Escape Collective

What's this? A new podcast? You bet. 

Performance Process is a new podcast from Escape Collective exclusively for Escape Collective members. Ronan Mc Laughlin and Caley Fretz, the podcast was born from a simple idea: the best performances don’t just happen, they are the result of a combination of processes.

Be that training, testing, coaching, or the latest science, we will be joined by a new guest each episode to delve into the processes that produce performances with the people who understand them best.

If you enjoy maximising your own performance, this is definitely a podcast for you. Likewise, if you want to make sense of the latest performance innovations or how the best riders keep getting better, Performance Process is the podcast with the answers.

The first episode will drop next week, and we'll publish a new episode every other week. 

If you're already a member, you'll receive an email with instructions for accessing episodes of Performance Process. If you're not a member yet, head to Escapecollective.com/join to fix that right up. 

Jonny Long, Ronan Mc Laughlin, and Dane Cash join Caley Fretz to talk about what Jonny calls the "British equivalent of crit beef," Mauro Schmid's travel plans, and, of course, the reports of a possible Jumbo-Visma Soudal-QuickStep merger.

Abby, Loren, and Gracie break down the European Championship road race and chat about gardening (plus maybe a little about the Kardashians, sorry).

Ruth Winder joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano to discuss the entertaining road race action from the European Continental Championships as well as the 2023 Grand Tour season as a whole.

This week’s Geek Warning has James, Ronan, and Dave covering a broad range of topics from Fulcrum’s new road wheels, a new airless tyre, and a tyre that’s recalled for being unwantedly airless.

There’s also a surprising amount of chat about e-bikes, but perhaps not for the right reasons. There’s the new Moots entering the space, but not with its expected material. Rad Power promises safer batteries, which is great, but also feels late. And yet another recall has us asking whether cheap e-bikes are a responsible product.

Timestamps:

4:45 – Moots takes an Express train in an unexpected direction
16:00 – New mid-range performance road wheels from Fulcrum
21:40 – Another attempt at the airless bicycle tyre?
25:42 – A road tyre recall from Pirelli
28:52 – Rad Power announces safer batteries, bit late?
34:38 – And another recall, this one impacts 45,000 bikes!
46:42 – Ashton Lambie gets out of a stick’y situation
51:50 – High-priced wheels are on Dave’s mind
56:45 – A PSA for Shimano Di2 users

Jonny Long, Kit Nicholson, and Ronan Mc Laughlin join Caley Fretz to discuss their final impressions of the 2023 Vuelta a España and Jumbo-Visma's dominance, some chatter around Mark Cavendish racing on, and more. Plus, the crew dives into a Sepp Kuss-related Weekly Pain competition.

Abby, Loren and Gracie are back to chat about the Tour de Romandie, some transfers, and dolls.

Abby Mickey joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano to discuss the dramatic final week of the Vuelta a España, the race in general, and the Human Fly, and also to take a closer look at the women's Tour de Romandie.

Jonny Long, Abby Mickey, and Dane Cash join Caley Fretz in the immediate aftermath of stage 18 of the Vuelta a España, where Jumbo-Visma seemed to decide to back Sepp Kuss in red after several days of drama.

Specialized announced its latest Roubaix and Giant launched its fifth-generation Defy Advanced this week, but while they’re both “endurance road bikes”, they could hardly be more different.

We’ve also got a new aero all-rounder from Ridley, fancy 3D-printed titanium derailleur hangers, new indoor developments from Wahoo and Zwift, a whole day of hour records, thoughts on the UCI’s minimum weight limit, and a word of caution to maybe not trust that little map on your GPS computer *too* much.

Timestamps:

6:55 - A Specialized Roubaix, but no Cable Cobbler (yet)
21:45 - More endurance road bikes and Giant’s new Defy fills a gap.
32:20 – Silca has derailleur hangers with holes in them
38:45 - News from Wahoo with special guest, GPLama (https://gplama.com/)!
52:22 - A quick mention of Zwift things
54:50 - Ridley replaces the Helium SLX
1:01:30 - A new testing facility at MIPS
1:03:43 - There’s a day of Hour Records and Ronan is very excited
1:05:50 - The UCI weight limit is on Ronan’s mind
1:11:14 - A PSA that James and Dave hadn’t considered.

Emergency pod! Stage 17 of the Vuelta a Espana was a banger, but not because of any of the performances. No, it was the intra-squad squabbling of Jumbo-Visma that caught our eye. Let's discuss.

Warning, if you haven't seen the stage this pod is ONE BIG SPOILER. 

Jonny Long, Ronan Mc Laughlin, and Kit Nicholson join Caley Fretz on this week's Placeholders to discuss those bottles we see at the finish line, watches on the podium, Jumbo-Visma's approach to the Vuelta, GCN being for sale, and much more.

This week, Abby, Matt, Loren and Gracie talk about the Simac Ladies Tour and the career and legacy of Annemiek van Vleuten.

Abby Mickey joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano amid a busy slate of September racing. The crew talks Vuelta, SIMAC Ladies Tour, and Canadian GPs, which means plenty of discussion of Evenepoel and Kuss, SD Worx and sprints, and uphill surges in North America.

The Placeholders crew debates Sepp Kuss's chances at the Vuelta a España and discusses the route of the Tour of Britain. Plus, the first ever Weekly Pain with three contenders battling for points.

Trek has just announced its fourth-generation Domane AL, and it’s even more of a budget-friendly workhorse than before. Over on the Bontrager side, its new ProV all-road/gravel models are the latest to switch to thermoplastic construction (courtesy of CSS Composites).

Also, want to know more about Columbus’s new Trittico component family for internal routing? We’ve got the scoop.

Timestamps:

3:22 – The skinny on Trek’s new (and very versatile) Domane AL entry-level “road” bike
13:50 – Bontrager’s latest road wheels signal a possible widespread shift to thermoplastic carbon fiber rims
25:35 – What the heck is a Reaver?
28:58 – Supacaz is getting into eyewear
37:59 – Columbus has a new turnkey internal routing system for small builders
48:18 – Dave exercises a remarkable level of restraint at Harbor Freight
55:25 – A dream comes true for James
1:00:06 – It turns out torque wrenches need time to warm up, too

Lots of bike racing for Abby, Matt, and Gracie to chat about this week! The one-day GP de Plouay on Saturday, where aggressive tactics led to a reduced bunch sprint with a surprising winner, the young guns got to show off at the first-ever Tour de l’Avenir Femmes, and we’ve got six stages of racing in the Netherlands and Belgium coming up this week, the final race for Annemiek van Vleuten.

Jonny Long joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano after nine days of racing at the Vuelta a España. The crew discusses the battle between Remco Evenepoel and Jumbo-Visma, smart moves and questionable decisions, and what's next. Also, the podcast looks at two different approaches to a sprint in Plouay.

Two episodes of Geek Warning in one week? Oh yes!

This second episode has a more familiar format, but there’s still a twist. First, we have James and Dave chatting about what’s new this week and their thoughts from the MADE bike show.

And then, you’ll hear from famed frame builder and Escape Collective contributor Rob English about the show, plus thoughts on the handmade scene.

Timestamps:

2:35 – A brief recap of new gravel and road groups from Shimano
14:57 – Layoffs at Wahoo
17:50 – James and Dave chat Made.
32:18 – Hello Rob English!

Kit Nicholson and Jonny Long join Caley Fretz on this week's Placeholders to discuss whether Remco Evenepoel is growing into patron status, a saddle height kerfuffle at DSM, and more.

Plus, we hear from Tour de l'Avenir winner Isaac del Toro, and Dave Rome tells us more about a new wheel size.

Welcome to a special episode, brought to you by the geeks of Escape Collective. In this deep dive, tech editor Dave Rome interviews Nick Legan and Dave Lawrence from Shimano about all that’s new (and not) in the latest GRX 12-speed mechanical groupset.

At some point in the chat it’s mentioned that new 105 12-speed mechanical is also inbound, and so the conversation covers that, too.

Tune in to hear about all that’s new, how HG+ works, an explainer on freehub compatibility, cable durability concerns, and a few bad (excellent) puns.

Loren Rowney, Abby Mickey, and Matt de Neef get together to talk about the Tour of Scandinavia on this week's episode of the Wheel Talk podcast.

Ruth Winder joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano to discuss the many talking points in the early goings of the Vuelta a España, a strong showing by Annemiek van Vleuten and a gutsy performance by Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig at the Tour of Scandinavia, and more.

Iain Treloar and Dane Cash join Caley Fretz on this week's Placeholders to discuss news out of the Rwandan cycling scene, the Tour de l'Avenir, Jumbo-Visma's recent doping positive, and more. 

Plus, this Weekly Pain quiz comes down to the wire ...

This month's episode of Overnight Success is a bit different. For a long time now, we've been asked to share the origin story of CyclingTips in this podcast, but we always knew there was more to come in this journey. But now that the story is complete, we figured this is a good time to tell it.

Instead of this being a monologue, Wade asked Mitch Docker (from the Life in the Peloton podcast) to host this episode. Mitch's journey with Life in the Peloton is similar to my own in many ways, and I'm enjoying seeing him take his own path and making a success out of it.

It's hard to say if CyclingTips was a success or not. It depends on how you measure it. Like countless other media brands, CyclingTips is no longer in existence. But at one time it was a daily destination for cycling enthusiasts around the globe, and had a strong place within the cycling community that everyone involved was proud of.

The version of CyclingTips that died a quick death was a very popular one. Each year millions of people visited the site. There were thousands of paying members. We ran events. We supported local events whenever we could. We contributed to charitable and social causes. We tried to give a voice to those who didn’t have one. We weren’t the biggest, but we liked to think that we made an impact in our little corner of the world.

From the outside, it might have looked like a straightforward path, but as you'll hear it was anything but...

Abby Mickey joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano to cover some interesting talking points after an intriguing finale at the Bemer Cyclassics and then to preview the route and favorites for the Vuelta  a España and the Tour of Scandinavia.

Dane Cash and Kit Nicholson join Caley Fretz to discuss Mikel Landa, Fabio Jakobsen, and other big transfers, the MTB race start order kerfuffle at Worlds, and Richard Freeman. And of course, there's also another riveting edition of the Weekly Pain quiz.

This week's Geek Warning episode is a little different. With James off racing bikes, and Dave travelling (for work), the Geeks instead gathered to answer a bucket full of tech questions from Escape Collective members.Joining James and Dave are former MTB World Cup mechanic Brad Copeland and dream bike builder Zach (of Boulder Grupetto).

Don't worry, the regular weekly show will return soon! In the meantime, enjoy and please let us know what you think of this format

The band is back together! This week, Abby Mickey, Matt de Neef, Loren Rowney, and Gracie Elvin chat about the ITT and road race at the Glasgow World Championships.

Buckle up! It was a wild race!

Ruth Edwards and Kit Nicholson join Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano to break down the action from the time trials and the women's road race at Glasgow Worlds.

Abby Mickey, Matt de Neef and Loren Rowney are joined once again by Matilda Raynolds to preview the women’s elite and U23 road race at the Glasgow World Championships.

James, Dave, and builder of dreams Zach are back and cover a broad spectrum of geeky topics. Specialized has a new iteration of the Tarmac. Ridley has a new bike with Fast in its name. Lezyne has even more products and Velocio clothing expands into mountain bike.

We also summarise our thoughts on the Classified two-speed hub system. And so much more geeking.

4:36 – A quick corrections corner, oops
6:36 – A speed sniffing bike from Specialized
23:00 – Ridley’s new TT bike and Ronan isn’t here
28:49 – A torque wrench for News Tools Day
31:04 – Lezyne and a lot of (too much?) choice
36:15 – Velocio goes mountain
39:45 – It’s Classified, but our thoughts are not
55:22 – Too many logos are on Dave’s mind
1:02:20 – Crazy track bikes from everyone
1:03:44 – MVDP, crashing, and Boas
1:08:55 – A PSA on cleats

Iain Treloar and Dane Cash join Caley Fretz to cover some of the key storylines from Glasgow "Super Worlds," including star turns from team bosses, Mathieu van der Poel's busy day in the road race, up-and-comers, and more.

Caley Fretz joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano after a memorable battle for the rainbow jersey. The podcast crew discusses the unique and interesting race route, the differences that define Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, whether anyone could have done anything tactically to change the outcome of the race, and more.

Santa Cruz has revamped its popular Stigmata gravel bike with a new MTB-inspired personality, Allied modernizes its Alfa road bike, Microshift’s new Sword gravel groupset looks extremely promising, and you’ll soon be able to track your bike with Apple’s Find My function without an AirTag. And what the heck is up with that hookless tire blow-off video that’s been going around?

The Geeks have questions.

1:50 — Santa Cruz has a new MTB-like Stigmata gravel bike
12:31 — There’s a new Alfa road bike from Allied
22:50 — Microshift’s new Sword gravel groupset looks fantastic
29:57 — Got a 4iiii power meter? Track your bike without an Apple AirTag
34:27 — Hookless road tires generally don’t just blow off the rim
44:47 — Dave is back to his tool-buying ways
45:18 — Tires are stupidly expensive
48:13 — Maybe suspension stems aren’t dorky after all
54:54 — The hot setup for Leadville 100

Ruth Winder joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano to discuss a very busy week of racing at a thoroughly entertaining Tour de France Femmes, as well as the action from the Clásica San Sebastián and just a little bit of the Tour of Poland too.

The crew delivers one final episode from the ground at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift with Abby Mickey and Matt de Neef (plus a cameo from a familiar voice or two).

Plus, final audio diaries from Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ-Suez), Georgia Williams (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB), Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Human Powered Health), Ella Wyllie (Lifeplus Wahoo), Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step), and Jess Allen (Jayco-AlUla).

Abby and Matt report from atop the Col du Tourmalet, surrounded by fans, while watching the women make history.

Hear audio diaries from Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ-Suez), Sara Poidevin (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB), and Jess Allen (Jayco-AlUla).

Abby, Matt and Kate report on the sixth stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. It was a particularly exciting finale with a worthy winner. And get ready for stage 7, the famous Col du Tourmalet.

Hear audio diaries from Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Human Powered Health, Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ-Suez), Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step), Ella Wyllie (Lifeplus Wahoo), and Jess Allen (Jayco-AlUla).

Abby and Matt again are able to rope in Iris Slappendel to chat about the fifth stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift! And what a stage it was, with a surprise winner, and some more interesting maneuvers from SD Worx. It’s an episode you won’t want to miss. Hear from Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step), Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, and Jess Allen (Jayco-AlUla).

Legendary French wheel brand Mavic is rumored to be gearing up to come back to the US market – but is the US market ready for them to come back?

The Geek Warning crew also had a mountain of new gear to discuss this week, including new bikes from Orbea, GT, and Polygon, stunning road wheels from Syncros, and updated cross-country suspension from RockShox. And what’s up with this giant pile of new go-fast gear the UCI just revealed? Ronan did some digging.

Abby and Matt are back from Rodez to chat about the fourth stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. It was quite the day with a lot of interesting attempts from the GC favourites and some dreams come true for the stage winner. Hear from breakaway champions Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek) and Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Human Powered Health, plus from Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ-Suez), Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step), Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, and Jess Allen (Jayco-AlUla).

Abby Mickey, Matt de Neef, and Kate Wagner check in from the ground of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift stage 3. Abby also chats with Iris Slappendel on the finish line after her day on the moto.

Plus hear from Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ-Suez), Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step), Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, Jess Allen (Jayco-AlUla), and Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Human Powered Health.

Ruth Winder joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano to talk takeaways from the final week of the men's Tour de France, which the whole crew agrees was a great one. What did we learn about Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar? Who deserves a bit more credit for their racing than maybe they've been getting so far?

Then, it's on to talking about the Tour de France Femmes, which has already featured some interesting storylines across the first two stages.

Abby Mickey and Matt de Neef are joined on the ground by Kate Wagner fresh off the men’s Tour. They talk about a tough day for the women from Clermont-Ferrand to Mauriac, with a fun little climb to finish off the stage.

Tune in for audio diaries from Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Ella Wyllie (Lifeplus Wahoo), Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ-Suez), Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step), Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, Jess Allen (Jayco-AlUla), and Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Human Powered Health).

As Dave and James recover from illness and injury, Ronan sits down with EscapeCollective member Marc Graveline to make sense of Jonas Vingagaard's stage 16 time trial performance. Marc was a data engineer before early retirement allowed him the time to moving into cycling and develop the Notio Konect, the first consumer available aero sensor on the market.

Marc is now a consultant to World Tour teams and counts time trial modelling and analysis among his favourite hobbies, not to mention aero testing some of the world's best riders. Finally, we wrap the conversation with a discussion on what the other World Tour teams can do to narrow the gap to Jumbo-Visma.

Abby and Matt are on the ground in Clermont-Ferrand for the start of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and they are joined by Iris Slappendel to talk the first stage.

Including in the peloton audio diaries from Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, Veronica Ewers, Vittoria Guazzini, Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Ella Wyllie and Jess Allen.

The Tour Daily bids adieu to the men's Tour de France from the Champs-Élysées, where Jordi Meeus stunned Jasper Philipsen in the final sprint.

Walking along the iconic road in Paris, the podcast crew puts a microphone in front of Matej Mohorič, Jack Haig, and more after 21 days of racing.

Caley, Jonny, Kate, and Joshua Robinson of the Wall Street Journal come to you from the top of Le Markstein, where Jonas Vingegaard has secured his second Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar put a fun hat on his sad Tour, and Thibaut Pinot did exactly what the world wanted him to do.