Spin Cycle

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 back11:25 – Our obligatory segment related to chain waxing16:50 - Look release its new Keo Blade pedals22:30 - Picking one, our favourite shoulder-season kit (all disciplines)34:45 - PSA on brand new tyres40:20 - Classified’s own carbon wheels get lighter and wider rims41:12 - Schwalbe consolidating its manufacturing42:39 - Mason’s new aluminium dropbar bike43:54 – Hovding files for bankruptcy45:15 - 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.