I’ll explain here. Read more.
Low Intensity Doesn’t Mean Easy
By Ric Stern
I started racing in 1984. I was 14. I’ve seen some fads come and go (oval chainrings, L-shaped cranks) and some improvements that have stayed (power meters, aero testing), but there’s one thing that does the rounds every damn autumn, and that’s low intensity training.
We’re supposed to call it LIT now. Either way, if you’re on Instagram you’ll start seeing images about how important low intensity training is. And, it is. Except it isn’t. Read more.
Scicon Aeroshade 2.0 Titanium Photochromic Sunglasses Review
By Sheri Rosenbaum
In September 2020, Scicon launched the original Aeroshade model. At the time, pro riders like Tadej Pogačar were wearing these sunglasses to victory. Over the last five years, pro feedback has helped re-engineer the materials and geometry to improve stiffness-to-weight, durability, and optical performance, resulting in Aeroshade 2.0 Titanium. Read more.
A follow up to “Is it really so bad to take the whole winter off the bike?”
By Stan Purdum
In my last column, I replied to Jason K’s question, “Is it really so bad to take the whole winter off the bike?” In short, my answer was “No, not if you stay otherwise active.” You can read my full reply here.
That led a reader named Richard to ask, “How do injuries to senior citizens factor into this subject (even when being careful and patient in their return to cycling)? Individual variations aside, can fitness and mobility loss sometimes unexpectedly turn permanent for seniors, or does research suggest that seniors do retain the capacity to rebuild? Furthermore, is there research suggesting that extended periods of limited activity may have positive long-term benefits?” Read more.
Watts Up?
Deep Archives: Newsletter #11 · October 4, 2001
A look back at the newsletter from 25 years ago! The following is reprinted as originally published; product details and prices are from 2001.
Since the demise of Tune’s PowerTap rear hub a year ago, roadies who wanted to train by measuring their power output had one choice — the pricey and hard-to-get German-made SRM ($2,500-$4,000). Now the PowerTap (www.power-tap.com) is back, improved and updated, after being purchased by Graber Products.
Plus, heart monitor company Polar (www.polarusa.com) is finally set to introduce its wattmeter, the S-710.
At about $700, these two units aren’t cheap (unless compared to an SRM). We’re planning to test each one in the coming months because they have great promise for training. We’ll keep you posted!
Other Cool Things to Read
The Wellbeing Mag: In older adults, muscle declines by only 1% a year but strength by more than 4% and jump performance by up to 48%.
Run Long: Lessons from the Ultimate Carb Dose Study
Bicycle Retailer: Lynskey family losses lead to titanium frame business reorganization
Question of the Week
What’s the hardest part of changing a tire yourself?
Most Clicked Last Week
Should Steve Upgrade or Replace His “Old” Trek Madone 4.7?
End Notes
