- What's up Trainiacs, in this third video in the series
of looking back on 2018,
I got to thinking what were my favorite products?
What's my favorite gear that I've got to try
over the course of the year.
So I thought back and there are seven standout products
that were either a surprise
or lived up to their expectations, that I look back,
and I was like, yes, that is some good gear.
And I'm gonna shock you that's not on the list,
although I do love it, it is beautiful.
Let's get into the list.
(energetic music)
First off for starters, I wanna thank all of you
for tuning in to these videos.
The reason that I'm able to bridge the gap
between companies wanting to get their stuff out to people,
me being able to try it and bringing it to you
to let you know what I think about it.
Is it worth buying, is it worth trying?
What are the things that you should be aware of?
I kinda look at myself as like a filter for these products
to you and the only reason that I'm able to do that
and try all these things, and let you so know if they do
live up to their hype, is because you all pay attention.
So thank you all so very much, and of course thank you
to the companies that allow me to try this.
Some of these products, yes, are sponsors of us,
but I will reiterate as I always do, we never take on
any sponsorship from a company that has a product
that we don't use and are massive fans of day to day.
So every single one of these products
is something that I am gaga over.
Secondly, you probably will notice that most of the reviews
of products that I talk about are extremely positive.
For every one video that I do that is extremely positive,
there are probably two to three products that I tried,
and I haven't even talked about at all.
And the reason that I don't tell you about these products
that I don't like, is because I just want you to know
that my recommendations are of the products that I cover
and I don't need to slander companies out there that put out
something that's substandard, because they'll get coverage
however they get coverage.
It'll be out there.
I don't need to bring down their product.
I wanna spread positive vibes, all right?
So in a lot of cases I just say, you know what,
I can't say amazingly good things about it, so I don't.
Now, let's get into the list of the seven products
that I was most excited about this year.
Now, I said it is not the Ventum bike behind me.
However, the new Ventum NS1 road bike, OMGeebus!
However, the new Ventum NS1 road bike, OMGeebus!
Holy smokes!
I'm gonna be honest with you,
this bike, I have grown to absolutely love it.
I think it's the best performing tri bike out there,
the numbers often prove that, but I get it,
it doesn't look amazing.
It's certainly grown on me.
You slap a decal on there in the whole Trainiac pattern,
I think it looks pretty good, but I get why people
aren't a big fan of it.
So when they told me in December of 2017,
So when they told me in December of 2017
that they were coming out with a road bike,
I was like, yeah, well I hope it looks nice.
When I saw it in Kona, it surpassed so much
of my expectations.
To be an aero bike, apparently very fast.
A stiff bike, puts it down a lot of power
when you start torquing the bike from side to side.
Is only 15 pounds, while still being stiff,
still being aero.
Has disc brakes, so I can take weight out
of the circumference of the rim,
adding to the performance of the bike.
Has clearance for 32 mil tires, which I can use
in cyclo-cross, on gravel, all of these things on like...
And, and, whoa, whoa, whoa!
And, it is so well-integrated that when you look
at the bike, you can't see a cable.
All of the bolts, even the seat post, you know the seat post
going in and often there's a bolt that comes down
to hold it into place?
Well, this bolt is underneath the top tube.
So they've done all these small little things
just to make it the slickest bike.
Previously, I thought one of the slickest bike out there
was the Canyon Aeroad.
This is very much like the Canyon Aeroad,
but even all of the subtle things that still kind of seem
like this is patched onto the Canyon Aeroad,
they are now all integrated and slicker with the Ventum NS1.
I think I am going to be lucky enough to start riding one
in February or March when they come out.
Second thing that I was amazingly mind-blown from is Zwift.
Yeah, I started trying it in October of 2017
when I got a Wahoo Kickr to try,
and I was instantly blown away.
Used it throughout last year, you know I'm a big fan
of Zwift, but what really surprised me with it
is that even when it was nice outside, I started thinking
about doing more and more of my workouts on Zwift.
By the way, if you don't follow me already,
follow me at first name is T,
last name is Riathlon, space, Taren.
Go find me on Zwift, we are going to be holding
more regular Zwift rides coming up in 2019.
But Zwift, the quality of workouts, the interaction
with the bike, having to shift while having the display
onscreen that has just perfectly displayed
all of the metrics that you could want,
being able to pump tunes and not have to listen to Zwift.
I find it one of the most incredible training tools
that I have right now and, frankly, it has renewed,
well, not even renewed because it was never around.
But it has kindled a massive interest dedication
to indoor training that I've never had.
So much so that one of these bikes is,
well actually like one of their demo cheapy-cheap ones,
is gonna be on its way so that I can just plop that
on the trainer and I never have to worry
about taking a bike off the trainer
or taking a fully-built up bike apart and putting it
on the trainer, so I am probably going to be spending
more time on the Zwift going forward,
because it's always gonna be set up for Zwift.
That's how big a fan I am of it.
Zwift!
Next is the GoPro Hero 7.
GoPro Hero 5, it was the camera we loved to hate.
I could take it under water, I could take it on a run,
I could shove it into a mitt when I was going for
a winter run, I could put it into just a tiny little pocket.
It was fine.
However, the picture never looked really good.
When I would run with it, the picture was super shaky.
The battery life, well it still sucks.
The audio on it, terrible.
Fast forward to the GoPro Hero 6.
It's like, ah well, they fixed some of the things,
but then all the sudden in low light
it looked like absolute shart.
And then the 7 came out and like, all right, you know what?
Fool me once, GoPro, I'm not falling for it again.
But then I started seeing the footage that came out.
Then I'm like, if this is for real, this is a game-changer.
Bought the GoPro Hero 7, the stabilization is incredible.
The usability of it, the interface of it,
to be able to be able to turn it sideways,
to turn it in like Instagram Story mode, the color of it,
the ability for us to work with the footage
and color correct it instantly, it all of the sudden
looks like a lot of those GoPro videos that you wanted
to make for years but never could because that's not
how GoPro footage actually looked in real life.
Now it does, GoPro Hero 7.
Amazing!
Fourth things that I really like, and this might drive
a lot of you crazy because they are a sponsored product,
and it's kind of a niche-y sponsored product.
Not something super well-known,
but SP2 Life, the frozen spirulina.
I'm gonna say it now, I've said it a zillion times,
I was so incredibly skeptical of this
that I turned them down several times, I'm like,
I don't wanna try it.
And they were like, listen.
Just let us send it out.
You can throw it away if you want,
but just commit to taking two pods a day for a while.
Taking two pods a day for a while, all the sudden
my performance started going up and up and up and up,
and I started seeing other people that were independently
saying the exact same thing, I am sold.
SP2 Life, they do support us, so thank you SP2 Life
for doing that.
And I recognize that it's really expensive
and it's a pain in the ass to ship, but it's legitimate.
If you've got the money for it, if you are interested
in upping your iron, your ferritin, your B12 levels
naturally from a healthy standpoint
with a plant-based source, getting some protein,
and potentially performing a little bit better,
I can't recommend it enough.
I dig it.
Next is a sponsor of the podcast,
shoutout to Sporks sport socks.
I saw Lucy Charles wearing these on Instagram
and I was like, I hope that they have these for men.
These look really cool.
Reached out to Sporks, they now sponsor the podcast,
and they are the only socks that I wear.
Why am I so gaga about socks?
Well, number one, they have cycling-specific socks,
little bit thinner.
Number two, they have running-specific socks,
little bit thicker so you don't wear holes
in your cycling socks.
Number three, just enough compression
that it's slightly hard to put on but not like (grunts).
Number four, there is so many cool designs.
Pineapples in super cool colors, and bananas,
and I heart Tri, these socks are exactly what I want.
I like loud colors, you know I like loud colors,
but they also perform well and last super long,
and they're not crazy overpriced.
So I'm a big fan of Spork socks.
I never thought I'd be gaga about socks,
but I like these socks.
The sixth thing that I'm pretty gaga over is
that,
the Oura sleep, and heart rate, and activity-tracking ring.
Why am I gag about this?
Well, it's not because I think that it performs amazingly.
It actually has quite a bit of quirks that, if I haven't
done it already, I'm going to do a video on this.
But there are some quirks, like if you take a nap
in the afternoon, all of the sudden it thinks
that you've gone to sleep for the rest of the night.
But then because you're awake for four or five hours
after your nap, it's like oh, you had a terrible sleep
last night 'cause you were awake for four or five hours.
They can work out these bugs, but the reason that I like it
is because it is a completely unobtrusive way to start
optimizing things like heart rate variability and sleep.
And just by having a method of looking back
and instantly seeing the quality of your sleep,
I have seen consistently over the time that I've been
using this that my sleep has progressively got better,
and better, and better, and better.
And that is going to be one of the best possible things
that I can do for my triathlon performance,
overall physical, and mental, and emotional health.
And then the seventh and final thing,
and this was legitimately surprising, it's another sponsor,
it is my Scody gear.
Now why is is so surprising?
Like it's just a kit, is what you say, Taren.
Well, number one, kits are nice, they look really good.
They're not like the most unbelievable, oh my god,
like amazing kits that have ever been designed
in the history of time.
I think they're nice kits, but what happened was
early in the year they contacted me and they said,
"Taren, have you ever tried Scody kits?"
And I was like, no, no I haven't.
"Are you interested in trying it?"
I'm like, ah, I don't know, a kit's a kit, right?
And they're like, "Let's just send you out a kit
"so you can see the difference.
I was like, whatever, I've heard this
from a lot of companies.
Well, it came out and all the different panels
that they've got that wick moisture away in certain areas,
and keep UV rays off of you in certain areas.
Allow you to breathe in certain areas.
Keep you compressed in certain areas but be light
and nimble in other areas.
Not have sausage legs down at the sausage leg area.
Have a shammy that is enormous without feeling bunchy.
And some of the things that they do,
like we did a kit giveaway and they're just good people
because the person that won the kit giveaway,
he ended up talking to the people at Scody and just kind of
telling them a story about why he was racing,
and it got out that he was racing for a passed-away brother.
Well, they customized the kit that he won
with that information on it, and donated to the cause
that this guy was raising money for,
all without me even knowing it.
So that was like, it's just nice to be associated
with nice people, and they make nice stuff on top of it.
So Scody was a very awesome partner to have this year.
And now I wanna thank all of the partners
that have supported us throughout the year,
so I don't wanna forget to mention them.
The ones that haven't been mentioned,
I wanna thank Rapid Reboot.
If you are a Team Trainiac member
you can get a discount on Rapid Reboot.
Four Sigmatic, they've sponsored the podcast for 2018
and they are continuing to sponsor in 2019.
If you want 15% off for Sigmatic,
go to foursigmatic.com/triathlontaren
and use the coupon code triathlontaren at checkout,
get yourself 15% off.
New Wave Swim Buoy, they have sponsored the podcast,
that was a real shocker.
I didn't think I'd like that, but they sponsored
the podcast and I really dig the fact that boats
all of the sudden are a long way away from me
when I'm swimming in the Red River.
That was a very nice surprise.
And then finally, Solestar,
that is the carbon fiber insoles that sponsor the podcast,
and they've been pretty incredible.
The fact that instantly I put them in,
and even in the off season, I was putting out
2018 peak power averages while I was unfit.
I am very much looking forward to seeing
what my power numbers are going to be in 2019.
It's gonna be a good year.
Thanks to everyone for following and basically watching
because it's what allows me to bridge that gap
and let you know what products come in,
which ones I do recommend and are worth your time.
So thank you for a great year.
Thank you to all the supportive sponsors
of this whole Team Trainiac business,
and make sure you're subscribed.
It's gonna be a great 2019.
Later, Trainiacs.
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