Spin Cycle

There has been a slew of wheel introductions recently, with some of the most interesting ones being from Zipp (lightweight carbon XC!), DT Swiss (“Aero for All”!), and Mavic (hookless aluminum gravel!). Wait, what? Yep, Mavic is now so progressive that its new aluminum gravel wheels feature a hookless profile, and we have some thoughts on the idea. Timestamps: 1:37 – A close at DT Swiss’s new “Aero for All” aluminum wheels 8:27 – This most definitely is not the Mavic of yesteryear 15:04 – Zipp enters the XC wheel market (and their carbon road wheels have quietly gotten heavier) 25:56 – Bontrager cozies up with Look for a new range of clipless MTB pedals 32:57 – Wahoo Fitness continues to streamline its operations 35:58 – Brighter days are hopefully ahead for Parlee Cycles 41:35 – The indomitable and indestructible Surly Cross-Check is no more 46:30 – Dave is obsessing about what spare parts and – of course – tools to carry on his new bike 52:59 – James’s safety rules of the road 57:52 – More power or less weight for eMTBs? 1:02:08 – Choosing the right chain lube is about saving money, not watts

Jonny Long, Kit Nicholson, and Ronan Mc Laughlin join Caley Fretz to discuss the latest in the Jumbo-Visma Soudal-QuickStep potential merger saga, Alex Dowsett's new book, and more...

With no WWT racing since the last podcast, Gracie took charge of this episode. The crew spends most of the time discussing the best domestiques in the peloton, plus the different kinds of domestiques and who qualifies into which category.

Abby Mickey joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano to discuss the highlights of this past weekend's racing, field questions from Escape Collective members, and look ahead at Il Lombardia.

Roughly a decade after problems first started surfacing with its bonded aluminum road crankarms, Shimano has finally issued an official recall for certain Ultegra and Dura-Ace models – and we have some thoughts on the matter. SRAM is also making its long-awaited entry into the e-MTB scene with its new Powertrain system, Specialized wants people to start thinking about e-bike performance a little differently, X marks the spot for Pinarello, and there’s some dodgy stuff going on out there when it comes to ultralight road wheels. Timestamps: 5:16 – Shimano’s bill has finally come due 22:35 – SRAM is now entered the e-MTB game 27:45 – How much does e-motor efficiency matter? 32:05 – Pinarello’s new endurance road bikes 40:31 – Canyon sure does like its CP0018 three-piece integrated cockpit 46:28 – Ignore those ETRTO rim dimensions at your own peril 51:50 – Introducing Ronan’s new podcast: Performance Process! 55:58 – Dave has gone down the eMTB rabbit hole 1:00:01 – Should MTB rims switch to Schrader valves? 1:04:22 – Ronan’s view on aero gains? Testing, testing, testing

What's this? A new podcast? You bet.  Performance Process is a new podcast from Escape Collective exclusively for Escape Collective members. Ronan Mc Laughlin and Caley Fretz, the podcast was born from a simple idea: the best performances don’t just happen, they are the result of a combination of processes. Be that training, testing, coaching, or the latest science, we will be joined by a new guest each episode to delve into the processes that produce performances with the people who understand them best. If you enjoy maximising your own performance, this is definitely a podcast for you. Likewise, if you want to make sense of the latest performance innovations or how the best riders keep getting better, Performance Process is the podcast with the answers. The first episode will drop next week, and we'll publish a new episode every other week.  If you're already a member, you'll receive an email with instructions for accessing episodes of Performance Process. If you're not a member yet, head to Escapecollective.com/join to fix that right up. 

Jonny Long, Ronan Mc Laughlin, and Dane Cash join Caley Fretz to talk about what Jonny calls the "British equivalent of crit beef," Mauro Schmid's travel plans, and, of course, the reports of a possible Jumbo-Visma Soudal-QuickStep merger.

Abby, Loren, and Gracie break down the European Championship road race and chat about gardening (plus maybe a little about the Kardashians, sorry).

Ruth Winder joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano to discuss the entertaining road race action from the European Continental Championships as well as the 2023 Grand Tour season as a whole.

This week’s Geek Warning has James, Ronan, and Dave covering a broad range of topics from Fulcrum’s new road wheels, a new airless tyre, and a tyre that’s recalled for being unwantedly airless. There’s also a surprising amount of chat about e-bikes, but perhaps not for the right reasons. There’s the new Moots entering the space, but not with its expected material. Rad Power promises safer batteries, which is great, but also feels late. And yet another recall has us asking whether cheap e-bikes are a responsible product. Timestamps: 4:45 – Moots takes an Express train in an unexpected direction 16:00 – New mid-range performance road wheels from Fulcrum 21:40 – Another attempt at the airless bicycle tyre? 25:42 – A road tyre recall from Pirelli 28:52 – Rad Power announces safer batteries, bit late? 34:38 – And another recall, this one impacts 45,000 bikes! 46:42 – Ashton Lambie gets out of a stick’y situation 51:50 – High-priced wheels are on Dave’s mind 56:45 – A PSA for Shimano Di2 users