Spin Cycle

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 takeover10:00 - Hooked on hookless 16:50 - New Giant TCR21:55 - Stupid helmets everywhere28:10 - Look's new power meter pedals32:50 -Rapha's new Pro Team Jersey37:40 - 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 rims36:00 - A little promo of a podcast series not to miss37:12 - Baum and slotted steerer tubes are on Dave’s mind43:55 - The only good fix for contaminated brake pads47:10 - New things from Cadex48:05 - 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.