Inov-8 Bare-Grip 200 Review **New Version

Latest, but not greatest

Inov-8 made a number of changes to the Bare-Grip 200 shoes I reviewed before, including the laces, upper material, lining, and side reinforcement. Now that I’ve had 6 hours in the new version here’s the verdict.

Nice try

There are some positive changes. The side reinforcements should improve durability right at the point that my other shoes wore through, and the denser mesh of the upper (more like Cordura) should take more abuse than the prior version too. The new upper doesn’t conform as easily to your foot, but the smooth laces self adjust a bit to make up for it, so after half an hour I really didn’t notice the difference. They also feel and fit just like the previous version so if the originals fit well these should too. On the surface, a few improvements to the same basic shoe.

But…

One of my favorite things about the green version was how quickly they dried on the trail. Water got in very easily but exited just as easily, so the shoe didn’t hold water and dried rapidly. But the new version has a full lining – presumably for the sockless crowd – and combined with the denser mesh upper it lets water in about 1 second slower, but lets it out far more slowly, so they literally take hours to dry. I’m not a fan of trench foot, and never go sockless on trails, so this is a big negative for me.

Another negative is the new yellow sole. I guess the marketing/design department won this argument because colored rubber simply doesn’t grip as well as carbon black, which makes it a poor choice for a high performance shoe. It makes no difference at all in mud or in many other trail conditions, but on smooth, slick rocks it’s a noticeable decrease which caught me by surprise a number of times in stream beds since I’m so used to the black version. It’s not a dramatic change, and they still grip better than most shoes, but they definitely don’t hold as well as the original version. I suppose the upside to the yellow soles is if you slip and crack your head open the brighter soles will make it marginally easier to find your lifeless body in a gully.

Something that didn’t change is the shape of the shoe, which remains very pointy toed. I’ve tolerated it since they performed so well in other areas but the longer I use minimalist shoes the more I’d prefer a natural/anatomic last.

Overall, it’s still a good shoe – neither negative is a deal killer in itself, and may not matter to many users – but taking one step forward and two steps back doesn’t equal progress to me, so I’m hoping Inov8 will make some course corrections in the next update.

****Update: I made some modifications to the shoes, removing all the lining, some foam padding, and used an awl to stab some holes in the lower rubberized parts of the upper. Drainage is now quite acceptable, though I’m guessing the warranty was severely damaged..

Pauoa Woods Loop Trail

The quest to clean out my draft folder continues…

I’ve only done this trail once in its entirety so you can guess it’s not my favorite by any means. Yet there are some things of note that make it worth doing – at least once.

The good points:

1. When you go after some hard rains there is a decent size waterfall, which my picture taken from the top completely fails to convey.
2. Lots of old Board of Water Supply pipes and structures for the engineering fans. I try to avoid stepping on the oldest pipes since I know at least one person broke through a pipe and got a nasty gash in his leg.
3. Judging by the tracks and other signs there are more pigs in the back of Pauoa Valley than any other area near Honolulu. If you are quiet and go in cloudier, rainy weather there’s a good chance you’ll see one.
4. Some nice views of Nuuanu Valley as you go down the ridge toward Pacific Heights.
5. A number of changes in vegetation and terrain.
6. Once you get on the loop trail itself you are very unlikely to see anyone else on the trail. Depending on your view of fellow travelers, this may be a plus or a minus.

The bad points:

1. Burrs, burrs, and more burrs. The Woman’s entire lower body was covered with them at one point on the trail. I didn’t have as much trouble due to a lucky clothing choice but it was still a nuisance, especially since they are generally nonexistent in the Koolaus.
2. The trail comes and goes at a number of points in Pauoa Valley, often indistinguishable from a pig trail, so it’s a bit of a guessing game to find the right one. If you have no sense of direction or little hiking experience on unimproved trails this is not the one for you.
3. Unlike many hikes in Hawaii where there are great views every 10 feet, once you leave the ridge above Pacific Heights the drama is limited to the waterfall and wondering if you took a wrong turn.

The counter-clockwise route – which I would recommend – goes from the Kalawahine Trail at the top of Tantalus Drive after crossing the bridge (next to the little telephone road), then to Pauoa Flats Trail, before handing a left on Nuuanu Trail. Rather than taking the popular route from the top of the ridge down to Nuuanu Valley, continue along the ridge toward Pacific Heights. The trail down into Pauoa Valley is pretty obvious, and the waterfall isn’t too far after the trail turns back into the valley. Not long after the waterfall the guessing games begin, before eventually climbing back out of the valley to Kalawahine trail, not far from the Tantalus Drive trailhead.

Here’s a tip for poorly marked trails: Pig trails can be so heavily used they look like the trail you should be on, but pigs are short. If you find a lot of branches hitting you in the face and torso it’s generally a good bet you are on a pig trail and it’s time to turn around and try again. Humans won’t put up with that for long.

Lastly, a note about ribbons: Ribbons in the woods near Honolulu are most often left by evil ribbon fairies, and are therefore as likely to mislead you as help you.  Humans no longer have to worry much about being tracked by predators and it shows in the trails they leave. Keep your eyes open and try not to rely on ribbons to tell you where to go.

Kalawahine intersection

Fungi

Overly attractive

Not a fish eye lens

Follow the pipe

A waterfall with no frame of reference isn’t much of a waterfall

Town view – Kona weather version

 

 

Swissstop BXP Brake Pad Review

BXP pads are the latest from Swisstop designed for aluminum rims. It’s surprising there’s any room left for improvement in something as simple as brake pads, but these pads achieve another small step up from the already excellent GHP II pads. They’ve been out for over a year now so I’ve had time to put a few thousand miles on them in a variety of conditions.

Pros:

• Less grabby in wet conditions
• More linear feel in hard braking
• Slightly shorter stopping distance.

Cons:

• Cost (as always)
• Squeal a little louder than GHP when hot, though generally less

I’ve gone through pads at a similar rate to the GHP II, so that worry didn’t materialize, and BXP pads do seem gentler on softer aluminum rims (like the Stan’s Alpha 340 rims I’ve been using).

After I wore out the first set I started using the BXP pads only on the front brake, with cheaper black Swissstop or Koolstop pads on the rear. The combination works quite well, maybe even preferable if you’re a little ham-fisted on the rear brake, so it’s a good way to decrease the cost of your addiction.

Koolstop dual compound are still a great choice for the budget conscious, but if you’re willing to fork over the cash the BXP pads are the best I’ve found for aluminum rims. Of course there’s always next year…

A Harsh Reminder

I’m taking a break from my break to bring up an important and frequently forgotten rule, unfortunately inspired by this: Hiker who died after falling from Palolo trail ID’d

I was first made aware of this rule by a man working for the electric company way back when they had to physically climb up the utility poles to do repairs.

The Three Point Rule

It’s quite simple: Maintain three points of contact at all times! One hand and two feet, two hands and one foot – in dire straits I suppose one hand, one foot, and your teeth could count. Holding onto someone else only counts in a life threatening situation where the other person volunteers to risk their life to save your stupid ass. Any time there is even the faintest, farfetched possibility of danger this rule must be followed without fail.

The point of the rule is if one point of contact fails you still have two more to save yourself. This also requires maintaining your balance to avoid over-reliance on those three points of contact. Therefore, leaning out to take a one-handed picture defeats the purpose and breaks the rule because if your handhold fails you’re done. Three points of contact are your insurance policy, but having insurance doesn’t mean you’re free to start a bonfire in your living room.

When I talked that lineman he was nearing retirement and had never had an accident on the job. He told me the most dangerous time was when the new guys had been on the job just long enough to get comfortable. They’d been told the rules and heard all the horror stories but they’d almost invariably stop following the rules because they no longer felt the same fear as when they were new, and before long they’d fall.

This applies to any risky endeavor really. Your level of comfort doesn’t change the nature of the situation. Comfort is more a function of familiarity and ignorance than actual risk. Follow the rules and live to risk another day.

Skechers GOBionic Review

I have to admit it was very difficult for me to even go in the store to buy these shoes. I don’t like Skechers style, marketing, or target demographic, and that attitude wasn’t helped by some marketing materials I saw that said something about spending “Daddy’$ money.” However, I always felt the Nike Free was a good idea gone wrong and from what I’d read about the GoBionic shoes it appeared they might have gotten it right. So far I’d say they have.

Since I’d been using the Inov-8 F-Lite 195 for a couple of years (review here), I wasn’t expecting to need any time to transition to the zero drop GoBionic, but I definitely did. In my case at least the extreme flexibility of the GoBionic required quite a bit more foot strength than the Inov-8. On uneven ground the difference is particularly noticeable. Where the Inov-8 195 tries to twist my ankle, the GoBionic instead allows my foot to flex more to deal with it. My depth perception isn’t what it used to be so the increased feeling of stability is a welcome relief.

One thing I noticed immediately is they are more comfortable running than walking. They have no drop from heel to toe (11.5mm thick), but the heel is rounded and therefore has very little padding. Though it’s obvious walking around, the first time I tried them I naturally started running with no heel strike so I’ve never felt it when running. Of course that change in mechanics is probably also part of the adaptation period I experienced.

Cons:

• Sole is a good rock grabber, as you can see in the photo.
• Godawful style. Stylish running shoes tend to either look flashy and fast or conservatively stealthy and these manage to do neither. The gray shown is the least objectionable I could find.
• Cheap laces
• They’re Skechers for god sake.

Pros:

• Very light. 5.815 oz for size 8.5 US (they run large).
• Extremely flexible and comfortable sole. Unlike the Nike Free, if rocks don’t self eject they’re easy to twist out.
• Upper sheds dirt well
• Roomy toe box
• Durability seems good for the weight
• Reasonably priced given the competition, and the fact that running is like light bike parts – the less [weight] you get the more you pay.
• One of the few totally flat, cushioned minimalist shoes

I liked them from the start and now that I’m [mostly] adapted they are easily my favorite shoe to date. Hard core minimalists can complain about reduced proprioceptive feedback all they want but I don’t think humans have had nearly enough time to evolve for running on pavement, and the cushioning of the GoBionic makes them a great minimalist shoe for running on pavement.

Skechers site has the rest of the details here.

Chain-L Chain Lube Review

Generous sample size

My previous favorite bicycle chain lube was Slick Willy Slush Armor, which was the only lube I’d found that kept the chain quiet after eight hours in the rain. But since it was hard to find, even without the irrelevant search results the name generates, I decided to give Chain-L a shot.

It’s not impressive at first glance – it looks like a thick motor oil homebrew – and it feels sticky to the touch so it seems like it would be a real dirt magnet. But in use it’s been great. I put it on my chain a month ago (~35 hours ride time), haven’t reapplied it since, and the chain is still quiet despite three soggy rides in the last week. There are a few steps required when applying it to avoid a messy chain, but for once I risked the associated testicular shrinkage and read the directions. In this case it was worth it since to my surprise my chain actually looks cleaner than ever and any dirt wipes off easily with a paper towel every other ride or so.

It’s somewhat smelly if you park your bike in the kitchen but otherwise I’ve had zero complaints. I’ve put Chain-L on all our bikes now and I highly recommend it if you demand your bike be seen and not heard.

Dear Santa…

If you’re wondering, Fairwheelbikes has these cables which I really NEED for my mistress. Teflon is so 20th century.

Diamond Like Coated Stainless Steel Cables

KCNC has made a dramatic improvement over traditional cable design with an extremely low friction and very durable coating. This coating is a mix of DLC (Diamond like carbon) and other compounds. The result is an incredibly slick cable with a coating that cannot be scratched off. The finish is dark brown with a subtle glitter-like sheen.

The Revenge of THE Woman

Hitting the gas on the steepest section, near the top of a 6 kilometer, 7% climb, as I fumble with my dumbphone trying to capture the moment. I’m still struggling to come up with excuses for why she was making me hurt.*

* I must have gotten a bad batch of EPO.

Reasoned Decision of The United States Anti-Doping Agency

Here is the condensed version (202 pages) of the Lance Armstrong decision. The full file is evidently over 1000 pages. Among the highlights, more than $1 million paid to Dr. Michele Ferrari. Plus, Six former Armstrong USPS teammates receive bans from USADA

The UCI response will be interesting. Beyond numerous examples of organizational incompetence, the report repeats the prior allegations of collusion and corruption by the UCI in keeping positive tests from coming to light. Deciding what to do is therefore an IQ test of sorts for the UCI, and a score of 100 would greatly exceed my expectations..

View this document on Scribd

 

Seven Manoa Waterfalls – Kahuwaiiki Update

Manoa : The Story of a Valley lists seven waterfalls in Manoa Valley, according to an old-timer’s account. After more research and stumbling around since the previous post, I think we finally found them all. Here’s the listing from the book again, with updated guesses of the current names:

**UPDATE 11/16/12 ** After reading this post, I’ve changed things around again.

• Wai’ihiiki – Aihualama Falls
• Wai’ihinui – Manoa Falls
• Luaaulaia – Lua’alaea
• Naniuapo – same
• Wa’aloa – Queen’s Bath
• Kahuwaiiki – Waihi, and described by another name here.
• Waiakekua – Waiakeakua

I think this time it’s probably correct. We took a hike to Kahuwaiiki to check it out and cross the final one off the list. If you keep your eyes open it’s not too hard to find the stream bed off the right side of the trail heading up to Manoa Falls.

It’s only about 30 minutes of scrambling up the stream to get to the falls. The channel does a bit of a right turn near the falls, so you don’t see it coming until you’re quite close.

After following such a small stream it’s quite a surprise to see the size of the waterfall.

Since THE Woman had never seen Aihualama Falls, we took a detour to Lyon Arboretum on the way back. Compared to the rest of the falls in Manoa Valley it’s definitely 7th best, but, after seeing them all, I think the more famous Manoa Falls only makes 6th place.

Meet My Mistress

She weighs less than 12 pounds, just over five years old, and already been around a lot of blocks – so it’s no surprise she’s originally from Texas. Best of all, THE Woman not only knows about her, but she demanded to join in.

Crumpton custom carbon UL frame, with the usual weight weenie parts from THM, Enve, Zipp, AX-Lightness, Extralight, EE Cycleworks, etc .If only I had an engine to match…

Two Views of Pain

Somewhere in NE Italy. It was about 1/2 km long and very hard to keep the front wheel on the ground:

I believe this was on the Passo San Pelligrino. I was having problems with low blood pressure so it was much more difficult than it should have been.

The payoff for the pain is the feeling of being fully alive and having done it…plus a little scenery.

…and eating like a guilt-free pig at the end of the day.

Italian Traffic

No respect for traffic laws whatsoever. From 2008, near Alleghe. A great place to ride a bike, whether road or MTB.

Lua’alaea Falls

We were too tired to spend much time trying to find waterfalls #6 and #7 in Manoa (see here), so we took advantage of some light rain to go back to Lua’alaea Falls.

Some unusually low clouds at the back of the valley:

The trail crosses the stream a number of times

Lower section of the main falls

Zoom of the top of the main falls

Every time I go to this falls I think it should be possible to get to the top of the falls by backtracking a little and heading up the side of the ridge. I’m definitely not going to try it with 20/60-100 vision, but when that’s fixed who knows…

Ka’au Crater

Climbing up waterfalls will be off the menu until I have some eye surgery and regain depth perception, so we took the ridge trail to Ka’au Crater this time. I last did this trail over twenty years ago with my father, when he was in his mid-60’s. I have newfound respect for him after doing it again with a few years under my belt. I realize now how much he was trying to impress me on that hike.

When we were kids he took the family on a hike and tried a shortcut that went totally wrong. He kept telling us, “it’s only another quarter-mile” for almost 6 miles. Years later, on the way back from Ka’au crater that day I finally got my revenge. I told him the same thing countless times as he struggled down the mountain with a painful knee, using a walking stick I’d cut from a guava tree.

The trail isn’t that well-known, but there are certainly many more people on the trail now than there were 20 years ago. Due to a number of houses built over that time, access to the trail is now next to some mailboxes on the left side at the end of Waiomao Road. As usual, located by the obligatory no trespassing sign.

View of the crater.

It was a little muddy.

A View To Die For

From the Manoa Chinese Cemetery, established in 1851. The location of the header photo of this site, and home of near daily afternoon rainbows.

View toward the ocean, near sunset. Very much a sub par day, but still a pretty good resting place.

Pigs Can’t Count

This little wild pig got left behind for me to bump into on an early morning ride a couple of years ago. It was so young it didn’t even know to be afraid.

 

Seven? Manoa Waterfalls

I was reading Manoa : The Story of a Valley, and it lists seven waterfalls in Manoa Valley according to some old-timer. Most are easy enough to figure out but two remain a mystery to me.

• Wai’ihiiki – Manoa Falls
• Wai’ihinui – Aihualama Falls
• Luaaulaia – Lua’alaea
• Naniuapo
• Wa’aloa – ??
• Kahuwaiiki – ??
• Waiakekua – Waiakeakua

The list seems to be ordered Ewa to Diamond Head. Possibly Kahuwaiiki is one of the lower falls on what is now known as Waiakeakua. Since Aihualama was counted and it’s not that big, there could be quite a few possibilities. On the topo maps the stream that connects with Manoa stream between Manoa Falls and Luaalaea looks promising, but doesn’t fit the apparent ordering of the list. Any ideas?

Dendrobates Auratus

I finally saw my first Poison Dart Frog (Dendrobates auratus). They were introduced to Manoa Valley in 1932 for mosquito control – which is very unfortunate since from what I’ve read they don’t eat mosquitoes. Geckos have been observed eating their tadpoles and have probably helped keep them under control, but they are apparently doing well now since the one I saw was in a residential area just a few blocks up the valley from the University of Hawaii. Not at all where I expected.

It really makes me wish I could see better. I’m probably missing out on a lot.

***Update*** It’s a veritable invasion. I’ve seen several more in the last few days, including tadpoles in two places in the same area.

***Update 2*** Substituted my own photo since I finally had my dumbphone with me when I saw one.

Inside Lulumahu Falls

No, it’s not a porn movie. Just a photo looking up the right side of the falls.

From earlier on the trail

These posts may generate more traffic on the trails than they do on the blog. When we got to the falls there were half a dozen people there, which was the first time I’ve seen anyone there. Previous post is here.

Manoa Cliffs Trail

It had been almost thirty years since I had done the Manoa cliffs trail, so after having gone more and more off the beaten path on recent hikes we decided to do a real trail again. We still managed to turn it into a long hike by going over to the Nuuanu viewpoint on Pauoa Flats trail and then unintentionally taking the long way back to the car.

At some points you can see one of the waterfalls at the back of Manoa valley. If you have good eyes.

Over at the Nuuanu overlook this is the ridge the Lost Trail comes up. There are two smaller ridges that converge into this one and from the top it almost looked like the right hand one, the path not taken, would be the easier of the two.

Inov-8 F-Lite 195 Review

I’ve been using the F-195 shoes for more than a year now and the best summary I can give is I would probably not be running if I hadn’t found these shoes. I’ve always been a cyclist and hiker and rarely enjoyed running at all, other than some occasional trail running. With the F-Lite shoes I actually enjoy it, almost like being a kid again.

I’d tried the Nike Free before and liked the overall minimalist concept but the heel was just too high for it to feel natural. The 3mm differential of the F-Lite 195 immediately felt better and that feeling has continued. They were a bit tight at first but the mesh upper stretches and conforms quickly and within an hour or so I forgot all about it. They have been reasonably durable for a sub 200g shoe. The first pair I had finally wore through the fabric on the inside of the heel and started causing blisters, but other than that wear and tear nothing came apart unexpectedly.

The laces are designed to be no-slip and work quite well in that regard but to me are somewhat of a mixed blessing. I tend to like laces that slip a little so the fit can adjust itself on the fly, and when I’m tired and cranky they can be a pain in the butt to get undone – especially when I use a double knot and they’re wet.

Inov-8 bills it as a fitness shoe but I think it works better than their road models on grass or slick surfaces, and has a less harsh feel on pavement. The soles are thin enough that I can tell the difference between concrete and blacktop, have great sensory feedback, and enforce a smooth style, but small rocks and other hazards don’t bother much at all so I find them a good compromise for most conditions.

Nobody can predict what shoes will work for someone else, but if you’re still looking for the right shoe they are definitely worth a try.

Full specs are available here.

Missed It By That Much – Followup

Against our better judgement we went back to Nuuanu just to prove a point and find the damned trail, and we did. But we didn’t make the final long push through the ferns up to the overlook. After having spent too much energy making the trail leading to it more obvious and exploring the area a bit, we chose to just declare victory and call it a day.

My navigational methods are still a bit of a mystery to me and rare sunny skies in that part of Nuuanu threw me off a bit because nothing felt quite right, but we still got there by relying on some reason and landmarks. The quickest access route is to go up the trail to Luakaha Falls and cross the stream at the top of the falls. Heading upstream, shortly after passing the beer can along the side of the stream (it’s been there for many months so I consider it a landmark, lol), this rocky ledge above the stream means it’s time to head uphill to the left and leave the stream behind.

After that you cross one ridge and head up the next, which eventually takes you up to the overlook. The trail sticks to the right hand edge of the ridge for the most part and then jogs left into the ferns. This is the view back toward the valley, shortly after starting up through the ferns. Nuuanu reservoir is on the right.

After this point it’s basically all swimming and struggling through the ferns. The trail, such as it is, is only visible as a V-shaped depression in the ferns – it’s sort of like swimming uphill through a very long green butt crack. It’s hard work but fortunately doesn’t smell like the description implies.

We also stumbled upon this intermittent waterfall by going up the ravine between the 2 ridges after leaving the stream:

It’s roughly between points A and B on the map from the previous post. It’s about 20 feet tall on the vertical section and another 20-30 feet of sloping above that. It seems to be barely a trickle in normal conditions but, like most in the Koolaus, probably fairly impressive in heavier rains…though I wouldn’t want to be in the channel then.

Clear as mud, right? One thing to note is there are ribbons all over Nuuanu and most lead pretty much nowhere so it’s generally better to ignore them. The best thing is this trail comes out right in front of the bench at the overlook, and it looks impossibly steep from there, so if you are lucky enough to get to the top when people are there the looks on their faces will be priceless.

Feel free to post your questions and comments. I realize my trail writeups aren’t exactly pinnacles of clarity.

Missed It By That Much

After 6 hours trying different ridges we gave up trying to find an abandoned trail in the Kaniakapupu and Luakaha Falls area that goes directly up from Nuuanu Valley to the Nuuanu Viewpoint. It’s not too hard to figure out which ridge on a topo map but I refuse to use a GPS to navigate and the thick vegetation prevents visually picking the correct ridge at the bottom, where many split into multiple smaller ridges.

Before running out of time we ended up going 2/3 of the way to the top on another wrong guess before finally reaching a clearing and finding we had missed by one ridge. Better luck next time. 20 years ago I could start from Judd Trail and walk straight to it but memories are devilishly deceptive descriptions of reality.

On the map, we wanted to get to point A to go to point C, but ended up on point B going nowhere. Another trail to find is the old one from Judd Trail straight up the ridge where the Nuuanu Trail now sits. Before the current trail was constructed in the early 90’s that was the only way up.

Digital Intent

Generally there is an inverse relationship between my picture-taking intent and the outcome. The fact that this one from the Oregon coast came out pretty well means it’s likely I didn’t give it much thought.