Escape Collective

Framework Bicycles isn’t afraid to say it’s making its frames a little differently from usual. In fact, the Canadian company is not only extremely proud of that, but feels its unusual methods are also integral to what makes its frames what they are. In this week’s members-only episode, James sits down with Framework founder – and one-person fabricator – Jonathan Kennedy for an ultra-deep dive on his philosophy behind what makes a good bike.

Geek Warning is back, with Dave and Ronan on hand to discuss the latest happenings from the world of cycling tech. James is currently roaming the halls of the Taipei show, so this week, you get two-thirds of our geeky Geek Warning trio discussing the Fraser Group's acquisition of whatever is left at Wiggle-CRC after another round of layoffs and the latest questions as the hookless conversation rages on following what appears to be another failure.

There's also news of Look's new Keo Blade and X-Track power meter pedals and Rapha's latest aero jersey that might save you 7 watts, four watts, or both; we're not sure. 

Later in the episode, the conversation changes to Ronan's concerns we may be headed for an automotive industry-style "approved service centre only" model for our bike's servicing and maintenance needs. While the conversation throws up some potential positives from such a move, worryingly, Dave suggests we are already there. 

Finally, Dave has another reason to buy more tools dressed up as a PSA. 

Time stamps:

5:20 - Frasers Group's Wiggle-CRC takeover
10:00 - Hooked on hookless 
16:50 - New Giant TCR
21:55 - Stupid helmets everywhere
28:10 - Look's new power meter pedals
32:50 -Rapha's new Pro Team Jersey
37:40 - On Your Mind - "Approved service centre only" 
48:00 - A PSA from Dan Bigham's mechanic 

Ronan Mc Laughlin, Jonny Long, and Kit Nicholson join Caley Fretz on this week's Placeholders to discuss new helmets and new helmet regulations, Tadej Pogačar's talent, and hookless rims.

The crew also gives the BikeGrid game a go.

Loren, Gracie, and Abby get together to talk about all the action at Strade Bianche, and the exciting change that will impact Ronde van Drenthe next weekend. Plus, Abby is losing the Draft and is quite stressed about it.

This week on the How the Race was Won Podcast, Cosmo Catalano and Dane Cash break down the action at Strade Bianche. Could the race have been won any other way? Was the winner playing mind games with his rivals?

Plus, the podcast discusses what's on tap for this week at Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.

We interrupt our regular scheduling to bring you a special episode of Performance Process to coincide with the start of the Formula 1 season. In this special episode we focus less on the processes of going faster and more on the transferable skills, processes, and obsessions between F1 and cycling with former F1 driver and Escape Collective member, Jack Aitken.

Jack was the 2015 Formula Renault Eurocup champion and he competed in GP3 and FIA Formula 2 before becoming test drive at Renault F1. He is best known in F1 circles for his time with Williams F1, whom he drove for in the 2020 Sakhir Gand Prix. We recorded this episode last July when he was doubling up driving duties with IMSA’s Whelen Cadillac and DTM’s Emil Frey racing. Jack is back in IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) this year with the number 31 car Whelen Engineering Cadillac.

Jack also takes to two wheels as often as any of us and has competed in both criteriums and gran fondos. We ask Jack what the fascination is with cycling for F1 drivers, and discuss the transferable skills, the leakage of talent that is F1’s loss and cycling’s gain, environmental endeavours of both sports, how breathable his underwear is, and finally rules … but of course.

The time has come for the geeks to share their strong opinions on road tubeless and the movement toward hookless rims. In this episode, and off the back of a high-profile failure, James, Ronan, and Dave dive into the growing concerns related to the many caveats around hookless road rims.

Later in the episode, the conversation changes to fancier ways to hide cables through smaller headsets and the problems this may present. Then there’s a polarising PSA many probably won’t want to hear.

In many ways, this episode is just our geeks ranting about the issues of modern bikes, but hopefully, it proves useful!

Time stamps:

3:15 - Digging into the big topic of road tubeless tyres blowing off hookless rims
36:00 - A little promo of a podcast series not to miss
37:12 - Baum and slotted steerer tubes are on Dave’s mind
43:55 - The only good fix for contaminated brake pads
47:10 - New things from Cadex
48:05 - A new endurance road tyre from Vittoria

This week on the Placeholders, Dane Cash, Abby Mickey, and Kit Nicholson join Caley Fretz to ponder whether anyone will remember Visma's Opening Weekend results if they can't win a Monument, who is the best sprinter right now, and whether team mechanics can disguise themselves as riders to get into races.

In this super chaotic episode, Abby, Gracie and Loren are joined by Matt de Neef and Matilda Raynolds for an NFL-snake-style draft. Who will the first pick be? Who’s already winning by a heck of a lot points? Find out in this episode.

We also chat a bit about an exciting start to the women’s Classics season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and what it might mean for the season ahead.

If you, like us, have spent the past four months nurturing a pent-up need to be pretty serious, your wait is over. After a long hiatus during the offseason – and even through the first few weeks of this year, with apologies to the Tour Down Under! – Cosmo Catalano and Dane Cash are back with a weekly show to break down all of the racing action that took place over the past week.

The podcast's aim has always been to be Pretty Serious about bike racing, and that isn't changing, but the *name* is. Since its inception, the podcast has focused on telling listeners about how events were concluded in the triumph of this or that rider, but this year, Cosmo and Dane are just going all-in on telling you How the Race was Won.

Each week, you can expect Cosmo and Dane, and occasionally other voices too, to take a closer look at the moments that defined racing over the previous few days (focusing mostly on men's racing with Wheel Talk the following day focusing on the women's racing), to highlight which riders maybe deserve a bit more heralding and which might have been a bit too heralded, and to look ahead to broader storylines. Sometimes, the podcast will even attempt to venture into sports talk radio territory.

This week on How the Race was Won, the crew breaks down Jan Tratnik's win at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, who deserves a bit more credit for their performance in the race, Visma's general dominance across the weekend, and what it all means.

In EP3, we heard about what much of the bike industry experienced during that dramatic slowdown of bike sales, and what resulted. In this episode, EP4, we'll hear about some of the learnings and takeaways from the past three years, and put forward some tough questions for the bike industry to ask itself.

JP Ballard joins us for the third half of our mini-series with the CEO of Swiss Side. This week, we dispel some aero myths, discuss and imagine some aero hacks, and JP generally breaks down aero for us non-aerodynamicists. 

We discuss if lower and narrower is slower or faster, acid tests for assessing aero marketing, and why aero matters regardless of what speed we ride at, even uphill.

We then delve into where’s best to spend your money chasing aero gains, the best bang for the buck, so to speak. Finally, perhaps the biggest takeaway is that JP doesn’t believe the rule of 105 is as critical as we once thought

All told, this is a bumper episode and a fitting way to conclude this mini-series. 

Welcome one and all to the Escape Collective Men's WorldTour Draft 2024!

The draft, a method of allocating players into teams, is beautiful. It’s a system based on fairness, hope, and competition. Maybe perplexingly, it’s also about as American as it gets. As American as yugging down a hot dog and a Miller Light on the fourth of July, or driving in a Cadillac to Lauderhill in Florida to visit the biggest rubber band ball in the world (which if you were wondering weighs over 9,000 lbs).

You’ll likely know it from the acronym sports such as the NFL and NBA, but what about if we did it with sports that had real names too? Like cycling?

Well, that’s what we’re going to find out. We’ve assembled an Escape Collective crew who will be selecting squads of 10 riders for the 2024 men’s WorldTour season, accruing UCI points as they compete in real life.

Silca’s new StripChip claims to take (most) of the hassle out of properly immersion-waxing your chain, but while it sounds promising, Dave’s got his doubts. Favero unveiled its long-awaited SPD-compatible power meter pedals for MTB and gravel, and although they tick a lot of boxes, pedals in general may not be the best power meter format for everyone.

In big-brand component news, we read the tea leaves on Campagnolo’s new Ekar GT midrange gravel groupset to see what it might indicate for the Ekar family in general, and SRAM’s new Maven mountain bike hydraulic disc brakes could signal a sea change.

Jonny Long and Dane Cash join Caley Fretz on the Placeholders this week for a form check as early-season racing ramps up. The crew also circles the Plugge hole (Erzen's version) and makes some knee-jerk predictions ahead of Opening Weekend.

Abby, Gracie, and Loren break down the major talking points from Setmana Ciclista Valenciana over the weekend and what to look for at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad coming up on Saturday. Plus, we’re all excited about one rider on the start-list for Omloop van het Hageland!

Whilst down in Australia for the Tour Down Under and the Deakin University Road Race, our very own Matilda Raynolds sat down with Heidi Franz, rider for Lifeplus Wahoo, for a chat. They discussed Heidi’s last couple of years in the sport, how cycling should differ from gymnastics, popular Aussie phrases you should know, and much more.

We hope you enjoy this bonus Wheel Talk episode, and Abby, Loren and Gracie will be back later this week to chat about Setmana Valenciana and the upcoming Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

This is the third episode in our series that takes a deep dive into what the bike industry experienced during the covid boom and how it got into the trouble it’s in now.

In Episode 2, we heard from various industry professionals about the early warning signals that told them that this bubble was about to burst, and some of the reckless behaviour and pressure that was being put onto various parts of the supply chain by some big brands. But it’s not so clear-cut. We’re also beginning to hear some finger-pointing in all directions and I supposed the fragmented nature of the bike industry makes it really easy for things to slip through the cracks and in hindsight, it was perhaps a recipe for disaster.

In reference to the postmortem of Wiggle/CRC and the interview with Jake Dudek done in this episode, you can read his post on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/postmortem-signa-sports-united-jacob-dudek-xau9f/

In this episode entitled ‘The Famine’, we zoom into the timeframe when demand came to an abrupt halt and what the bike industry was left with.

Colnago recently debuted its latest C68 model – the C68 Gravel – and while it seems like a pretty nice gravel bike in its own right, what’s more interesting is understanding more about what that new bike means for Colnago’s strategy in general moving forward, particularly since being bought by a UAE-based investment group in 2020. In this members-only episode, James sits down with Colnago CEO Nicola Rosin and Colnago’s head of marketing, Manolo Bertocchi, to get the scoop on how things have been going there (shockingly well), where Colnago wants to be (“the most desirable”), and who the brand sees as its customer base in the years ahead (hint: probably not you).

It’s time for another episode of Geek Warning. Dave and Ronan are back to discuss the latest happenings in the world of cycling tech and what’s on their minds.

Ritchey and Factor have new bike (frame) releases that sit near polar opposites of the road market. Ritchey has brought back its well-loved Road Logic frames, while Factor’s Ostro VAM, a bike we’ve looked at before, is now officially official.

There are new shoes from Trek and Specialized, with the former leaving Ronan a little confused over what size his feet are. And Dave shares what’s on his mind (hint, tools), and then there’s a quick wrap of other interesting tech and industry news.

Timestamps:

5:03 - Ritchey Logic brings back its rim brake road frames
8:03 - Factor’s new Ostro VAM is now official and Ronan has built one
23:43 - Black Inc’s 1,270 g aero wheels
26:45 - Specialized’s new mid-price helmet and shoes
28:45 - Trek’s many new shoes, many new fits
41:45 - On Dave’s mind
46:58 - 4iiii’s new Pro 3+ dual-sided powermeter
50:40 - KMC gets into cassettes
52:05 - F+B Shift wheels bring thermoplastic carbon to a lower price point
54:52 - Giant Bicycles to be sold by Dick’s Sporting Goods

Jonny Long, Kit Nicholson, and Dane Cash join Caley Fretz on this week Placeholders to cover all of the big news as racing is heating up around the world from Oman to Colombia.

In episode one we heard about the unexpected windfall that the cycling industry saw at the start of the pandemic and how many needed to react. 

Of course that didn’t last forever, and in this episode I’ve titled ‘the storm clouds’ we talk about the early signs that this new demand was coming to an abrupt halt, and the types of behaviour that was happening and the causes of that behaviour that led to the catastrophe that the industry would later see.

Loren Rowney is back to discuss all the action from the UAE Tour with Gracie and Abby. They try to answer questions like: Will Kopecky’s form impact Vollering’s Classics goals, and what will that mean for SD Worx - Protime as a whole? And is there a cuter couple than Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce (there isn’t)?

In this 4 part series, I wanted to explore the events that took place that led the bike industry to the troubling point it’s at now. I spoke to over a dozen industry professionals from all parts of the supply chain. From well run bike shops, forecasting analysts, distributors, the biggest bike brands in the world, and manufacturers. 

It’s well known that the bicycle industry went through an unprecedented boom during the pandemic from 2020 - 2022. 

Jump ahead to 2024 and much of the bike industry is in trouble. New demand has come to an abrupt halt. New entrants into the bicycle market have not stayed as the industry had hoped.

We’re seeing massive inventory overruns at bike shops. Big bike brands are taking on extra warehousing space. Businesses such as Niner, Orange, Wiggle/CRC, have gone into bankruptcy. Otherwise profitable big brands have taken on debt to keep afloat. There are brands out there who are doing well, but they’re the exception rather than the norm. In general , I don’t think many would disagree that the situation in major cycling markets, aside from China,  is pretty dire.

The episode is this first of four. We’re going to bring you on a journey through the COVID feast, the storm clouds, the famine, and the lessons learned in hindsight.

In this episode, The Feast, we speak to a bike shop owner, a demand forecasting analyst for a distributor, company CEOs, and a manufacturer to hear about what they experienced during the initial stages of the pandemic in early 2020. 

JP Ballard joins us once again for part one of our Performance Process deep dive into all things aerodynamics.

Ballard is founder and CEO of aerodynamics specialists Swiss Side. The Swiss company produces wheels and aero calf sleeves, but the majority of its work is in offering its aerodynamic expertise to other manufacturers in the cycling industry.

Ballard first joined us for a pit walk critiquing bikes and equipment of the 2024 WorldTour paddock during the recent Tour Down Under. He had also sat down with us before that race to record three hours worth of discussion and advice on aerodynamics and performance. In part one of that conversation Ballard gives us an insight into some of Swiss Side's unseen consultancy work and we discuss performance simulation tools, sail effect, the future of cycling aero, and why Ballard thinks we are not even half way to "peak aero."

Welcome back to Geek Warning. In this episode, Dave and Ronan talk through a bunch of the biggest tech news in the cycling world and cover a few test products at the top of their minds.

It’s hard to find a new racing product today that doesn’t at least tease the “aero” word, however, TuboLight may just be the first to make such a claim for a product that goes inside the tyre.

The recently seen shoe and pedal system from Ekoi caught unwanted attention from the UCI, but them’s the rules. One that is UCI-certified for racing is Ridley’s new X-Night RS cyclocross machine.

SRAM has officially issued a recall related to all aftermarket 12-speed dropbar levers, but the fix is one you can likely do yourself. Another you could probably do yourself is convert an existing Specialized Crux or Roubaix to run SRAM’s 1x Transmission (typically requires a UDH-frame); it’s a new product offered by 5Dev.

The conversation then turns to the weirdly named premium thermal skinsuit that Ronan is testing from Q36.5. And Dave has a little rant related to the new Trek Domane AL just reviewed.

All that, and more, on this week's Geek Warning.

Timestamps:

3:55 - Tubolite gets aero, inside the tyre
11:35 - Ekoi pedals and UCI rulings
21:08 - Ridley’s new X-Night RS, aero(ish) meets cyclocross
28:49 - A DIY recall related to SRAM’s brake lever
33:07 - 5Dev’s adapter to install SRAM Transmission on a Specialized Crux or Roubaix.
36:53 - Ronan is testing a £808 thermal skinsuit from Q36.5
43:05 - What Dave is testing and a rant on entry-level bikes
53:35 - A PSA related to dropbar levers, and another related to crockpots
58:30 - A quick wrap of other news, including Amer Sports, Curve’s carbon Walmer handlebar, and BeSpoked to be held in Manchester.

Ronan Mc Laughlin, Jonny Long, and Kit Nicholson join Caley Fretz to discuss the rumors of a potential (and large) investment in bike racing from a Saudi Arabian firm as well as the news of the UCI banning a pedal and Zdeněk Štybar's retirement.

Helen Wyman joined Abby for this fantastic episode of the Wheel Talk Podcast. The two talk about all the action from the U23 and Elite races at the World Championships over the weekend, answer listener questions about families in Cyclocross, Lucinda Brand, and more. Plus, lots of laughter. This was such a good episode we’ve even got a longer version exclusively for the members of Escape Collective.

With much of the industry languishing under the post-Covid, brands are trying harder than ever to carve out a niche for themselves to stay afloat. Colnago’s new C68 Gravel bike is super premium by design, but based on their sales figures, the focus on luxury is clearly getting the job done. Campagnolo seems to be falling into the same strategy almost by accident, but is it working as well? That’s not so clear. Hunt also debuted its latest aero wheels and they look like they could be quite the performance bargain – as long as you’re ok with hookless rims – and just when you thought clipless road pedals couldn’t get any better than they already are, French brand Ekoi’s new road pedal-and-shoe system might actually move the needle.

And finally, have we finally reached a stable point for road bike tire sizes? Maybe. Or maybe not.

Timestamps:

6:45 – Colnago’s got a fancy new gravel bike, and they’re ok if it’s out of your reach
20:19 – Campagnolo’s new aero road wheels are absolutely gorgeous
27:53 – Hunt’s new Sub50 Limitless Aero Disc road wheels could be an incredible performance bargain
38:45 – Ekoi has a truly novel new road pedal-and-shoe system in development, and they might actually be good
48:04 – Noble Wheels tools are back! Well, sort of
49:55 – More musings on using candle wax to lube your chains
51:39 – Vittoria’s got a new Corsa Pro Speed go-fast tire
52:52 – Want to stand out from the crowd? Bossi has expanded its range of titanium gravel frames
54:28 – Orange Bikes is back in business
56:49 – Road tire sizes seem to have stabilized (and yes, James is getting old)

It’s time for another gathering of the geeks for an episode of Ask a Wrench. In this member’s bonus episode, Zach (of Boulder Gruppetto), James, and Dave answer more technical questions submitted by Escape members.

This week, the geeks answer questions related to using alternative cassette options, fitting bigger cassette ranges than allowed, selecting parts for the Paris-Roubaix sportive, replacing a Cannondale Lefty, and using saddlebags with carbon saddle rails. Then the conversation continues with questions related to swapping Shimano brake components, bike packing with waxed chains, learning to bleed brakes, and torque wrench calibration testing.

Our weekly Geek Warning podcast remains unchanged and open to all, we’re now providing additional bonus episodes each fortnight. Only members and paid readers of Escape Collective can access the full versions of these bonus podcasts. These bonus episodes are a mix of Ask a Wrench, deep-dives, or interviews with the people behind popular products.

Abby Mickey, Dane Cash, and Ronan Mc Laughlin join Caley Fretz to talk Red Bull, MyWhoosh, Ekoi, and more ...

This week on the Wheel Talk Podcast, Tils (Matilda Raynolds) is back to chat with Gracie and Abby about the Deakin University Road Race.

This week's episode of Performance Process delves deep into the topic of heat and how it can be both a powerful, free, and accessible training intervention and a major problem.

In the podcast, we speak to Chris Bloomfield-Brown, a performance engineer for most of his life, in everything motorsport to pro bike racing and with plenty of work in triathlon along the way. Chris is perhaps best known in the WorldTour peloton for his work in recent years with CORE, the company behind those small rectangular white sensors attached to almost every heart rate strap in the peloton. 

We talk to Chris about all things heat training, cooling, and better warm-ups and dissect some of the adaption, acclimatisation, strain, and other terminology with regard to heat.

There’s always something going on in the world of cycling tech. This week, James and Dave discuss a bunch of news items, what their favourite clothing is for shoulder season, and a little safety warning related to new tyres.

It’s been a busy week of tech news out of Europe and the UK. First up, the heritage brand of Eddy Merckx is back, but looking at the range today, it looks a lot like business as usual from when we last saw the name on downtubes.

French cycling brand Look has officially released its new Keo Blade pedals. Meanwhile, the two-speed hub maker Classified has updated the rims of its carbon wheels.

In the UK, Mason has a new version of the Definition aluminium dropbar bike. Plus we cover further news regarding Schwalbe, Holding, Wolf Tooth, and candles, yes, candles.

Timestamps:

5:25 - Eddy Merckx bikes are back
11:25 – Our obligatory segment related to chain waxing
16:50 - Look release its new Keo Blade pedals
22:30 - Picking one, our favourite shoulder-season kit (all disciplines)
34:45 - PSA on brand new tyres
40:20 - Classified’s own carbon wheels get lighter and wider rims
41:12 - Schwalbe consolidating its manufacturing
42:39 - Mason’s new aluminium dropbar bike
43:54 – Hovding files for bankruptcy
45:15 - Wolf Tooth ReMote Pro now in colours

There’s an undeniable truth that an overnight success takes about 10 years, not a single night. Almost no one comes up with a winning business idea all at once. And if you’re not Peter and Tom Marchment or those around them who created the aftermarket wheel brand Hunt, you might be mistaken that they came out of nowhere. 

Tom and Peter are brothers who grew up riding in a small fishing village on the Isle of Man and like most of us at the beginning, cycling was a way to get around and a source of freedom. That progressed to mountain biking and then cross-country racing then road racing and time trialling - as you do in the UK.   

At University Peter got some background in materials sciences while Tom took a degree in ergonomics, which is human psychology and physiology applied to design, which he admits that he really didn’t like. Their paths diverged after university when Tom started working in a bike shop where he got some cycling industry experience, while Peter went to work at a bank. 

Peter and Tom have been slowly putting the building blocks of their steadfast aftermarket wheelset business together for nearly a decade now, all starting with an online store called The InnerTube Shop back in 2013. 

Here’s Peter and Tom Marchment who started InnerTube Shop telling about how it all began.

Dane Cash, Jonny Long, and Kit Nicholson join Caley Fretz on this week's Placeholders to talk about where the Ineos Grenadiers find themselves in 2024, the latest from the 'cross scene, and whether pro cycling should have a draft.

Matilda Raynolds, or Tils as she’s known to the members of the Wheel Talk Podcast Discord group (available to members of Escape Collective), joins Gracie and Abby on the podcast this week with some insider information on the Tour Down Under and some thoughts on the upcoming Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.

And, as promised, here is a link to G Flips's cover of Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift.

Rupert Guinness, Ronan Mc Laughlin and Matt de Neef breakdown a fascinating final stage of the men's Tour Down Under and discuss the race's biggest winners and losers. Plus: a look at the logistics of moving the WorldTour peloton over to Victoria for the upcoming Cadel's Race.

Join Rupert Guinness, Ronan Mc Laughlin and Matt de Neef as they dissect stages 4 and 5 of the men's Tour Down Under. The first, another sprint stage where even a messy lead-out couldn't disrupt Bora-Hansgrohe; the second, the much-anticipated return to the iconic Willunga Hill.

The 2024 WorldTour season is under way at the Tour Down Under and Escape Collective is on the ground all week bringing you the latest news, tech, and Escape podcasts. Today we've got a combined Geek Warning and Performance Process tech special episode as Jean Paul Ballard of SwissSide joins us for the first of two podcasts with the former F1 aerodynamicist. 

In this episode JP takes us on a wandering roam around the Tour Down Under pit zone talking us through which teams and manufacturers are optimising and which are compromising. JP breaks down some aero myths, explains the true benefit of aero bikes, wheels, helmets, critiques some of the latest tech, and whether a "do-it-all" all rounder can really do-it-all as we discuss each team's setup.

Timestamps:

07:06 – SwissSide's AG2R partnership and a conflict of interest.
12:12 – Bora Hansgrohe & Soudal Quickstep setups from Specailized.
14:59 - Arkea's dedicated aero and do-it-all bike choices. 
16:08 – UAE's Colnago V4RS, handlebars, wheel, and tyre choices.
19:38 – Do wider tyre rolling resistance savings offset the increased aero drag? 
21:05 – Cofidis team bikes and their "catastrophic," double digit watt penalty tyre choice.
23:31 - Jayco's bikes and why rider preference isn't always best. 
27:06 – Are hookless rims more aero?
28:37 – Aero versus vented helmets.
30:05 – The counterintuitive effect of helmet visors.
31:58 - One of the best aero bikes on the market and handlebar sail effect.
33:52 - Varying rim depths and tyre widths front to rear and a common mistake. 
34:51 - The "detrimental for performance" design elements of the Ineos Pinarello Dogma F.
37:54 - Is there an aero gain from smaller front brake rotors? 
39:58 - The importance of textiles. 
41:55 - The other "aero interesting" design element of the Trek Madone. 

Dave and Ronan are in thick of the Tour Down Under and have a whole lot of new (and old!) race tech to discuss. The industry has woken up from the holiday break with a flurry of new products worthy of discussion. And, as usual, the geeks cover so much more.

Timestamps:

3:00 – Spotting three new helmets on rider heads.
11:10 – Trek working on a knit shoe.
15:15 – New Look pedals, and more from Time.
19:50 – Enve’s new InnerDrive hub and SES AR one-piece handlebar, including a quick tangent on measuring lever angle.
27:10 – Budget smart trainers from Decathlon.
31:25 – Explaining Australia’s two competing custom bike shows.
34:20 – Last year’s race bikes are on our mind.
39:08 – Pro mechanics making do with things from a hardware store.
43:32 – Our PSA.
47:55 – Rapid fire of tech news including new Fulcrum Speed 25+ wheels, OneUp’s V3 dropper seatpost, BlackHeart’s new Gravel AL bike, and Leap Components’ Blip button adapter.

Rupert Guinness and Ronan Mc Laughlin join Matt de Neef to dissect stages 2 and 3 of the men’s Tour Down Under. 

Daring late attacks, super sprint lead-outs, a nasty crash - the last few days have had it all. The trio also look forward to the next few stages. Could wind be on the menu before the much-anticipated return to Willunga Hill?

Jonny Long, Abby Mickey, and Dane Cash join Caley Fretz on this week's episode of the Placeholders to discuss the latest in the apparently unending stream of transfer chatter involving Bora and Visma, salads, what we can expect from Sarah Gigante, and so much more. Plus, members will get to hear another installment of the Placeholders After Dark ...

Rupert Guinness and Ronan Mc Laughlin join Matt de Neef to kick off the first men's race of the season. The crew talks takeaways from the pre-race chatter, the fast finish of stage 1, and what's to come across the next week in Australia.

Dave Rome is back on hosting duties with Matt de Neef and Gracie Elvin to chat about stages 2 and 3 of the women's Tour Down Under. Both days delivered potentially unsurprising but incredibly exciting victories, with some teams having to shift focus while others held firm to the plan. 

In its second year as a WorldTour event the Tour Down Under delivered a race worth watching, but will they add stages in the future? And what can we take away from TDU into the rest of the season?

Performance Process returns for 2024 with the latest in our series delving into how and why World Tour racing is getting so much faster. Coach Jacob Tipper is our guest discussing various aspects of the training that goes into modern performances. 

Covering everything from the importance of fatigue resistance to off season binges, Tipper talks from his vast experience as a rider and coach to many. Tipper has coached EF's Ben Healy since the under 16 categories and talks us through some of the steps and plans that Healy has implemented in becoming one of the hottest prospects in the World Tour and why other aspiring athletes shouldn't throw the towel in when they see young mega-stars siging pro and winning big right out of the junior categories. 

Time stamps for the episode:

04:06 – UCI lever angle rules
09:24 – Is World Tour Racing getting faster?
14:59 - Is it just speed increasing, or is power increasing also? 
16:51 – Modern training and increased professionalism
28:00 – Power training and its usefulness. 
34:29 – The difference between pros and U23 riders and the key performance metric we should be talking about
41:11 - On recovery
44:38 – Altitude training
49:14 – Heat training
56:32 – A theory on how better fuelling may be heloping younger riders break through
1:04:04 - How it's now the young riders leading by example
1:06:53 - On how slower burner riders shouldn't look to emulate the teenage pros
1:12:03 - Athlete development 

Dave Rome takes Abby's place leading the podcast on the ground in Adelaide to talk about the first stage of the women's Tour Down Under. Our favourite tech expert is joined by former professional Gracie Elvin and Escape Collective's managing editor Matt de Neef. 

The team discusses the event's growing prestige, why the Europeans are showing up to win, how the Aussies can compete, and how the new team kits look in person. 

Dave and James have lots of spy photos to discuss this week! Factor’s got a revamp of its Ostro VAM lightweight road bike about to break cover, and Specialized and Trek have some enticing new road shoes roaming about in the wild. Lazer also brings its Kineticore technology to its popular Z1, we debate the pros and cons of anti-seize vs. grease, and we chat about what we look for in our favorite gravel shoes.

Timestamps:

1:52 – Ostro’s new Factor VAM may be fast, but it’s not especially pretty – and it’s not alone
7:03 – Lazer brings Kineticore technology to the revamped Z1
12:01 – Even tools aren’t immune to hacking
15:27 – Blurring the lines between auto mechanics and bike mechanics
18:17 – Dave (anti-)seizes the day
26:12 – Pick One! Our favorite gravel shoes, and what we look for in them
32:54 – PSA: dried sealant and wheel imbalance
36:02 – New lightweight S-Works road shoes coming from Specialized?
37:09 – Some very intriguing mid-range road shoes are definitely coming soon from Specialized
37:58 – And some new flagship road shoes from Trek/Bontrager, too!
38:15 – Ratio Technology is at it again with a new aluminum cable spool for SRAM DoubleTap levers
38:46 – Iconic UK MTB brand Orange is in serious financial difficulty
40:24 – Enve parent company Amer Sports Inc is going public
41:12 – Brompton with a capital B!
41:19 – 9point8 has angle-adjust headsets for IS-style frames

Jonny Long, Kit Nicholson, and Dane Cash join Caley Fretz to take the inside line into Plugge corner and continue the ongoing conversation about Mathieu van der Poel's cyclocross form, among other things.

You'll also hear the first Weekly Pain of 2024, while Escape Collective members will get another edition of the Placeholders After Dark.

Abby, Gracie, and Loren are back to talk about Tour Down Under, what Willunga means for the race, our dream teams, and more. Have questions for us? Let us know on the Escape Collective discord!

Also, check out the Wheel Talk Newsletter for a stage-by-stage preview ahead of the TDU.