Kmeleon is a new company that designs and manufactures compression athletic apparel in Montreal. They sent Cyclocosm a pair of their shorts and tights for testing and reveiw. Here’s how things shook out:

Style: 3. While not the most exciting look in the world, there’s something to be said for a plain pair of black shorts, especially ones without garish stitched seams and with a beautifully understated logo. Plus the compression material tends to give legs a nice shape.

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Right…so I took on a third job last week. Questionable judgment on my part, I know, but it appears to be a short-term kinda thing. At any rate, some of my predictions in last week’s post have already begun to come true. Astana - not invited to the ‘08 Tour. No Kloeden, no Levi, no Condator. Sylvain Chavanel just got that much closer to his first TdF win.

And don’t bet on another High Road-style change of heart. Not only does High Road have a different sponsor, but its “clean” new management also didn’t spend the past 8 years winning the Tour de France under an ever-thickening cloud of suspicion. That’s not to say that the cleaner-looking members of Astana aren’t giving it the old college try in hopes of a TdF ride, but folks, it’s just not happening.

I don’t know why you’d want to start up a new race in cycling’s current environment, especially at this time of year, but the people of Grosseto thought they’d give it a whirl anyway. Didn’t work out so well. Just down the coast, the more established Tour Med concluded with another two French successes to add to the tally - Cofidis’ Chavanel with the final stage, and CA’s Botcharov with the overall.

And yeah, fine. I’ll mention the Tour of Cali. But it’s a bitter thing to me, this California; so close, and yet so far away. Also, I don’t have cable (yet). But it’s worth mentioning, as after the Puerto reopening in Spain, the ToC organizers managed to both exclude a bunch of Puerto escapados, and STFU Michael Ball in one sweet swoop. I wish that windbag a perpetual case of laryngitis.

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Het Volk isn’t until March 1st this year, but it’s never too soon to start dredging the murky channels of cycling to see what fetid gunk comes up. First sloppy bucketload - some guy whose name I can’t pronounce won a race I can’t pronounce. This sort of thing would normally make me feel like an unlearned American, but since no one can agree on how Monsiour Trofimov spells his name, I’m giving myself a pass.

The Bouygues Telecom rider’s win is yet another rhinestone in the neckless of knock-off wins strung together by French teams this pre-season. Jeremy Hunt added another at the TdL to go with Matthieu Sprick’s win on Stage 1, and the only win of significance thus far, Phillipe Gilbert’s win at the non-stage race stage race in Mallorca.

As a result, I now officially declare that the 2008 TdF, for the first time in 23 years, will be won by a Frenchman - and not just because no one else will be invited. Drug scandals aside, the ‘07 Tour was one of the worst in history for the host nation; their highest finisher was 27th, over an hour back. And when the obviously hesitant heads of state betrayed the effectiveness of the doping ejections, there was no more excuse of a peloton at two speeds. Someone will finally take Fignon’s adivce to heart this season, and put on a show come July.

Hopping back over to the US of A, Velonews finally launched their new website, and I must say I agree whole-heartedly with their design team: those jiggly Wrench Science ads weren’t nearly annoying enough in the right sidebar. Smack dab in the middle of text is the perfect spot. On a related note, I’ve revised the blogroll over to your left, and added a feed ripper from the blog I get paid for. I get a traffic bonus if I draw enough hits; more money for me is more content for you, so spread the word and check back frequently.

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The folks at Everki sent me their Pace backpack last fall. I’ve been abusing it solidly ever since. Does it still work?

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It was a rough Sunday out here in New England. First was the Pats loss, and then came word of Sheldon Brown’s passing. It’s not so much that without Sheldon’s site I wouldn’t be writing this; it’s that I wouldn’t be on a bike. At all.

Riding a bicycle, especially an entry-level machine, causes stuff to break all the time. Waiting on the local shop (yes, that still says ‘06) to fix it simply won’t keep you rolling, and Sheldon’s pages made it so anyone with access to Google and a set of metric Allen keys could keep their ride in order, and learn more than they’d ever dreamed in the process. To say he will be missed is understatement redefined.

Leaping from the loss of an immense societal contributor to the stubborn continuance of a societal leech, Italian media conglomerate RCS announced invitations for the ‘08 Giro d’Italia last week. Not invited? A whole fistful of international powerhouses. Invited instead? Local Italian teams! Awesome! Evil media conglomerate’s rationale: “ethics, quality, international character [and] the historical relationship with RCS Sport”. Ah, what lofty criteria from a country so corrupt it’s drowning in its own garbage.

Seriously, though - LPR Brake’s roster features Danilo DiLuca, who spent the runt-end of last season suspended after being mired in at least two dope scandals; one of them even involved suspicious test results from his ‘07 Giro victory. Perhaps to ease the obviousness of this contradiction, RCS has now dropped hints that maybe they’ll invite anti-dope pioneers Team High Road as a 22nd squad, because they might bring a little “sporting quality” and “respect for the rules” to the event - no doubt to compensate for RCS’s lack thereof.

But enough bitterness! Time to revel in the flat, sunbaked, sprint-happy glory that is the Tour of Qatar! Slipstream almost won the first stage, which is (IMHO) a fine start for the burrito powered squad. Things went pearshaped a bit when Backstedt broke his collarbone, but the big guy still has hopes for Roubaix. For me, the story of the race was Tom Boonen only winning half the stages. Last year he won nearly every day, missing only a long escape in which a teammate sealed GC victory. Could Tornado Tom be slipping?

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