K-Swiss Blade Light Run Shoe Review

Most runners/triathletes around these parts get sold on a particular brand of shoe.  Some are the more popular brands, like Nike, Adidas, New Balance, or Asics.  There are also some lesser known brands that have a strong following, like Mizuno, Puma, Brooks, Zoot, and Saucony. Most athletes will find a shoe that works for them and they like, and will stick with the brand.  In some cases, many people buy 6 pairs of the shoe when they find it on sale.

I don't really have an allegiance to a particular shoe or brand.  In fact, I mainly base my shoe buying decisions on the amount of ca$h money I have to hand over.  I tend to look for deals online, check out some photos and brief customer reviews on durability, and usually choose my shoe based on price.  I purchased my pair of K-Swiss Blade Light Runs back in late August/September, in preparation for my first half marathon.  I have worn them for 2 races, the Cerner 15k, and the KC Half Marathon. To date, I have logged just under 200 miles in them, and feel like I have a good feel for the shoe.

Unboxing

Immediately trying them on!

First race in them!

Purchasing:  I originally became interested in the shoes for a few reasons.  They were triathlon-specific, meaning they were equipped with loops to help slip them on, had holes in the soles to help with water drainage, and had plenty of vents and mesh to keep my feet cool.  I also liked the look of the shoes, which is kinda important to all of the fashionistos running around town....

Drainage holes inside the shoe

Larger holes on the bottom of the soles

I also wanted to try out a K-Swiss product.  Many of my favorite professional triathletes are sponsored by K-Swiss (Lietos and Raelerts), and I feel like the company is dedicated to the advancement and promotion of the sport.  I wanted to support them, and try out a pair of their shoes!  Lastly, I got a hell of a deal on the shoes online, something like $40 off the original price! Can't pass that up!


Feel:  Although my experience with running shoes is VERY limited, these shoes just feel different when compared to other running shoes.  Maybe it's the sock liner made for sockless runs during triathlons, maybe it's the cushioning.  Something is different.  When I wear these, I feel like my foot is completely secure in the shoe, as if my foot and shoe are one solid unit.  I have virtually zero foot slippage inside the shoe, which has led to a decrease in blisters for me! Yeah!

The only problem with the feel of the shoe for me is the plastic support that wraps around the midfoot.  The lateral aspect of the support tends to rub against the base of my pinkie toe on both feet.  I've found a solution, though.  I basically just skip the first row of lace loops, which allows a little more freedom in the toebox of the shoe.

An "aerial view" of the kickzzzz

My Genius lacing solution

The shoes are incredibly lightweight (8.8 ounces for a size 10, so maybe 9.5 ounces for my size 12s), and I use the shoes for any type of run.  Long runs, short runs, recovery runs, walk/runs. You name it.  Like I mentioned, I've used the shoes for the KC Half Marathon in October, and frequently use them for speedwork at the track.  They are very versatile, and I hope to break them out in a triathlon this summer.

The only problem I might foresee for people considering purchasing this shoe would involve running mechanics and foot striking.  While I won't get into the details here, I had some issues wearing these shoes late last year, when I was prone to heel striking.  See below:

Yup, right on the heel...

I actually dislocated a bone in my right foot after the KC HM, and I mistakenly attributed the dislocation to the shoes.  I didn't wear the shoes again for a few months.  In the between time, I worked pretty hard on improving my running mechanics and cadence, which has almost eliminated my heel strike.  Now, as a mid foot striker (well, mostly...), I've gone back to using the shoes with great success!


Durability:  The shoes have held up great.  After almost 200 miles, I can't see any noticeable changes in the cushioning, sock liner, supports, or mesh around the shoe.  In fact, they feel even better!  I really can't tell as of now how long they will last, but I'm hoping to get at least 400 miles in them before they are retired to my "hospital shoes" rotation. FYI that's one step ahead of yardwork shoes...

200 miles in and still looking fra fra fra FRESHHHH(ish)...

All in all, I really have loved these shoes, and would recommend them to any midfoot strikers that are looking for a solid lightweight training shoe, or a triathlon racing shoe that offers a good, supportive feel.  I hope to try out other K-Swiss products and shoes in the future, and believe and love their company commitment to triathlon!


Any questions about these shoes, leave a comment!


Thanks for reading!

Travel Trac Fluid + Trainer Review

Back in late August, I made my first "indoor" workout purchase in preparation for the brutal and unpredictable winters Kansas usually has to offer.  I purchased an indoor fluid trainer for my bike workouts.  I chose to go with the Travel Trac Fluid + Trainer.

 I ended up choosing this particular trainer for a variety of reasons:

• It had great reviews, and was recommended as a superb "starter" trainer.
• The price was right, and because it was Summertime, Performance Bike was offering a sweet discount.
• It was a fluid-type trainer (as opposed to magnetic or wind), which seemed to be the best fit for me.
• Performance Bike offered a 60 day return policy, and also had a 2 year warranty.

I am here to give a unbiased, accurate view of my experiences using this trainer.  I, in no way, was treated any differently by the Performance Bike staff in purchasing this trainer, and was offered the same discounts and rebates every customer was given at the time.  With that, let's get to it!

Setup:
The box containing the trainer was a bit larger than I originally expected, and weighed a bit more, as well.  The UPS guy was nice enough to drop it off at my front door, so I only had about a 10 inch walk to get the trainer inside.

After immediately tearing into the box and opening approximately 45 plastic bags, I had the trainer unpacked and ready to rock!!!

Dog chew toys come separately.

Set up was practically non-existent.  Everything was just covered in plastic bags.  Once you tear those off, all you need to do is adjust the tension on the axle that holds the rear tire on the resistance thread.

After the tension is adjusted to your liking, all that's left to do is basically set your rear tire on the resistance thread, and lock the rear axle on the trainer.  With this trainer being my first, I was unaware at how quick this process actually is!  It takes literally 5 seconds to put your bike on, get it locked in place, and ready to ride.

Slide the rear wheel on the thread, and lock in place!  Simple!

Rear axle locked in place.

The final resting place for the bike this winter!

Features:  
The Travel Trac Fluid + Trainer has many features that I feel separates it from other trainers on the market, while making it an incredibly versatile piece of equipment.  I will just focus on a few main things:  Fluid resistance, Progressive resistance, and the shift lever.

The fluid resistance of this trainer really mimics road riding well, but it's definitely not 100% the same. Although I have limited experience using different types of trainers, I really think it's as close to road cycling as I can get inside.  This coincides with basically every review I have read on fluid trainers in general, with inertia trainers also doing a great job, too (Inertia was way out of my budget).  What I like about the fluid resistance is the effect it creates as you increase your speed.  The faster you go, the more difficult it is to maintain that speed, JUST LIKE OUTSIDE!  Crazy!

The progressive resistance this trainer offers was the final selling point for me.  I was contemplating buying the Fluid + Trainer, or the cheaper Travel Trac Fluid Trainer.  There was about a $35 difference between the two trainers.  The standard Fluid Trainer didn't offer the progressive resistance, and after reading some reviews on the trainer itself, many people recommended more resistance.  In the end, I chose the more expensive option because of the ability to add a little more resistance, and I'm glad I did.

The Progressive Resistance can be added in 5 different increments.  Right now, I am doing some leg strength workouts on the bike with intervals set at 5/5 resistance, and I have to tell you it is tough.  Like... close to the hardest hills I have ever gone up.  I love being able to simulate hills, or add a bit more resistance to longer rides to break up the monotony.  I would have been disappointed if I hadn't gotten the progressive resistance.  While I love the fluid resistance, I tend to "run out of gears" on my bike when trying to get to specific heart rate training zones.  There have been times where I can sustain 30 mph on the trainer, and still not break out of zone 3.  With the added resistance, I can easily get to z5 in a hurry.  I love it!

One thing I will mention about the progressive resistance that I have noticed is the increments don't seem equal to me.  The only time I notice a distinct change in resistance is going from 1 to 3, or 3 to 5.  And the difference is big.  I spend most of my time at a resistance level of 3 because I feel like that should help simulate wind resistance and the friction of road riding.  But when I jump from 3 to 5, there is a massive increase in resistance, almost like getting a flat and trying to ride through it.  I just wish the progression was a bit smoother, but maybe I'm just nit-picking.

Going along with the progressive resistance is the Shift Lever.  Although not wireless, the trainer comes equipped with a separate shift lever to increase or decrease the resistance.  The lever comes with some sort of attachment option that allows you to attach the lever to your handlebars or aerobars.  The lever attaches to a long wire that runs to the resistance mechanism of the trainer.  The wire is about 6 feet long, which gives you plenty of slack to attach it anywhere.  Although a wireless option would be convenient, I find the wired option plenty useful.

5 levels of resistance

Attached to the aerobars

Noise/Sound Levels:
Again, although I have experience on only a few trainers/stationary bikes, I will say that the trainer is fairly quiet.  If anything, my bike/fan makes way more noise than the actual trainer does.  Although probably a given, the faster you go or the more resistance you have applied to your back wheel, the louder the trainer is.  But I have used much worse.  After viewing sound videos for Computrainers and Cycleops Fluid trainers, I think this trainer is much quieter.  This is nice because it allows me to keep my TV/Music volume a bit lower, which makes for happy neighbors/Girlfriend!

Watching some TV a while back.
Also demonstrating proper helmet use.

Workouts:
While I have yet to tackle any workouts longer than 1.5 hours on the trainer (not complaining...), I have been KNOCKING OUT INTERVALS!  Since I started out with EnduraLabs Coaching, I have done exactly 18 workouts on my trainer, ranging from 1 hour to 1.5 hour interval sets based on HR.  These consist of z3-5 work, as well as time trials for calculating LTHR and "race pacing".  The progressive resistance gives me the control and versatility I need to quickly crank up the intensity, or decrease resistance to recover for the next set.  While I love the trainer and the control it gives me during my workouts, I have noticed a few things:

• The trainer's resistance unit gets hot.  REALLY hot.  Like to the point of melting my tires and dissolving the glue holding the rubber on.  My plan this winter was to use my old tires for my "trainer" tires, and save my newer ones for 2012.  Well, turns out the old ones can't handle this trainer's heat. 

Eventually, 1/3 of the tire tread was off of the tire.

• Like all trainers, this one goes through tires fairly quickly.  I anticipated this, and have decided to put my newer kevlar tires on the trainer.  The tread is quickly rubbing off, especially when the resistance is set at 5/5.

Tire residue...

• When you move your trainer and don't have anything under it to catch your tire residue, it will appear as though you were doing weird burnouts or skidmarks on your carpet:

I'm hoping this vacuums up easily...

• Get a towel or rug to place under your bike.  The amount of spray sweat is disgusting... A solid fan is a must, as well!

Summary:
As of today, I have logged over 500 miles on this trainer, and can truly say it's still going as strong as the day I got it!  I haven't noticed any changes to the smooth fluid resistance, and think the progressive resistance is just as hard as when it was new.  This is one thing I will be watching in the future, as I've read that fluid trainers in general have the tendency to lose some of their "fluid-ness" after thousands of miles.

I know there are plenty of more expensive fluid trainers on the market today that may be just as good as the Fluid + trainer (or even better), but I really feel that the Fluid + trainer is unbeatable at the price.  Currently on Performance Bike's website, the trainer is listed for $219.99, with 20% off available. This compares to the Cycleops Fluid 2 trainer for $305.99, and $329.99 for the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine.  If you are looking to get a new trainer this winter, are wanting to try out a fluid trainer, or just need ideas for Santa, I highly recommend this trainer!

If you have any questions on the use of the the trainer, how it's holding up, or anything else, let me know!  Thanks for reading!