Body... Velocomp iSport

My favorite new "tool" is my iSport from Velocomp (http://www.ibikesports.com/ ). Yes, $210 or so is a lot of money to spend on something that essentially sits on your bicycle handlebars and provides feedback about what your body is doing with said bicycle, but when you consider that a device to get the same feedback costs $1,000 more from any other manufacturer it suddenly becomes a relative "bargain"!

I realize that there are a lot of people out there who just ride their bicycle for fun or to save on gas, and even more people who don't ride a bicycle at all, so I'll keep this fairly short. If you're interested you can find out more about the iSport (and all its big brothers, the iBike Pro and iBike Aero) at Velocomp's website -- just don't pay too much attention to most of what you read about it on the rest of the internet, because most of it is out-dated. Oh, and don't bother trying to pick up a used one "cheap" on eBay, because the current models (Generation III) are a huge step above the Generation I and II units you'll find eBay littered with.

The guys at Velocomp are unusually responsive and customer-oriented, and their product shows a level of thoughtfulness that I usually don't see in electronic devices (and I see a lot of electronic devices). Check their forums on their web-site (http://www.ibikeforums.com/) and you'll see that they answer most questions within a day or two.

One of the best things about the iSport, besides the fact that it displays calculated real-time power in Watts (which is HUGE to a cyclist), is that once you set it up for your bike and do a 20-minute "fitness test" then there are three different workout-types you can choose from, each with at least two "levels" you can select. This means you can work on strength-training one day and cardio the next, and the displays will guide you by telling you what your target wattage should be, along with your actual wattage at that time.

If you ride your bicycle for fitness of any type, whether your goal is losing weight, gaining strength, or punishing your fellow competitors at your next triathlon, this is a product worthy of consideration. Forgive me for sounding like a marketing slogan, but it's true (and no, I've not received anything from Velocomp other than good advice and the iSport, which I paid full price for).