Guess the Part, Win a Prize, Part 2, and a fun bet

OK, I've had a few stabs, but no hits. Jordan Rapp excluded himself and gave up, asking to know what it was. He now knows, but is thus eliminated from grand prize contention.

So I'm sending another shot at a cocked angle. It's a bit soft... sorry, my iPhone sucks for macro shots.Other hints: It is comprised of aluminum, for what it's worth. The hardware with it are what is included in the package, if that gives you any leads.

It is a product in the line of a major aerobar manufacturer. American company. But the product, being as small as it is, is not on their website.... at least I can't find it there.

Before I sign off for now and await some more guesses, I gotta put out there a bet my esteemed colleague Brad Culp and I threw together. We're both racing the first week of April; he at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, and I at Ironman 70.3 New Orleans. From what I see, Nawlins will be an easier, flatter course. But heat could be a factor, I don't know. Or cold and rain could be a factor in Oceanside. Could go either way.

But none of that matters to Brad, for his ego is larger than the Obama Fan Club. No, he said he will slay my time by more than 45 minutes. He may be faster than I am, but hell, gimme some credit. I figure I will come withing 30 minutes.

So we have a bet: regardless of condition at either race, I come within 45 minutes of Brad's time, and I get a case of beer of my choice. I fall outside it, I owe him a case.

Of course, if you've seen his blog, you know he like to fancy himself some sort of alcohol connoisseur. Of course, I've seen him drink Zima and say "man, this stuff is awesome, bro, especially when you mix it with Red Bull, gimme a glow stick so I can get loose on the dance floor" so I don't give his brew opinion much credence. Zima? Sad.

I'll take his 45 minutes. He may give me a case of beer, but I'm not all taking. I'll buy him a box of cookies to bury his sorrows in.

Interoffice smacktalk prattle off. Let's have some guesses.

Guess the Part, Win a Prize!!!

Seldom does a bit part wow me. But this one, which I received a couple weeks ago, did. It’s metal, it’s simple, and it will change your life. And there’s a little drawing for this existence-altering piece of technology that ranks up there with the door knob and the round wheel. (You know, after square wheels were just not cutting it).

O.K. I’m exaggerating. But it makes your riding experience, on a smaller scale, more enjoyable. It’s also the kind of thing that I want to put in the magazine, but most will look right past it, as it lacks sex appeal. It’s not carbon, it’s not gloss, and it’s not aero tested. But when I put one on my wife’s Cervelo P3, people were asking “where’d you get that? She’s had to refer all questions to me.But it has utility for triathletes in a big way. It’s good for races, and good for training. Good on road bikes, and good on tri bikes. I visited Dan Empfield and showed it to him, and managed to elicit a “cool.” From him. If ever there was a vote of confidence, that was it.

I spoke to the head engineer for the American-based triathlon-specific company about the design of this little widget, who said “It was a team effort all around.”

What is it? That’s my question to you. A tab to tape gels onto? A surface for installing race numbers? Hmmmmm…. what could it be?

The first person (aside from those few who know me and have seen it) to sort out what it is and who makes it, I will send you a pair, compliments of the company, and announce the winner at this very globally-read blog. And it will change your life forever. I shot it under studio lighting (flourescent lights) against a contrasting background (my laptop) to give it scale, with one of my best cameras (my iPhone). This is as good as it gets, folks.

No more hints…. Time to give me your best guess!

Press Releases Galore, and some editorial: Macca to SRAM, TBB to Avia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


AVIA SELECTED AS OFFICIAL FOOTWEAR PARTNER OF TEAMTBB

Aliso Viejo, Calif. (December 18, 2008) – AVIA, the leader in endurance sports racing footwear, is proud to announce its partnership with teamTBB. As of January ’09, all teamTBB athletes will train and race in AVIA footwear. TeamTBB’s coaching staff and athletes will also work directly with AVIA’s footwear engineering team on innovative new product designs.

“We are thrilled to be joining forces with the best multi-sport teams in the world,” said Ed Goldman, Vice President of Marketing for AVIA. “Our decision to partner with teamTBB is not simply a one dimensional sponsorship; their athlete assets are unmatched and their commitment to improving the lives of young people through sports is honorable. We are looking forward to a record breaking season in 2009.”

Teamtbb is a development squad that provides hope and opportunity to many young athletes and struggling pro’s that would have had no opportunity or pathway to being able to become an earning professional athlete. Teamtbb provides physical, psychological and mechanical information to all of its athletes and more important its current leading athletes are the role models to the rookie and development athletes.

In addition to its professional and amateur athlete programs, teamTBB also works to ensure that youth around the globe can participate in multi-sport events through its social development projects and its franchise, The Bike Boutique. The Bike Boutique provides unique lifestyle services through its bike lifestyle stores and encourages cycling as a means of transportation supported by its bikeLodging™ services.

Alex Bok, Managing Director of The Bike Boutique Holding and teamTBB says about this new partnership “We have completed a long selection process to finally team up with one of leading endurance footwear companies. Avia became our absolute preferred choice as a result of their shoe technology. Avia’s shoe technology is totally aligned with our coaching staff’s vision of what requirement the ultimate endurance shoe should meet. Secondly, Avia is a company with a unique brand image that is not afraid of taking a fresh and innovative approach to the footwear market.”

Starting in January, AVIA running shoes will be sold in all Bike Boutique locations world-wide. For more information on The Bike Boutique and teamTBB please visit www.teamtbb.com.

About American Sporting Goods
American Sporting Goods is a manufacturer of performance athletic footwear and apparel based in Aliso Viejo, Calif. Brands under the ASG umbrella include AVIA, And 1, rykä, Nevados, Yukon, NSS, APEX, Turntec and Triple Five Soul.

About teamTBB
teamTBB is a professional organisation for triathlon and bike related sports and nurtures a unique culture by providing hope and opportunity for young athletes. teamTBB is committed to building a better world for youth and has started various social projects around the world.

TEAMTBB CONTACT:
Alex Bok
+65-9752-8080
alexbok@thebikeboutique.com

***

We thought Macca to SRAM was inevitable, considering his switch to Zipp a few months ago. And TeamTBB's move with Avia is a smart move; Brett Sutton doesn't pick up a brand without a hands-on look at the product. And after I saw the new AviBolt 2 and the new AviStoltz trail shoe for '09, I thought those two shoes were a massive surge for the brand; the trail shoe (which has no bearing on the tri team, save for co-designer Conrad Stoltz and new Avia signee Melanie McQuaid) is kick ass, with a low heel to prevent ankle rolls and an aggressive, grabby tread) is one I look forward to trying on the trails.

But the AviBolt 2 is gonna shake things up, as it's the shoe that, like the Pearl Izumi Peak, is an underground star. Superlight, low heel, ultra flexible for unimpeded gait, and with a touch of stability, to keep your form together late in the marathon. All these Nike, Asics and with big, cushy heels (especially when worn by middle-aged trophy wives at the gym) are a joke; you shorten the achilles tendon and are effectively running in stilletos, heel striking by default. A shoe with a low heel promotes a midfoot strike and better run form. It ain't for everyone, but for fast runners—or a fast pro tri team—a low, light, racer with a touch of posting is the ticket. Newton has that in the extreme, Pearl Izumi has it in the Peak, Nike has it in the Luna Racer, and now Avia has it in their new '09 shoes. It seems some brands are learning that "gee, big cloud-like heels are the opposite of what real runners need, and that we can run fast like Abebe Bikila did back in the 1960 Rome Olympic Games."

Well, maybe not that fast, or that cool... I'm keeping my Pearls on my feet for now. Anyway, interesting pickups for both SRAM and Avia.

FSA's 11-speed road group coming into focus?

When SRAM was making the debut of the Force group a couple years ago, there was nearly equal level talk about Full Speed Ahead bringing its own complete road groupset to market. Of course, SRAM went gangbusters, and FSA, well, the line "it's coming" has been getting long in the tooth.

Then I came across this, at rouesartisanales.com...



By the looks of these patent drawings, something is in the pipeline for an 11-speed road shifter. I have contacted FSA and while they don't deny that they're working on something, they are quite mum about any details whether regarding function, dates of release, and what the group is to consist of.

Regarding the shifters, Roues Artisanales makes an interesting note: while conventional shifters sees the cable wind mechanism in the shifter in a perpendicular fashion (since the levers push and pull in that direction, the cable spool on this FSA shifter lay in front-to-back parallel with the cable run. How the shift lever winds the cable in that orientation (since the inboard shifters typically push inward will be interesting to see, as will shift cable placement, which may port directly out the back of the shifter as it does with the brake cable, eliminating the need for under bar shift cable routing, thus making for an even cleaner, potentially easier-operating cable run, with less cable and housing needed.

The rear derailleur, instead of pivoting up and down the cassette via a standard parallelogram, has mechanical pivot on either end of the spanning bar that would normally be a parallelogram.

There is also word that there will be a bar end shifter that will go with this group, and that it may very well depart from standard function—but no further details were provide.

I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I am sure Interbike next year will be an interesting one—if the drama lasts that long. The media—well, at least me—will be harassing FSA at Sea Otter at the very latest.

Merry Christmas...

...and enjoy the wonders of the season (even you guys paralyzed by snow in Seattle)

Cheers, Jay

The Perfect Last-second Gift

If it wasn't for my wife, I would be, as they say, late for my own funeral. If I say I'm gonna be somewhere in 10 minutes, add 20 minutes to that, and that'll be my arrival.

So with days till Christmas, I announce the wickedest holiday gift for a triathlete, the one who has everything. It's not a $12,000 carbon thing. It's not even a $200 carbon thing. It's a jacket. Not just any jacket, mind you. If that was the case, I'd be pimping my wool-lined, corduroy O'Neill jacket that wards off cold, chill and hollow-tip bullets.

No, this one, the T-Zero is better. I used this tri-specific transiton area jacket just before one of notoriously chilliest—and bone-chilling—races in North America: Escape from Alcatraz. It's put together by the guys at True Motion, and took design and feature cues from pro triathlete Jordan Rapp, a guy who is one of the most tech-saavy athletes out there. True Motion sent me one to test, and my first thought is "how do you test a jacket? It zips up, it zips down."

Well, with Rapp's involvement (as well as that of Paul Bashforth of True Motion, a guy I finally got to meet at Ironman Arizona No. 2 a few months ago when he numbered my wife before the race), it goes without saying that the thing will be tech loaded. But the biggest feature for me: two zippers. At Alcatraz—shit, at any cold-ass morning race—the one thing I look forward to least beside the line for the porta-loo is the line for body marking. Because once you make the front, you have a minute of unendurable chill as you take off your hoodie and freeze as the volunteer puts your number on your arms.

The T-Zero solves for it with a simple solution: zippers on the shoulder. No need to take off the jacket, just unzip, number, and zip up. As we waited to board the Hornblower, with the cold air coming off the bay, it was a pleasure to get to "test" this jacket.

But the thing is packed with other stuff. First, it's inside is a nice, warm, brushed twill. But the outside is a nice windblocking outer. Points there. There's a clip inside one pocket, allowing you to lock your keyring to it, so after the race you're not hunting around for your keys that fell out of your jacket.
MP3 pocket with internal cable run and external headphone port, check. Partitioned rear zip pocket, internal mesh pockets for your phone..... there's a place for everything on this one. A long tail, a high collar... there's no way cold is getting in.

It's $130. Not a bad price to pay for a jacket that will keep you focusing on just the porta-loo... and your start. And if you are looking for that last holiday gift for a loved one, just order it direct online at true-motion.com, drop an IOU in their stocking to let 'em know it's coming, and tell them you were late... but that it was my fault. I'll take the hit—I'm used to it.

Ain's High-tech Sponsorship Search

I remember the first time I saw Ain-Alar Juhanson race, at Ironman Lanzarote. The Estonian, six-foot-three or something, was just grinding his teeth down, riding up to Bjorn Andersson and away from else. Sitting on the back of a moto, I quickly snapped a couple pics and bailed out, for fear he'd bite my head off. Once on the run, I was shocked to see this big, focused guy moving pretty good down the road on the run.

He won the race, like he typically has at Lanzarote, which, with its heat and wind, is largely regarded as the toughest Ironman on the circuit.
But for his gap-toothed grimace on the bike, I expected someone with the charm of a NFL linebacker, a typical cold Eastern European. I found interviewing him he was quite the opposite; he was friendly, comical, an all-around good guy. I had heard he had been on a ferryboat that went down, taking some of his triathlon colleagues with him, and he spoke openly about it—it was clear his motivation was to honor them.

The above shot is from Kona this October; I had been faced down the Queen K awaiting the lead women when I heard "Jay!" from behind—Ain had clicked off the fastest bike of the day (an amazing 4:26:14), and was running out of the Energy Lab and back into town to a great 14th-place finish. If you can go well in Lanzarote, Kona can—can—be an easier prospect.

He recently pinged me on Skype and proved that while our Triathlete mag publisher John Duke is espousing how our sport is so vibrant, that we are not the ones being laid off, we are doing the laying off, it sure ain't recession-proof for the pros. He lost his previous title sponsor, and the hunt was on.

But instead of doing like most pros, sending resumes out, Ain went tech. Posting a YouTube video, he wondered what I thought. If I could figure out how to put a YouTube video up, I'd do so.

But it's just as easy to click HERE to check it out. I thought it was a pretty clever way to seek out a brand that might want to align with a big, smiling monster.

While some thing the life of a pro is a luxurious one, I can attest, it is as close to the poverty line for many of these guys, even Ironman champs like Ain. Hopefully it's just a blip in his program. Because while there's lots of good guys in this sport, there are few like Ain, who can win with a massive, gap-toothed smile.