Cycling News & Blog Articles

With very few exceptions, every piece of cycling clothing you buy comes in its own individual bag — or “polybag” as it’s commonly called in the industry. When you take into account the size of the global cycling apparel industry, and the number of individual garments, that’s a lot of plastic bags. Has it always been this way? How did we get here? And what do we do about it? In this week’s episode, James chats with two apparel brands, Ornot and Pearl Izumi, to assess the current state of things, find out how things are already improving, and why we still have a long way to go.

The post Nerd Alert Podcast: Can cycling apparel brands cut back on plastic bag use? appeared first on CyclingTips.

Dane broke down the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var and the UAE Tour, Abby had a few thoughts on the suspension of former Health Mate – Cyclelive team manager Patrick van Gansen, and we are all excited about Tao Geoghegan Hart’s action towards diversifying the sport by funding a stagiaire spot on the Hagens Berman Axeon team.

Mike Better called up Nelson Vails, retired professional road and track cyclist for the USA and the first Black cyclist to win an Olympic medal, to chat about diversity in cycling. 

Finally, for or this week’s Nerd Nuggets James talked about SRAM’s purchase of Time pedals and what that might mean for the future of pedal-based power meters from the American component manufacturer. This Nerd Nuggets segment is also available on YouTube. 

The post CyclingTips Podcast: Nelson Vails and SRAM’s purchase of Time pedals appeared first on CyclingTips.

Loren rejoined the podcast to discuss the 2021 season ahead of Omloop Het Niewusblad. 

Abby met up with the general manager for FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope Stephan Delcourt to learn a little more about the inner workings of the team. 

The post Freewheeling Podcast: 2021 season preview appeared first on CyclingTips.

Dropper seat posts for Super Tucking on road bikes? Mountain bikes with fully internal cable routing?? Road Boost hub spacing??? $6,000 aero bars????

Some of the recent developments in the bike world actually make a bit of sense, but there’s an awful lot of other stuff that’s so silly that, well, it’s pretty much guaranteed to happen. The Nerds dig into what’s going on and try to make sense of the madness.

The post Nerd Alert Podcast: Making sense of the latest tech chaos appeared first on CyclingTips.

James has a thing or two to say about the response to Kevin Hart riding a road bike, more specifically, cyclists’ responses to Kevin Hart’s on-bike style.

Caley and James finally have an outlet to debate whether or not we should all be waxing our chains. 

And finally, in the newly renamed tech segment (you’ll have to listen to find out what we decided to call it), James breaks down the new e-bike act in Congress. If you’d like to help that bill move along, advocacy group PeopleForBikes has a convenient way to send a message to your local legislators.

The post CyclingTips Podcast: Visors on road helmets are rad appeared first on CyclingTips.

Why should you care about wheels? Are custom wheels really better than factory-built ones? How would you build a set of wheels for a light rider versus a heavier one? What are some strategies you can pursue at home if you want to get into the basics of truing, or maybe want to build a set of wheels for the first time yourself? Hope you’ve got some time set aside because we get real nerdy on this one.

The post Nerd Alert Podcast: Nerding out on custom wheels appeared first on CyclingTips.

Dane breaks down the news including Étoile de Bessèges and some of the new UCI rules. Opinions differ regarding the ban of the “super tuck“. Matt de Neef makes a surprise guest appearance to talk about the Australian National Championships. 

Instead of a debate this week Caley, Ronan, and Shoddy respond in-real-time to Chris Froome’s bike review, especially his take on disc brakes.

For Nerd Alert, Ronan chatted with Robert Chung about cheating on Zwift. Can Zwift ever be a reputable form of competition? Chung has some thoughts.

The post CyclingTips Podcast: The super tuck and Chris Froome’s disc brakes appeared first on CyclingTips.

Both developments are very exciting, but what do they mean for wired drivetrains, and will both companies be able to deliver in the current environment? While drivetrains are trending toward wireless, indoor trainers might be moving in the other direction with hardwired connections for better signal reliability.

Finally, we tackle a whole bunch of fresh questions in our Ask a Mechanic segment (and Caley actually has something meaningful to contribute this time around).

The post Nerd Alert Podcast: Wireless for everybody! appeared first on CyclingTips.

The post Freewheeling Podcast: Growing Up in Poland appeared first on CyclingTips.

This week on the CyclingTips podcast Jose talks everyone through Cyclocross Worlds and Dane breaks down EF’s new kit as well as an actual road race that took place and races that will not happen.

Shoddy squares off against James in this week’s debate, mechanical vs. electronic shifting, please vote for your winner here. 

For “Nerd Alert”, James calls upon you, the listeners, to help find a new name for the tech news segment. He then mentions the damage salt water can do to a bike, a relevant concern after cyclocross worlds, Shimano’s wireless plans, and Decathlon’s secondhand store. 

The post CyclingTips Podcast: Cyclocross Worlds appeared first on CyclingTips.

You might look at tools just as utilitarian items — cold lumps of lifeless steel. For the true believers, the difference between good tools and bad ones is like the difference between gas station sushi and the real thing: they both might get the job done, but one is certainly a lot more satisfying, while the other is more likely to leave you feeling more than a little bit of regret. But, what makes a good tool, why is designing one so hard to do, and why should you care? James and Dave get the lowdown with Jason Quade from Abbey Bike Tools.

The post Nerd Alert Podcast: Is it possible to have too many tools? appeared first on CyclingTips.

From Tom Dumoulin taking a break from racing, the Olympic back-and-forth, the end of NBC Sports, and Dane’s chicken nugget diet. 

As the winner of last week’s debate, Dane squares off against Shoddy. The topic: best men’s 2020/21 World Tour transfer. Vote for the winner here.

Jose joins the podcast to discuss the final round of the cyclocross World Cup.

For Nerd Alert, James is not convinced by Taya’s new rollerless chain. 

The post CyclingTips Podcast: Dumoulin’s time off, CX World Cup, and Taya’s rollerless chain appeared first on CyclingTips.

In this episode we speak to the three co-founders of apparel brand, 7Mesh.

I’ve known of 7Mesh for a few years and own half a dozen of their products (which are fantastic). But I didn’t become aware of or interested in this story until former guest of this podcast, Tory Fehy – founder of Apidura bikepacking bags and remarkable person in her own right – suggested it, gave me a bit of their backstory, and then made an intro. So, thank you, Tory.

Getting into the cycling apparel business could now be one of the lowest barrier-to-entry segments in the industry. Anyone with an Instagram account and some design ability can source directly from factories in Italy or China and create a clothing ‘brand’ these days.

That’s not to say some don’t break through and create legitimate and worthy businesses this way – I know a few first-hand who have. This low barrier to entry has enabled some wonderful brands to get started and flourish. But because of this it is now a crowded market, and it’s tough to discern who’s doing great work and innovating, and who’s just pumping out disposable fashion.

From the moment I first discovered 7Mesh I knew this was going to be something different.

Abby chats with Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, professional cyclist for SD Worx and the first-ever esports cycling world champion, about everything from her ever-evolving cycling retreat Rocacorba Cycling, the future of esports, and being teammates with current world champion Anna van der Breggen.

The post Freewheeling Podcast: The future of e-racing with Ashleigh Moolman Pasio appeared first on CyclingTips.

In this week’s CyclingTips podcast, Dane breaks down the news and Abby chats with Annemiek van Vleuten about her first Team Movistar team camp and her thoughts on 2021.

With James off for the day, Shoddy is handed the reigns to Nerd Alert leading to a discussion of what kind of stationary bike Joe Biden should bring to the White House.

This week also marks the start of a new segment on the podcast, a debate! Dane Cash and Caley Fretz square off to determine which Grand Tour in 2021 will be the most exciting. 

The post CyclingTips Podcast: Annemiek van Vleuten and a Peloton in the White House appeared first on CyclingTips.

The Nerds gather for the first podcast of the new year and it does not take long for things to get spicy! We discuss the lawsuit filed against Trek and Bontrager for their allegedly outlandish claims regarding WaveCel helmet technology efficacy, the way ZwiftHub is out-Zwifting Zwift in a few key ways, and the pros and cons of Sea Otter’s recent announcement that they’re moving the show (at least for 2021) all the way back to October instead of April.

Finally, in our Ask a Mechanic segment, Caley and Zach reaffirm their disapproval of chain waxing (Dave and James are still fans), we provide some ideas on how to keep your bike from corroding into nothingness in harsh winter conditions, and debate the wisdom of drilling holes in your frame and fork (spoiler: it’s a bad idea).

The post Nerd Alert Podcast: Outlandish safety claims and a better way to Zwift appeared first on CyclingTips.

In this week’s CyclingTips Podcast, Dane is back to go over all the news surrounding Marc Hirschi’s move to UAE Team Emirates plus the news regarding the continued conversations around Wout van Aert’s future contract, Trek-Segafredo and Bahrain Victorious Grand Tour rosters, and Team Cofidis’s plan for a women’s team. 

For a special Nerd Alert segment, James spoke with Sonya Lunder, the Toxics Policy Advisor for the Sierra Club, about PFAS.

The post CyclingTips Podcast: Hirschi’s surprise transfer and a deep dive into PFAS appeared first on CyclingTips.

Abby talked to Emilia Fahlin of FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope about growing up in Sweden. What her favorite holidays are, traditional foods, hometown sports, and more. 

This episode is the first in a series of episodes entitled “Growing Up in” that will be part of the Freewheeling feed, where Abby sits down with professional cyclists and people in the cycling world to chat about their childhood homes and how their hometowns helped shape them. 

The post Freewheeling Podcast: Growing Up in Sweden appeared first on CyclingTips.

We are back with another episode of the CyclingTips Podcast! With Dane sitting out this episode Abby takes over the news segment (don’t worry, it’s only temporary). José breaks down all the cyclocross that happened over the holidays, and James discusses the impact of Brexit on the bike industry in the U.K. 

Wout van Aert racing the UCI cyclocross World Cup in Dendermonde on September 27, 2020, in Belgium is this episode’s featured image.

The post CyclingTips Podcast: Well hello 2021! We are back. appeared first on CyclingTips.

In this, the final episode of 2020, the CyclingTips Podcast crew get together to discuss the great and the not-so-great of what was, in general, a fantastic bike racing season…you know…minus the COVID.