Retailer Name: Bike Nashbar
Website: www.Nashbar.com

Continue reading for my thoughts and opinions on Nashbar, a cycling-specific online retailer for road and mountain bikers…

Product Selection and Availability

First of all, Nashbar has a good selection of most road and mountain bike parts and accessories, from low- to high-end. Taking road cranks as an example, I see they have Shimano Nexave hybrid cranks for $30, as well as the newest Dura Ace crankset for $700 (plus Ultegra, 105, and of course, SRAM, Campy, and FSA.)

You probably won’t find every single thing you want in the exact size and color you need, but the selection is pretty good.

What I really like about Nashbar is all the odd stuff you don’t see very often. Sometimes you’ll find an old-fashioned or odd part that you have never seen before, and there are a lot of odds and ends that home bicycle mechanics will like to have on hand.

Another thing they’re big on is NOS (new old stock) products, which is sweet, because a lot of that stuff is better quality than the first-run of the new product lines. Stuff like older 8- and 9-speed cranksets and chains, so you don’t have to upgrade your 1995 bikes to the new stuff!

Pricing

What’s better than having those great NOS parts? Having all that cool gear on closeout! Everything is usually a great deal, like 60% off the original retail price!

Never components and regular name-brand gear is going to be on par with other retailers, but older parts and house brand merchandise is cheap!

Overall, I think Nashbar is one of the cheapest online stores (sometimes on par with PricePoint, which is basically a bargain outlet.) And sometimes their Nashbar branded items are very high-quality, so it’s a win-win deal.

Discounts & Coupon Codes

To make the prices even sweeter, Nashbar almost always has some sort of discount. They have a sale for every holiday, and sometimes they just issue a 10% off coupon for fun. Sometimes they even offer 20% off coupons on larger orders!

At the very least, there will be some sort of free shipping deal. Just make sure you’re signed-up for their email updates and you’ll always know what’s going on.

The one problem I’ve had that annoyed me was their policy with combining discounts. I can understand not being allowed to apply multiple coupon codes to an order, but apparently they consider gift cards to be one of these discounts, rather than a payment method.

See, I’d put together an order and applied a 20% off coupon code. Then I would enter a $20 gift card number, along with my credit card number, expecting my final order price to drop down by $20. Well, the order price would actually increase! Entering the gift card actually wiped out the initial 20% off discount!

So don’t buy Nashbar gift cards, it’s like shooting yourself in the foot!

Ease of Use (Website and Shopping Cart)

Nashbar starts out with the latest deals on the home page, with a navigation menu running down the left side. I like the two dropdown menus at the top, for quick browsing by category or brand. This is listed alphabetically, which is usually easier to navigate than their categorized lists, wondering if handlebar tape is a “bike part” or an “accessory” and whether it’s listed as “grips/bar tape” or as “handlebar tape.”

Or if you want a hub, it’s not under “hubs.” It’s either under “Front hubs” or “Freehubs/Rear hubs.”

Aside from those bits of confusion, Nashbar’s menu is pretty good. The main categories listed down the side (Bicycles, Fashion, Bike Parts, Accessories, Repair, and Training,) are pretty clear.

Clicking through or searching, you are presented with clean lists of items, photos, and descriptions. The listing usually starts with the highest prices, but you can easily sort by brand, percent off, or price (low to high) with another click or two. Also, the photos enlarge for a better preview when you scroll over them.

The product detail page is pretty nice and clear, and has a nice pop-up function to see the full-size pictures. Sometimes the descriptions are confusing, though. Yesterday I was looking at one of their bikes, and the weight was listed twice. Once as 26.5 lb and the other at 29.87 lb. So which is it?!

I do love the shopping cart. It is easy to understand, and it’s simple to remove items and update quantities.

Overall I do really like the website and shopping cart from an ease of use standpoint. The little discrepancies are annoying, but not bad enough that I’ll totally quit ordering from Nashbar.

Shipping & Handling

Nashbar is great for me because they ship out of Ohio – with standard shipping, my order arrives in 1-3 days here in central Pennsylvania.

Here’s one example where Nashbar really made me happy: Recently I placed a small order with Nashbar – it was 12/22/08, at night. I then purchased standard shipping, expecting to get the order the next Monday due to the Christmas holiday delay in there.

Well, the order arrived on 12/24/08 in the morning! I couldn’t believe it! It took literally 39 hours between ordering and receiving the box!

The rates are reasonable, too. Ground shipping ranges from $5.75 to $12.50 depending on order price, which is not bad at all. [Figures from 12/28/08.]

Just make sure you read their policies before you start ordering. Some people complain about bad shipping, but if you just read the details, you’ll know what to expect in advance. For example, backordered items are shipped via ground shipping. That’s just the policy, and it’s clear as day, so expect that if you have to backorder something.

Customer Service

I can only speak for myself, but I haven’t run into any nasty issues with Nashbar. Any time I’ve had a problem, they’ve always made it right. Not always super fast, but they mean well – everyone I’ve talked to seemed to put forth some effort and actually do their job.

I certainly wouldn’t say they go the extra mile to treat you like a king, but customer service seems “good enough” in most regards.

My final verdict is…

Nashbar is a great place to find cheap stuff. I’ve been shopping at Nashbar since the 90s when I had to mail in the order form with a check, and I probably order from them 6-12 times per year.

The best strategy for Nashbar success is to find what you want and wait for a 20% off coupon, and then buy a bunch of stuff at once. (Unless it’s a name brand item in a popular size, in which case you would want to order ASAP.)

So go ahead and order from Nashbar. Use common sense and you should be pretty well off.

Official website: www.Nashbar.com

Retailer Name: FRS
Website: www.FRS.com and www.HealthyEnergy.com

Continue reading for my thoughts and opinions on the FRS online store, which sells FRS energy drinks and merchandise…

Product Selection and Availability

This is simple – the FRS store consists of FRS products (liquid concentrate, cans, powder, chews) in every flavor. They offer the products on an individual basis as well as in a few sampler packs and gift packs. To top things off, you can buy FRS baseball caps and aluminum water bottles.

Availability is usually not an issue, but sometimes the more popular flavors (such as low cal peach mango and pomegranate blueberry) do sell out temporarily.

Pricing

These drinks aren’t cheap! Prices range from about $1.25 to $2.50 per serving.

However, I don’t think it’s any cheaper if you buy them at a local store like GNC. You could save money on shipping, but I don’t think you’ll find FRS at a discount anywhere.

Discounts & Coupon Codes

This does not happen as often as some retailers, but FRS does send out coupon codes to existing customers.

I have been treated well as a regular customer. Any time a new product comes out, I get an email about it with a “25% off your first purchase” coupon that applies to the new product. Also, there were two super sales this year – a 50% off sale for their 5-year anniversary as well as a 50% off holiday deal.

There are also some 10% off and free shipping coupons that come out on occasion. Just be on the lookout.

The only problem I’ve noticed here ties in to availability. Whenever FRS offers a discount or coupon code, the more popular flavors tend to be sold out already.

The FRS Free Trial Offer

The other discount option is the free trial, but it’s so popular I figured it deserved it’s own section…

[Note: If you go to www.FRS.com, you go to the store, and if you head to www.HealthyEnergy.com, you get the free trial offer.]

If paying full price doesn’t sound fun, FRS offers a free 14-day trial (for a $5 shipping and handling fee.) The catch is that you have to enter your credit card details to pay for the shipping charge and agree to their terms, which allow them to auto-enroll you in their autoship program if you don’t call and cancel.

Here’s a small excerpt from their terms: “By signing up for the free trial offer, if you don’t cancel before the end of your trial period which is 14 days after receiving your free trial, you also agree to receive and authorize us to charge you $64.95 (plus tax if applicable) each month for a 30 day supply of FRS.”

I had no interest in the free trial since it was composed of the low calorie products. (I don’t eat or drink anything with sucralose, so that would have been a waste.)

But I have seen comments that indicate many people are getting angry over the terms. I’m kind of surprised how few people knew what they were getting into when signing-up for the free trial, but maybe no one has ever done a free trial before.

I grew up with all the “get 7 free cassettes from Columbia House today… when you agree to buy 20 more at an outrageous price over the next 12 months” kind of offers. (I think they still exist, but with CDs and DVDs now.)

Some consider it a shady business practice, but it is legal. So let that be a lesson – you should always read the fine print!

Ease of Use (Website and Shopping Cart)

The FRS website is easy to use once you find the store. The layout is pretty simple since there is only a small selection of products, so there shouldn’t be any issues finding what you want.

To order, find the item, enter the desired quantity, and click Add to Cart. Then click on View Cart and you can see the items. Then you can easily update the quantity, remove the item, or switch to an autoship of the item. Finally, clicking Check out takes you to the next steps of entering shipping and billing information, then you’re set to place the order.

Shipping & Handling

The shipping isn’t cheap, but that’s what happens when you’re buying liquids through the mail. Especially with the cans, the weight adds up.

I have paid about $6 for a small order (a bag of chews,) and $16 for heavier orders that included a couple bottles of concentrate and some cans.

I’ve had some serious variation on shipping time though. Most orders took over a week (more like 10-14 days) to get here to the East cost. But the worst was my last order in October – the order shipped out mid-November, and got here in December! The shipping time wasn’t too too bad, but it took over two weeks to “process” the order.

The redeeming factor is that you can setup an “autoship” where you get a shipment of a specific item on a monthly basis. When you do that, the shipping is free, and it probably arrives consistently.

Customer Service

Luckily I’ve never had to deal with anyone in customer service since my orders always arrived. Unfortunately, I haven’t read many stories of good experiences with their customer service. It sounds like they outsource to a call center in India, like Dell does (and if you’ve ever called Dell customer support, you know the potential problems.)

Let’s just say I don’t get a good vibe about their customer service.

My final verdict is…

I like the drink and I have had no trouble ordering from the online store. The coupons for existing customers are great and keep me going back.

Just watch out for the free trial. If you do the free trial only to find out you don’t like the drink, you’ll have to call and cancel within 14 days.

(I do highly recommend the all natural FRS drinks, though, so you could still try the product either through the online store or from an offline retailer such as GNC.)

Official website: www.FRS.com and www.HealthyEnergy.com

If you are running a marathon or other endurance event, there’s a good chance you need to carry food with you. Sometimes you need to carry food and water, but most events provide water and Gatorade on the course, so food is the primary concern.

I prefer to carry energy gels with me by pinning them to my shorts, but there are many other ways you can try.

Here are 7 of those ways: (The catch is, you do NOT want to carry your gels like this!)

1. Gels under your race cap.

If you wear a running cap, you could put the gels underneath the cap so they are held in place between the hat and the top of your head.

But gel packets on your head isn’t very comfortable, and you also have to make sure the gels don’t fall onto the ground whenever you remove the cap!

2. Gels under a forearm sweat band.

I like wrist/forearm sweatbands so I can easily wipe sweat from my brow, but I wouldn’t use them to hold gels against my arm.

Gel packets are slippery, especially against skin, and they could easily slide out from underneath the sweatband.

3. Tape gels to your body.

To make sure the gels aren’t going anywhere, you could just tape them to your body. That will certainly hold them in place, but removing them is not comfortable, especially if you have body hair!

4. Glue gels to your body.

If you’re out of tape, don’t worry – you can glue the gel packets to your body! Of course, this makes for even more painful removal, since a layer of your skin will rip off with the gel packet!

5. Clothes pins around your waistband.

If you’re out of safety pins, maybe you have some wooden clothes pins lying around? You could clamp some gels to your waistband with these pins.

You just have to deal with the discomfort of a big wooden object pressing against your body, and the good possibility that the gel will slide right out of its grasp.

6. Sew your own Velcro holders.

If you are good with needle and thread (and glue,) you could make your own Velcro attachment system. Simply sew Velcro patches onto your shorts, then glue the corresponding Velcro to your gel packs.

That’s pretty secure and allows for an easy grab, but why waste good Velcro on gel packs that will be thrown away?

7. Wear a triathlon singlet.

By far the easiest way to carry gels when running would be to wear a triathlon singlet (those fancy skin-tight tank tops.) It has a neat little pocket in the back where you could stow a few gels.

But triathlon gear has no place being worn during a marathon! Outside of triathlons, you shouldn’t, you know, look like a triathlete…

Photo credit: Penningtron

Retailer Name: REI
Website: www.REI.com

Continue reading for my thoughts and opinions on REI, an outdoor gear retailer with products for hiking, biking, camping, paddling, snowboarding, and more…

Product Selection and Availability

Being a general outdoors store, REI doesn’t have a totally enormous cycling section, but it is surprisingly large. You could get a complete bike from REI, or get enough parts and accessories to build a bike and complete your cycling outfit. They even have a few trainers and rollers for winter training, as well as tire pumps, bike locks, etc.

They don’t carry every single brand, but they have quite a few good brands, and that’s all you need. Just to name a few things – Kurt Kinetic trainer, Easton EA70 wheelset, CamelBak MULE, CamelBak Podium bottle, Pearl Izumi Microsensor shorts, Look Keo pedals, Crank Bros Eggbeaters, Stan’s NoTubes, etc.

There was some stuff I couldn’t find – Sidi shoes, Uvex helmets, Castelli jerseys, Nokon brake cables – but that happens with every retailer. (There’s always that one item that you have to search for and buy somewhere else.)

So REI does not carry everything, but there is a redeeming factor – the stuff you don’t usually see at the other bike-specific retailers.

For example, there is a lot of hiking and camping equipment you might need for a 24-hour mountain bike race. Plus, they carry tons of general outdoors stuff that can apply to cycling, like the Seal Skinz waterproof socks and other technical apparel.

Overall, the selection is insanely huge! REI has nearly everything you need for any outdoor sport or activity!

Pricing

Browsing REI.com, it looks like everything sells at the typical retail price. I don’t recall seeing any discounts like they have at Price Point, Nashbar, etc.

For example, the Stan’s NoTubes kit costs $70 at REI, but only $60 at the official NoTubes.com website.

However, REI does have a section called the REI Outlet, and that contains a good bit of gear at 20-50% off. It’s mostly clothing and accessories in odd colors and sizes, but sometimes you can find something good.

Discounts & Coupon Codes

I rarely see any coupon codes for REI. Every so often there is a store-wide sale, and REI coupons do exist, but I don’t see that many.

But there is something called the “REI Membership” and it’s only $20 for life. You get a 10% cash back rebate on eligible purchases, members-only specials, gear rental discounts, and other perks. So that’s the way to go (you have to admit, $20 for life is cheap.)

Ease of Use (Website and Shopping Cart)

The REI website has a very nice design. It’s very clean and easy to navigate. It’s definitely one of the best, if not the best, e-commerce website.

To browse, there’s a horizontal navigation menu in the header with the “fly-out” menu. It’s the easiest to use and understand menu of any outdoor retailer I’ve reviewed.

On the product pages, there are good quality pictures with amazing zoom for up-close viewing, thorough descriptions and size charts, and customer reviews. All of that is laid out nicely, and each section contains the correct information.

The shopping cart works great, too. The Update and Remove buttons are beside each other, which means less scrolling if you need to update anything.

Overall, the REI website blows everyone else away!

Shipping & Handling

Standard shipping ranges from $5.99 to $13.99, which is a few cents more than other retailers, but not anything to worry about. (On the other hand, two-day shipping is expensive relative to other merchants.)

You also have the option of picking up your order at a local REI store, for free.

Customer Service

REI offers a 100% guarantee and they actually mean it. They are great at customer service. They’ll take care of any problem you have with a quick refund or exchange.

When you do need to contact them, it’s easy – phone, live online help, email, and of course, the brick-and-mortar stores.

This is the real reason to shop at REI. The prices aren’t the lowest, but you’re in good hands. (But don’t take it from me – plenty of people are happy with REI.)

My final verdict is…

REI is my favorite place to shop for outdoor stuff. While they don’t have a huge cycling department, that’s fine, because they make up for it by having other stuff like SealSkinz socks.

It’s a great store any way you look at it. I haven’t purchased from them a lot, but I love the stores, and I always hear good things about them from friends who shop there and work there. (REI has been on Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” list since the list started in 1998.)

So that settles it – if REI carries the stuff you want, it would be in your best interest to buy it there!

Official website: www.REI.com

I like myths and wives tales…

A long time ago a friend and I used to compete at everything. On one occasion we decided to see who had the strongest thumb by holding our thumbs on a track pump to see who could hold the highest pressure. My sister (who was training to be a nurse at the time) had a go at us and told us that it was dangerous and we could force an air bubble into out blood stream! It this true? Could holding the end of a pump force an air bubble into you bloodstream?

Thank you, Nate Dawg

Hi Nate,

Getting an air bubble in your bloodstream is a serious issue due to the potentially fatal nature of it (in worst case scenarios,) but it would take more than holding the end of a track pump.

If you’re talking about a regular pump for bicycle tires, I can’t imagine that creating enough force to harm you. It seems like it would actually be more dangerous to hold your finger over an open tire valve, since that would give you a shot of air at 120psi or so. With the hand pump, it would just provide incrementally more pressure with each stroke.

The danger comes when you’re working with compressed air that’s powerful enough to run nail guns and other pneumatic equipment. With that amount of air pressure in one shot, it’s possible the air could pierce your skin and rip open an artery, and add a few air bubbles in there for good measure.

You’d have to think of it like spraying yourself with a sand blaster, but with air particles instead.

Most of the info I found about this topic in a Google search was simple hearsay and urban legend. Here’s the only reputable site I found that isn’t using the “OMG don’t use an air pump or you’ll probably die” tone:

http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/safety_haz/compressed_air.html

So… Possible? Yes. Likely? No.