Nopinz review part 3

After the Nopinz reviews I did a while back turned out to be some of the most viewed ones on the blog I thought it would be good to look at the next instalment from Nopinz. I’ve spend a good few months now with the first generation and it’s still as good as it was when I opened the package it came in despite me washing it many times and even putting it through the tumble dryer a few times ( not advised ) . The new skinsuits have really upped the game , it wasn’t a case of bring out a different selection of colours with a slightly different artwork pattern on and call in the new suit for 2015 this was a total overhaul looking at every part of the suit and how it could be improved upon. Don’t get me wrong the first championship suit kicked butt and I still wear it now in club events but there where areas that could be improved and that are what the new suits have addressed.

 

The super suit was first up and polished off the small areas the 1st generation suits could be improved in like the arm and leg grippers to allow for no ridged seams around the legs and arms, the material was upgraded and the design changed to allow the minimum stitching and the best possible fit, added with the subtle Nopinz logo on the chest. The fit is a good as anything out there, tight in the right areas and the leg and arm grippers work perfectly to keep the suit in place as there is nothing worse than when legs on a skin suits ride up over an event and start creasing up and you can see the cuff on the arms slowly working its way up your fore arm.

I think what they achieved here was spot on , the suit was kept at a very reasonable £200 with the pocket as standard and was as good if not better quality and fit as others on the market in the high price bands and that’s all that needs to be said about it really as it ticked the boxes that you look for in a skinsuit, plus with the speed pocket already fitted at standard you know it’s going to last and not be riddled with pin holes and in the bin after a season.

 

The nopinz idea has really got a lot of attention and this was shown with collaboration with Bioracer for the newest Nopinz skinsuit. For those who don’t know Bioracer make skinsuits for the likes of team Sky and the mighty Tony Martin so know a thing or two about how to make top kit and more importantly fast kit.

I knew about the Bioracer collaboration abit before it was official and was dam excited about it, the ribbed arm design was something I had been interested in before and saw it as a key design and had stated to Blake at Nopinz that would be great on the supersuit ( I think I even asked if I could get some sewn on ) so when the new suit came out I had to try and get my hands on one. Most know I’m sponsored by Nopinz and was very lucky to be given a supersuit and the first generation championship suit but it was agreed that I would need to stick my hand I’m pocket for this one and that was more than acceptable for me as A / why on earth should I get a free suit when I had just been lucky enough to get the super suit , and B / I was very sure that the suit was exactly what I had been looking for as I very strongly believe that clothing is the next really big area in racing to find improvements.

The next day it was here jet black but with some nice flouro parts and the nopinz logo alongside the Bioracer one. I had a bio racer basic skinsuit when I first started racing and it had the same old problems with the legs sliding up and the arms ending up have way up my really skinny wrists and forearms and the neck was way too tight but it was pretty obvious just holding it up out of the bag this was nowhere near that bioracer skinsuit.this was something special the arm gripper clamped to you wrist so secure I could pull the sleeve right out to get every last crease out of the arm and it stayed right there even over 50 mile tt distance , the legs where long enough and super secure that they didn’t end up half way up my thigh with an emergency gel sticking out the bottom , and the fit of the suit felt like it wanted to pull me into a tighter position on the bike and hold me there comfortably.

There is a ton of technology gone into this suit il add the page off the Nopinz site at the bottom so you can check out the detail and key components that have gone into making something really special at a price mark that just blows everything else out the water, added to that a speedpocket as standard and your laughing.

The material goes from the ribbed arms to the silky smooth forearms and body of the suit and any seams add to the overall design in a well thought out manner and to minimise any aero disadvantages. All in the suit gets a giant tick in the box of skinsuit sorted and an area now we don’t need to look into again for a good while knowing we’ve nailed it and I can worry about something else 

Below are the finer details of the bioracer suit : 

Bioracer skinsuit Product Description : 

Nopinz have collaborated with BioRacer to bring you the fastest “ribbed” arm skin suit on the market.

Every serious racer knows which cycling apparel brand has won the most time trial medals since July 2012. For those racers, BioRacer has developed an individual version of its medal winning Speedmaster TT suit: the Speedwear Concept Aerosuit

The suit is made of a combination of New Monica and Stripe aero fabric. The main fabric has been slightly modified with Speedsilk, a fabric technology that improves the aerodynamics of regular Lycra.

The sleeves have a new and improved aerodynamic cut and are made of an aerodynamically more efficient fabric, Stripe. The cut and fabric are derived from the widely acclaimed Speedmaster speed suit. Since London 2012 this is the most copied and most successful speed suit, a pedigree to be proud of.

Now further enhanced with the Nopinz SpeedPocket – for number placement that is aero and does not spoil your suit.

This is simply the fastest suit available.

 

 

As we are on the Nopinz theme let’s keep it rolling with the new bits out since the last review , again in their mission to save every second Nopinz have teamed up with velotoze to make unwanted drag around the feet a thing of the past , with the added bonus of water resistances ( I say water resistance as they are not fully waterproof as I found out in pretty extreme conditions that to be fair would of nailed anything claiming to be waterproof ) , I’ve struggle with overshoes from having the legs of a small boy and overshoes just not staying up, added with the fact that I have size 45.5 shoes means I have to get a bigger size which means the skinny legs problem is amplified as the overshoe is normally bigger , this has been a problem for me from overshoes I’ve found cheap online to the most expensive on the market so to be honest I was expecting the same again. He of little faith as I was proven very wrong, I pulled them as high as I could up the leg waiting to get back and find them flapping around my ankle but they were exactly where I had left them gripping on for dear life to my tiny (but very strong ) legs and even after 5 wears they are still holding tight. Really worth reading the instructions well as they are not put on like a standard over shoe, there is a technique and I managed to rip a pair after a poor race and a frustrating week I pulled them off like the hulk mid rage, but if you do it properly you’ll get a ton of races out of them. The joy is at a price point which is a fifth of the price of the top ones on the market you can always afford to keep a shiny new pair in the kit bag for the big races like I have or even better a pair to match different kit.

 

The nopinz / bioracer gloves look very interesting and seem to go along the lines of the skinsuit but I haven’t got my grubby mitts on any yet so will save that for another day. but nationals are well and truly upon us so it’s the time of trying to get an arm number on without pinning yourself to death , to then lose any aero gains made elsewhere by this flappy number trying to escape from the suit as you fly off down the road. Problem solved again with the arm pocket that works on pretty much the same principle as the sped pocket of minimising any aero loses from having a number stuck on you and saving me sticking 8 pins in my nice new skinsuit. general rule is order a size up as they are  super snug , I like them that way and have the size stated on the sizing guide but most like abit of freedom so go a size up , but they keep the number perfectly formed to your arm and keep it in place , after a pin coming undone at the National TTT last year in sticking in my bicep and me having to flick it off mid race to only then have the number flapping about after these where a no brainer.

So there you have it my view on the new kit that il be wearing week in week out , know there are some more exciting developments going on in Nopinz towers so be really interesting to see where they take it all next in the fight against drag .

If I didn't have bad luck :)

I’ve got a huge white board that has written down all this year’s events and results, it acts as a sort of motivational tool ,I can look at where I’ve got it right and where I’ve got good times and results. But not this year its served as a painful reminder of the start of the year with DNS and DNF and 4th place ,2nd place ,no tt bike ,race cancelled etc etc .but its slowly turning around and serving as a positive of things turning around with a 1stand course PBs and a lot of races coming up that give me chance to turn it all around.

This weekend was one of those turn around moments for me, I’ve had a few weeks on the TTE and two course pbs on it despite the power not really hitting where it should be so it’s been a big boost. I was hitting the F11/10 on the Saturday where I had my 19:33 pb from last year knowing everything was there to smash that and put a big tick in a box on my list of targets. Theweather was not playing ball early doors but I had a while before my start time and looking at some of the times coming in was growing more confident this was going to be a top day. I wriggled into my new nopinz / bioracer skinsuit and was buzzing to go, walking out of the HQ to go warm up I saw a few people walking back with numbers not too far away from mine only to be told it was cancelled due to an accident involving a rider on the course , thankful the rider was not from what I’veheard seriously injured which is a huge relief and a great quick call from the organizers to cancel it instantly, butyet again a good chance had passed me by and the 5 hour round trip seemed that little more painful.strangly I was still positive I had a 50 the next day and it was the first time I had that “ I’m feeling good and ready “ attitude at a race since last year.

Driving back down the motorway I was determined I was going to nail the 50 that was my reward , it was a sporting course and something I would normally not enjoy but I wanted to get some longer rides in heading towards my first 100 , the weather was damp to start with and the course map at the HQ was littered with circles of points on the course to take care.it was a 2.5 lap course so the plan was take it steady on the first one in the problem areas and make that back on the second, I went out with a plan ( matt had given me a plan and I was sticking to it ) the first lap flew by I was trying the nutrition on the bike plan James had given me for the 100 with the new jersey pocket super race bar and sticking bang on matts plan and feeling great and growing in confidence with every passing mile holding power at about 8 watts lower than I done a lot of 10mile tts last year at. The first lap was a 46:19 over 2 mins in front of second and now it was time to ramp it up I knew where the problem areas where and I knew I could go faster into some of the turns so it was game on. Onto the long back section I was flying, edging up the pace abit more and holding it well, feeling great like everything was finally clicking and everything matt had been telling me for months I was now fully believing in my own head and I was ready to pass the line on the second loop knowing it was then a big drive for the last 10 miles and abit of well-deserved glory. 33.3 miles boom game over o caught the corner of a raised man hole and it blew out my front tire, a quick bang and the pssst of air leaving the inner tube and that was race over. What followed was a mile walk to the marshal point which I spent angry but oddly positive , I had been going harder than I thought and I was still building and going faster, not fading away and hanging on wishing away the miles, which got me thinking how much harder could I go , waiting at the marshal point for a well appreciated lift back to the HQ I had a good look at the file from the ride and compared what others had gone through the point at and knew a win by a big margin had slipped through my fingers but despite everything my confidence was through the roof which is perfect with another 50 coming up and the 100 a week after , then we can build for the big targets of august.

 

Matt has really proved to me over the last few months that being on board with him is about a lot more than a monthly training plan, I’ve made huge steps in pacing , mental approach ,off the bike training , pretty much every single area of racing and kept me pushing in training when my motivation was on the floor from racing results and other problems holding me back, so it feels great to finally send over race files and data that hit the plans and getting to where he said I could be and thinking in the back of my head now it’s time to push it on again and really show you what I can do when my head is in the game.

 

I’ve looked at this season as mopping up all the little details, nutrition, kit, aero testing all the little things I felt I had the potential to find decent gains in, one of the key things has been having the chance to work with www.indurance.co.uk blood profiling, the latest TT specific kit came thought the post with everything there I needed, all I had to do was get a sample tacking and pop it back in the post it was that easy. A few days letter I get a super detailed email from Will explaining what it all means and the reassurance we are on target and a few tweaks here and there and we can keep me pushing on. It was very interesting to see the changes since the last set of tests and how we had managed to turn low values around but still keep important bio markers at good levels which have helped both on the bike and off it with better recovery and making sure I’m ready for whatever sessions matt can throw at me, plus they have given me exercises and techniques that can improve me as an overall athlete without the use of supplements etc. so it’s really been a huge eye opener.

 

The post box has been rattling a lot this month and first to drop through was the brain child of rich from www.jerseypocketenergy.co.uk the so called super race bar which was solely designed for longer indurance events with the goal aim of keeping you going longer and harder on race day and making sure your body gets everything it needs without all the added crap,all organic all natural and extremely well thought out, from a quick chat about the national 100 to a bar that means you can have all the nutrition you need and carry less on the bike is pretty cool and I’m pretty proud to of had a small input on it, but rich has really nailed in and reviews from riders doing a lot more miles than me have been great , it’s awesome to see a company thinking about rider health and ingredient choices right down to making sure the wrapper for the bar is going to be biodegradable and not pose the risk of chemicals from the wrapper leaking into the bar when its being used on extremely hot days or stuffed up the leg of someone’s skinsuit on a long race.

Another company who are always thinking about outsidethe box and next thought the letter box the Nopinz / bioracer collaboration skinsuit, Blake told me they wereworking together so I’ve been badgering him for ages to make sure I got one , and no it wasn’t given to me I paid for it and I love it , the fit is perfect the leg length and arm length straight of the shelf is bang on for me and its super tight in all the right areas and the arms have the ribbed material right up to the shoulder. I got to wear it on Sunday and its spot on , felt very comfortable in the tt position and really breathable despite it being a snug fit so not your normal boil in the bag suit when you get them super tight, plus its already got the nopinz speedpocket fitted as standard so win win , best comment so far was at the F11 HQ when a guy said it even looks fast indoors J teamed up with the velotoze overshoes it’s a pretty slick combo, I think they are the only overshoes I’ve worn that stay up due to my little chicken legs , I managed to rip one the other week from pure rage and being a ham fisted fool after a race that didn’t go well and yanking them off rather than taking them off correctly , but the other pair I have I’ve used a lot and in training and are still going strong and still gripping my skinny ankles well so can’t be faulted, and at that price you can afford to keep a shiny pair in the kit bag for the big races or if you’re a proper tart like me a pair to match your skinsuit 

 

So now it’s all about looking forward to the nationals and just building and building , addressing little areas and trying to get everything right, I’m thinking of extending the season into September and even October as the start has been a disaster in the hope that I can will have the opportunity to look back on this year as a success on race day, we are working hard at ticking all the other boxes so it’s close to the time when it all comes down to me which is perfect and what I’ve wanted all year.

H10/17r is the next stop then it’s a 50 followed by the national 100.

Big thanks go this month to the people who have stuck by me (you know who you are) and kept me focused on the plan and given me the great opportunities I feel very honoured to get.

Boardman TTE review

So we are in June, a month I thought we would have been enjoying some great results from early in the year and having everything spot on to hit races in the build up for the nationals.

This wasn’t to be but I’ve now got the Boardman TTE all ready and set up so it’s time to do a quick review on it, I have managed a few sessions on it now and it feels great to finally be a position I can build on, I think it still needs a few minor tweaks but all in we are looking good to go, I rode a local club event last week on a course I use abit for training and the few miles cycle out to the start was the first time getting on the bike so I was a bit nervous but it felt good , like a proper tt bike ,a feeling I had missed since selling the P4 which in turn brought on something else that had been lacking before a race lately a smile.

Before the race and the carpark bike top trumps and the TTE was holding its own and getting some well-deserved attention. The course I rode last year a few times and clocked a 22:02 and a 21:56 for the 10miles of pretty crap road to be fair, both set on the P4 both on pretty good days so I had a bench mark. The evening was not looking great a bit windy and not the float conditions you dream about but always miss, still the bike felt great and I clocked a 21:37 knocking 19 seconds off my old course pb, power was down on training efforts but being the first time I had rode a proper tt position since September I was expecting that and a bit of time it will all come right so a great start and a top feeling for the ride home.

So the review, ive scanned online a lot and to be honest there isn’t a load out there on the bike, I’ve struggled to find wind tunnel data especially against the other so called superbikes so I won’t be making the claims of huge saving over bike x at x yaw blah blah blah just a honest look at what I like and don’t like about the bike I get to spend the next however long racing.

 

Let’s start at the front end and this bike is super clean, the brakes are hidden well away from the wind and the stem and bars are a fully integrated unit meaning no visible bolts or cables ( not the cable from the extension to the front of the bar as I run mechanical shifting ).the integrated set up did slightly concern me to be honest as I’ve heard of some of the superbikes being a nightmare to set up and get right and a simple pad height change becomes a day’s work, this is the first area for me a lot of thinking has gone on and Boardman has really nailed the need to be aero but useable, the pads are easilystackable from underneath and comes with a ton of different spacers and bolts to get your exact height and a strengthening bar if you really want to jack the pads up. The pad holders themselves can be used two ways for a really narrow or wider set up and there is huge adjustability in the pads themselves in every direction and can even be slightly angled in or out (I’ve used my drag2zero ones but the standard pads offer so much adjustment and support I wouldn’t have changed them unless I already had the other pads).

The cables run neatly through the stem which can also hold a di2 junction box and then are fully integrated into the frame, if you order a full bike its pre cabled and really quick to set up out the box, I went frame only so had abit more fiddling to do but still easier than the puzzle that was the P4 to cable.

The forks are tidy with the brakes well hidden , the only thing that I don’t like is the fact you cannot adjust the brakes apart from on the cable itself so swapping wheels from training to wider race wheels becomes a problem but I guess it’s the toss-up between making something really integrated and aero again

 

The frame itself mates perfectly into the stem and blends its way down to the seat post which gets a single clamp bolt adding to the minimalist but practical feel of the bike. The saddle clamp offers different angles and positions all off one bolt .

Down to the wide bottom bracket that adds a stiff base for the rest of the frame with little holes added to let the cables pop out seamlessly that are hidden in the frame,just behind are the rear brakes that are more easily adjustable that the front but still well hidden from the wind and blend nicely into the frame ( im trying not to use the words blend and seamless to much but pretty much the first words I think of when talking about the bike ) . teamed up with the kit I already had makes this bike in my eyes something pretty special . I think it’sbeen very well worked out not only to hit the goals they set out when making it, but its very useable and handles like a road bike and not the usual handful tt bike that only wants to go straight so hats off to Boardman bikes, I looked at everything else and it’s been a long and painful at times wait but we are on track. It’s a shame still there isn’t more data out there on the bike, I would love to back to back test it against the P4 and others, I honestly think it’s going to be a quick set up for me but is that down to other things such as the way the bike integrates with my position compared to the P4, me losing weight or holding a better head position and creating a smaller frontal position, or is it all down to the aero dynamics of the frame? answer is I don’t know but I do know I’ve got a piece of kit that will allow me to really get the season going now and we can start putting all the work we have done in training onto the road come race day.

So the season starts now and the build towards the nationals.

 

Thanks to www.rnhfotografia.com for the photos used in the blog