New gear roundup

reprinted from www.triathletemag.com by Jay Prasuhn

April 7, 2006 - The Sea Otter Classic bike race is taking place this week in Monterey, Calif., and with it a slew of goodies will be debuted by many of the industry heavyweights. Here’s a preview of what we’ll be seeing more of in the coming months.

SaltStick
Elite triathlete Jonathan Toker has always been a thinker -- heck, the guy has a Ph.D. -- so we weren’t surprised to see Jonathan cruising the Interbike show floor last fall promoting a new device called SaltStick. We were curious and impressed with the ingenuity: a spring-loaded cylinder that, with the twist of a wrist, dispenses salt capsules. No more taping ’em to your base bar, no more races ruined by tablets disintegrated as a result of a moist race morning.

Our testing shows that while it holds just six tablets, it’s more than enough for any ride, even in Arizona. If your aerobars don’t take the SaltStick, the package includes a rubber bracket to affix to any bar. We’ve found extracting them is much safer when jamming aero at 25 mph than any previous capsule or tablet-holding device like electrical tape or film canisters. A SaltStick will run you $24, while a SaltStick Mini (which holds three capsules and fits in road bar drops or mountain bike bar ends) is $20. Or get a combo SaltStick with 100 salt capsules for $38, with replacement bottles of caps at $18. Find them all at www.saltstick.com.