Review: Supersapiens Constant Glucose Monitor

Jan 21, 2022
by Matt Wragg  
Peira Fueuk France Photo by Matt Wragg

Modern wearables pack the kind of technology you could only find in a doctor’s office a few years ago. Yet as advanced as they may be, most wearables focus on just two metrics - heart rate and movement. While they are lightyears ahead of the heart rate straps of the 1980s, they still cannot offer a complete picture of what is going on. If you are trying to quantify and assess your performance and recovery you need more information, which is where Supersapiens comes in.

With their constant glucose monitoring tech, they are among the first companies to quantify an entirely new metric for training: fuel. Because we all know that your car is not going anywhere without gas in the tank. Not many of us would drive a car without a fuel gauge, so the reasoning follows, why would you train without one?
Supersapiens Details
• Live blood glucose mointoring
• 2 weeks' life per sensor - no charging
• Compatible with smartphones, Garmins and wrist monitor
• Waterproof
• Stores up to 8 hours' data
• Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) compatible
• MSRP: $150 USD monthly
supersapiens.com

If you are a diabetic, you might be looking at this article saying, “Those look bloody familiar to me!” And you’d be right. The heart of the system is the Abbot Libre sensor, which is a mildly adapted version of Abbots’ medical sensor for diabetics. So before we go any further in this review let us get the big question out of the way - does the technology work? Yes.

The Supersapiens tech was originally designed as a monitoring device for people whose lives depend on managing their blood sugar. The sports versions are marked “not for medical use” and have the option to connect directly to your phone, so they are a little different and it is fair to assume they are produced to a slightly more relaxed standard, but it is a well-proven, dependable system. So for the rest of this review, we will be focusing on the more interesting question of why you might want it to work.


RS Trek in Blausasc. France 2021. Photo by Matt Wragg.
The sensor alongside a trolley token to illustrate size.


Getting Started

The heart of the system is the Libre Sense sensor. Essentially it is a tiny needle that sits just beneath the skin for the two weeks the sensors work for.

Popping open the box, the initial setup takes a moment to figure out, but if you follow their instructions it is straight forwards. You need to clean the skin on the back of your arm first as the patch is going to be in one place for a fortnight. You then assemble the applicator and press the sensor on. Depending on the spot the sensation ranged from nothing at all to (unsurprisingly) a minor needle-prick.

If you are at all clumsy then the protective cover is worth using. Scraping a door frame as I walked through I accidentally peeled the first sensor I used off my arm and once they come off they cannot be reapplied - a frustrating way to bin €75.

With the sensor on the back of your arm, you then need to connect it to a device. Supersapiens say that compatible phones need NFC technology (the system contactless payments use) and enough punch to be able to handle the app. Unfortunately, the iPhone SE (2016) I was running did not make the cut. To run the test I had to upgrade to an iPhone 12 Mini and from then on it paired flawlessly. It is also worth noting that my Garmin Fenix 3 was also too old for the system - so if you are considering going down this route you need to make sure that your tech is capable.

Once you are set up and paired to your phone, you need to wait for an hour for the system to warm up. From then on you will have live updates of your blood sugar.

Using Supersapiens

On their website Supersapiens split the three areas they believe their tech is most useful for: prime, perform and recover, so from here we will split this review into those three categories to have a look at what the system might do for you.

Prime

We all know that if we want to do a big ride we need to eat plenty beforehand. We have all learned that we should eat something which provides enough energy for us, but do we stop to think about what foods provide the best levels of energy? Many common foods can actually cause your blood glucose to spike, which means inconsistent energy levels.

That blood sugar spike is the same mechanism diabetes uses to damage the body, primarily through inflammation. While the effects are less dramatic in people who can naturally control their blood sugar, it is something we should try and avoid, both for our long-term health and our sporting performance.

The value of a constant glucose monitor is that we all respond a little differently. While you can find general guidelines as to good things to eat, if you are looking to maximize your performance you can use it to test and verify fuelling strategies. You can run a series of everyday experiments on yourself to have a data-supported picture of which foods work do and don't work for you.

To give a personal example, I eat porridge for breakfast with raisins and cranberries every day. The Supersapiens told me that something in that mix was causing a big blood sugar spike. On the first day, I tried the breakfast without the raisins, the second without the cranberries, and the third with neither. It turned out that it was the cranberries that were causing the spike. Since removing them I have noticed that I don’t tend to run out of energy mid-morning as often.

By following your glucose levels you can start to work into granular details of your diet too. For instance - how long should you give yourself after eating before sport? This is a very individual thing, we all vary in this respect. Ideally, you want quite a high level of blood sugar to get the most out of your body, so how long after feeding is that point?

For endurance athletes, this benefit is pretty straight forwards, but it can also be used for more intense disciplines, like DH. If you are honing in on every little detail to make those three minutes between the tapes as perfect as possible, surely you should make sure that you have the optimal amount of energy available?


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The app shows where your current blood sugar is in relation to normalized target ranges.
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The snapshot feature lets you quickly compare your levels from today to yesterday - handy if you're keeping an eye on recovery or effort.
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You also get weekly insights.

Perform

It is worth noting that the UCI has banned this technology in competition. This may seem an odd decision to those who don’t follow road cycling closely, but it is probably a good thing. Take the Road World Championships, usually something like an 8-hour race for the men. Fuelling is a critical part of the skill of racing, especially over a huge day like that. If a rider gets it wrong, the critical moment may come and they have no energy to respond.

To excel at endurance racing you need to learn to manage your body through the day. With a constant glucose monitor, you can be notified of your blood sugar levels beginning to dip before you would be able to feel it, meaning that to be perfectly fuelled you simply need to watch a number, no skill required. This reduces the one factor racing needs to be exciting - unpredictability.

If you have done your homework in the priming phase you can then choose what to fuel yourself with based on how you respond to it. For instance, while the sugar spike from cranberries was a bad thing at breakfast, out on a ride when I may want to raise my blood sugar levels as quickly as possible, that could be a positive thing. One thing the app does help you start to understand is that you need different blood sugar levels for different situations, and correspondingly you can start to match different foods to those situations.

In the saddle, it was very interesting to see how different intensities affected blood sugar levels. In early summer I took on the climb above our village affectionately known as “The Death March” - a long, exposed fireroad where the gradient always seems to be against you. Keeping an eye on both my blood sugar and heart rate, I could see that if I let my heart rate go too high my body would dump sugar into my blood to respond, which would be followed by a big crash in glucose.

A week or so later I tried riding a road climb while strictly controlling my heart rate. That constant heart rate meant I could do the 25km climb with no spikes or crashes. However, what I discovered after was that riding like this (without food) meant that I severely depleted my glycogen stores and it took a few days for them to recover and be able to ride again.

Recover

The Supersapiens app tells you that there is a 30-60 minute “insulin-independent” window after exercise to replenish your glycogen. In other words, they give you permission to stuff your face in the name of optimal recovery, which I definitely approve of.

It was during this phase I had my biggest epiphany with the Supersapiens. For years I have noticed that when I take a rest week, after two to three days I crash heavily for three days or so. It has always been one of those things I knew I had to accept, but it always frustrated me. By monitoring my glucose I learned that this is due to blood sugar - after two days' rest, my blood sugar levels fell off a cliff and took around three days to normalize. It may not offer a practical advantage to me at this stage, but understanding what is happening and why made it far easier to accept.

Limitations

The biggest limitation with the system, for me, is the memory in the sensors. They can hold up to eight hours of data, which is not enough. Most of us know that eight hours is a good amount of sleep, especially if you are training hard, but when you start thinking practically about it, you see that it is not long enough. For eight hours’ sleep, sleep specialists tell us that we should take something like 40 minutes without screens before bed, then you need to factor in the time to fall asleep (20 minutes is considered optimal), then time to wake up in the morning (apparently avoiding screens for an hour first thing is a good thing to do). So for eight hours’ sleep, you should be looking to put your phone down for 10 hours, leaving you with a two-hour gap in the data.

It is hard to avoid the cost question, too. A monthly membership package costs €150 per month, which is a lot of money. They also offer tailored packs for 10, 14, and 18 weeks, which correspond to popular training blocks.

If you are sitting there thinking that sounds expensive, chances are that this is not the product for you. For many, this level of data will change their training forever. When I was stuck into a serious block of cardio I was doing mental arithmetic trying to figure out how I could afford to run the system year-round. Then, over the summer, I checked out from my cardio program for various reasons and lost interest in glucose monitoring. Much of how you feel about Supersapiens will likely be tied to how seriously you train - if you watch a major road race these days, even the support staff are using Supersapiens.

That said, the way Supersapiens helps you learn, maybe you don’t need it 24/7? For instance, a monthly pack is €150, which is around half an annual Whoop subscription, but in that month you could experiment and use that information to inform the rest of your season, or life.




Pros

+ Revolutionary metric for serious athletes
+ Huge potential for changing general health, not just sport
+ Discrete

Cons

- Expensive
- Limited storage means it always needs to be near a device
- Requires current devices to function
- Too much information?




Pinkbike's Take

bigquotesThere is no question that for some constant glucose monitoring is going to be life-changing. Equally, many people will likely read this review and wonder why on earth anyone would go to these lengths. It opens up a whole world of experimenting with your metabolism and learning about yourself that will be intoxicating to some. It all depends on how big a part of your life training/health is. Certainly, Supersapiens have put together a solid system that can give some truly unique and important insights, even if the tech maybe could do with a minor tweak or two down the line. Matt Wragg


Author Info:
mattwragg avatar

Member since Oct 29, 2006
753 articles

194 Comments
  • 174 5
 @notoutsideceo when will it be integrated into trailforks. I would like to know if there's a maple forest near in case my glucose is too low.
  • 59 8
 I've submitted the request to my CTO, John! Stay tuned. Be safe be well, Incognito Robin
  • 43 0
 To be acquired by SRAM tomorrow. G(lucose)Wiz
  • 14 0
 No joke, my local trails are covered in sap lines that lead down to a syrup company focused on sports nutrition/fuel products...
  • 1 0
 @bonkmasterflex: Kingdom trails?
(a memorable experience to whizz down pretty singletrack with a web of sap lines just overhead)
  • 16 0
 @bonkmasterflex: First it was hikers and bikers drinking from streams along the trail, then road riders snagging newspapers at the start of Alpine descents. Now it's Supersapiens users poaching maple sap lines (maybe eating a few squirrels once Supersapiens adds protein and lipid monitoring), and surely we'll soon have e-bikers scoring a mid-ride charge from nearby electrical lines. Maybe riders in Thailand and Indonesia poach rubber sap mid-ride to top up their sealant?

I used to hate mosquitoes, but I'm starting to feel a certain kinship.
  • 5 0
 @chrod: Cochran's
  • 1 0
 @R-M-R: how come I've never thought about it!
  • 1 0
 @bonkmasterflex: name checks out
  • 118 0
 Well never thought my reading Pinkbike would collide with my job of outpatient medical management of diabetes. Use the Libre quite often; does provide quite a bit of useful information easily. I will say that what it is specifically measures is the glucose in the interstitial space, which reflects what your blood glucose was about 15 minutes ago. So the number you get is what your glucose was 15 minutes ago. Which in the normal day of most people is perfectly fine. But if your glucose is moving really fast up or down, or gets very high or low, it looses it's accuracy. For my diabetic patients this is critical, but for someone who is not diabetic, it's probably fine since the body is pretty good at keeping things steady and preventing critical lows or highs itself. I have given it to a Triathlete before (who was diabetic) which was very useful.

Anyway, my personal opinion, while pretty cool technology that has become much more accurate and affordable in the last 10 years, for a non-diabetic, probably a very niche market. It's going to give most people information they're not really going to anything with in an tangible sense. As you say in your last sense, you found out your glucose was lower during rest days...and then you didn't do anything with that information. Like often it tells you that you ate a donut and your glucose went up...which duh. Or your glucose is lower cause you haven't eaten in a while...which duh. And from experience managing diabetes, there is often a large disconnect between having the information and then actually altering behavior. That is one of the almost universal truths among humans
  • 36 1
 As a T1d and Dexcom wearer with many previous years having worn libre and libre 2 (rebranded to super sapiens for Sportzz), I have a few thoughts.

Interstitial fluid doesn’t mean it will always be a 15 min delay or bad information.

- Dexcom has a 4 min delay and is approved by health Canada and the FDA to make a treatment decision without calibration or double checking with a test strip, while libre 1 is not (test strips required to verify and calibrate on numerous occasions.)

- Libre/SS can only be worn on the back of the arm. Dexcom can be worn on the lower abdomen, back of arm, upper buttocks in pediatrics (worth a shot for adults too).

- Dexcom will alert you when you are high, low, AND when your glucose is rapidly changing, preventing 70+% of low BG events.
- Libre/SS have never proven to reduce A1C.
- More relevant to athletes and people without diabetes: people using Dexcom have demonstrate more time in range than those using libre.

For people without diabetes, it would a good idea to wear Dexcom temporarily to see what activities, food items, stress, hydration levels, levels of exertion, etc and how your blood sugar is impacted.
In competition the advantage becomes more obvious, with timing carb intake and avoiding low BGs/bonking.
guidelines.diabetes.ca/cpg/chapter9
  • 9 1
 @zakkman: can’t upvote this one enough! Dexcom is far away the best cgm out there
  • 2 0
 @mattman121: do you have it displayed on a Garmin or Apple Watch?

How do you use Dexcom and how does it impact your riding?
  • 6 9
 Let’s be honest. There is no consumer shelling $150 a month. If you use this, it’s because you are a sponsored rider giving it a go. There is no level of cat 2-5 rider who’s needing this unless they are a diabetic and won’t get it through insurance
  • 4 0
 @usedbikestuff: I could see it being adapted for weight loss, and a lot of people would pay $150/month to drop some lbs/kgs.
  • 1 1
 @zakkman: Pretty sure it has been proven to improve HBA1c, so I think your comment about it not is a stretch. Rest of it all sounds good, but Dexcom is a bit bulky and needs a 'large' mobile phone sized unit to carry around with you to allow you to dose - just something else to carry/forget/break.
Saying that, it isn't a bad system at all, but there are several others that can do similar.
Like this Sapiens thing - there are many ways to skin a cat/monitor blood levels...
  • 8 10
 @usedbikestuff: peanuts. just because you won't spend, it doesn't mean there is no market. It cost me $100 to fuel up my truck today. $150/mo is peanuts.
  • 2 0
 @ShoodNoBetter:
The literature says otherwise: have a look at the DC update on isCGM(libre). Proven to reduce severe hypo incidences but not A1C guidelines.diabetes.ca/cpg/chapter-9-2021-update

Dexcom works most smartphones, which most people carry around anyway. Receivers are a thing of the past.
Maybe SS/libre is slightly better than test strips, but there is a hell of a lot better.
  • 2 1
 @zakkman: don't need to read a report, I can look at my chart and see for myself...
  • 1 0
 @zakkman: might be an improvement then but the system in UK doesn't work with a user's mobile. It does use a stripped down mobile phone device, but it is alongside carrying your own phone.
  • 1 0
 would you say it would be more useful if the application did some number crunching and gave metrics? "Your levels increased rapidly and also decreased rapidly during your last workout. Try eating something with a lower glycemic index to avoid high spikes." Something like that (not a medical professional).
  • 2 0
 @ShoodNoBetter: stating that libre is proven to improve A1C is a big statement. If it’s your own results, that’s a very different story. anecdotal evidence, got it.

People in Iran and china have figured out how to use Dexcom with their iPhones or Samsung Galaxies, surely you can too.
www.dexcom.com/en-GB/compatibility/dexcom-g6-app
  • 1 0
 @ream720: Dexcom pretty much does that with the Clarity reporting software. You can see patterns of when you are most likely to have rapid increases and decreases, at specific times of day.
A dietician would then be able to advise on how proceed. Could be hydration, fat/fiber/protein : glucose ratios, stress (cortisol), hydration, etc.
For example, if you spend too much time in Zone 3 and beyond, you will likely have a cortisol release, thus increasing BG.
  • 2 1
 @bubbrubb: that’s textbook straw man fallacy. Kudos for such a clear cut example.

It’s actually 150euro per their website and later in the article so $170 usd at current rates.

I just have to laugh that people with such a poor understanding of basic nutrition would entertain understanding glucose monitoring.

Unless it gets bought by SRAM, works in the Metaverse and can be overlaid on my Hammerhead with all other data. Then I’m in. $170 would be a deal.
  • 1 0
 @thrasher2: well that’s then a totally different product, market, and consumer. So yes, that is entirely something else and I’m sure weight watchers has just entered the chat
  • 1 0
 @usedbikestuff: 100%. I'm training for a world championship (not cycling of any kind), and would love this information to help guide my training. But I am also an amateur, and there's no way in hell I could afford that cost.
  • 2 0
 I've tried using something similar for my diabetic cat.... as you can imagine it did not work so well on cat.... mind you neither does the traditional methods of testing blood glucose.
  • 2 2
 @bubbrubb: take that $150 a month and invest it an S&P 500 index fund and talk to me in 10 years, its most certainly not peanuts.
  • 1 0
 @zakkman: agreed, it is. However, talking to the diabetes unit specialists they say the same. That'll be based on far more than just my chart as they have many similar patients and also have chats with their peers. It does lower HBA1c if the user acts upon it.
  • 1 0
 Thank you! Would that so many other things in cycling were placed in a similar perspective.
  • 2 1
 @usedbikestuff: how many roadies are out there dropping thousands on trainers and power meters… $150 a month to one up your cardiologist buddy on the Saturday morning pace line? Money well spent.
  • 1 0
 Thanks for posting this.

While I appreciate that elite athletes want to benefit from marginal gains of niche tools this device is providing metrics for biological processes most people (non-diabetics) can’t really influence easily. Learning and comprehension are interesting and fun but I don’t believe most people need or can benefit from this.

I’m wondering what the goal of this company really is? They don’t make the sensors so they don’t make much money on them. And the app is free right?

So, its likely your data is the product…

Probably way more direct benefit adding more carbon parts onto your bike…
  • 2 1
 @jaytdubs: It is Peanuts when you've been investing wisely since your first post-college paycheck over 20 years ago.
  • 2 0
 look out we have a financially responsible person over here
  • 1 0
 @ream720: bikes aint cheap!
  • 1 0
 @zakkman: my son is T1 on Dexcom. He has BG displayed on his Apple Watch, which he can also use to manage insulin delivery by his pump using the Loop app.
  • 1 0
 @ShoodNoBetter:
You’re wrong. Dexcom app runs on any iPhone and many Androids (and you can build your own app for androids that are incompatible out of the box). There hasn’t been need to use a receiver since G4, which was superseded 5 years ago.
Visit the Looping forums (those of us who really need reliable and accurate data) and agreement G6 is hands down the best system out there is almost unanimous.
  • 2 0
 @deiru: people actually do shave their cats and dogs to use these.
  • 1 0
 @zakkman: It's not Libre2 it's the new libre 3 sensor. It's cheaper than the Dexcom and also delivers continuous glucose monitoring.
  • 3 0
 @zakkman: Im a type 1 diabetic and avid mountain biker and I use the Libre sensor, its an absolute game changer from the days of pricking your fingers for glucose readings, as I'm intrigued by the dexcom as well, i'd like to add that you can use your libre sensor in areas besides the back of your arm (I have experimented for the past 3 yrs) and they came out last year with a sensor that has an alarm system that you can manage and pair with your phone/ watch to help prevent lows and highs. One thing that has come out of these sensors, including dexcon, is that its the best advancement in years for monitoring blood sugar levels for diabetics and has really allowed me to more freedom and comfort on my mountain bike.
  • 1 0
 @animal-chin:
Ask your Endo or CDE for a Dexcom sample.

Libre 1-2-3/Sense is only approved to worn on the back of the arm.
  • 2 0
 @animal-chin: some of my patients use with high risk impact on arm (such as rugby players) use it on the pect muscle and it does just fine
  • 1 0
 @davideyakuza: mountain biking here in the sea to sky corridor/ north shore of BC has lots of trees you rub elbows with, upper thigh works good too to keep it away from getting ripped off.
  • 2 0
 @zakkman: and Dexcom G5 was only ever approved for abdomen and upper buttocks for children, and yet T1s use them successfully all over the place - back and front of the upper arm, inside forearm, chest and upper breast, thighs, calves…
The site-specific approval is only because that was the location used in the trials used for FDA approvals, not because there’s any reason to suspect it doesn’t work elsewhere.
My son almost always wears his Dexcom on his upper arm.
  • 2 0
 @animal-chin:
Try Dexcom, actually having your BG pushed to your phone/watch without having to scan is game changing. Alarms only give you so much, set them in a tight range and they drive you mad because they always go off, but slacken the range and they don’t actually make you change your behaviour. But when you can glance at your wrist and see that your BG is 6.3 and on a downward trend lets you intervene with a small snack before you go low, or 7.5 and on an upward trend lets you correct before going high. Even better if you integrate it in a closed loop system.
  • 1 0
 @ShoodNoBetter: I agree. To say it (Libre) doesn't lower A1C is ludicrous. I found that having the Libre 2, which needs a separate monitor, is better for me bc it sends an alert for hypo and hyper. The Libre 14, while more convenient since you can scan your phone, doesn't alert you, which for me, is critical. I have had strokes bc of low blood sugar.
  • 1 0
 @gabrielo03:
isCGM (Libre 1-2) has shown to decrease time in hypo, yet no consistent differences in A1C, compared to test strips. guidelines.diabetes.ca/cpg/chapter-9-2021-update

Dexcom alerts you on your phone and or receiver for hyper/hypo, and rapid changes. No scanning. Imagine finding out that you will have a low 20mins prior.
  • 69 3
 Perfect for the e-biker with a sweet tooth.
  • 5 4
 Most underrated comment on the internet.
  • 3 3
 it's almost as if both types of diabetes cause insulin deficiency, and is not exclusive to obese people who over-eat and are generally lazy. What a dickhead comment.
  • 1 2
 @ream720: did you rubber neck when that joke flew over your head? Also are you inferring all emtb riders are obese, lazy over eaters? Because that would be kind of a dickhead comment.
  • 1 0
 @HardtailHerold: please explain the joke then
  • 1 0
 @HardtailHerold: that's what I thought, it's not a joke at all.
  • 1 0
 I'm a Type 1 diabetic, ebike rider, with a sweet tooth. Now shut up and take my money
  • 41 0
 In the near future: "Fox acquires Supersapiens"

Followed up by: "Live Valve Energy" --- Hook our proprietary energy goo-filled Camelback straight into your arm via IV and this revolutionary tech will automatically pump it into your bloodstream as needed.
  • 38 0
 We laugh now...
  • 2 0
 The comment I came here for.
  • 2 0
 Just load up some glucose into your insulin pump and get on with it!
  • 2 0
 Peleton acquisition more likely. Too soon?
  • 22 0
 All this time I thought my symptoms; shaky, hangry, double vision and weakness, was just my allergies to riding up-hill
  • 20 0
 Whats next in wearable tech? A but plug that measures sphincter tightening force on gnarly descents?
  • 8 1
 You joke but your stress levels will increase your cortisol levels, which will increase your blood glucose levels. Slap a CGM on, that actually has some accuracy, like a Dexcom G6 and you will see. You could then create a formula to estimate sphincter tightening based on BG readings.
  • 1 0
 @zakkman: I remember the first time I'd been to an amusement park after getting the Dexcom, looking back at the data from that day and you could clearly see when I was on the roller coasters! No butt stuff though
  • 1 0
 @zakkman: The Supersapiens will also follow cortisol spikes.
  • 14 0
 Why not just ride indoors, all hooked up to the whole ER machinery?
Seriously, nowadays there is a glut of possible information devices that has - at most - use only for the seasoned pro.
Everyone else would profit from really ancient wisdom like hydrate and eat properly. Most riders don’t even do that.
And a sensor telling me when to eat? Please, farming out your brain to computers is NOT the ticket to greatness.
  • 11 0
 This is obviously great for people with diabetes, insulin resistance, hyper and hypoglycemia. I struggle with low blood sugar and low blood pressure while riding, this is interesting
  • 14 4
 Every bike shop employee knows it is great for Triathletes
  • 3 0
 @calmWAKI: I'm diabetic and have been using Libre for years, it's a game changer (especially with an addon that lets it display bloodsugar on my Garmin).

I've been surprised how long it's taken for this to happen though, the sell to Triathletes and Marathon runners should be easy. Never bonk again.

I'm borderline uncomfortable using it though even as a T1 diabetic, its a lot of single use disposable electronics and battery, as well as the huge plastic applicator. Each application is a massive pile of waste, for a 2 week (or less if you knock it off) period. Hard to justify.
  • 3 0
 @lensflare: the point of my comment was that it is easy to sell stuff like this to triathletes, they are the biggest spenders. Some people told me, that they beat the most elitist roadies.
  • 1 0
 @calmWAKI: There's a joke about trying to fill the hole where a personality would normally fit in there
  • 3 0
 @mattwragg: It takes character to complete a triathlon, by all metrics. Nobody has ever figured out life. Ceramic speed, X power meter won’t win you medals. But there are no medals for laughing at people buying these, so let’s treat it as light hearted jokes Smile In the end, if you are in position of realizing you’ll die in next few minutes, hours you will have a choice what to think about how you lived you life. It will be a real test of glass half full/ half empty. Some things will pop up but definitely not whether you bought an E-cock ring measuring Vo2max or resisted doing it. No matter how rich and noble personality is, it won’t matter as things go supernova. May as well buy it… that kid you “saved” by the side of the road may be there. Definitely not the ahole like me thinking you should not ride Ebike
  • 1 0
 @calmWAKI: as a keen triathlete (up to and including Iron-distance), I have to say o agree with you. I love the sport, but I'm not at all surprised to hear that it appears to.many that triathletes spend the most on bikes/kit, often with the least knowledge of what the gain is. The entry price of most longer races alone make it an expensive sport (one of the reasons I'm mostly racing Enduro these days).
TT bikes still seem to sell at a much lower price used than other bikes. Always get the sense they were impulse buys.
  • 2 0
 @Rance: That was just a joke. I’m sorry if you felt offended in any way. I ride MTB with triathletes every now and then, they are all 50-60years old and they destroy me on fire road by just riding, not even trying. All of them finished Iron Man. I am fully aware what it takes to complete an average triathlon, much more than an average Enduro race which lets be honest: does not require athleticism. Actually No form of cycling requires “athleticism” to get to the finish line. Then it is hard to laugh at people who bring big money to your shop. But friends who work in shops do say triathletes spend more than others and have particular sweet tooth for gadgets. Which I really have no problem with. Just a poke. I also see how much money they spend on just training.
  • 1 0
 @calmWAKI: "Actually no form of cycling requires “athleticism” to get to the finish line." WHAT?!

That's straight crazy talk. The Breck Epic would like to have a word with you...
  • 1 0
 @calmWAKI: No offence taken at all: I was in fact agreeing with you. Triathletes treat bikes horribly, yet spend a fortune on them. I used be astounded at the most basic maintenance and handling errors I saw in the transition area by people with £6,000+ bikes.

Triathletes also seem to have the least realistic expectations of bike shops and mechanics!
  • 1 1
 @fenix501: Completing a bike race does not require athleticism no matter what the race is. One could argue that only some of elite cyclists can say that they have athletic bodies. Give me 3 motnhs to prepare and I will finish the race of your choice and I am not athletic. Athleticism takes great genetics and years of focused training. Average dude like me needs to train like an atlhete for years to only get to athletes base genetic level after he took a sabbatical and ate burgers for two years.

People like Froome, MVDP or Minnaar are NOT that athletic. The single most athletic cyclists across the whole board are BMX racers. I could give it to Fabien Barell, Gee Atherton, Rachel Atherton, Chris Akrigg, maybe Nino, but the list won't be long. Just because you have strong legs and can put tires between two rocks in the middle of a loose turn at 40km/h doesn't mean you are athletic. Average collage football player is far more athletic that pretty much any cyclist out there.
  • 13 2
 As a T1 diabetic, all I can say is, you "normal" people have a pancreas that works. It regulates your BGL for you, numbskull! You don't need this!
  • 1 4
 Maybe from a big picture pov, yes. But people who care about longevity and preventative medicine care about by variability a lot.
  • 8 0
 I thought this was an ad like on tv and the endless medication ads were moving to pinkbike. Pretty mental for nondiabetics to be using this stuff.

And fyi please refer to us as ‘cisglucosers’ normal is offensive.
  • 3 1
 @mick06: seeing as diabetes is a huge issue across the world, both t1 and 2, you could see why people might be motivated to know what the story is with their BG.
I do agree that it would be nice for the industry to focus on getting the right technology in the hands of the patients who NEED it first.
  • 3 0
 @zakkman: this technology is in the hands of those who need it. But we are talking about nondiabetics using it, which is dumb. If you care about preventative medicine this isn't it. A heathy diet and not being a fatty is a much better preventative measure for t2 diabetes than installing this when you don’t have diabetes.
  • 1 0
 @mick06: you’d be surprised to see how many t1d folk are still using test strips.
In fact, a minority of the t1d community is using CGM.
What about the people without type 2, who are not fat, and think they are consuming a healthy diet?
Luckily there is plenty of peer reviewed literature on glucose variability and incidence of cardio vascular disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. A CGM would help a lot in knowing what that variability looks like.
  • 5 0
 @mick06: yep.

What concerns me is non-diabetics causing a shortage in stock for diabetics. I saw this when I was going through ketoacidosis and was looking for test strips, but I couldn't find any because keto diets were popular. Regular people, who don't really go through ketoacidosis, had bought up the stock because they wanted to test for ketones! I can see something similar happening here...
  • 2 0
 @zakkman: and this would help fat people with poor nutritional knowledge how? The thought of a non diabetic getting this is stupid. Go to your clinic every few months and get your hba1c done if you're worried about diabetes. Don’t consume valuable health care resources for the sake of curiosity/stupidity. As gl1 just mentioned, this stuff is for diabetics, not people that have run out of shit to play with.
  • 1 1
 @mick06:
You and I, and probably most people who ride bikes, know that pizza has a lot of carbs and fat, and that an apple has few carbs and fibre. We learn through trial and error or formal education that eating certain foods will help us avoid bonking and other foods won’t, in turn teaching us what a carb is and where to find them.
People with weight issues, who are on their way to t2d, can gain a lot from seeing in real time how a glass of Tropicana orange juice does the same damage as a glass of coke, or how going for a walk after dinner keeps things at bay. This information becomes extremely valuable to helping them reduce their eventual impact on a healthcare system, in turn reducing the their long term consumption of healthcare resources.
  • 1 0
 Yeah , but why settle for a regular pancreas when you can go kashima?
  • 9 0
 So as a Type 1 diabetic using an artificial pancreas setup that utilizes a Dexcom G6 sensor I'm curious what kind of 'spikes' you actually saw?
As for the technology I have a little trouble not shaking my head at this as a supreme luxury for sport, when I'm lucky to get it for my very real health needs. But that's a whole social welfare in America debate for another day! Lol.

What I'm really curious about is how much variability is there in a 'normal' person when exercising or eating. As I asked above, what was the level of that spike after the cranberries?
My suspicion is that it's not enough to feel the effects and I say this because a couple years ago we put one of my glucose sensors on my wife and even after eating sweets it spiked to less than 120md/dl and never went below 65mg/dl which is well within perfect.

As for anyone that is not a highest level athlete or has hypoglycemia issues I bet this is so far at the pointy end as to be useless for most users.
Interesting tech though, and my Dexcom glucose sensor allows me to perform at a higher level because I can see live data and take action before severe lows.

Oh, and as someone that needs to wear medical devices on my skin I'll say it can be a real drag. They can itch, the wire in your skin can hurt, they can get ripped off or sweat off, it's all a bit of a hassle. So it's hard for me to imagine anyone agreeing to do this for such slight performance gains.
  • 3 0
 Sounds like you’re looping with omnipod and a Riley link (?)

Many people without diabetes will notice a decrease in performance from high BG, even if it’s only slightly above 180. One of the biggest factor would be all of the people with over reactive pancreases, who have lows from consumer gels/candy to bring their BG up in the first place. More common than you think.

Regardless of sport or diabetes, everyone can benefit from reducing their glucose variability.
peterattiamd.com/are-continuous-glucose-monitors-a-waste-of-time-for-people-without-diabetes

As for the hassle, yes, not wearing one is definitely more comfortable than wearing one. But you can easily increase adhesion and prevent itch with a variety of different products. Pain at the site is just poor placement and should not be tolerated.
  • 4 0
 The things I would do to not have to be hooked up to my pump and CGM 24/7!
  • 2 0
 @Fusion95: right? I think those of us that are dependent on the tech will often have a slightly different view of it than doing it for recreation.
  • 1 0
 @zakkman: aha, very aware you are! Fellow diabetic?
But yep, Omnipod and using Loop with a Riley-Link. For me it's a game changer and makes life better even if it's a lot of work. I'm certainly looking forward to dual-hormone pumps in the next few years that can allow me to have literally perfect blood sugars.

As for painful sites I think it's an occasional reality for a lot of users based on what I hear online. And sure, I can throw it away but I'll likely not get reimbursed for it and that gets really expensive. And I've had a comfortable site turn uncomfortable at a time and place it wasn't convenient to switch the sensor, besides the two hours without data.

And I get that above 180 you'll see effects but at least when I had my wife wear one for ten days it literally never went above 130 and she tried eating crazy sugary foods to spike it.

I'm sure that would be different for someone that is 'pre-diabetic' but then again there will likely more beneficial health interventions before something like this.
  • 2 0
 @BarryWalstead: Another T1D here, I'm on Libre (with a MiaoMiao and Xdrip) to give nice, calibrated CGM to my watch and garmin. It's been a gamechanger, but while I see the appeal of looping, I'm still on injections.

How do you find it combined with sport? I'm wary about pulling out the canula in a crash, or snagging it while I'm climbing. Is that a realistic concern? Are the better control upsides worth the downsides?
  • 2 0
 @lensflare: same MiaoMiao, Xdrip, fast insulin pens setup here.. and I also have the same concerns as you, having box with hoses attached to me that i can rip of while riding, climbing etc... Diabetologists is also a T1D but uses dexcom + pump loop and said it is pretty cool but you can basically achieve very similar results with fast insulin and CGMs

But I would also like to know how a active person who crashes from time to time handles this setup Smile
  • 12 0
 Sweet
  • 8 1
 Maintaining optimal blood sugar levels was honestly my #1 challenge when racing and training for racing. Bigger than hydration, recovery, etc. Interesting article.

Now that I'm just punting it's not as critical, but then again the race to beer at the top can be real .
  • 4 0
 This is old technology at this point, but can we please get this system, or a more common Dexcom system to sync up to and display on Gps units. It would be extremely convenient to see my blood sugar on my head unit during a ride.
  • 1 0
 It has been possible for a while with a nightscout and xdrip build for your Harmon but is now officially available with an FDA approved api
www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/wearables-health/people-with-diabetes-can-now-view-dexcom-cgm-data-on-their-garmin-smartwatch-or-cycling-computer
  • 1 0
 But yes, libre is old as. Ask any regular libre wearer how they feel about their libre.
  • 2 0
 Libre 2 sends alerts to phone which can also send the alerts to the watches (suspect head unit as well) - doesn't give current reading but will send alerts...maybe libre 3 will send levels as well.
  • 1 0
 @ShoodNoBetter: libre 2 alerts when you are high or low. But will not prevent the high or low from happening in the first place. You also have no idea if you are high or low, or how high or low, until you scan the sensor (stop what you are doing, grab a device, scan, react).
Dexcom will alert you before you’re high or low and give you the value without even having to open your phone. Or your mother across the country can tell you for you, if that’s your jam.
It will be interesting to see libre 3 when it’s available and what clinical evidence it can provide.
  • 2 0
 @zakkman: I've got a libre 2 sending the readings every 5 minutes to xdrip+, and in turn to my Garmin. Game changer! Basically turns the libre into a full cgm
  • 1 0
 @OliClarke82: @zakkman the bluetooth add-ons do exactly this, Libre1+xdrip and then something like a MiaoMiao, BluCon or similar, and then there's a Garmin datafield so you can display it on a watch or head unit. Works like a charm.

Xdrip+ also brings the benefit of being able to calibrate the readings with fingerprick tests, which I've found makes it way more accurate.
  • 1 0
 Supersapiens give you live readouts with Garmin, you just need a Fenix 5 or newer, but I have a (perfectly functional) 3 and nobody fancied giving me a 600 Euro watch.
  • 4 0
 If you care about being faster, this is the best tech to come along since the power meter.

If you aren’t striving to be an elite athlete, this will leech what little fun you had left when the power meter went on your bike.

But-this will make a waaaay bigger difference than any lighter bike parts or ceramic bearings, so if you always train and never just ride-worth every penny.
  • 3 0
 Except that you’ll have to take your hands off the bars to scan your sensor, not to mention that the data is often way off, unlike Dexcom G6.
  • 1 0
 @zakkman: it’s still clunky and not super user friendly-but so we’re early heart rate monitors and power meters.

I’d still say this technology is the next step to optimal training. And I don’t want to optimally train anymore……
  • 1 0
 @zakkman: Except that with this system you can have your blood sugar on your Garmin, I just couldn't test it as noboby felt like sending a me a 600 Euro watch to replace the perfectly functional, but old, one I use now. Or there is a wrist monitor you can buy.
  • 1 0
 @mattwragg: looks like suspect sapiens uses the Libre Sense sensor, not a libre 2.
The libre 2 requires scanning. The libre sense sensor transmits data without scanning. However, libre sense is not approved for medical use. This begs the questions of its accuracy and reliability.
  • 1 0
 @zakkman: Libre 2 is the new libre system that works with blue tooth for it to use the alarm function with out scanning. Libre sense is the OG and I get 100% coverage through Blue cross for this device.
  • 1 0
 @animal-chin:
I understand that the functions are different across countries.
Here in Canada, libre 2 has BT but needs to be scanned to view the result causing an alarm.
Libre sense is not Libre 1. Libre sense is not approved for medical use, likely why they are able to bypass the mandatory scan. Libre sense also has a smaller BG range view. It’s not designed for people with diabetes.

Libre 3 is a different story. Likely won’t be in Canada for a while.
  • 1 0
 @zakkman: I'm prescribed by my doctor to use Freestyle libre sensor and libre sensor 2 which is covered by my medical insurance plan. I've never heard of libre 1 nor have i seen it at the pharmacy here in Squamish. All that I know is that it works great for keeping my blood sugar control even tighter and the freedom to push even harder and further in bigger bike missions/ enduros. I'm sure Dexcom is great too as you advocate hard for it. I'll try that as well some day.
  • 1 0
 @animal-chin:
No doubt libre is better than using 10-20 test strips per day.
Ask your Endo or GP for a sample and try both at the same time. See if one alerts you more or less than the other for lows/highs.
  • 3 0
 I'm really like the data side of cycling, to an extent. I like this concept and it seems like it could be for me in the future, when the cost comes down and the tech advances some. Excited to see what comes of this! Great review to see how an individual could benefit from this piece of technology.
  • 2 0
 The rising rates of diabetes and obesity will surely drive down the cost of recreational CGM tech for the masses!
  • 2 0
 Does anyone know how to source a dexcom or libre? in the US they require a prescription. I've been in and out of the hospital the past year with non-diabetic issues and my rides have really suffered from health. I've been interested in trying a CGM for a month just to learn about what my body is doing when its unhappy while I'm climbing up my local fire road so I can bomb down the fun stuff
  • 1 0
 No Rx is required in Canada and Europe. Tons of Americans buy Dexcom and have it shipped to a hotel close to the border and pick up in person or have a friend pick up and ship it.
  • 1 0
 I'm not sure what the expense is in the good old US of A, but you could get answers by buying a glucometer and just testing yourself before, during and after riding. Especially focusing around your climbs. It would be a lot cheaper and for your question, you don't need that hi-res stuff. Trust me, I've been mtbing for over 20 years and I've been a T1D for almost 30 years.
  • 2 0
 @gl1: I can't speak for OP, but my blood glucose can dip suddenly, triggering a migraine, where I lose vision. So testing at discrete moments doesn't give you the full picture, and doesn't tell you weather you're heading up, or down, and how rapidly. I've been wanting to grab one of these for awhile, just not available (legally) in the states, which is ridiculous.
  • 1 0
 @Moonie2123: sure, that makes sense. Hopefully, with some lobbying, things may change over there. If you send me your address, I could send you a Freestyle Libre from Aus. to trial

www.freestylelibre.com.au/products.html
  • 2 0
 Been using Libre since October 2021, after falling into hypoglycemia in the middle of the night after doing 1.700 height meters and 70km of MTB. Luckily my wife woke up and noticed convulsions and called paramedics who applied glucose i.v. and saved me, perhaps from brain injury or even death.
Since Libre haven't had similiar event. I cannot recommend it enough to diabetic bikers!
On a side note: I understood that in Slovenia social security covers only first genaration of Libre, which cannot be connected to a phone (and alert your low glucose levels) but in US they already have have 3rd generation that connects to the phone, waking you up if yor glucose level is too low.
  • 2 0
 I have been using this for over a year. PRimarily as a type 1 diabetic, but with the insight into nutrition during and post-exercise it has helped my feel stronger on the bike and recover better off the bike. If you into your data or sports nutrition it is such an easy thing to add in to your normal insights.
  • 6 0
 you lost me at 'sits just beneath the skin'
  • 1 0
 The applicator needle is comically intimidating looking the first time you use it! Not that bad though, really, compared to the 4-6 other injects daily being a diabetic gets me!
  • 1 0
 @lensflare: I listened to a very fascinating podcast about diabetes and diet a couple years ago. Here is the link in case it might be of interest to you.

www.richroll.com/podcast/cyrus-khambatta-robby-barbaro-499
  • 2 0
 @Matt Wragg this was an interesting article. Had no idea such a thing existed.

I'm assuming you meant dried cranberries. Most dried cranberries you can buy have sugar in them whereas raisins usually don't. This might be part of the reason you saw a difference between cranberries and raisins.

I've bought dried cranberries from here for years and while they have cranberries without sugar, they're almost ten times as expensive. No idea why. This is US based. No idea where you live.

nuts.com/driedfruit/cranberries
  • 2 0
 You are probably right, that is probably the root of the spike. Initially I wanted to do a much deeper review as there were so many interesting things that happened, but realised that only 3 people would actually read it.
  • 3 0
 My 25th anniversary since I was diagnosed with T1 diabetes today and can say the the Libre has really helped with my Hba1c and has made rising so much easier with the alerts and ease of testing glucose on a ride!
  • 3 0
 I switched to Dexcom, so it pushes to my devices and doesn't need to be scanned. I've tried them all, Libre is probably the simplest. My pump can run hybrid closed loop with the Medtronic CGM, but it's awful, you need to calibrate it like every 26 seconds by finger pricks. I like Dexcom the best so far though, you can cheat the sensors and run them out a little longer past expiration too (which you can do with Guardian as well).
  • 2 0
 @Stickman1029: I have seen things about dexcom but my hospital uses the Libre, I can’t complain as it’s a lot better than finger pricks! I have used the Medtronic pumps for a good 15 years now and was one of the first in the North West England to get one. I remember the early CGMs being awful in use and comfort, only really helped setting basal rates etc. Ran into lots of calibration issues with Medtronic cgm and haven’t used them since.
  • 1 0
 @Stickman1029: Are you using dexcom g6? How are you cheating it to run it longer, xDrip? Thanks
  • 1 0
 @SoloJoe: there's a few youtube videos, so search for them for more details, but basically I just shove a guitar pick down between the transmitter and the plastic that holds it in, and just run the pick around the sensor, which will pop out the transmitter after you get about 3/4 of the way around. A used test strip will work for this too, I prefer the pick though as it's perfect in size, leverage and stiffness.

Stop the sensor on your phone or reader. Wait 20 minutes, and then just pop the transmitter back in. Start it with the same code that you have, but manually punch the numbers in. Usually can squeeze 4-6 extra days out of one, your body will start to reject it eventually and it'll start erroring out, that's when it's time to change it (or if it starts to hurt).

They'll eventually patch this workaround out I imagine.
  • 2 0
 I’m partly appalled at this use of medical technology, my wife can’t get these products for her diabetic patients … and this is being promoted to athletes.

Maybe the company should sponsor one diabetic patient for every athlete who buys their product?
  • 2 0
 The amount of people that ask dumb questions or make stupid/offensive comments to me as a Type 1 due to blissful ignorance about what the condition is and how it effects a person, it's going to entertaining how an average Joe just curious about bloodsugars and glucose levels post exercise will start to understand even a fraction of the data they're presented with. Let alone use it successfully to benefit their training!

I've been using the Libre now Libre 2 for nearly 4 years now and I'll tell you now that it takes years not weeks/months to gain enough valuable data and start to make reasoned and effective decisions off the back of it. Diabetics are forced into understanding and working this data as out lives quite literally depend on it, honestly this is just a gimmick and a total waste of time for any non diabetic. If you're serious about this kind of stuff, get yourself a coach and do some proper testing to get reliable and qauntable data across a range of factors. Check out people like Train Sharp for example, that would be money well spent.

That said, if they're buying up fibre sensors from abbot to sell off to gullible folk and reducing the cost of production of fibre sensors in turn making it available to more diabtetics, then I can get behind it. For many its hard enough to get access to this technology which for diabetics is life changing, seems wrong to turn it into the latest bit of cool lifestyle wearable electronics. That said, maybe that makes me cool now as I've always got one on my arm!
  • 2 1
 Does anyone know if there really a reliable way to get a Dexcom or Libre sensor for a non-diabetic?

Both require a prescription in the US. I've been trying to source one for a month of so, I've been in and out of the hospital with non diabetic issues the last year and my rides have really suffered so I've just been wanting to give a CGM a go for a month or so to learn a little bit about the weird stuff my body is doing when I'm out pedaling up to get down.
  • 1 0
 Dexcom is more expensive. You need both the sensor and the transmitter with Dexcom, which are two seperate purchases, whereas with Libre it's both the sensor and transmitter in one (well it's not really a transmitter, you need to read it by using the NFC on your phone). If you are insisting on using one of these, definitely lean towards Libre from a cost perspective.

As to finding one? You could just find a diabetic and point them towards the nearest CVS. Or go to your doctor, give them your reasoning and ask if they will give you a prescription. You likely won't get insurance coverage either.

You aren't going to get much from it.
  • 1 0
 I used them couple of times, a Freestyle Libre one, and while I am not an athlete, during HIITs and long rides I could not see any relationship to how I was feelingor my performance.
For a non-diabetic person I am not entirely sure how having a CGM does help with performance. I should so more readings on this, but I would expect other physiological mechanisms affecting performance while having a blood glucose in normal range.

I am doing my medical residency in endocrinology and diabetes, if you wonder.

Also, those devices do measure interstitial fluid glucose levels and not blood glucose levels per se, and while often very similar at rest (with 5-10 minutes lag) in specific circumstances, strenous exercise and dehydratation are part of them, their accuracy drops significantly
  • 1 0
 Hi, I am looking for people who have used the Supersapiens app, I work for a company called Spiden, and we are creating a way to measure glucose without having to use a needle. We are looking for feedback from people who have used existing solutions.
If you are interested, could you please take this questionnaire (2-3 mins) about your experience?
There is the link: forms.gle/1FrnJZ9xF8nWoGVv6
  • 3 0
 I thought I'd read that the UCI was banning these unless you had a Medical Exemption for their use...if that is the case then it can only be a useful thing...
  • 1 0
 I could see how they would enforce the ban for racing, but how could you ban these for training?
  • 11 0
 Don't all roadies have medical exemptions?
  • 2 0
 @JonnyTheWeasel: It's mostly British Tour winners.
  • 2 0
 @rbarbier12: they are only banned in race
  • 1 0
 @ReformedRoadie: AKA the Ineos Grenadiers
  • 5 0
 I’ll just stick to eating gummy bears
  • 1 0
 What flava Hendrix?
  • 5 2
 I would not mind a gauge saying when edible or Shitake will kick in and when it will peak... would help me plan my gravel rides better
  • 3 2
 except any "normal" person is going to be between 4 and 7 mmol unless they are diabetic-- I'm not sure how this would have much relevance in day to day training, If you start going hypoglycemic from training, many other "things" will also be happening to you.

Switch the sensor to sample lactate and then pair it with HR or power and then you have a more meaningful measure
  • 4 0
 Try a Dexcom G6 and go out for sushi. And then try a fasted long ride. The other killer is sleeping on a full stomach.
Most non-diabetics will hit 10+mmol/l and can easily drop below 4.

Big advantage is learning what aspects of your life impact your BG when and why. The number might not be as valuable as it is for someone using insulin, but the trends and direction of your BG can be worth a lot for competition, but especially for avoiding type 2 diabetes.
  • 1 0
 As a diabetic myself this is rad. But usually CGMs go along with their associated pump. For instance, Medtronic 670g talks with the Guardian 3 sensor and to your pump. Relays info via bluetooth to your watch and phone and adjusts its basal accordingly. It's awesome other companies are making these things, no doubt. But I'm curious how viable they are outside of each insulin devices ecosystem.
  • 2 0
 My friend has the 670g, he stopped using their cgm solution as it needed constant calibration checks - seemed to defeat the purpose of it. Idea is brilliant, but the practical use of it wasn't so brilliant.
  • 1 0
 Standard of care for t1 is Tandem and Dexcom. Ask your Endo. Omnipod 5 might be available in your region too.
  • 1 0
 @ShoodNoBetter: guardian sensors suck balls. They somehow get worse with every generation too. I have a 670g, and stopped using the Guardians like 3 or 4 weeks in. Nothing like getting woke out of a dead sleep every 3-4 hours because the pumps like calibrate me, even though everything is fine.
  • 5 0
 COMPLETELY useless if your not diabetic.
  • 2 0
 ... but strictly useful if you're north american.
  • 1 0
 T1D here. So I'm sort of chuckling over here, I love how this is being reviewed like it's something new. Its not.

It's just a rebranded Libre sensor. You can get them at your pharmacy, and they are a frig of a lot cheaper than $150USD. They run about $100CDN, they'll be even cheaper in the states. You shouldn't need a prescription, at least in Canada you don't. I used to use the Xdrip app, or you can download the Freestyle app for your phone. I think this is sort of stupid though, I don't really know what anyone not running the tour de France, or with a working pancreas wants to glean from this. Your glucose levels? Plot spoiler, they'll be somewhere between like 4.5 if you've been fasting and 7 or 8 if you've just been eating gels or a meal, unless you've got an absolute piece of shit pancreas like I do. Otherwise it'll sit flat around 5.8 mmol/l.
  • 1 0
 Hey all you Type 1 diabetics out there. What are you doing to fuel for longer (4+ hour) big effort/ elevation rides with people who are in shape? On days I know I'm doing a big ride in the morning, I will skip taking my insulin, eat a meal on the way to my ride (maybe eggs, cheese, whole wheat toast, and some meat), then eat during the ride going from slightly more complex carbs too simple carbs (Clif bar - fruit- shot block - gu) all the while having Gatorade (and obviously water). I really struggle to keep my blood sugar up at the end of my rides all while constantly eating/drinking. I miss the days of my legs or lungs ending my rides, not just being drained from low blood sugar. Oh, and oatmeal/porridge causes my blood sugar to fall off a cliff like Wile E. Coyote within 2 hrs.
  • 1 0
 @RyMart96: honestly, I just bought an eBike this year, and it's made all the difference. I actually love biking again, and I'm not constantly flip flopping high/low after a big climb. Still get lows here and there, but it helps a lot. Way more fair for my bike bros too, they are always so awesome but I mean it's so unfair for them to having to always be stopping and waiting for me to get my shit sorted out.

As for my routine, I always take a couple cokes no matter what. Makes my bag feel like it weighs more than my bike, but I've run into some real situations over the years, so I prepare.

Usually leave the house on temp basel on my pump, set to come off about 2 hours after I think I'll be done riding. Drink some Gatorade on the way out to the mountains, have Gatorade in the water bottle instead of water. Always have a bagel just before leaving, 50% my normal bolus. Those honey stinger gummies are awesome, I always have a few in my pack, if I notice my sugars coming down I'll stop and pop one of those, and it usually works good to level off the crash and sustain higher levels for a bit (they really are awesome).

I'm usually high at the end of a ride, but I'll usually head back down the road a bit and sometimes a crash happens so I'm ready with a coke, if not I'll slam some insulin as I'm coming back into the city.
  • 1 0
 I've been mountain biking for 25yrs with type 1 diabetes and if i'm going to do a big mission/ enduro I usually will eat a large dinner the night before with a good balance of protein, carbs and veggies. Drink lots of water, the morning I will have my usual expresso, then oatmeal with fruit and walnuts -not good to start your long day with a ton of food in your gut, you'll need that blood in your legs and not your stomach. I never skip on my insulin but i will dial it back for sure. As for the ride I'll keep an eye on my sensor and that will decide the outcome of when to eat, if my glucose level is 5.0mm/l before a big say 5kms climb I'd eat a cliff bar and maybe that trusty old enduro banana before it turns black and beat up, I also will carry cliff shots if i need a sudden spike if I'm dropping fast. I like to keep to mostly complex protein mixed carbs for the ride but at the halfway point I'll eat a peanut butter and banana bagel, when wrapped up its durable and won't fall apart in your bag/ fanny pack. I hear you at the end of the ride, I'm the same, my body needs food and I will not hesitate to eat a pizza/ burger or anything greasy to enjoy the apres. another note -I will always carry extra then what I will needful food ie) cliff bars and fruit bars, just in case. Cliff bars avg about 45g of carbs so they will help you out in a crunch or if you have a mechanical and it takes you longer then 6hrs to get out of the bush. cheers.
  • 1 0
 The phone will collect data overnight if its on and in range, you don't have to handle it. So the 8h memory isn't so big a problem - it only stores 15 minute averages anyway.
  • 4 0
 Interesting tech but definitely not for me.
  • 5 1
 Wilford Brimley approved for your Diabeetus
  • 1 0
 You check your blood sugar and you check it often!
  • 1 0
 I would like a device that does a 24/7 check of the levels of anything in my blood plus an app that tells me in my sleep whether it was too much or too less of anything - e.g. alcohol, thc, pizza...
  • 2 2
 Like all the other products in the biometrics/personalized medicine market, you should bear in mind that the raw data, the measurements the device actually makes, always require interpretation, and that some of the 'data' the product may be showing the user are _not_ actual measurements, but rather are the projections of some model. This is consequential in several ways, including 1) the algorithm, in tech speak, the set of models that turn your raw data into something presumptively useful, is often a trade secret and not subject to transparency, review, accountability for bad advice 2) not all types of people participate in the research studies that are used to generate the models and to generalize -- so your individual physiology, whoever you are, is not necessarily within the parameters. This is storytelling, facilitating the user to associate the UI/UX stuff with how they feel, and that doesn't make it invalid -- but formal biology training includes a really large helping of learning to be wary of the 'just-so' story, of what we call "hand-waving", where it all sounds like a favorite explanation fits the data just so, but there's really insufficient evidence the favored story is any better than any number of other explanations.
  • 1 2
 Say what?? Incoherent much?
  • 2 1
 You wear tinfoil hat a lot?
  • 4 0
 yall people are fucking weird
  • 3 0
 If you are diabetic terrific. If you are not, Jesus, just go ride your bike.
  • 1 1
 Ok so I'm a Kinesiology student and I have a few things to say:

#1 and potentially the most important: everybody's needs for fuel will be different, we all have different bodies and just because we compete in the same sport as someone else, that other person may require drastically different fuel sources than you. Your fuel source will also drastically change depending on what type of competition you're doing, a downhill racer will need a way different diet and pre-race meal compared to a XC racer.

#2 is "Not many of us would drive a car without a fuel gauge... why would you train without one?" -- because we can generally feel (within reason) how our body is fueled at a given point, "bonking" is a super exaggerated form of feeling your body's fuel being depleted. This analogy in your article is also misleading because your car doesn't have a backup fuel tank to get you home. We use different fuel systems in our body depending on what we demand of it, it's not like we'll keel over and be unable to move if we don't have enough fuel, we can still get home on an "empty tank" whereas with a car you're calling a tow truck.

#3 is the premise of this article to begin with. If it's insanely expensive, it's safe to say that 99% of people on here aren't going to buy into it. Those who are able to afford it or need it for training, are probably racing at such a high level that they're in UCI sanctioned events, in which case this article states that it's banned by the UCI in competition so what's the point?

I understand that it's a cool piece of tech and I'm personally very interested to see how the tech can trickle down into more affordable versions of itself, but I don't really think this is worth dedicating time to testing and writing an article about on Pinkbike. It's not affordable, it's getting into the "too much info" territory for most people, it can't be used in high level competition so you can't even use it to properly fuel yourself mid-race, and most people probably won't be able to interpret the information it gives and effectively change something about their diet due to lack of knowledge on nutrition anyway.

Personally, the best way to find out what works for you is through trial and error. I use one exclusive brand of granola bars during a ride because they're the only ones that don't give me cramps. Trial and error is how I know what to eat the night before, the morning of, and during a ride.
  • 2 2
 eat healthy food, be active, so you avoid these divices in the future. If you could measure your glycogen stores, it might have made sense, but continuous measurement of blood sugar in healthy people is idiotic.
  • 2 1
 When is the oil slick eagle axs version going on pre-order? Asking for a friend who is a lawyer with a specialization in dental practices.
  • 3 0
 @mattwragg: In-ter-mar-chéééééé! "Tous unis contre la vie chère"
  • 2 0
 Thanks to this article I finally learned how long a fortnight is.
  • 2 0
 The problem with this tech and me is it's basically gamifying gummy bears.
  • 1 0
 I was like… is a $150 device expensive? Then I scrolled back up and read it again
  • 2 0
 Is the meter keto friendly?
  • 2 0
 YOU WILL OWN NOTHING AND BE HAPPY
  • 1 0
 Why exactly does this need a monthly subscription to send data from the device to my phone?
  • 1 0
 A trolley token to illustrate size?
Haven't the interwebs agreed for bananas for scale?
  • 1 0
 www.levelshealth.com another option, available in the US
  • 2 0
 tmi
  • 1 0
 the roadies are gonna love this!!
  • 1 0
 Pinkbike er um Outside doesn't understand their audience.
  • 1 0
 Well I came here expecting nothing but puns, but the comments do prove you wrong!
  • 2 1
 "$150 USD monthly" subscription! profit!
  • 3 1
 At only $1800 a year...
  • 1 0
 Is there a suppository version available?
  • 2 0
 I don't know, butt I'm sure you'll find out soon...
  • 2 0
 Straight forwards?
  • 2 0
 Yep. You find those on a men's soccer team. Women's... not so much.
  • 1 0
 Not available in the USA anyway.
  • 1 1
 Oh man, we're about to have strava dumbasses using this...Jesus.
  • 1 0
 hm







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