Bike goodies part 2 - New saddle

It sure seems like I wear out saddles quickly. My current one is completely coming apart — the seams are torn and the gel part is leaving sticky residue on my clothes. It's a Selle Italia Flite Titanium Genuine Gel (yellow) which I've had for two years. Time to get a new one!

Haven't seen anything on chainlove.com for a while, so I decided to order from probikekit.com (England). I've ordered items from them before and have had good experiences.

Here's what I'm getting: Selle Italia C2 Genuine Gel black Saddle 2006 model. Has magnesium rails, but it's a little heavy: 250g. Same brand as my current saddle, but a different model. (Selle Italia fits me well, so I'm sticking with them.)

Bike goodies - New shoes!

A friend recently turned me on to chainlove.com, an odd website which, as wikipedia describes it, uses the QVC model of selling just a single item at a time. You never know what they're gonna sell or when, but when they sell something, it's typically at least 60% off. I've been checking the site pretty frequently, hoping to find a new saddle or pair of shoes at a ridiculously low price.

Finally, I recently saw a pair of Northwaves come up. I've been wearing my current pair of Northwaves for over five years now, so I feel pretty confident sticking with this brand.

Northwave Bike Revenge — not the most beautiful pair of shoes I've ever seen, but.... $170 road shoes with carbon soles for $55. Woo hoo! Wasn't sure what size to order; I could no longer read the markings on my old pair of Northwaves. Were they 44? 44.5? Ended up ordering the 44.5's and worrying about it for days, till the shoes showed up on my porch. They fit great!