It may be the off-season in the racing world, but the land of bike tech never sleeps. In this episode of Geek Warning, you’ll hear Suvi, Dave, and Brad discuss an intriguing shifter-related patent from Campagnolo that perhaps can’t come soon enough.

The geeks then discuss what they each seek in a drop handlebar and what their favourites are. Within this extended segment, you’ll hear about one-piece cockpits, more traditional two-piece setups, and picks for road and gravel purposes.

We’ve also got some great Ask a Wrench questions that spark some deeper conversation.

Enjoy!

Time stamps:

1:45 - Campagnolo’s recent shifter patent
11:00 - Discussing drop handlebars and picking one (well, maybe two)
33:15 - Ask a Wrench: How to become a bike mechanic
48:00 - Ask a Wrench: SRAM Flat Top and T-type chain compatibility
53:22 - Ask a Wrench: Raising awareness for the actual cost of bike ownership and where the blame sits
1:06:45 - Tech bites: an increasing number of lighter e-MTBs is a trend that won’t slow

Things are a little flipped upside down in this week’s Geek Warning. Suvi, Dave, and Brad open the show by discussing their most meaningful bikes. The geeks then turn to pick a favourite side-access bottle cage for when frame space is limited. Of course there’s a handful of Ask a Wrench questions, answered. And the show wraps with a round-up of new tech to drop over the past week.

A small note: Suvi experienced some audio issues toward the end of the episode, and so, the power of editing has her disappear from the conversation without much warning.

Time stamps:

5:00 - The bikes we’ll never let go and those we wish we hadn’t
20:30 - Picking one side-access bottle cage
32:00 - Ask a wrench: resin versus metallic (sintered) disc brake pads
40:00 - Ask a wrench: the importance of matching rear shock hardware sizes
45:30 - Ask a wrench: Chainline woes in going old 2x to new 1x gravel
51:30 - Tech news on the daily
53:20 - Dare’s Velocity Ace goes full aero
55:30 - Enduro also now offering polymer-infill frame pivot bearings
1:00:00 - Enve’s new M-series wheels
1:01:15 - Daysaver’s new mini pumps
1:02:30 - Body Rocket on-bike aero sensor arrives

Welcome to another members-only (at least the full episode) edition of the Geek Warning podcast.

This episode came together after the boutique brand Open Cycle [teased a long-awaited update to its Up gravel bike. For those who aren’t familiar with the Open Up, it was a bike to break new ground for the emerging sporty gravel space through its dual-wheel size compatibility with 700c and 650B. Meanwhile, it achieved the clearance between the rear tyre and chainring by introducing dropped chainstays to the market.

Open Cycle was founded by Andy Kessler (former CEO of BMC) and Gerard Vroomen (co-founder of Cervelo, and until recently, also the co-owner of 3T). Between Open and 3T, Vroomen has pushed many boundaries in the gravel space in recent years. In this episode, Vroomen covers the details of the new Up and Upper bike range and the design decisions made. We touch on Open’s move to on-shoring production. I pry unsuccessfully into teased compatibility with unreleased Shimano. And we chat about the move to threaded bottom brackets. Plus, members of Escape will hear me eat my own hat as despite designing a 700c-only bike, Vroomen strongly defends the smaller 650B-wheelsize and laments (and explains) its loss.

It’s a varied chat with a whole lot of interesting experience in designing and engineering bikes shared. Enjoy!

A portion of this podcast is available to all. The full length, including the conversation on 650B vs 700C is available exclusively to members of Escape Collective. To add member-only podcasts, including this one, to your podcast player of choice, click here.

This episode introduces a new voice, Escape’s new tech writer, Suvi Loponen. Join Suvi, Brad, and Dave as they discuss the latest tech and a couple of new bikes seen at Gravel Worlds.

Picking the Mount Rushmore of bicycle cranksets is sure to cause debate. Within you’ll hear Brad and Dave share some of the cranks that have left an impression on them. We’d love to hear your picks, so jump into the comments.

Ask a Wrench continues, this time with Brad and Dave offering answers to three member-submitted questions. Within Ask a Wrench Brad answers a question about the basics of suspension setup. There was a recommended video mentioned, here’s a link to that. Enjoy!

Time stamps:
5:45 - Tech themes at Gravel Worlds
10:50 - Inflation on the fly with Gravaa
19:30 - Lapierre’s first carbon gravel bike
22:40 - Superior getting into gravel
27:30 - The Mount Rushmore of cranksets
40:15 - Ask a Wrench: A basic guide to setting up mountain bike suspension
50:00 - Ask a Wrench: increasing the lifespan of road tyres
55:00 - Ask a Wrench: geometry changes in putting road tyres on a gravel bike
1:01:20 - New Rolf Prima wheels go to 16 spokes for disc brakes
1:05:05 - Hunt’s new 40 Limitless gravel race wheel
1:08:00 - Sidi’s new Tenacia is for toe clips and L’Eroici

In this episode of Performance Process, Ronan and Caley welcome Dylan Johnson, a lifetime Gran Prix athlete, coach, and data-driven performance-optimising YouTuber, to discuss the ins and outs of off-road racing.

Dylan shares his insights on the category he arguably reignited: drop bar mountain bikes, exploring the whys and the pros and cons of ditching flat bars. He also delves into tyre selection, revealing his two tyres for gravel racing following his own rolling resistance and aero testing.

Speaking of aero testing, Dylan discusses the importance of aerodynamics in gravel racing, and his advice on where to optimise first. Finally, as gravel racing continues to evolve, the group discuss if current trends are truly optimal or stop gaps along the way with predictions on the future of bike design.

Whether you’re a racer or an enthusiast, this episode is packed with practical insights and inspiration for the gravel and off-road rider.

Plus why modern bikes require more frequent headset inspections, Ridley’s new gravel bike, and a tonne more.

It’s a big episode this week as the geeks, Dave and Brad, cover a whole lot of ground including the latest new products, a rant on silly-priced items, a little on chain wear, why headset inspections matter more than ever, and there’s an in-depth chat with a true geek of the wheel building world.That opening chat related to chains comes off a recent Threaded article about chain wear.

Meanwhile, Dave jumps on a call with wheel build extraordinaire Tristan Thomas of WheelWorks to answer a multi-part Ask a Wrench question. It quickly gets detailed and geeky, but we figured that’s exactly what you’re here for.As a reminder, the Geek Warning podcast is only made possible through members of Escape Collective. We intentionally don’t have any advertising, affiliate links, or sponsored content, so if you love this podcast, please support it (and then enjoy all the member-exclusive content you've been missing out on).

Time stamps:
5:30 - Chain wear, for those that missed it
13:00 - Ridley’s new Astr gravel race bike and thoughts on BB86
24:00 - The Pro’s Closet is shutting shop
31:40 - On Dave’s mind are silly-priced “limited” pulley wheels
44:00 - a PSA on the increased importance of headset inspection
58:10 - Ask a Wrench, all about wheel building with Tristan of WheelWorks
1:25:00 - Bosch’s new Performance Line CX e-bike system
1:26:50 - PNW releases silver anodised dropper posts

Plus why tyres are likely to keep getting wider.

With the road season soon to come to a close, the events in the tech world are unsurprisingly more focused on the dirt. In this week’s episode of Geek Warning, you’ll hear Brad and Dave cover the latest in tech across road, gravel, and mountain bike.

Amongst a number of new things, the geeks discuss a future of electronic suspension and what that could spell for the gravel world. Why tyres are likely to continue trending wider in cross-country racing (among other disciplines). And with Specialized announcing free full suspension frame bearings for the lifetime of its mountain bikes, we discuss new ways to sell bikes in tough times. All this and plenty more!

Time stamps:
1:25 - BMC’s new Teammachine R Masterpiece
7:30 - Sad passing of Bob Parlee
8:50 - Bontrager goes up to 29 mm rim width for gravel
12:40 - Lauf’s first mountain bike raises questions on the future of big tyres
24:40 - BH has an interesting new short-travel XC bike
29:25 - Fox joins the wirelessly-controlled electronic suspension game
36:22 - New ways to sell the bikes that aren’t selling?
47:20 - Ask a Wrench: career mechanic woes
55:25 - Ask a Wrench: storing Di2 for winter
59:10 - Ask a Wrench: keeping alloy rims black