Spin Cycle

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.