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Escape Collective
All the cycling news, analysis, and banter you need. Become a member to get premium content, extra episodes, and ad-free listening at escapecollective.com.
Check out our other podcasts on your preferred podcast platform:
- Geek Warning - how bikes work and how to make them better
- Wheel Talk - all things women's cycling
- How the Race was Won - racing and tactical analysis
- The Rest Day with Jack Haig - insights from within the pro peloton
- Overnight Success - The founders and innovators in the cycling industry
Escape Collective is entirely member-funded. If you like this podcast please consider supporting us by becoming a member: https://escapecollective.com/member/
Check out our other podcasts on your preferred podcast platform:
- Geek Warning - how bikes work and how to make them better
- Wheel Talk - all things women's cycling
- How the Race was Won - racing and tactical analysis
- The Rest Day with Jack Haig - insights from within the pro peloton
- Overnight Success - The founders and innovators in the cycling industry
Escape Collective is entirely member-funded. If you like this podcast please consider supporting us by becoming a member: https://escapecollective.com/member/
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 7, 2023 • 1h 4min
Geek Warning: Trek’s new Domane AL goes all-road, Bontrager goes thermoplastic, and a deep dive into Columbus Trittico
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

Sep 5, 2023 • 1h 4min
Wheel Talk: Plouay, Tour de l’Avenir Femmes, and Simac Ladies Tour
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.

Sep 4, 2023 • 39min
Pretty Serious Bike Racing: The Vuelta always keeps it interesting
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.

Sep 1, 2023 • 1h 15min
Geek Warning: A wrap on MADE with Rob English
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!

Sep 1, 2023 • 59min
Placeholders: Evenepoel the patron?
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.

Aug 31, 2023 • 41min
Geek Warning: A deep dive on new Shimano GRX and 105 12-speed mechanical
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.

Aug 29, 2023 • 55min
Wheel Talk: A new G.O.A.T. in the making
Loren Rowney, Abby Mickey, and Matt de Neef get together to talk about the Tour of Scandinavia on this week's episode of the Wheel Talk podcast.

Aug 28, 2023 • 40min
Pretty Serious Bike Racing: Plenty of drama to kick off the Vuelta
Ruth Winder joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano to discuss the many talking points in the early goings of the Vuelta a España, a strong showing by Annemiek van Vleuten and a gutsy performance by Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig at the Tour of Scandinavia, and more.

Aug 24, 2023 • 58min
Placeholders: Trouble in Rwandan cycling
Iain Treloar and Dane Cash join Caley Fretz on this week's Placeholders to discuss news out of the Rwandan cycling scene, the Tour de l'Avenir, Jumbo-Visma's recent doping positive, and more.
Plus, this Weekly Pain quiz comes down to the wire ...

Aug 24, 2023 • 1h 21min
Overnight Success: Building CyclingTips
This month's episode of Overnight Success is a bit different. For a long time now, we've been asked to share the origin story of CyclingTips in this podcast, but we always knew there was more to come in this journey. But now that the story is complete, we figured this is a good time to tell it.
Instead of this being a monologue, Wade asked Mitch Docker (from the Life in the Peloton podcast) to host this episode. Mitch's journey with Life in the Peloton is similar to my own in many ways, and I'm enjoying seeing him take his own path and making a success out of it.
It's hard to say if CyclingTips was a success or not. It depends on how you measure it. Like countless other media brands, CyclingTips is no longer in existence. But at one time it was a daily destination for cycling enthusiasts around the globe, and had a strong place within the cycling community that everyone involved was proud of.
The version of CyclingTips that died a quick death was a very popular one. Each year millions of people visited the site. There were thousands of paying members. We ran events. We supported local events whenever we could. We contributed to charitable and social causes. We tried to give a voice to those who didn’t have one. We weren’t the biggest, but we liked to think that we made an impact in our little corner of the world.
From the outside, it might have looked like a straightforward path, but as you'll hear it was anything but...