Magic *and* Tragic

As a self confessed gear whore, I spend an inordinate amount of time mewling and hand-wringing over gear selection.  Two ways too.  Selection for purchase and selection per outing.


As such I thought I'd share a bit of magic and a bit of tragic of late.


The Magic:
Loeffler Colibri Überhose.


Really. read that twice if you need to.  Überhose.  With a name like that you just KNOW you're headed for the top box of the podium.  Ok, so you're probably not wearing rain pants if you're racing, but hell, we all need a little more umlaut in our lives.

I've had a pair of these Goretex cycling overpants for almost a decade, during which they've seen loads of saddle time on tours, long spring & fall rides and they're still going strong. They're getting a bit fuzzy beyond the edge of the reinforced seat where the saddle abrades the fabric a bit but so far they're still 100% intact, waterproof, breathable and THIS is were they excel over anything else I've seen.
They are really light and super packable,  like maybe it'll rain, I'll just throw them in a jersey pocket light.  Cause they are so packable they will actually fit in one jersey pocket without poking out the top.  At a little under 250g they're comparable weight to regular tights.


The legs are slightly long so they manage to cover the tops of shoes and keep them covered without bunching up around the cranks. The adjustable cuffs keep them from flapping around too much or getting hung up on anything and they're way comfortable.


Deadly magic.


Down side.  Nearest place I know to get them is Munich.  or München if you wanna get all Deutsch sprache over it.  They are aus Österreich after all.


Still, follow the link above through to the Loeffler  site and maybe it'll come up with something more local to you.


The Tragic:
Sidi mega dominators


I'm on my second pair of these shoes now.  The first were warrantied because the sole started peeling away from the upper.  ..or vice versa.  anyway.  I chose them initially because they have a great reputation, lots of people I know love them.  They fit me really well, comfortable and are reasonably stiff.
Pretty good mix of capabilities. (I have a hard foot to fit well so not too many shoes fit well)
The cons are that the buckles,  while they do make for a very secure fit that can be cinched up without losing so much as a pedal stroke can get fouled with debris and make getting the shoe off nearly impossible.
This can be really bothersome if you're fighting off leg cramps at the end of a ride and have to contort yourself to get the buckles to behave as they're supposed to.
Another down side is that the soles have really poor traction.  They look a mean game with an aggressive tread, but I swear they're made of congealed vaseline.   Slick like snot on a door knob.  Not so great around here where it's a lot of exposed Canadian shield and mud.


Still, so far the pros outweigh the listed cons for me.   Until this:




This is the second pair I've had this happen to.
Its not shown in the photo, but the retension plate for the screw in studs is floating around in there loose because it's opened up that far back.


poo.


This happened in a little over one year of riding mixed road and mtb.


Absolutely Tragic.