Spin Cycle

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 thoughtAll 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 frames8:03 - Factor’s new Ostro VAM is now official and Ronan has built one23:43 - Black Inc’s 1,270 g aero wheels26:45 - Specialized’s new mid-price helmet and shoes28:45 - Trek’s many new shoes, many new fits41:45 - On Dave’s mind46:58 - 4iiii’s new Pro 3+ dual-sided powermeter50:40 - KMC gets into cassettes52:05 - F+B Shift wheels bring thermoplastic carbon to a lower price point54:52 - 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.