Lake Placid New York

Lake Placid New York
Fall Ride 2010-Keene Valley, NY

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Trying to Motivate Myself

With the tons of snow piled up here it's hard for me to even begin thinking about riding, but I have anyway. This winter seems like it will never end so I have the feeling that once the snow is gone and the sand/salt on the roads has washed away with the spring rains, I'll be on my bike with no hesitation.

So it may still be very cool, temp wise, here when I do get back on the bike. In the likely event of cooler-than-optimum riding temperatures, I picked out a very unromantic Valentine's Day gift for myself- a heated riding vest.

I did my homework and went straight to webbikeworld to check out the reviews on heated vests. The Tour Master Synergy Heated Vest with Collar is the one I decided on. It comes with everything you need to hook it up and get it going- no buying other wires or controllers. The Synergy comes with a controller that allows 3 different temperatures and has a leg strap to put it around your thigh for easy access while riding. The vest also comes in a collar-less version but I like to keep the heat in so I opted for that nice tall collar.

The vest draws 52 watts- somewhat less than some of the other vests on the market. Tour Master touts this vest as being very lightweight and lacking significant bulk. This was a plus for me since I could stand to lose a few pounds so my jacket will fit a little better. :)

I was able to pick this vest up for $125.99 with free shipping. They seem to be out of stock at many online stores but Competition Accessories had one in stock in my size.

Tour Master has been very trustworthy for me- I think pretty much all of my clothing and bags are Tour Master. I'm fairly sure this vest will do right by me as well. Now I just have to hope this snow melts fast so I can get the bike out of the shed.

Here's a link to the Tour Master Synergy page:

http://www.tourmaster.com/xcart/catalog/Synergy-Electric-Vest-Liner-w-Collar-p-259_59.html