With temperatures dropping around the country, it’s a good time to make sure you have everything you need to stay warm. And a sure-fire bet for staying warm in the winter is wool clothing.

Socks, gloves, base layers, and even cycling shorts and jerseys made from wool can be found online.

Here is a list of who’s doing wool garments and where you can buy them:

1. Boure

Boure is an outdoor apparel company owned by mountain bike legend Ned Overend. They make just about everything you need for a cycling outfit, plus some Nordic skiing gear – and the gear is manufactured in Durango, CO.

Their line of wool cycling garments includes: short- and long-sleeve jerseys, a long-sleeve base layer, shorts, socks, and a skull cap.

The socks run a moderate $12, but the shorts and jerseys are well over $100 each.

Link: www.boure.com

2. DeFeet

DeFeet is a popular sock manufacturer in the cycling community, making socks and other accessories such as arm warmers.

Their sock lineup includes quite a few wool socks, such as the WoolEator and the Woolie Boolie, but they also offer wool liner gloves, arm warmers, and knee warmers.

Link: www.defeet.com

3. Earth, Wind, and Rider

Earth, Wind, and Rider is an eco-conscious company offering short- and long-sleeve cycling jerseys for men and women.

Prices are in the $120 range.

Link: www.earthwindandrider.com

4. Hincapie Sportswear

Hincapie Sportswear was created by, who else, George Hincapie. They make a line of high-end cycling apparel, with some wool items to keep you warm.

The wool products include base layers, arms warmers, gloves, and socks.

Link: www.hincapie.com

5. Ibex

Ibex outdoor clothing is great because they are dedicated to wool, so if there’s something you want in wool, they probably have it.

While browsing their store, I found some very cool styles and designs of base layers, plus the shorts, jerseys, arm warmers, and leg warmers you’d expect.

The cheapest product I saw was the $40 arm warmers, and the most expensive were the $150-200 sweaters and long-sleeve jerseys.

Link: www.ibexwear.com

6. Jones Wares

Joneswares is another small wool clothing manufacturer based here in the USA. They make gear for cycling, running, and outdoor use.

They actually offer a wide ranging selection of garments. For example, their wool base layers come in tank tops, short sleeve, long sleeve, zipper neck, and turtle neck styles. Then you have the long and short sleeve jerseys, shorts and pants, arm and leg warmers, gloves, caps, and socks.

Link: www.joneswares.com

7. SmartWool

SmartWool has been around a while and is probably the most popular wool clothing brand for outdoors men. They offer so many items that I’m not even going to try to list them all.

But there’s one cool thing to know – SmartWool garments are washer and dryer safe!

Link: www.smartwool.com

8. Swobo

The interesting thing about Swobo is that not only do they make cycling clothing, they actually make bikes. So if you browse their shop, you’ll see bikes, polyester clothing, and Merino wool.

If you need an urban bicycle or stylish gear, check out Swobo.

Link: www.swobo.com

9. Wabi Woolens

Wabi Woolens is a small manufacturer of wool jerseys based in cycling mecca Portland, OR. Their Merino wool jerseys are made right here in the USA.

The product line is simple – there are long sleeve cycling jerseys, and long sleeve adventure jerseys. (The only difference is that the cycling jerseys have three rear pockets.) I’ve always liked the idea of “do one thing and do it right,” and it looks like Wabi Woolens is doing a good job of that.

Link: www.wabiwoolens.com

10. Walz Caps

Walz Caps are traditional cycling caps, individually sewn in the United States, with your satisfaction 100% guaranteed.

Cap materials vary, but one of them is wool. They offer wool cycling caps with or without ear flaps for $30 or $25.

Link: walzcaps.com

Those are the ten companies I know.

You should be served well by wool from any of these companies, but remember one thing – wool is expensive, so take good care of it!

Back when I wrote about proper gearing and shifting, I said it’s not a good idea to “cross chain.”

In other words, you don’t want to use the big ring and big cog combo or the little ring and little ring combo, because you’re putting the chain at an awkward angle. (See a cross chaining example here.)

But sometimes it’s actually smart to cross chain for short periods of time!

Yes, there are a few times when cross chaining will actually help you out! It’s usually only necessary when racing though, so you should still focus on keeping a straight chain line most of the time.

Without further ado, here are the times when you should cross chain:

1. When you encounter temporary changes in terrain.

Let’s say you’re on a fairly flat road and cruising pretty fast in a big gear, say 53×17.

Next thing you know, you’re facing a short, steep hill dead ahead!

If it was a long hill, you’d definitely want to shift to your little ring and use a small gear to get up the hill. But you need to get over this little hill and then get your speed back up as fast as possible or you’ll get dropped.

It would be beneficial to remain in the big ring, even if it means shifting to the big cog. So you stay in the big ring, but use a gear such as a 53×23 and power over the hill.

Once you’re over the top, you can quickly shift back down to a smaller cog.

Not having to shift the front derailleur during that little ordeal saved some time and energy which could come in handy later in the day!

Alternatively, you could use the small ring and small cog for temporary flat sections of a long, steep hill.

2. On rough, rocky terrain, especially going downhill.

Say you’re out mountain biking and when you look ahead, the trail starts to drop off into a rough and rocky downhill.

If you’re in a smaller chainring, there are two big problems you should be worried about:

One, chain slap, which is when there is enough slack in the chain that it slaps the chainstay, ruining your frame’s paint job.

Two, the chain might fall off. If there isn’t enough tension on the chain, it could be flapping around enough that it ends up falling off the chainring and onto the bottom bracket shell. This will hurt your paint job and require effort to get it back onto the ring.

So the first order of business is to shift onto the big ring. That will take up a lot of slack by itself.

But you should stay on a medium to large cog, possibly a 44×30 gear.

Not only will this keep your chain steady, but if you hit a short flat or uphill stretch, the big/big combo is an easy enough gear that you can pedal a few strokes.

There you have it – the two times when you actually want to cross chain!

Photo credits: Hill climb by johnthescone | Chain by Paul Jerry

Like the stability and resistance of a stationary trainer but the feel of rollers? Then this new trainer from Kurt Kinetic might be just what you’re looking for!

This is called the Rock & Roll Trainer because instead of being a solid frame, it incorporates a floating pivot, allowing the trainer frame to move around, which means you can sway the bike side-to-side as you ride.

It should feel more realistic, at least when standing and sprinting, and be easier on your bike.

There are just two potential problems I see.

First, the pivot better be strong and durable. Wouldn’t want to ruin a perfectly good trainer with one weak part. Second, the $600 price tag is almost double the cost of the regular Kurt Kinetic Road Machine (which is basically the same trainer but without the pivot.)

Does it look like a good idea? Yes, a more natural road feel from a trainer would be great.

Would I pay an extra $250 for it? Only if I was rich! For now, let me stick with my $110 rollers.

Read more about the Rock N Roll Trainer: at KurtKinetic.com

Buy online: at Jenson USA

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All “Product Previews” are simply products I have found that look really cool or interesting. The product has not yet been reviewed, so I’m not advising you to buy or not to buy the product.

It seems like there is a new “super food” discovered every day, and that fruit or berry becomes the base of an overpriced bottle of juice just days later.

A lot of these juices are either acai berry or goji berry juices, and they retail for $20-30 per bottle! The supposed health benefits are numerous, and the drinks usually taste delicious, but that is a lot of money no matter how you look at it.

That’s why I like the trend towards pomegranate juice, which promises a number of health benefits without being too hard on the wallet. It’s certainly not cheap stuff, but it’s inexpensive compared to acai juice, and you can actually find it in the grocery store (unlike some juices that only come from sketchy MLM companies.)

I was browsing through an Ollie’s department store the other day and happened across Bellamessa 100% Pomegranate Juice. It was on sale for $2.99 for a 33.8 ounce bottle (probably about 50% off.) Sold!

Let’s see what I got myself into…

Pomegranate Health Benefits

We’re not dealing with an actual pomegranate, but this is supposed to be “100% pomegranate juice with no added sugar.” So it should still provide most of the health benefits that the fruit would.

But, like any fruit juice, it still has quite a few calories from the natural sugar.

Without further ado, here are the many health benefits of pomegranate juice:

The tannins and punicalagins (a type of antioxidant) in pomegranate juice has been shown to help in reducing heart disease risk factors, including LDL oxidation, macrophage oxidative status, and foam cell formation, all of which are steps in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.

Pomegranate juice has also been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure by inhibiting serum angiotensin-converting enzyme. It may even inhibit viral infections and have antibacterial effects against dental plaque.

The Taste Test

It’s healthy, but is it drinkable?

When I first tried a sip of this, had I not seen the “100% pomegranate juice” label, I’d swear it was cranberry juice! It tasted just like regular old cranberry juice! So it was alright, but clearly not as awesome as I had hoped for.

Luckily, after it was in the fridge for a while and got real cold, and I was real warm from being outside, I was able to taste the pomegranate! (It was exciting because I was beginning to think I had bought nothing more than an expensive bottle of cranberry juice!)

So yes, when nice and cold, this is a very sweet pomegranate juice. It still tastes similar to cranberry juice, though. It’s just barely different enough to notice.

I bet if you mixed this juice with other stuff it would taste better. Pomegranate blueberry is a popular combination, so maybe I should have put a couple ounces of this into a blueberry smoothie!

I’ll try that with my next bottle of pomegranate juice…

My final verdict is…

This was a good drink, but not a great drink. You might really like it if you like cranberry juice though.

In the end, I’m glad I tried some, but I’ll still stick with water and green tea as my main drinks. I will probably buy more of this some day when I’m in the mood, or when I can’t find a good fresh pomegranate to eat.

Official website: N/A

With today’s health-conscious athletes, there are many debates over which food is healthier. The arguments even break down as far as, “which oat is healthier?”

What I have seen recently is a trend towards steel cut oats instead of the more common rolled oats. Just look for debates about oats on any blog or forum and you’re bound to find some people harping about how rolled oats suck and steel cut oats are the healthy option.

So today I’m here to dispel the myth that somehow one oat is healthier than the other! Let’s start by looking at these different types of oats…

There are three basic types of oats. There are old-fashioned rolled oats, which are whole oats rolled flat. Then there are quick oats, which are rolled oats that have been ground up a little bit more to make them cook faster. Finally, there are the steel cut oats, where the whole raw oat was cut into smaller chunks.

They all start from the same grains, but they are cut differently. Rolled oats are steamed slightly to make them cook faster, but otherwise, they aren’t any different from steel cut oats.

The extra processing isn’t a big deal, because you have to remember this process called digestion where you break down food to absorb it. So these oats are all the same once they get past your mouth.

So you see, rolled oats and steel cut oats are the same food, just cut differently. Saying they’re vastly different in nutritional value is like saying a sandwich cut straight down the middle is healthier than a sandwich sliced diagonally into triangles!

But let’s compare the oats to see what all the differences are…

Oats Comparison

While the oats are virtually the same thing, there are a few key differences.

Look – Rolled oats look like a big flake, like the oat was rolled flat lengthwise. Steel cut oats look like a whole oat cut in half. So the steel cut oats definitely look like a freshly picked oat from the farm.

If you’ve even been in a field with oats growing there, or bought whole oats in a feed store for farm animals, you’ll recognize the steel cut oats.

Steel cut oats look a little like wild rice once cooked.

Taste – Steel cut oats have a sort of “nutty” flavor that rolled oats lack. You’ll know it when you try them. But the big difference is with texture…

Texture – Steel cut oats are definitely chewier – it takes a while to chew each bite. “Chewy” sums up the steel cut oat texture quite well.

Whether the texture of steel cut is “better” is a matter of personal opinion. But I definitely do enjoy the heartier texture of steel cut or rolled oats over instant oats.

Amount of Processing – If there is one area where steel cut oats have a real health edge, it’s the lack of processing. Both types of oats are cut, but the rolled oats are steamed (which cuts down cooking time later.)

So there is a chance steel cut oats contain more vitamins and minerals, but don’t fret – even rolled oats contain a whole oat grain. You’re not losing valuable parts of the grain (bran and germ) like you would with white bread, which is composed of “enriched white flour” where the real nutrients are bleached out and then the bread is “fortified” to make it appear nutritious on paper.

And don’t forget – steel cut oats need cooked for quite a while, while rolled oats are pre-cooked and ready to eat right out of the canister. So whatever advantage steel cut oats have is lost, unless you can somehow eat them uncooked.

Except if you were to eat them uncooked, you probably wouldn’t digest them, meaning you’d get more nutrients from the rolled oats!

(The uncooked oats will maintain their nutrients longer than the steamed oats, though.)

Serving Size – Typically, a serving is 1/4 cup for steel cut oats, which are more dense than rolled oats, which have a 1/2 cup serving size. It’s the same amount of oats in weight, but not volume, since a rolled oat takes up more space.

The steel cut oats will also expand more when cooked, since they will absorb more water than the rolled oats. So that 1/4 cup looks pretty big once it’s cooked!

Cooking Time – Quick oats are quick; whole rolled oats take a bit longer; then a lot longer for steel cut oats. For one serving, we’re talking 1 minute, 2-3 minutes, and 4-6 minutes, respectively.

Usually I cook a whole pan of steel cut oats at once, and that takes 15-20 minutes.

Nutrients – Let’s compare the Quaker Steel Cut Oats to Quaker Rolled Oats.

1/4 cup of Quaker steel cut oats:
Calories – 150
Fat – 2.5g
Carbs – 27g
Fiber – 4g
Sugar – 1g
Protein – 5g

1/2 cup of Quaker old fashioned oats and quick oats:
Calories – 150
Fat – 3g
Carbs – 27g
Fiber – 4g
Sugar – 1g

Protein – 5g

The label is virtually identical for all three types; the only difference is half a gram of fat.

Glycemic Index – I have seen steel cut oats rated at 42 and rolled oats rated at 50 on the Glycemic Index. Both would be considered “low” and therefore neither is a huge threat to spiking your blood sugar.

Pricing and Availability – The only real downfall with steel cut oats is the price. Sticking with the Quaker brand: 18oz rolled oats are about $1.89, while 24oz of their steel cut oats are $4.99. I prefer the Arrowhead Mills steel cut oats, which are around $3.59 for 24oz.

Due to the hefty price tag, steel cut oats are harder to find. You’ll need to look at smaller retailers and specialty health stores.

The good news is, you can save money by purchasing steel cut oats in bulk, if that’s an option at your local store. If you have a local Amish store or some sort of farmer’s market, you might find steel cut oats extremely cheap!

The Results

The main differences between the oats are texture and cooking time. The nutrition facts are virtually identical.

While I do like the lack of processing in steel cut oats for health reasons, my advice is to eat whichever oats you like the best!

Personally, I like both. If I want a chewy bowl of oats with a nutty flavor, I’ll have steel cut oats. But if I’m making a bowl of cinnamon raisin oatmeal, I’ll stick with rolled oats or even quick oats.

In most circumstances, I’ll actually stick with regular rolled oats instead of steel cut oats. I like the taste just as much, and they’re quicker to cook.

The two types are noticeably different in taste, so you’ll have to try both. It’s quite possible you’ll gravitate toward one or the other.

But remember: whether you’re eating steel cut oats, old fashioned rolled oats, or quick oats, they’re all good. Just avoid “instant oatmeal,” which is the kind that comes in the little pouches, already mixed with sugar, salt, and artificial flavors.