It's fair to say many of us have a spiritual connection with our bikes but Bike Religion, a bike shop in Newport Beach, CA takes things a little further. I noticed the striking kit last year when I photographed US Olympian Giddeon Massie at the American Velodrome Challenge. They wanted to use one of my photos in the front window, and I wanted a Bike Religion jersey. Seems like a fair trade, just wish I filled out the jersey the way that Giddeon does.

I'm keen to see the science of aerodynamics in action and hopeful I can make some decent images inside what's basically a 14' wide by 9' high gray tube between instrumented runs. I've told them I'm ready to get on the bike, if they need some truly low speed sampling.

Campagnolo Heritage Jerseys

Meanwhile, I've been been tracking some fabulous Campy kit for 2010. These heritage jerseys will probably cost a fair bit. Look for them soon at cbike.com. I'm already standing in line.

C821 - Heritage Half Zip Logo Jersey

C822 - Heritage Half Zip Flocked Logo Jersey (sportwool)

C814 - Heritage Full Zip Logo Jersey

C820 - Heritage Windproof Light Textran Jacket

Seems like our whole lives go by the numbers. We start off measuring ourselves against the kitchen door and it never stops.

Grades, scoreboards, girls' telephone numbers, salary, mortgage, it all adds up. Cyclists may be among the most chronic counters. Logging mileage is just the tip of the iceberg... calories, feet of climbing, power, heart rate, cadence all are fodder for increasingly sophisticated computers. Garmin's latest, the Edge 500, takes a fresh look at the data we love to collect.

No doubt getting input from the men in Argyle, Garmin engineers slimmed the unit down. It weighs just 57g compared to my comparatively portly Edge 305 at 79g. There's a new spin-and-lock mount, secured to bar or stem with o-rings. It feels very secure and that's going to be well received by those who experienced problems with the slide-and-latch mechanism of its predecessors (I never ejected my unit while on the road, but I did snap the tabbed latch off one mount).

Cosmetically, the white and silver unit is prominently trimmed in Garmin blue... that's great... IF YOU HAVE A BLUE BIKE. I'd rather they'd stuck with a neutral scheme: black, white, silver or better yet, provide optional colored bezels. Did no one tell them; we obsess about the total look of our rides?

Even when we're not riding, we're still counting. Last week a combination of weather and work had me go five days between rides, the longest I've gone on foot in three years. Around day four paranoia kicked in and I started thinking this is how you stop riding for good... so it didn't matter that Thursday was horrible out, I was riding no matter what. Some records are NOT meant to be broken.

The Edge 305 survived a trip through our washing machine so I had no doubts about the 500's ability to survive the elements and an accidental drop (or two). Garmin hardware is tough.

Two years ago I complained bitterly about the sorry state of Garmin's Connect software. After acquiring the once nimble MotionBased startup, Garmin seemed intent on hobbling backwards with a slow, buggy and functionally inferior service. I'm happy to report that Connect has improved (at least this afternoon).

Connect Rates a B

Software is the great differentiator. Get it right, the iPhone comes to mind, and success follows. Get it wrong, and a line of dissatisfied customers will soon stretch around the internet block actively sharing their bad experiences with everyone who'll listen. Connect looks cleaner. The dashboard tab displays the last 5 uploaded activities, and the most recent one in detail. The Activities tab shows a 20-record table with quick edit functionality that's passable but hardly efficient. Curiously it provides edit capability for "event type" which is not displayed in the table itself. During the upload process two of my activities never completed processing (with a checkmark indicator) but nevertheless appeared in the table. That kind of disconnect doesn't foster confidence, and there's more.

Firmware Web Updater Rates a D

Logging back in while putting this post together I noticed that there was a firmware update for the Edge 500 (v2.1). After downloading and installing a 20+MB web updater tool, the update was downloaded and applied. Unfortunately, here's where things didn't work so well. The updater carrier finished its role by indicating the device would restart. It never did by itself. Twenty minutes later, I restarted the device and the update was validated but in the process all my screen settings, bike info and history were erased. So much for that great comeback, some of the old inconsistencies remain. Solution: Connect should store all of these customized settings and refresh them on the device in situations like this. There will have to be a pretty compelling reason to update the firmware for me to risk having that happen again.

It's tough to count on software but without it we'd be back to scribbling in notebooks. That might be an option I'd consider, if I could read my own handwriting.

The rains have finally come to California and while there's plenty of styling opportunities to be had wrapped in seasonal jackets from Rapha and Showers Pass it's hard to believe that this time last year I followed the Continental boys as they rode the route of Stage 2 of the Tour of California on what amounted to an idyllic summer day. Today was more like the weather the pros endured a month later in race itself.

Don't get me wrong I know many of you have been in the deep freeze and across the pond the U.K. faithful have had the worst winter in years, so spoiled as we are, I'm not complaining. I just wanted to wear my flash new shoes more than once before Spring.

I'm referring to a pair of DMT Radials. You might remember I picked up a pair of DMT Dragon street shoes last year. The Dragons share the same uppers as the Radials except the casual shoes are lace ups and the Radials close with three broad velcro straps. No ratcheting buckles, heel clamps or boa closures. Cinch them and go.

With Look cleats installed the road shoes are a svelte 314 grams each. Lightweight mesh/microfiber uppers and super stiff carbon fiber soles provide the comfort and performance you'd expect from a top line Italian shoe like this. That said, the functional basics satisfied, I'll admit I bought these purely for looks.

This doesn't mean I'm about to abandon my preference for mountain spd shoes, but I'll have more to say about that in a future post when I compare several shoes sitting in the garage waiting for better weather.

In the meantime like everyone else North of the equator I'm wishing I was in Australia watching the Tour Down Under and spinning around between stages in my new white shoes.

I've got Competitive Cyclist to thank for the introduction to Yokozuna Reaction Cables. It wouldn't be the first time they've steered me towards great gear and these amazing strands are certainly a $65 bargain compared to the Cervelo they "persuaded" me to buy.

Back in September, with two centuries just around the corner I made a few changes to both bikes and took the opportunity to replace the stock Campy cable set on the Enigma with the Yokozuna Reaction product. While I can imagine that cables experience some quantifiable degradation in performance over, say 10,000 miles, I'm sure it's not much (and most of it could be remedied by an appropriate retensioning). Regardless, I wanted to see if I'd get the same quicksilver response that CC suggested and I haven't been disappointed. Shifting and braking are crisp, immediate and essentially frictionless.

My only quibble is a visual one. I love the spriral wrap of the compressionless brake housing, and though I understand that construction may not be necessary for shifting, the shift cable looks decidedly pedestrian by comparison. I doubt this will change if packaging is any indication... Yokozuna doesn't seem interested in competing with the Italians (I love Campy packaging). Then again if CC sells a ton of these, Andy may have some creative influence. Need some new cables, give him a call... the Reactions are available for Campy, Shimano and SRAM.

Even standing still the SL3 has an aggressive lean to it. The muscular head tube, massive down tube, and arching top tube strung taught like a bow hint at a potential for speed we all dream of. Looking every bit like an air force skunk work's stealth fighter, the Superlight version of the Tarmac SL3 is a blackbird designed to fly. It dispenses with cosmetic carbon, paint... even clear coat to make it better, stronger and faster. This could be the Six Million Dollar Man's bike.

I won't pretend I'm qualified to discuss superbike performance in terms of vertical compliance and lateral stiffness, but the bike is responsively stiff. I described the sensation previously as "ruthlessly efficient". There's no apparent flex under power, no kick or bounce as you sling the bike left and right when out the saddle. My sprint tops out around 32mph which wouldn't keep up with a PRO cruising on his TT bike but at 176 lbs, I'm heavier than those greyhounds. When it comes to stressing bikes like the Tarmac what I give up in watts I make up for in sheer body mass ;-)

In any event, the Tarmac was unfazed by anything I did during our three weeks together, deliberately or accidentally, including falling off. By all accounts it was a spectacular ejection.

For a thoroughbred race bike the SL3 is remarkably comfortable. Handling is quick and precise but never skittish. Two years of design, prototyping and testing produced new shapes for the seat stays and chain stays. The former to improve ride quality and forgiveness over less than smooth pavement, the latter to improve power transfer. Clearly this works. Those of you riding Tarmac SL2s should notice a difference; the SL3 is 10% lighter and 18% torsionally stiffer than your Tarmac.

Weighing less than the UCI limit the Superlight featured Zipp 202s shod with S-Works tubulars; SRAM Red running S-Works 53/39 chainrings and an 11-25 Red Cassette; a rear derailleur tricked out with ceramic bearings; TRP 960 calipers front and rear; S-Works carbon bars; S-Works alloy stem; Toupe Team saddle and a very secure pair of Specialized carbon cages.

Road bikes, and particularly carbon road bikes are in the habit of making the odd disconcerting noise. The SL3 was absolutely silent except for the smooth whir of the drive train and the positive click of the Red shifting. I have no doubt Specialized mechanics deserve credit for a bulletproof build, but the FACT IS S-Works 11r frame quality has a lot to do with it. You can find the full technical specs here.

During it's three week stay with Velodramatic the latest Tarmac got several comments from riders stopped at traffic lights and one surprised pickup driver.

Ten What?

I'm riding the SL3 home from work, waiting for the long light at Lawrence Ave to change, when I notice the driver of the pickup beside me pointing at the bike. He's fifteen feet away and its tough to hear over the roar of traffic.

He rolls down the passenger window and shouts "Nice bike". I nod and grin.

I sense the light has changed, give him a friendly wave and roll away, smiling to myself.

In actual fact the msrp on the Specialized Superlight I was riding is $9200... leaving him a full $800 for his first bibs, shoes, jersey and helmet. Now that's how to spend a perfect "ten".

Having gotten a taste for flying the "blackbird" it sure was tough to come back to earth and give it back. This is great race bike in the unlimited performance category. I wish I had the legs to truly test its limits but that wouldn't stop me from buying one. In the meantime I'm hatching a plan to test the SL3 with Di2.

When Graeme Raeburn takes a break from designing the Rapha kit we all love, he's a damn good rider. He can win on a Brompton, hang with the Continental boys touring the colonies and crank out an impressive 416 miles in a twenty-four hour time trial. On the 14th of September he'll join Ira Ryan, David Arthur from Road Cycling UK and the Rapha contest winner, Nick Amlot to tackle the Cent Cols Challenge. The four-man team will cover 100 cols rising 45,000 metres into the French sky in a concentrated 10 day period.

When I heard Graeme was riding I got to thinking a special bike was in order and who better to build it than the UK's own (and my fav) Enigma Bicycles. A quick email to Graeme followed by phone call to Jim and Mark at Enigma had everyone convinced it was a good idea and soon they were making plans for a beautiful custom bicycle befitting the challenge.

Graeme rode down to the factory where Enigma is writing a new chapter in British fabrication, adding steel to their titanium repertoire, perfecting seamless welds, and steadily repatriating more and more production home. Lanky lad that he is, Graeme was the perfect candidate for a bespoke frameset built from Columbus XCR steel tubing.

In the midst of a supremely busy season, the Enigma Elite XCR frameset is in paint, and Graeme will build it up himself within days (including the wheels). I'd hoped to have pictures documenting the entire fit and fabrication story but time constraints wouldn't allow. I'll make sure Graeme sends images of the finished frameset and completed build. Gloss black, polished steel at the ends of the chain/seat stays and classic bands in Rapha pink.

Here are the highlights of the build to come.

• Groupset: DA 7900 (with black Zero G brakes)
• Thomson Elite stem + Thomson Masterpiece seatpost
• Bars: Pro Vibe ergo-shape carbon
• Cages: Giant's aptly named "Enigma bottle cages" which are light and black
• Wheelset: Chris King Road Classic hubs in pink to Mavic Open Pros
• Tyres: Conti GP4000
• Computer: Cateye (with altitude, total ascent and gradient to track such things)
• Gearing: Double + 12-27 Cassette (Graeme will also take a compact crankset, just in case)

There's a nice symmetry at work here. Two of cycling's best brands, two great designers, Rapha's Graeme Raeburn and Enigma's Mark Reilly, coming together to take British steel to the top of those aery cols. Simon Mottram and Jim Walker have every reason to be proud of what their companies have accomplished in such a short time. I can't wait to see what comes next.

Here's a shot of a finished red and cream Enigma Elite, visit Enigma Steel to find out more.

OK, so I didn't get to carry a gun or sleep with a hot girl named Heavenly Rider but getting a chance to see a new PRO bike months before its official debut at the Tour de France was pretty cool. After swearing I hadn't been tailed and signing an electronic NDA in the lobby, I nervously put on the S-Works blindfold and let myself be led by a circuitous route to a holding cell deep in the bowels of Specialized's Morgan Hill HQ.

A bug sweep and polygraph administered by a heavily embrocated Belgian named Wout seemed to satisfy the watching security cameras because the test abruptly ended, a heavy steel door opened and I was welcomed into a brightly lit locker room to shower and put on the red overalls I'd be wearing for the duration of my stay. "Can I keep these", I inquired? "Afraid not, they're paper and they contain a special accelerant that flash incinerates when it comes in contact with outside air. "Oh, it's too hot to go outside anyway"... I offered looking down at my crotch and nervously zipping up.

In actual fact Specialized's Design/Tech center does bear a certain resemblance to James Bond's Q Branch, with all manner of apparatus for testing the two-wheeled weapons coming out their labs. My assignment was to photograph a brand new Tarmac SL3 build, smartly dressed in Saxo Bank Team livery, as it got its final adjustments and tweaks. This was the culmination of another two year project to improve and refine Specialized's flagship road racing platform; a few weeks later the bike would be under the Schleck's, Sparticus and Boonen, front and center in the peloton circling France.

At this rarefied level, every piece of carbon in the Tarmac's composition and every gram of resin that bonds the SL3 layup had been optimized through countless prototypes, machine tests and rider feedback. With so many accomplished riders on staff, and a daily hammerfest on the back roads of Northern California, they've got the equivalent of a Formula 1 test program even before sponsored riders provide their invaluable feedback.

In a well lit "build room" bustling with activity, engineers and mechanics, Andy Schiffer, R&D Shop Supervisor, took charge of the final build details: fine-tuning Red shifting; trimming/crimping cables; and wrapping the bars all the while fielding a constant stream of questions and requests from Product Managers looking for project builds of their own. Luc Callahan and Brad Paquin, lead engineers on the SL3 project joined in the discussions and I got some photos of them inspecting the headtube of a second SL3 frame with a fiber optic camera.

Using the tool Brad and Luc got an accurate picture of the FACT (Functional Advanced Composite Technology) details inside the frame that contribute to its exceptional stiffness to weight ratio. While we've all come to appreciate the benefits of optimized tube profiles and graceful transitions in advanced road bikes, Specialized has made significant advances further contouring, ribbing and gusseting the internal surfaces of the Tarmac's four monocoque sections to improve performance. Inner Space, the next frontier.

I kept shooting and pretty soon the bike was complete and ready for some glamor shots. We had about an hour before the lunch ride ritual when everything, and seemingly everyone stops what they're doing, kits up and rides out for an hour of high stakes (as in bragging rights) pedaling. If I were to sum up the experience of visiting Specialized I'd highlight three things.

Science. If you ride a Specialized bike you can feel confident there's real science working in the machine beneath you. Bikes like the Tarmac are not the product of tinkering and accident. There's enough pseudo science in sports equipment to put a man on the surface of Arizona if you know what I mean, but the engineers behind the stylized "S" really know what they're doing.

Creativity. This is a cool place to work, and the building is full of beautiful bicycles, many of them one-off creations and prototypes, not to mention cycling photography and art. You could definitely spend several days in the building and not run out of interesting things to discover.

Legs. The Specialized crew has the legs to rip most of ours off. They all ride and its a wonder any of them have cars and houses because I get the impression they're the first in line to buy the bikes they're designing and building. Happy addicts, every single one of them.

Oh, and the car. It's the creation of Robert Egger, who heads up the Specialized Design team. It was parked a few feet away from where Robert was working on a helmet prototype. Makes a very nice background doesn't it.

Fast forward to the present. I've got a matte black 54cm SL3 sitting in the garage for the next couple of weeks. SRAM Red, Zipp 202s, and trick TRP brakes add up to one super light rocket. It's more lethal than a flame throwing fountain pen. Thanks Sean.

Pedals, saddle and handlebars. These are our mechanical points of contact with the bicycle, anywhere else we meet is accidental and likely to be painful. We clip in with special shoes, pad our seats with chamois and when we reach for the hoods, invariably we're wearing gloves. Owing to an irrational fear of sanding my knuckles on pavement, my personal preference is for full-fingered gloves year round, even though that might not fly in the PRO peloton. I prefer the extra coverage and don't ever find them too hot, but to each his own. I've got two pairs of the best stubbies leading off for the classicists.

Fashion note: cycling gloves are categorized as accessories, though we'd all agree they're essential. In the truest fashion sense of accessorizing, adding one or two pairs from the following collection of gloves will give you a comfortable grip and coordinate with the rest of your kit. They might even make your hand gestures more visible. There's no significance to the numbering... every one of these gloves is a winner in my books.

A Handful of Good Alternatives to Consider

In my search for good mitts I'm prepared to think outside the box. Here then are a few more gloves, and bargains that feel great on the bike, even if the label doesn't explicitly mention cycling.

That about does it then. Apologies to the short-finger faithful for concentrating on the full fingers so much... I have touched on two of the best stubbies from Rapha if the price doesn't put them out of consideration and you're prepared to show them a little TLC between rides. At the other end of the price spectrum the Specialized Ridge and Oakley Factory Pilot gloves offer great fit, easy care and exceptional value. Between those two poles, the three offerings from Knog are stylish and sewn to last and there's the unmatched feel of repurposed cabretta golf gloves (Oakley and Under Armour) if you can live without padding. If that's not enough for you, go to Knog get the FO. Over and out.

If last week's post about Willy and randonneering had an underlying theme it might have been the relationship between style and practicality. Willy aptly demonstrated you don't have to sacrifice one for the other, but cycling gear typically involves a trade off. The latest featherweight carbon component may not survive an innocent tumble. Helmets keep us safe but on some skulls they look positively goofy.

Each of us calculates the relative merits of the gear we choose. Who, in hindsight, would pass up the chance to rethink some of those choices, especially if the hindsight was provided by a dental mirror stuck to your forehead.

I thought about that scale when trying to position today's offering. On one extreme, there's riding without brakes (except on the track)... I can think of no better expression of style with zero practicality. The other extreme, practicality with zero style is tougher to identify but I'll nominate the do-rag. Unless you run a 4.5 forty and have some Afro-American street cred you've got no business going there (think Kip in Napoleon Dynamite)

Enter Continental's GP4000 Ltd. Edition White Tires. Reportedly handmade in Germany by naked Heidi Klum look-a-likes, these alabaster beauties slip on to carbon rims with an audible sigh (perhaps that was me).

Judge the images for yourself. I'd call it "Road Formal". There's just one small problem. The tires are WHITE!

And roads are SHITE! Hell it was almost impossible to photograph the bike without despoiling the tires, and I carried the bike from place to place like a temple virgin with tender feet.

I don't know what I was thinking, but short of removing my brakes for my next ride these Contis come as close to absolute zero on the practicality axis as is possible. I figure I have one ride, one chance to blind the wheelsuckers, to mesmerize the spectators with their brilliance. Sure I can try and clean them, but they'll never be the same.

Or I can peel them off and mount them on the garage wall to ride one day when all the streets are bleached white by global warming. It's a tough call... wonder if I can order a second set.

Continental GP4000 Ltd. Edition White tires are priced at $125 per pair