Some ways back I seem to have reached the summit of my enthusiasm for new technology. More and more it feels I'm pedaling on a false flat, working harder than I should and going slower into the bargain. The admission doesn't come easy for someone who makes a living as head of product design for a Silicon Valley startup. The promise of... take your pick... computing, gps, mobile phones, networking is invariably compromised by mediocre software, terrible usability, incomprehensible documentation and abysmal support. The pay off goes down as the passwords pile up. You get me?

The gadgets we covet and the services that seduce us routinely fail to deliver the goods and that's why I love the bicycle so much. There are few things that can go wrong with our two wheeled friends, and most of them are easily remedied. Flat tires repaired, components lubricated, brake pads replaced and off we go. We may be particular about the mechanical precision of our machines, but when it comes to function there are few inventions as resilient and reparable as the bicycle. They work for and with us, elegantly and simply.

Compare the bicycle with the frustration of more "advanced" technologies. Interested in upgrading your AT&T DSL? The derailleur is there but try getting the gears to change. Online or on the phone this is a company at war with itself. Customers can't get what they want, when they want it. At the office we had a $100,000.00 digital switch left by the previous tenant; a full two years after we set off alarms by unplugging it AT&T finally carted it away. We should have made good on our threats to auction it off on eBay.

I've written repeatedly about the trials and tribulations of Garmin's Motionbased/Connect services. I take no real satisfaction in the fact they've just missed another migration deadline. Fifteen months late and counting. Agile development anyone?

Then there's Cycling.tv... a complete waste of $90. It's dead and Competitive Cyclist says so. I just need to remember to cancel my subscription before it auto renews. What's the bet that piece of the machinery will work perfectly.

This all comes to mind because I just completed a two-weekend configuration of a new PC equipped with the Cancellara processor (at least I hope it's that fast). Eschewing my Macintosh roots I risked the vagaries of Vista and came through relatively unscathed. Epson struck the one truly sour note. The printer that's productively performed over firewire for three years with XP, can only print over USB in Vista thanks to Epson's latest drivers.

I could go on, but I'm twittering and it's time to get back to bicycles. Between reboots, and while the 4 TB NAS device was taking 17 hours to cook I changed tires, tubes and rim tape on the Enigma Sunday and got an object lesson in real value.

Value. A measure of utility or merit

The Continental GP4000S tires I'd been running for 2137 miles (to be exact) had reached retirement age. The wear indicators had all but disappeared from the rear and though they felt better than ever I knew it was time to let them go. This pair had done its job and then some. One flat in five months is stellar performance.

By my calculation the rear tire had lost 20g, nearly 10% of it's weight, the front 5%. The rubber really hits the road after all.

With clean Velox tape installed I rolled the new Continentals onto the DT Swiss RR 1.1 rims, laid in the tubes and brought them up to pressure. With so many products over promising and under delivering, it's nice to have confidence in the thin strips of rubber that we roll about on. Long after the gadgets have been consigned to history's rubbish pile, the bicycle will continue on its way, taking us happily along for the ride.

Now what's my network SSID again?

My friend Brian Palmer who publishes the excellent and entertaining WashingMachinePost is well into a very thorough review of the new Garmin 705 hardware you should be reading. This morning he emailed me asking what all the MotionBased fuss was about... worried perhaps that I was headed towards the book repository with a sniper rifle. I'm sure he didn't expect all this.

I didn't religiously fact check my dates, reading back through email history is likely to trigger an embolism, but I'm confident I'm not substantially distorting the time line.

B

MotionBased was originally an independent company that created a web-based application to store, analyze and map ride data from GPS devices like those from Garmin. Initially they were nimble, creative and quick to incorporate feedback in a rapidly evolving product... typical behavior for a startup.

MB, like so many mash-up Web 2.0 startups (combining data with Google Maps) was initially a free service, the limitation being only your last ten activities would be stored in their database. That couldn't fly for long with users or business viability, so they created an enhanced subscription service that would allow users to see all of their historic data. That's what I paid for with an annual suscription with the expectation that features, and work flow on the service would improve. The usability issues I highlighted in my latest post have been in the product since I first joined and even the most junior interaction designer/usability engineer would identify them immediately.

Unfortunately its still typical for software projects to proceed without experienced interaction design, and the result is usually the same, hard-to-use mess of developer excess. Like you hired a plumber and they came in and ran the pipes outside the walls (in your living space). As a mac person you can appreciate the average person doesn't think like a software developer.

Garmin took notice and acquired the promising MB product (and dev team) at which point development seemed to slow appreciably. Perhaps the dev team had cut some corners in architecting the underlying platform to move rapidly. I believe the database and schema were ill-suited to scale up to meet the usage demands.

Third quarter 2007 Garmin announced a new service called Connect would replace MB, initially for new devices, eventually for all legacy fitness devices like the Edge 305. It's my understanding the dev team behind this is still the MB dev team. I'm guessing they'd come to the realization that it was easier to start afresh with a properly architected database than try to salvage the MB repository.

MB, despite protestations to the contrary has always been an amateurish outfit when it came to customer communication. Again I suspect the developer led company saw little need for "marketing types" early on and never brought in the necessary experience to avoid the gaffs that would follow. MB thinks that a terse email posted to the MB forum once every four months is sufficient communication and perhaps it would be if they were still a little startup with a handful of users enjoying a free service.

Towards the end of 2007 MB finally committed to dates for the legacy device support. I recall a February cutover for the Edge 305. That never happened and the date was pushed back to May. May of course slipped to September. Again with terrible, inadequate justification and communication "We need more time to make Connect be the best it can be" There's only so many times you can borrow money from a friend and not pay it back. They keep asking, when it suits them, for more time... like a college kid asking a prof over and over for extensions when the term paper is due.

Since you've not been through the complete cycle of disappointment, missed release promises and continuing usability friction, it's normal for you to look at the service in a more positive "first" light. Unfortunately, Garmin has plenty of apologists (not suggesting you're one of them, a Scot is culturally incapable of that unless we're talking football) that show up on the forums. "I've been using my Garmin Edge 705 for two weeks and Connect has worked perfectly the two times I've used it"

It belittles the feedback they've got from long term users and the forums are sprinkled with insightful comments that should have been incorporated. Add to that the defensive nature of the support personnel and forum admins and you get a picture of an insular team that still hasn't heard the penny drop. Garmin, with all its resouces needs to hire a world-class design team to improve usability. They need to hire better communication people to put out a consistent professional message and most importantly they need seasoned Product Management to prioritize and release on schedule.

Finally it pisses me off to no end because this is what I do for a living and I understand all the players, the competing priorities, the culture, the technical limitations and the games that are played at customer expense. Whether we're talking enterprise software (Ariba, in my case), Operating Systems (Vista) or MotionBased/Connect there's just no excuse for continuously getting the basics wrong.

Chase a new feature instead of fixing the core interactions all users endure. Wrong.

Promise a date for a new service and let it slip again, and again. Wrong.

Compound the lousy customer experience with an ill-timed "your subscription has expired communication". Wrong.

I feel better now ;-)

::M

Note: I don't want to paint all developers with the same brush. My dev team is very conscious of the user experience and I'd bet any one of them could start in cold and fix the worst MB offenses within 30 days. I only wish we could put that boast to the test.

I received this today from Garmin.

You're damn right I received this in error

Frankly I don't know where to begin to communicate just how frustrating you've made the experience with MB. At this point you're five or six months late from the originally scheduled transition from MB to Connect for owners of the Edge 305 (now scheduled for September 08). Last Fall you gave every indication that MB's days were numbered, soon to be replaced with an improved service called Garmin Connect in January or February 08.

That service would be free, and the 10 activity limit of MB would be gone. Something called Connect Plus would be available via subscription offering enhanced features. Almost a year later I've seen no detailed description of what Garmin Connect Plus will offer. The Connect forums have lots of comments from former users of MB that complain Connect does not have feature parity (or indeed is any better) than MB. I wouldn't know... my device is still not supported even though new Edge 305s are still being sold in stores.

And this doesn't surprise me since none of the repetitive usability issues of MB have been addressed because the dev team is not actively working on this "transitional" product any more.

So here I am spinning in product release limbo just shy of the re-promised September cutover of all devices to Connect, wondering if the date will slip again and you add insult to injury by downgrading me to MB Lite. As far as I'm concerned I've been on a "LITE" product for the past year because all the development effort has gone into Connect.

I'll happily upgrade back to MB standard if you:

• Fix the Inbox so I don't have to do a silly refresh once my activities have been uploaded.
• Fix the inbox so I don't have to then click a link (every time) to see more than two activities. Who works like that?
• Fix it so that when I've tediously categorized all my new inbox activities, I don't have to hit refresh AGAIN to see them. A confirming message that activities have been added successfully should accompany the list, not be a step on its own.

In previous communications I've asked to speak to a PM about these problems, and I've told you that I design usable software for a living, and I know unless MB has the most awkward architecture in the world these issues could be easily fixed. Nothing substantive happens. You've taken a motivated, engaged user and through poor communication, slipping schedules and repetitive usability problems created a very dissatisfied customer.

Money has nothing to do with this. This is just a terrible customer experience. All current subscribers to MotionBased should maintain full functionality until you make the cutover to Connect.

There is light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully today it's shining brightly into the eyes of Riccardo Riccò in a police station somewhere in France. Fool.

I'm starting to believe it's time for race organizers to add intelligence testing to the doping controls administered during races. And after yesterday morning's commute there's at least one rider of a pannier-equipped hybrid that needs his head examined too. He was so intent on keeping ahead of me that he ran two reds to do so, zig-zagging through turning traffic at the second light. Another poster boy for cycling who's sure to win over every hostile motorist on the road.

Riding through this landscape of detritus is not for the faint of heart. Early in the week, the worst of it is concentrated at the curb, though with some precariously balanced piles rising six and seven feet high, you get the feeling you're riding by the face of an active glacier that's about to calve. If it wasn't for the absence of sea gulls visitors would think they'd driven into the world's largest subdivided land fill site.

It gets worse though. There are no gulls but soon another opportunistic scavenger, the relentless swap meet jackal, turns up. This normally reclusive species is easily identified by a white pickup truck sporting four mismatched tires. These trucks scour the piles, pulling up, or sticking out, at awkward angles into what's left of the bike lane. They lay claim to the choice items: broken car seats; infomercial-quality exercise equipment and avocado appliances from the 70s. When they've picked over things the smaller street-walking tinkers arrive. Unable to carry away the larger pieces they settle for blenders, mirrors and dislocated chez lounges.

All the while the piles are moving further and further out into the road. Bits and pieces, usually sharp, litter the street and shards of glass sparkle in the sun. Potential punctures are everywhere.

And yet, amidst all this ugliness, one shining hope never fades, the dream of spotting a classic frame amongst the rubble. It hasn't happened yet, but I never stop scanning the piles for a steel-tube treasure. With one stage to go in this year's Hell of the Heap I've passed the piles unscathed without flatting. Perhaps next year I'll capture that elusive prize.

I didn't want it to come to this. The honeymoon with my Edge 305 and the MotionBased subscription service ended months ago. These days we're both just going through the motions and the lies and recriminations are starting to pile up. She's always been temperamental. Lord knows I've tried to provide a receptive environment, one that listened to her intermittent signals and tolerated her secrets. It's just not natural to expect a man to have only ONE USB partner, is it?

At times it didn't matter what I did, the only thing that satisfied her was to stop everything I was doing, and give her my undivided attention. Her witless friend from the Training Center kept popping in at the most inopportune moments anytime I wanted to talk to her Agent alone. Sometimes she'd just clam up completely and I'd have to press all the right buttons to get her to communicate. If only she was by Polar this might be easier.

Eventually she'd blurt out some XMLpletives and then lie there with that horrible blank look, while I tried to pick up the pieces. I looked for solace online; I'm not too proud to admit, I paid for it. The service was cheap and I was just happy for some company. I didn't spend a lot of time there, I just wanted to get in, and get out but it gave me little satisfaction or release.

The service was slow, there were no shortcuts and at times it was downright painful. They were just going through the same Baseless Motions, promising they loved me, but with every vacant interaction I knew they didn't care about anything but my money. They never remembered any of the things I liked to do. Each time, it was the same robotic, repetitive process. I tried to Digest it all but couldn't.

It gets worse, my Edge is sick, she's lost some of her pixels and I can barely make out what she's saying. Her family, the Garmins, recently asked me to stick around for another year – think of the data, but I don't know if it's worth it. They've promised to help us make a new start, to re-Connect, but I just don't understand the Plus and minus of it all anymore. Sometimes it's just better to walk away.

It's sad when relationships end, sadder still when you've travelled many miles together. MapmyWords.

Humor aside, I really don't know what to do about Garmin's new Connect service. MotionBased development in 2007 has been glacially slow, and customers get no direct communication. It's left to us to search through the forum or blog for scraps of information. Garmin has some good products, but their web services are hamstrung by poor usability and they've got some serious customer-relationship issues.

4,000 Road Miles and Counting on my Favorite Specialized Cycling Shoes

I'll admit I liked the look of the Specialized Trail 120 shoes the minute I first saw them. True to their brand name, they've really turned out to be something special.

The rare 3/4 height offers great ankle support throughout the entire pedal stroke and as the images can attest, they've come through the first year with flying colors – well flying grayscale in this case. Other than the obvious concerns over weight, I'm puzzled why more cycling shoes are not designed with the high-top form factor, it's certainly been popular for virtually every other sport.

The Trail 120 has a rock-solid full carbon mid-sole, three secure velcro closures and a really comfortable woven lining with no sharp edges at the top of the shoe. They really didn't need a break-in period. The pair weigh less than 800 grams – negating any weight concerns – and their construction strikes a nice balance between ventilation and wind protection. Worn with a good pair of merino socks they're good down to 40F.

Initially I intended they'd be the ideal commuting shoe. With recessed SPD (MB) cleats, the 120s make it easy to put your feet down at intersections, and as I've demonstrated on numerous occasions when I've forgotten street shoes, wearable around the office. You get a little clicking from the cleat hitting cement if you walk to the corner for lunch, but it's nothing like the tap dance routine you'd perform in a road shoe.

When I purchased my Cervelo SLC-SL, there was nothing preventing me from building it with ultra-light, high-performance pedals and shoes but I had no desire to give up the look, fit or support of the 120s. While I may end up exploring some Crank Brother SPD pedal options, I mounted another set of Shimano A-520s on the Cervelo and haven't looked back.

Sometime soon, I'm going to buy a second pair and tuck them away. You know what always happens when you find something you really love.

The Specialized Defroster Promised to be a Warmer, Waterproof, Winter Cycling Shoe – but it's not quite Warm Enough

I'd hoped that the Specialized Defroster would be an Alaskan version of the Trail 120. As dawn temperatures in Northern California dipped into the low 30s (F) before adding the wind chill of riding, the superb 120s required shoe covers to keep my feet warm.

That was fine for a while. The problem had nothing to do with my favorite shoes, it was just a matter of how long it was taking me to suit up every morning. I reasoned the awkward shoe covers could be eliminated from the routine when I spotted the Defrosters. I also expected the winter shoes to extend the life of the 120s.

I can report after two months of daily use, that it's great to be able to pull on the Defrosters and not fumble with shoe covers – I've got more important layers to worry about. The shoes have proven to be completely waterproof as advertised. They fit well and look pretty svelt for a winter shoe, but even with two pairs of socks, they're just not warm enough. Inevitably, the toes on my right foot end up half-frozen by the end of the 13-mile morning commute.

Normally, I wouldn't bother posting about a product that was almost great. I offer this review in the hope that someone in the Specialized design team finds it, and beefs up the insulation for next season. Then we'd have a real winner.