I bought these lights because I wanted something that was easily transferable between bikes, without having multiple brackets on every bike I own. I had tried various cheaper ones (like a couple of pounds a set) and while these were okay to begin with, I’ve yet had a set last longer than a month of light use.

My first impression of the Knog Frog Strobe 1 LED Lights was very good, the straps were easy to attach and felt secure. I was surprised by the brightness of them, and the 4 modes allowed me to use my preferred combination of static at the front and flashing like crazy at the back.

I took these out on a test ride in the town and surrounding country side late at night to put them through their paces. When I was out and about in the town, I got the impression cars could see me clearly, and they illuminated enough of the path in front of me so that I could see well enough in the sections of road without streetlights. The manufacturer claims these to be safety lights (as in only to get you seen, not to light your way) but I found them to be good enough for standalone lights within the city limits. However when I got them out in the country side I did feel at times that when there was no other light source I could have done with a little more visibility, but only just.

All in all, these lights are amazing; they’re simple, safe, powerful and affordable. My only issue I have with them at all is that as a set of black cased lights I cannot tell front from rear without turning one on, though they are available in a wide variety of colours to stop this problem if you buy them individually.

Posted in Reviews by Michael Strutt on 2011-03-05 19:47:50

So it’s been tight, but I’ve managed to find time to put the Veho Muvi HD Camcorder through its paces. Initial impressions were great, there’s a wide range of accessories that come in the box, a number of mounts, straps, clips and m method of attaching it to just about anything. This was one of the main things that sold it to me, along with the compact size, the wide angle lens, remote control and impressive battery life for its category.

I decided to go with the helmet mount option for this ride as I’d seen it done in advertisements for it. The straps and mount made it very easy to mount the camera on the front of my helmet, and I angled it up as far as the bracket would allow, sadly as you can see from the video this isn’t quite enough. In the future I will mount it on top of my helmet for a clearer view, I will just have to remember that I’ll then be about 6’ 10” and duck for doors.

So here is the footage I put together from my test ride:

As you can see the image quality is highly impressive, even at high speeds, and while there is a slight fish-eye effect from the super wide-angled lens, this is barely noticeable. The Veho Muvi HD Camcorder can record for up to 4hours on the battery life, the limit to this however, is storage space. When recording in HD, 30mins of video is roughly 1GB. This means that with the 2GB card that was included you can only hold 1hour of HD footage. Of course this is really quite a lot, and you can easily get a bigger card (8GB would allow the full 4hours) or carry a spare to swap over nice and simply.

I must say I am thoroughly impressed with the camera. There were however a couple of drawback, on the first ride I did with the camera (a short run the night it arrived) it was quite windy, I noticed when watching the footage back there was a nasty, and quite loud whistling noise from the wind, spoiling an otherwise great piece of footage. I decided this was a stupidly small thing to spoil the camera, so thought I would have a go at solving this issue. I simply cut a small square of fabric (happened to be a dish cloth) and used 4 small strips of insulation tape to secure this over the mic, acting as a muffler. This completely removed the issue, the sound is now excellent and it hasn’t seemed to muffle the sound in general.

Besides this easily fixable issue the only thing I would suggest for an improvement, is I can’t seem to find a way to stop the date and time being printed onto videos and photos. Not a big issue, and perhaps there is a way I am just missing.

Over all I highly recommend the Veho Muvi HD Camcorder. You get a lot for your money, and it’s easy and fun to get some great results.

Posted in Reviews by Michael Strutt on 2011-02-02 19:01:09

I’ve had these gloves about a year now, and they are easily the most comfortable gloves I have every cycled in.

The Specialized BG Gel Glove is available in short and long fingered versions, with a variety of colours and sizes

The padding is so soft (far better than any other gel pad I’ve felt) and it is in all the right places. For me it completely removed any of the pain or stiffness that you get in your hands on longer rides. The padding lasts as well, just as good now as when I got them, after a year of tough riding and a few times through the washing machine.

The gloves fit really nicely around my hand, the seams are in comfortable places, the clasp is secure without digging in, and as ever with Specialized, they are well made. The plush wipe for optics on the back of each thumb a very nice touch too, especially useful when descending, you can quickly wipe your lens to keep your vision clear.

The gloves are very breathable due to the top section having lots of tiny air holes, this regulates temperature very well. At no point in the summer did I feel like taking them off or switching to a short-finger glove. Strangely they also felt sufficiently warm quite late into autumn and in early spring, possible due to the string-vest effect. You will however require a bit more warmth should you go out in the winter, I simply wore a pair of £1 woollen gloves over to top to keep the comfort of the gel pads.

I have since invested in a pair of harsh weather gloves: Review coming soon

Posted in Reviews by Michael Strutt on 2011-01-29 16:00:23

Energy gels are great for a targeted boost of energy just when you need it most. They are quick to metabolise and can get to work in as little as 5minutes, the psychological benefits being near instant.

Each sachet of High 5 Energy Gel will give a sustained energy boost, the effects of which will benefit you for up to three hours.

I’ve been using these gels for the best part of a year now and they are great. They taste actually pretty pleasant, and come in a variety of flavours (Raspberry and Summer Fruits being my favourites of the one’s that I have tried). The sachet’s themselves are the perfect size to slip into a jersey pocket so you can access them when you want, and they are easily consumable with one hand, the top being designed to be torn with the teeth, no need to stop.

I genuinely find they have provided the fuel to carry on in tough conditions or given me that edge when I need it to be the best that I can.

Posted in Reviews by Michael Strutt on 2011-01-25 13:27:57