Merrell Trail Glove 2 Long Term Review

     This isn't really going to be a full review - there wouldn't be a lot of point as the Trail Glove 2 is long out of production, however...  I just got back from a run in my oldest pair of shoes, a pair of green Trail Glove 2's.  I don't use them much anymore as the tread is all but worn flat on them - and at this point I'm only really wearing them to see when they'll fail catastrophically.  (So I don't do particularly long runs in them anymore either, I don't want to have to hobble 10km back to my car with a missing sole).  But I thought they deserved a special mention as they've held up incredibly well.

     I've logged over 2,500km in them and they're still super comfy for me.  You need to keep in mind what they are of course, minimal drop, minimalist shoes - so there's not a lot of padding to break down.  I'm sure that's the main reason they've held up so long, but they've truly showed remarkable endurance.

     More importantly, they make me smile every time I pull them on.

iBank for iPad 1.0 quick look.

     iBank for iPad is out, and available now in the app store!  Unfortunately, at the minute, that's about all the good news there is.

     Firstly a quick rundown on iBank.  iBank is one of a number of finance tracking software packages, if you're interested in the finer details you can take a look at http://www.iggsoftware.com/ibank/.  Briefly though, in my opinion, it's an interesting piece of software which tries really hard to have a pleasing aesthetic, and does so with a fair amount of success.  It also has some simple, but interesting, touches that I like.  For example on a net worth report it'll tell you if you're trending towards saving more or spending more money.  But it has some really odd limitations as well - no real landing or home page where you can see everything at a glance.  No calendar view.  No way to have a report which graphs which categories you've spent your money on in prior months.

     iBank for iPad continues along the same vein, but in a far more extreme way.  It does things in a very pretty way (for a finance app).  It has some neat little features.  But many of the basics are horribly overlooked, or indeed absent.
     Firstly syncing.  The iPad version syncs with the Mac version.  Well, kind of.  It syncs transactions & accounts.  It doesn't sync budgets.  It doesn't sync reminders.  This means that you kind of need to either use one or the other.  Do not buy the iPad version thinking it'll provide a convenient supplemental way to manage your Mac iBank accounts.  For example, marking off bills (scheduled transactions) as paid on the iPad while sitting on the couch would seem to me to be the perfect use case for iBank on iPad.  Without being able to sync all your existing scheduled transactions though....  It's not going to happen.  Same goes for budgets, they don't sync.  (I personally find setting up budgets in any finance application very annoying, so I'm certainly not re-doing it for the iPad version of iBank.)
     Ok, so if you give up on syncing and think of iBank for iPad as a complete replacement for the Mac version - does it fare any better?  Well, there's a wizard for setting up a budget and scheduled transactions all at once.  Good idea, saves some work.  The basic home/landing page on iPad is fairly basic - but it's still a step up from that available in the Mac version.  It's a bit slow when updating transactions.  (At least on an iPad 2)  Entering some types of data is pretty clumsy - there's no calendar to choose a date from, you can only type in numbers.  Reports are...  Well, "missing" would be the best description.  A finance app that doesn't let you compare your net worth for the previous year?  Or the total of all your savings accounts.  Or a breakdown of income vs expenses.  Or pretty much anything else you might want to track your finances for?  Interesting design choice that one.

     To be fair, for each individual account you can see a graph of the total amount at the start (or end?) of each month.  For a six month period.  Or eight months if you use your iPad in landscape mode.  You can't change to weeks.  You can't change the scale.  You can swipe backwards and look through any previous block of six/eight months at a time, but that's it.  Also under the budget screen, you can see your total ingoing/outgoings in the same limited manner.
     Limited is really what springs to mind whenever I try and use this app.  Due to the lack of desktop syncing functionality it doesn't make a very good addition to the desktop client.  Due to it's lack of reporting options it doesn't make a very good stand alone option.  I think it kind of makes it a bit pointless in its current incarnation.
     Hopefully in six months time once Igg Software has done some updates it'll become a useful tool.  As it stands currently it's nothing more than an interesting tech demo of what they want their iPad app to be.  At $15 I'd say this makes it a very unwise purchase.
     I'm actually surprised they released it as is.  I know there was a lot of pent up demand for an iPad version of iBank but I can't imagine that charging people $15 for software that's in this state is going to give customers a positive opinion of the company.

Garmin ANT+ for iPhone & Premium Heart Rate Monitor.

     First of all, let me say that it's Garmin's choice to call it a "Premium" heart rate monitor, not mine.  I can kind of see why they went that way, the "Garmin Elastic Heart Rate Monitor" does sound a bit cheap and nasty.  However, it is a little bit silly and I wish they had of come up with a better name to differentiate it from their old "Rubbery Plastic Heart Rate Monitor".  Now that gripe is out of the road, on with the review.

Garmin ANT+ iPhone Dongle & Premium Heart Rate Monitor

     I've only been playing with the heart rate monitor for a few days, but I have to say I'm pretty impressed with it so far.  It couldn't have been any simpler to set up and get started using it.  Start the Garmin Fit app on the iPhone, go to Settings -> Sensors and then scan for the Heart Rate monitor.  After it's found it the first time it seems to pick it up whenever you start the app and put the monitor on.

     I've never used a heart rate monitor before, so I'm sure to have very rose coloured glasses when looking at the experience... That said though, I love it.  It's comfortable enough that you don't even notice it's there once you start exercising.  Well, that's not totally true - if it's still damp when you put it on you'll know it's there until its warmed up!  (Garmin recommend rinsing the strap in water after every use, and washing it after every five.  Dry sweat leads to salt which leads to rapidly wearing elastic I'm guessing.)

     I always have a bit of a tendency to push myself too hard when doing any sort of exercise.  Having the heart rate data there with you on a run or a ride really helps me to keep that in check.  (Side note, don't trust any calculation for maximum heart rate.  All the methods I've seen have quite a bit of scatter, up to +/- 20BPM.  That's a lot when you're trying to target an exercise zone that's ~15BPM wide)

     I was concerned about the dongle sticking out of the iPhone (as I don't usually use an armband or anything, I just stick the phone in a pocket) but I've been for a few runs now and it's been rock solid, never been knocked loose.  It feels solid once it's inserted into the iPhone as well, which inspires confidence.

     I have found though, that since I'm wanting to know what my heart rate is while I'm exercising I've taken to holding it in my hand more as I run.  I do have an armband case for the phone as well, but that's not too convenient to see while running either.  The armband case works great for strapping the phone onto my bike though, and it makes a pretty neat cycling computer.  (You can also get cadence sensors that'll communicate with the Garmin Fit app, but I've not tried one.)

     The Garmin Fit app is...  Well, it's pretty much the same as any of the other running apps.  (Runkeeper, Nike+, etc)  You can flick through a couple of screens of data during a run.  Look at previous activities after a run.  Sync your activities to a website to do further analysis/comparisons.  You can't share via FaceBook or Twitter from within the app, but from the Garmin Connect website you can share via nearly any service imaginable.  If you're into that sort of thing.  (Who on earth would want to see what my heart rate was last time I went for a Jog?)  It's not a free app, but at 99c it's hardly going to break the bank.

     The one thing I wish that the Garmin Fit app was heart rate alarms.  If it could be set to vibrate & make noises when my heart rate got too high or low I'd go back to just sticking the phone in my pocket and forgetting about it while running.  (The Garmin 310xt can do this.... It also has a RRP of $379, so I'm not rushing to buy one.)

     The other negative is that the dongle and HRM only work with the Garmin Fit app (despite that they apparently use the standard ANT+ communications protocols.)  That's only a minor disappointment though, unless you're loving using nike+ for it's "power song" feature or something along those lines.  You can sync your run data between at least the Garmin Connect, Runkeeper & Nike+ online services, (I know because I do) which further lessens the importance of the app used to record your activities in my mind.

     In short though - I love it, I'd recommend it to even the most casual of exercisers.

     

Bait Advertising on "Deal of The Day" Websites

     Why is it allowable for "Deal of The Day" type websites to get away with "Bait Advertising" without having any repercussions?  Their usual daily sales methods aren't too bad in my experience, with the companies providing reasonable stock levels - why wouldn't they, if they're still managing to sell their products at a profit?  But every so often they decide they need to drum up some free publicity and so hold a special "sale" event.
     During these special events the companies will generally "sell" a number of different products at a very discounted price (far below the point where I would believe they can make a profit off it) to draw people to their websites.  They also seem generally to like to be able promote the sale after the fact, something along the lines of "Look at this, we sold product X for half of it's RRP!  You should come and check out our website tomorrow and see what else we're selling!"
     The downside for the consumer of these (very good) prices is that there's typically an abysmally small amount of stock.  The ACCC calls this "Bait Advertising" and it's illegal.  From the ACCC website:

Bait advertising

'Bait advertising' describes the situation when a trader advertises goods at a certain price (usually a 'sale' price) but does not have a reasonable supply. What is a 'reasonable supply' will depend on several things, including the type of product and the way it was promoted or advertised.

If a trader has genuinely underestimated the popularity of a sale product, it may not be considered bait advertising.

For example, an electronics retailer runs a major national campaign advertising 50-inch televisions at a low price of $799 for a week-long sale. The retailer usually sells about 30 televisions of this type every week. The retailer only stocks two televisions at the advertised price and refuses to take customer orders. When customers attempt to buy the television at the advertised price, they are told it is out of stock and offered a more expensive unit for $999. This is likely to be bait advertising as the retailer does not have a reasonable supply of the advertised television.

     It's an illegal (and immoral) business practice.  If you're advertising a popular product at less than half of the typically available price (let alone RRP) you can expect demand to be huge.  If you sell out of a product less than 2 minutes after it goes on sale, then I don't think anybody could successfully argue that you had a "reasonable supply" and "genuinely underestimated the popularity of a sale product".

     Don't just accept it people, file a complaint - if you don't it'll only encourage companies to engage in dodgy business practices at your expense.

Fila Skele-Toes 2.0 Review

     I've always been interested in the concept of barefoot running.  Of wearing a shoe with minimal support & padding, and altering your stride to work with the natural design of your body.  Most running shoes basically try to do the reverse of this, augmenting your body as much as possible.  They attempt to provide extra impact absorption, more rebound, reduce (or increase) pronation.  That's all well and good, but if you're really after some mechanical advantage why not take a bicycle?  Or go one step further and jump on a motorcycle?  I like the idea of running because it's just you that's doing all the work.
     There's a whole debate about whether "barefoot" running is likely to mean you're less prone to injuries as it's more natural and we've evolved over millions of years to get around without shoes.  I'm not sure I really buy into that, as a lot of our environment is no longer natural, but if it's true then I'll just take it as an added bonus.  I'm more interested in it because I like the thought of running with as little aid as practical.
     Because of this I've always been interested in the Vibram FiveFingers.  Here in Australia though, their availability hasn't been that great, and they definitely seem like something you'd want to try on before buying.  They're also reasonably expensive for something which I've regarded as a bit of a curiosity and novelty.  Then a couple of weeks ago in a catalogue I saw Fila Skele-Toes on sale, for all of $50.  I ducked into a store and tried a pair on to make sure they fit reasonably well.  (My toes aren't perhaps the most normal shape, and one foot is close to a half-size larger than the other.)  They did, and I walked out with a pair within a couple of minutes of trying them on.

Skele-Toes 2.0 (10km done and already holed.)

     I've worn them quite a few times now, mostly for some light hiking or trail running if you want to be generous about my athletic prowess.  I've got to say, I really really like them.  The first time I went out in them I found myself jumping from rock to rock just for the fun of it.  They really do provide a novel tactile experience around the feet.  You get a much more sure-footed feeling due to the extra feedback that you get over even the lightest of hiking boots.

     I definitely move around in them with a different stride as well, I seem to give my calves much more of a workout when I go for a hike in the skele-toes than my regular boots.  Part of this is definitely due to a conscious effort on my part to forefoot strike, but it really does become natural fairly quickly.

     It's certainly not all roses though.  The material of the sole is quite a bit more rigid than I expected it to be.  For instance, when I wiggle my toes in the shoes the upper material layer stretches and my toes lift off the sole.  I expected the shoes to be much more glove-like.

     The fit for me isn't ideal either, however it's only due to a poor strapping/closure system.  There's one strap which extends over the top of foot, along the outside edge and then over the heel.  It's held at both ends with velcro (or hook-and-loop closures, I don't recall seeing a brand anywhere) but the positioning of them only allows for minimal adjustment.  When I've got the strap tensioned up to where I like it on my smaller foot (I've got a little less than half a size difference between my left and right feet) the velcro is only attaching along a length of ~2cm at each end of the strap.  This isn't really enough to hold it firm and it tends to work loose.  Because of the construction, with the upper part of the shoe being all fairly stretchy, the shoes are actually pretty stable even with the strap loose - but they can start to rub a little above my heel if I don't stop to tighten the strap.

     I also managed to get a couple of small holes on the little toe pocket during my first hike, which was pretty annoying.  It looks like the material from the top surface has pulled away a little from the sole, maybe something to do with the way it's glued together.  However I've worn them a fair bit since then, and put them through the washing machine, and the holes haven't gotten any larger so they're not too much of a problem - they've never let any stones or anything in.

     The material of the sole is also scuffing up at a fairly high rate.  I.e. I don't expect the shoes to necessarily last all that long.  That kind of just meets with my expectations though, a flimsy shoe (which if you want to be negative about it, is all these are) is never going to be all that durable.

     Overall I'm very happy with them, but because of the few little niggles that they have I'll probably still be considering trying a pair of Vibram FiveFingers instead when it's time to replace my Skele-Toes.