In May, I was given the Nike + wristband to test. I generally run on a treadmill but have entered a 10k outdoor run in July so this would be a useful training device. The Nike + pack comprised of a shoe sensor and a wristband. Whilst manufactured by Nike, the shoe sensor can also fit Adidas trainers, so not restricted to a shoe brand when buying the product. The wrist band is both a monitoring device and a watch. It comes in a choice of 3 colours; I have the charcoal with yellow backing. I have not worn it as a time piece, only as a monitoring device when running. But I’m sure the style would suit some people.

On set up you have to download the Nike software onto a pc, easy enough. Enter a few personal details onto the devise, again easy enough. The biggest set up step for me, was calibrating the device. I measured a kilometre distance outside using a car. I then ran this distance and used this distance and time as my calibration input.

With set up now complete, I did three separate runs using the device to monitor distance, pace etc. On completion of the runs, I downloaded the data onto the pc. The feedback was good in that you can see graphically your run and compare runs. The route I was running was new to me so I did not know the exact distance. I was however disappointed with the time for the distance covered as measured by the wristband. As mentioned, I am used to running on a treadmill, but even taking into account running outdoors, my times were significantly slower. So much so, that after five runs I checked out the distance in the car. I also used the mapmyrun.com website to measure the route. Whilst both the car and the mapmyrun.com measured a route of approximately 9.4kms, the wristband was measuring between 8.25kms – 8.44kms. This was hugely disappointing. The calibrating run I did initially was accurate and whilst my time over this distance has improved, I would expect the device to accurately reflect this.

I have since gone out for 2 more runs with the watch but whilst I have been able to download the runs onto the website I cannot access the data. I have tried on three separate occasions with no luck. I am not sure if it is my device or the website.

Two weeks later, I am now able to access the data. I am not sure where the problem was.

Would I recommend the device? It is certainly a fun devise. I liked being able to see my runs graphically and monitor progress. However, the calibration problem defeated the purpose of the device, I am hoping the problem was my human error and not a device issue. Given more time, I would recalibrate the device. If on that occasion it monitored runs accurately and reflected any changes in pace then yes, I would recommend as a purchase.

Related articles

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• Nike Air Max – Nike Air Max, International (travelpod.com)
• The Best Apps and Gadgets for Runners (runningshoes.org)
• LIVESTRONG x Nike WMNS Air Max+ 2010 – Metallic Silver – Varsity Maize: modish range (myairshoes.com)
• iPhone + Nike+ – sensor = Nike+ GPS (the17thman.typepad.com)
• Nike Unveils New Nike+ GPS App (eon.businesswire.com)
• The first release of the year Nike Delta Force High – Baroque Brown – Golden Harvest are out in the stores (myairshoes.com)
• Nike Free Run+ Review: Nice Transitional Minimalist Running Shoe, but Not Barefoot-Like (runblogger.com)
• On the run with the Nike+ GPS iPhone app (reviews.cnet.com)

There are various different types of bike fits, the most basic are the static variety which merely take your measurements while standing still, and the most comprehensive are the dynamic fits which involve a fit technician evaluating your position relative to an ideal.

ProFeet is a well established store that specialize in ski boot and running shoe fits, typically involving the creation of a custom insole to correct any misalignment in your stride. They recently started doing bike fits and the head technician is Jonny Morrison.

As ProFeet happens to be on my way to where I typically ride, I happened to walk in on the store one day shortly after they set up the cycling fitting station and noticed that Jonny was using the Retul system. Other systems I’ve used before involve the usual rulers and more ‘mechanical’ methods of measuring body angles, but the Retul system uses LEDs mounted on the body and a stand with receivers to track your body’s movement accurately and provide you with a more accurate representation of your pedaling style.

I was curious… how close to my other fits would a fit with ProFeet be? Was the Retul system a gimmick or was it actually capable of giving data that was not only accurate but ‘usably’ accurate?

The whole fit process within ProFeet takes about 2 hours.. mine took a little longer because I was asking questions left and right for the purposes of this article, but generally speaking 2 hours should do. ProFeet’s scheduling isn’t particularly accommodating to late night workers, so you may struggle to find a time in the near future… just keep that in mind when trying to find a booking.

1) The goals – The first part of the fitting is Jonny asking you what you want to do, how you ride, etc.. to some extent you will be fitted depending on what kind of bike you ride… as I ride a regular road bike, he’s unlikely to go for a time-trial position… but during this interview process is when Jonny assesses what you want and what you are experiencing that gives you discomfort. Luckily for me, I did have a minor issue in that when I changed saddles, it affected my saddle height due to the reduced padding.

2) The physical assessment – After the interview, Jonny sent me down with one of his colleagues who is a sports therapist and evaluated me for flexibility issues and any limb-length discrepancies. These come into play when adjusting my bike position as my flexibility and legs will determine the range of possible alternatives. Turns out, like many others, I have some minor length differences between my two legs.. and my flexibility is ‘alright’.

3) The power exerted on the feet – After the assessment, I went back upstairs to meet Jonny who had taken the insoles out of my shoes and placed these odd pads within them. Per his explanation, these pads, typically used to create shoes for people with severe diabetes, would measure the ‘pressure zones’ of my feet. Upon putting them on and pedaling for a bit, it turned out that I used my big toe of my right foot quite a bit. This could possibly mean that I had my cleat position a bit too forward as well as having a leg length discrepancy put too much effort on one leg in the down stroke vs another (due to my fixed saddle height).

4) The foot beds – After step 3 above, Jonny said that due to my output data, he recommended I get some insoles.. now.. don’t get me wrong, I had a the usual feeling of customer paranoia… being that, well you’re in an insole shop, the likelihood is that they will try and sell you an insole is quite high.. but I said.. what the hell.. if I’m going to try and ‘fix’ an issue that I know I have, I might as well jump all the way in and see if the ‘comprehensive’ solution works. If I had all the time in the world, I’d perhaps go ‘variable’ by ‘variable’, but then yours truly would go nuts.

Jonny therefore put me up on a chairs that they use to fit insoles for not only ski boots, but also running shoes, and created some insoles to put in my shoes. Once these were done, we moved on to the next part of the fit. However, it would have been great to see if the new cleat position and the new insoles rectified the issue that was identified in step 3 above.

5) The Retul System baseline on both sides – Now came the magic. During this period, Jonny put sticky dots all along one side of my body and asked me to pedal for a while. During this period, the Retul system basically took measurements on my back angle, leg compression angle, etc. while moving… while pedaling. This is something that is typically done ‘by eye’ with other fitting systems.

6) The Retul System to adjust the leg wobbling – Once both sides were baselined, Jonny started to make adjustments relative to his ideal position for me. He took some time to adjust my setup so that I’d reduce the amount of leg wobble that I experienced. By the time we were done, I could see, via the Retul output that my knee no longer tracked in a circular path, but rather a straighter one.. I also noticed only my left knee tracked straight whereas my right knee in a loop.

The end result has been quite interesting… I was given some measurements that were generally speaking quite close to what my previous bike fits (what I used as my control variable) had yielded with the only difference being the seatpost setback being zero in order to accommodate the new fore/aft position of the saddle. During this process, I wish Jonny had more spare parts so that we could have tried various setbacks rather than just the one I had (and the one he kindly let me try by borrowing his seat post), but we were able to make do. In the end, only time will tell if this is the correct position for me, but I now have a better fit, particularly in the knee and foot area than I had before. It is amazing, however, to see how close non-computer systems came to my fitting (minus the knees and feet). What was different with Profeet’s Retul system  above and beyond others was the knee tracking and foot power adjustments. Call it.. the ‘final details’ in a bike fit.. not all fittings offer this.

RECOMMENDED.

Related articles

• Retuling Rides with Team Radioshack (eon.businesswire.com)
• Comfort Your Feet with Powerstep ProTech Full Length Pro (beso.com)
• When a runner meets a bike (nationalpost.com)

The Polar ProTrainer 5 software (PPT5) CD comes with the RS800cx packaging, but you can download it from Polar’s website if you need to. The software keeps itself updated, which is nice, and it also hasn’t crashed on me since I’ve been using it; it’s great to see that the software is not an afterthought for Polar.

So what would you use the PPT5 software for, and is this all to much for the casual user?

Read the rest of the review on our sister site chromewalker.com

Turbos have come a long way from when they were just simple rollers. Now, on the high end you have stuff like virtual reality turbo trainers where you can pretend you are on a real course and the turbo will adapt the difficulty depending if you are going down a hill or up one… I actually tried one out not too long ago that let me climb up the Tourmalet and would speed up the video depending on what speed I was going up. It was cool and spooky. However, these virtual reality (VR) systems don’t come cheap (sometimes in the 900 pound range), they need quite a bit of kit to connect, and they still run the risk of boring you at some point. Slightly below the VR systems, there are others that are particularly useful if you want to train with a coach. These models include all sorts of data readouts from the turbo itself, including power, but they can still cost quite a bit of money (in the 200-600 pound range).

So if you can’t beat the winter blues with that amount of cash.. what are you options?

Below 200 Pounds, you start entering the range of turbo trainers that just give you resistance.. plain and simple. All you have to decide on is what kind of resistance you want and how noisy do you mind it being..

There are air, magnetic, and fluid resistance turbos, in order of noise generated. Air ones are the cheapest, but noisiest. Magnetic are the most common, are somewhat noisy, but you need to manually ‘shift’ the resistance. The last, the fluid, have a resistance that varies with how hard you are pedaling (feels like you are on a road) and is the most quiet. The only downside to fluid is that for some people, they may not have ‘enough’ resistance and sometimes they can leak (earlier generations from what I hear).

Based on the fact that I live in an apartment, I didn’t want to get a noisy turbo.. so I got the Fluid 2 from CycleOps.

Setup was easy enough although the build quality, whilst solid (doesn’t feel like it’s going to fall apart), jiggles and makes noise (loose fittings even if fully tightened)… Also, mine is not quite ‘even’ in that without weight on it, it rocks a bit (once i’m on it, though, it flattens out). When the bike is on, it doesn’t quite move but isn’t ‘locked’ fully (it has some minor play to allow you to flex, I suppose).

While riding, I must say it is very easy to deal with. I don’t need to do anything other than shift my bike like I would on the road and the resistance changes automatically. Excellent. I’m Happy. I can’t max out the resistance either. For the record I put out about 250 watts (average) at my lactate threshold, So, I can put out in excess of 350 watts average for a bit, but still the turbo feels fine for all of my base building exercises.

Noise wise, it is quiet. It is no louder than my Xbox 360. Lot less louder than a vacuum cleaner. I should have bought it a long time ago, for this concern was totally not as drastic as I thought it would be.

I do recommend the Fluid 2. I also recommend you get yourself a sweat cover for your bike and for the floor as well as a stand to lift the front tyre to the same level as your rear.

Happy winter cycling!