In 2018, Jenny Graham set the women’s speed record for riding 18,000 miles around the world in 124 days and 11 hours.

And she did it unsupported, without, well…we’ll get to that, because the extent of her minimalism is pretty remarkable and I want you to hear it in her words.

Her story is captured in a new book called Coffee First, Then The World, and we talk about her experience documenting the ride, how she planned for it, the equipment and challenges of keeping a bike going day in and day out, overcoming the physical challenges of such an undertaking, the opportunities it’s created for her, and so much more.

This episode sponsored by:

Spring is the perfect time to upgrade your ride. From top brands to niche names, TPC has a curated selection of new and Certified Pre-Owned bikes for every discipline. Each Certified Pre-Owned bike is inspected, tested and serviced by expert mechanics, and every bike includes risk-free 30 day returns. Visit theproscloset.com/bikerumor and enter code BRPODCAST to save $40 on every order over $200.

Want More?

Find the BikeRumor Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and through RSS, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Hit like, hit subscribe, and hit play! Can’t find it? Let us know which players you use so we can get them up to speed! And let us know who you want us to interview, just use this form to send us your suggestions!

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The post Podcast #084 – How Jenny Graham set an Around-the-World Record appeared first on Bikerumor.

If you’ve ever wondered how tire size and rim profiles affect aerodynamics, this episode is for you! My guest is Dov Tate, founder of Parcours Wheels, a UK brand that’s been pushing the envelope on wider rims optimized around wider tires.

The story of how he got to that point, from putting 360º wind sensors low on the bike to intentionally doing wind tunnel tests without a bike frame attached to the wheels, is really cool.

We dive pretty deep on leading edge, trailing edge, optimizing for gravel tires, and a whole lot more, with stories about how he’s built his company mixed in for the entrepreneurs among us.There’s even talk about some new wheels (like the first-ever full disc wheel with the Classified internally geared hub) and where they might be headed with future product development.

This episode sponsored by:

Spring is the perfect time to upgrade your ride. From top brands to niche names, TPC has a curated selection of new and Certified Pre-Owned bikes for every discipline. Each Certified Pre-Owned bike is inspected, tested and serviced by expert mechanics, and every bike includes risk-free 30 day returns. Visit theproscloset.com/bikerumor and enter code BRPODCAST to save $40 on every order over $200.

Want More?

Find the BikeRumor Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and through RSS, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Hit like, hit subscribe, and hit play! Can’t find it? Let us know which players you use so we can get them up to speed! And let us know who you want us to interview, just use this form to send us your suggestions!

FOLLOW BIKERUMOR

Keep tabs on all the latest bikes, wheels, components, gear, and tech on The World’s Largest Cycling Tech Blog by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

FOLLOW TYLER

Like us? Love us? Follow your host, Tyler Benedict, on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

The post Podcast #083 – Parcours on Aerodynamics of Wide Rims, Gravel Tires & More! appeared first on Bikerumor.

This was Atherton’s first race since Lenzerheide in June 2022, where she placed 6th. Before that, we hadn’t seen Rachel at a start gate since 2019 when she snapped her Achilles tendon in Les Gets. And of course, her time away from racing was further prolonged with the birth of her little girl, Arna, in 2021.

We’re over the moon to see Rachel back doing what she loves, and back to her winning ways! After the dust settled, we caught up with the DH superstar to find out how she felt throughout the weekend, hear her reflections on her race run, and to learn whether or not she’ll be defending that leader’s jersey in Leogang next weekend!

We also grabbed Rachel’s AM200 M to check out her preferred settings for race day.

Interview: Rachel Atherton

Bikerumor: I think I may have just witnessed one of the greatest returns to racing in the history of the sport. Congratulations! How does it feel to win the first round of the season?

Rachel Atherton: It feels totally surreal, 100% hasn’t sunk in yet. I honestly had no idea whether i’d even qualify – I was so nervous! It’s easy and comfortable for me training at home at Dyfi Bike Park on tracks that I know well, but a World Cup is something else entirely – all through practice I really struggled. There were definitely points that I almost didn’t race, I just had no idea if I was riding well or not and the other women looked so good!

Bikerumor: How much opportunity have you had through winter and spring to try different setups on your race bike?

Rachel Atherton: Well I ride a lot at home – Dyfi Bike Park – I ride downhill pretty much every Friday and Saturday and it’s a mix of fun laps with friends and fast gnarly laps! The last couple of months I’ve been trying to take it more seriously and starting to try full runs as I’ve thought more about racing.

It’s such a process though. After I had Arna, I just wanted to ride for fun. It was so refreshing for me as a racer, to not put that pressure on myself and just ride for fun and enjoy the laps and not to stress about what line I’m on, is it fastest, to not care if the group of friends stops a lot to chat etc. It’s been amazing not to be pushing myself to be fast all the time but instead to just ride and I feel like as a bike rider I’ve gotten better because of that.

I have had a lot of bike time which certainly counts for something!

When training full time, I never really had loads of bike time because I’d be so exhausted from the gym etc. I’d just turn up, do 5 full runs, then go home, so this new pace of shredding all day with mates, having a laugh, trying things like stupid lines, big jumps, doing massive trains etc., etc… I feel like it’s really added to my bike handling skills and that feels so good!

Since I started thinking about doing a few races this season, the last couple months I’ve definitely started to work on my setup more, but naturally as I’ve gotten faster since having Arna baby, your bike setup gets better as you ride better.

But world cups are just so different so it was awesome to be back in the Fox pits with Jordi, Jules and the gang getting their advice!

Bikerumor: When did you decide you were going to race in Lenzerheide and what factors played their part in that?

Rachel Atherton: I guess I have always known that I wanted to do something this year. I raced Lenzerheide in 2022 and was 6th, and that was literally with no training at all, just chilled riding at Dyfi Bike Park. And, as I said, living at the Bike Park has given me so much.

Other pros come up and we ride together – I ride loads with Brendan Fairclough when he comes up, Bernard Kerr has just moved to our local town to shred more, Peaty and Laurie, Jordan Williams, even Nina. Other racers come to train at Dyfi a lot and that gives me such a good opportunity to ride with them and when I can sort of keep up with the men it gets me buzzing and fired up and it would always make me question, “should I race again” it’s always there in my mind when I ride fast because I love racing, it’s in my blood, I can’t escape that need to go fast!

So, I knew I wanted to race but I also don’t want to get hurt. I don’t want to be stupid, I have a baby, i have a lot of injuries, I know I need to train like **** to race world cups. There’s a reason everyone trains so hard, but I didn’t have the energy to train hard because Arna didn’t sleep very well, so I waited until she started to sleep better and I felt like I came back alive when I got some more sleep, so then I wanted to train.

I started training whilst she napped and honestly I’ve been training for about 2 months. It’s helped my mental health so much and then as I started to get a bit stronger I thought… Well, the “shortest and easiest” track is Lenzerheide! So, here we are!

Bikerumor: What were your expectations coming into Lenzerheide?

Rachel Atherton: Literally, I had no expectations! The women’s field is so fast now… watching on track the first day, I was honestly like “wow” they’re going for it!

Vero Widmann did this high line hopping over a rock into the off camber and I was on my first practice run. I could barely see a line and she was flat out already. I was like, oh s**t!

Rachel Atherton

I wasn’t even sure that I’d qualify. I just had no idea, but I kept saying to myself, “this is just for fun”. I chose to be here. I talked to Dan and Gee a lot and we all said, I’m not here to win, I’m just here because I love it and I just want to race and be with the team and promote Atherton Bikes!

Bikerumor: You put in a seriously competitive qualification run. Did you have the win in your sights at that point?

Rachel Atherton: That was such a huge shock to qualify in 2nd and then 2nd in semi finals too. I was so surprised! Then I thought “don’t be stupid Rach, remember the goal, I’m not here to win, I’m here to race and put down a solid, safe run that I’m proud of”.

I 100% wasn’t trying to win, I just kept telling myself to be strong, breathe deeply, and be f***ing safe!

Rachel Atherton

With the new schedule it’s a lot harder physically doing two race runs back to back in one day. It’s savage on the body, so I was nervous as hell. But, it did give me more confidence that I must be riding my bike well and I must actually be stronger than I think I am!

Bikerumor: Tell us more about your race run – did you know it was going well for you?

Rachel Atherton: By race day the bike felt amazing. The AM200 M is a seriously good bike, and that makes you feel confident straight away. I wanted to just do the same as semi finals. If I could get 2nd or 3rd, I would’ve been so, so stoked.

My lines were clever and safe and that made me feel confident. I knew I wasn’t taking any risks, and once you start that race day, it’s a snowball effect. The whole day is building and leading up to the the final run – the whole team get you to that start gate.

My run was awesome, my practice runs we’re really good so I knew I could do the same again, even though I felt really flat at the top before my run. Because we’d already raced semi finals, it was hard to get fired up to race again, and I was worried that I felt tired, but I looked over at Vali in the start gate and I thought “we will all feel the same, we’ll all be tired” so that helped!

My run was pretty rad. I fucking love racing because that’s the only time I ride like that – super committed to the gnarly sections and ready to lean into the turns a tiny bit more, and brake a little bit later… the track here is pretty gnarly and some sections the faster you hit them the easier they are, like the off camber roots, and some like the steeps. I need to be slow to be fast.

It was a pretty perfect run as far as I’m concerned, no big risks, not super sketchy, just solid and fast.

Rachel Atherton

Bikerumor: At the risk of stating the obvious, you do now have a leader’s jersey to defend. Will we be seeing you in Leogang next weekend?

Rachel Atherton: It’s been a day of deciding that!!

We were planning to stay here in Lenzerheide for two days holiday then fly home. So, we’ve been talking all day about the pros and cons of me racing Leogang.

Originally, I said no, because I don’t want to be stupid, racing back to back is hard enough when you’re fully fit, but I haven’t trained enough and I don’t want to get hurt so I thought I’d go home, but the temptation is too much so we’ve decided I will go and race!

Rachel Atherton

I’m not racing a full season so it’s not like I’m chasing the overall title, but it just feels so cool to be doing this again and if I went home I’d probably get really down, so I’m prolonging the inevitable!

Bikerumor: Not a question: just want to thank you for being the incredible role model you are, and congratulations on your 40th World Cup DH win.

Rachel Atherton: Aww thanks, Jessie-May.

Pro Bike Check: Atherton AM200 M Downhill Bike

Rachel rides the Atherton AM200 M downhill bike; a dedicated mullet with 200mm of rear wheel travel driven by Dave Weagle’s DW6 linkage. At 5ft 7″ (170 cm), she’s on a 460mm reach with a 50mm stem and a 450mm chainstay length.

Mechanic, Chris Kenward, tells us that Rachel prefers to run her suspension on the stiffer side. The Fox 40 Factory Fork’s air spring is populated with 5 volume spacers and 83 PSI. The Fox DHX2 Coil Shock is set up with a 475 lb/in spring. Neither damper is the current stock damper.

Rachel’s drivetrain is set up with 165mm cranks from FSA, with the OChain Active Spider in the 9° position. At the rear, we see an 11-speed FSA cassette with the top two cogs removed to make it a 9-speed cassette. Chris tells us that, at home, the Athertons limit the bottom end of the cassette (remove the hardest two gears) as they like to pedal the bikes around Dyfi Bike Park. FSA don’t yet produce a 9-speed derailleur, so a SRAM derailleur takes care of shifting.

Rachel’s bike rolls on Stan’s EX3 rims (that MK4 sticker is incorrect) that are home to 2.4″ Continental Kryptotal Fr tires, both of the DH casing SuperSoft Compound flavor. Without tire inserts, Rachel runs 24 PSI in the rear and 23 PSI in the front.

In the cockpit, we have an aluminum FSA bar with a 40mm rise, cut down to 780mm wide. Finally, purple Hayes Dominion A4 brakes clamp 200mm Galfer Disc Shark rotors, front and rear.

Rachel Atherton’s Wining Run POV at Lenzerheide

Here’s a GoPro POV of Rachel Atherton carrying race winning pace down the Lenzerheide World Cup DH Track last weekend. Enjoy!

Good luck to Rachel and the rest of the Continental Atherton race team this coming weekend in Leogang. Will she hold onto the leader’s jersey? Let us know your predictions in the comments!

P.S. If Rachel wins this weekend, she will equal Ann Caroline Chausson’s record 41 World Cup DH victories.

athertonbikes.com

The post Rachel Atherton to Race Leogang – Interview, Bike Check & POV of Lenzerheide Finals appeared first on Bikerumor.

If you haven’t listened to our first chat, I recommend it as we go so deep down the rabbit hole of bearings that it’ll give you a lot to think about as you’re trying to optimize your bike.

In this episode, we focus on Bottom Brackets because Enduro recently released a report that shows the results of years of testing many popular brands of BBs, but the numbers need some explaining. You’ll find the charts and some interesting data below, along with a summary explanation to accompany the deeper dive in this interview.

Also in the interview are more fun facts about bottom bracket bearings, design, and materials…definitely worth a listen. Huge thanks to Matt for the added explanations!

At first glance, this chart makes it appear as though every other bottom bracket tested fails miserably, which isn’t the case. I spoke with Matt about this at Sea Otter and we agreed that an in-depth conversation about what these numbers really mean was in order.

Before you look at this chart and think that all of those other brands suck, let’s talk about the aspects that lead to the performance differences, and then further down I’ll show why this particular chart is visually misleading.

The full report is available for download on Enduro’s website, but here’s the gist of it:

• Bearing size matters most
• Bearing and Race material comes next
• Bearing design is last

Bearing Design
The reason bearing design is least important is because most brands use the same or extremely similar designs, and because you basically have only two options: Angular Contact, and Sealed Cartridge. The vast majority of brands use Sealed Cartridge and buy those from a small pool of 3rd parties (sometimes Enduro!), so they’re mostly interchangeable with the exception of Enduro’s MaxHit, which use a custom, much deeper channel for the balls to roll in.

Angular contact is, theoretically, better, but much harder to setup and maintain, and for most users, the added work and risk of doing it wrong isn’t worth it. We explain why in the podcast.

Bearing & Race Material
Enduro’s XD15 material combined with ceramic balls is basically the longest lasting combo you can get, at least of those tested, but also pretty much overall.

Chromium Steel is the least expensive and most likely to corrode, so it requires the most maintenance. It will wear extremely quickly if water, dust or other contaminants get in there.

440C Stainless is a softer steel than the XD15 but still good, however bearing size plays a massive role in its durability.

Bearing Size
Simply put, bigger balls roll more slowly, which means lower wear, and they have a larger contact patch, which means better ability to handle higher loads.

Bearing Design…again
So, actually, with regards to fitting bigger balls into a bearing, design matters a lot. Enduro’s MaxHit products use the shell of the product as the outer race, which frees up room for bigger balls.

Depending on the combination of bearing size and material selection, combined with the conditions you ride in and your maintenance efforts, a bottom bracket’s durability can go from weeks or months to a decade. Yes, Enduro has had customers putting in thousands of miles per year for a decade on the same bottom bracket.

Now, back to that chart…

New bearings, no matter which ones, will typically contribute about 0.25 watts of drag to a bike. Added all up in your drivetrain, it’s maybe 2-3 watts total, excluding seal drag. It’s not much.

Which is why the numbers above threw me at first. On the left are AMPLIFIED watts, not actual watts. And that’s because Enduro had to amplify the readings by 12x in order to see a difference…because power meters simply aren’t sensitive enough to measure small fractions of watts.

If we were looking at actual wattage differences, the chart would look more like this:

The actual wattage difference between bottom brackets from the best case to the point just before failure is around 0.7 watts. Now, when it fails, it fails, but as long as the bearings are kept clean and greased, the difference in DRAG is going to be minimal.

That doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t develop play and feel a little sloppy, but they won’t gain much drag…until they fail.

The misleading number on the chart is the lifespan. The test was conducted with a 360º load on the bearings, but in reality, BB bearings are only about 1/3 loaded (on the bottom) when we’re pedaling. So, that’s a 3x over reality.

Next, the load on the bike was equivalent to a 480lb rider putting out a consistent 600 watts, which averages somewhere around 4x the load put onto the bearings by a typical rider.

So, if we look at even the worst performing BB on the chart failing at ~35 hours and multiply by the loads, that’s:

35 x 3 x 4 = 420 hours at 100rpm

420 hours is 210 days of 2 hour rides, which is at least a couple years worth of riding for most of us. So while it may look like some brands fail much sooner than others, the reality is that all of them last a really long time.

Why geek out on this?

Well, if I’m being honest, I’m friends with every brand on that list. So when I first saw this, I’m thinking “Crap, they’re all going to hate me if I publish that chart.” But the more I looked at it, the more questions I had. Ultimately, just sharing the raw chart would do a disservice to you and the other brands, so I wanted to put it into perspective.

Enduro has a lot of comments in the report for each brand, explaining why they think some did better than others. Between this post, that report, and the podcast interview, I hope you’ll get a better understanding of BBs and bearings and not be afraid to question what you see. I’m glad I did, and glad Matt’s always keen to share his experience.

This episode sponsored by:

Spring is the perfect time to upgrade your ride. From top brands to niche names, TPC has a curated selection of new and Certified Pre-Owned bikes for every discipline. Each Certified Pre-Owned bike is inspected, tested and serviced by expert mechanics, and every bike includes risk-free 30 day returns. Visit theproscloset.com/bikerumor and enter code BRPODCAST to save $40 on every order over $200.

Want More?

Find the BikeRumor Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and through RSS, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Hit like, hit subscribe, and hit play! Can’t find it? Let us know which players you use so we can get them up to speed! And let us know who you want us to interview, just use this form to send us your suggestions!

FOLLOW BIKERUMOR

Keep tabs on all the latest bikes, wheels, components, gear, and tech on The World’s Largest Cycling Tech Blog by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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The post Podcast #081 – Enduro explains Bottom Bracket bearings appeared first on Bikerumor.

But you might know him better as “that guy that rides with the dog on his back”.

I met Alexey at Sea Otter this year and, as I was going through the photos of his new custom ENVE MOG, I thought ‘ya know, I bet he’d be a fun guy to have a conversation with’.

So here we are. We came into this interview with no agenda, but I asked him to have a story ready to start things off, and it turned out to be a great catalyst for talking about everything from why pros aren’t great at teaching amateurs, finding the motivation to ride or race, and some great life lessons about, well, life.

And, of course, we talk about Willie the Weiner Dog and why he started riding with his girlfriend’s dog in a backpack. Find Alexey and Sir Willie on Instagram to follow their adventures, and check out the details on his custom ENVE MOG gravel bike, too!

This episode sponsored by:

Spring is the perfect time to upgrade your ride. From top brands to niche names, TPC has a curated selection of new and Certified Pre-Owned bikes for every discipline. Each Certified Pre-Owned bike is inspected, tested and serviced by expert mechanics, and every bike includes risk-free 30 day returns. Visit theproscloset.com/bikerumor and enter code BRPODCAST to save $40 on every order over $200.

Want More?

Find the BikeRumor Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and through RSS, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Hit like, hit subscribe, and hit play! Can’t find it? Let us know which players you use so we can get them up to speed! And let us know who you want us to interview, just use this form to send us your suggestions!

FOLLOW BIKERUMOR

Keep tabs on all the latest bikes, wheels, components, gear, and tech on The World’s Largest Cycling Tech Blog by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

FOLLOW TYLER

Like us? Love us? Follow your host, Tyler Benedict, on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

The post Podcast #080 – Alexey Vermeulen on Life, Motivation & Riding with Willie appeared first on Bikerumor.

Hattie is fairly new to downhill. With mechanic Andy Lund, she spent just 10 days on the Trek Session over winter, making use of Dyfi Bike Park to get some welcome air time. While she took the top step at Round 1 of the BDS in Rheola, the challenge at Fort William was another kettle of fish entirely.

This was Hattie’s very first time racing down Aonach Mòr’s World Cup DH Track, and she had the likes of Nina Hoffmann, Camille Balanche, Monika Hrastnik and Veronika Widmann to contend with, as well as a few rapid locals like Mikayla Parton and Phoebe Gale.

We were stoked to see her put in a solid race run, finishing up in P8, just 5 seconds off the box. Notably, she secured the 4th fastest time in Sector 2 – full results here. Clearly, the woman has pace. Hattie is an incredibly talented all-round bicycle rider, and if anyone has the capacity to scale it up from there, it’s her.

We caught up with the woman herself to find out more about her DH ambitions, and we also chatted with mechanic, Andy Lund, to get the details on her Session DH Bike.

Interview: Hattie Harnden on Getting into Downhill Racing

Bikerumor: Congratulations on a solid result in a stacked field of World Cup DH riders. How do you feel the weekend went?

Hattie Harnden: The weekend went smoothly, I wouldn’t have done it any other way. It was my first time at Fort William, so the main focus was on my learning and getting up to speed on the track rather than on changing bike setup too much. So I felt like I did quite a few laps on track but I think the benefit of learning outstayed the additional fatigue I had during my race run. 

Bikerumor: You rode particularly well in Sector 2, placing fourth ahead of DH athletes far more experienced than yourself. Why do you think you excelled on this part of the track?

Hattie Harnden: I honestly thought sector 2 felt like my worst one, as I had a big moment and had to almost come to a stop. However I do feel like I managed to carry my speed well though the tighter sections on that sector, as it’s more like some of the enduro tracks we ride.  

Bikerumor: What were your aims for this weekend, and did you achieve them?

Hattie Harnden: My personal aims were to have fun, survive and finish in the top 10. I achieved all of these 🙂 I had so much fun on the track and meeting so many new faces, I stayed on my bike (just) and I finished 8th, so we ticked all the boxes for the weekend 🙂

Bikerumor: You are relatively new to downhill – I think your mechanic, Andy Lund, said you’d ridden the Trek Session DH Bike just 10 times over winter. What are your ambitions within the discipline for this season?

Hattie Harnden: Yes it is all still very new to me, I am enjoying just learning something so different but also very similar at the same time. The initial idea was to just ride DH to compliment my enduro riding and help me work on some different areas of my riding. This has changed sightly though as Worlds are in Scotland, so it would be amazing to qualify myself a spot to race at World Championships, that is my new ambition. I’m sure it’ll never happen again in my career, I’d be silly not to try and get a spot, just to be a part of such a special event. 

Bikerumor: What has it been like for you getting used to the downhill bike, having spent so much time on the Trek Slash enduro bike?

Hattie Harnden: It honestly hasn’t really taken any time at all to get used to the DH bike, I felt right at home straight away. Plus I ride so many different bikes I am almost on a different one each day of the week, I enjoy the way each bike feels different and is suited to something different. 

Bikerumor: Are you looking to qualify for the World Cup?

Hattie Harnden: I am currently looking to race Lenzerheide World Cup, between the enduro world cups. No one is expecting anything, it is just a great learning experience for me, I believe the best way to learn is at races. 

Bikerumor: Finally, what is the focus of your training now, in the run up to the European block of Enduro World Cup races?

Hattie Harnden: I am training really hard at the moment as it is the last few weeks before I am off to Europe, mostly fitness focused, as I have had the DH races in between. 

Pro Bike Check: Hattie Harnden’s Trek Session

At 174 cm tall, Hattie rides the Trek Session in the R2 size. It can be run as a complete 29er, or in a mullet configuration; Hattie runs hers with the Mino-Link in the higher geometry position to accomodate for the lower bottom bracket height that comes with the 27.5″ rear wheel. The Session has size-specific chainstays, coming in at 441mm on the R2 shown here.

The frame’s 200mm travel is delivered through Trek’s four-bar suspension platform, wherein the seat stays and chain stays meat at a pivot concentric to the dropouts. This is Trek’s ABP linkage design, or Active Braking Pivot, put in place to isolate the suspension from forces exerted under rear braking. The main pivot is in a mid-to-high position on the seat tube, necessitating use of an idler pulley to minimize chain growth.

Hattie runs the Session with a RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate air shock, pressurized to 190 PSI, with the lower shock mount flip-chip oriented to give the linkage its less progressive curve, with an overall progression of 20%.

Details on the fork are off-limits; as you can see, this is a prototype RockShox Boxxer, the stanchion diameter of which we were not permitted to measure.

Hattie’s Trek Session rolls on an aluminum Bontrager Line DH 30 wheelset, which actually has a 29mm internal rim width. Seated onto those rims are Pirelli tires, with Trek Factory Racing having switched to the Italian manufacturer’s tires for the 2023 season after many years on own-brand Bontrager tires.

On the front, we see a Scorpion Race DH M tire, inflated to 24 PSI. On the rear, Hattie runs a Pirelli Prototype #0 inflated to 26 PSI. Despite those CushCore valves on display, there are no inserts inside these tires.

In the cockpit, Hattie runs a Title MTB Bar cut to 760mm, with a 25mm rise. The stem is Title’s DM1 35, with a reach of 45mm. ODI grips, an extremely popular choice among DH riders, round things out.

Managing speed are the SRAM Code RSC brakes with 4-piston calipers, with levers boasting tool-free adjustment of bite point and reach. These are paired with a 200mm SRAM HS2 rotors, front and rear.

To finish, a SRAM XO 7-Speed Drivetrain translates Hattie’s efforts into forward propulsion via Crankbrothers Mallet DH Pedals.

You can keep up to date with Hattie’s training and racing on her Instagram @hatt1e_hardnen.

trekbicycles.com

The post Pro Bike Check & Interview: Hattie Harnden’s Trek Session Downhill Bike appeared first on Bikerumor.

Looking back to this time last year, we recall Hoffmann’s win at the 2022 British Downhill Series event in Fort William; that preceded her win at the World Cup DH Round in the same location just a few weeks later. With Fort William set to host the World Championships this coming August, we can’t help but think things are looking promising for the German star. Will a new World Champion be crowned on Aonach Mòr?

Speculation aside, we caught up with Nina herself, to find out things have been going for her recently, and what her ambitions are for the season ahead.

We also met with Nina’s mechanic, Ethan Jones – not to check out her race bike, which remains off limits for now, but to check out the bike that Nina does quite a few more miles on. For much of her training, she heads out on her Santa Cruz Bronson CC; a 150mm travel bike dedicated to a mixed-wheel configuration. This is an updated model of Santa Cruz’s do-it-all mountain bike, complete with sag window on the non-drive side and a Glove Box for the easy-access storage of snacks and trail side fix essentials.

Interview: Nina Hoffmann

Bikerumor: Congratulations on a convincing win at the British Downhill Series in Fort William! A perfect start to the season, one could say. How do you feel the weekend went?

Nina Hoffmann: It feels pretty pretty good! I love Fort William and I enjoy the track a lot and that’s probably why I can go fast. That was almost a perfect start into the season and I wanna keep that momentum now going into the World Cups and onto Worlds!

Bikerumor: We saw you juggling some rocks before dropping into your seeding run. Can you tell us a bit more about your warm up routine and how you get yourself in the right head space before a race run?

Nina Hoffmann: Haha, I love juggling – and playing some games with my mechanic Ethan just before the start. Warms my brain up and gets me focused. Some breathing exercises help me as well to find optimal focus, especially when I’m pretty nervous. And visualizing the track is a good tool as well!

Bikerumor: What is your training look like in the run up to the first World Cup of the season in Lenzerheide?

Nina Hoffmann: A lot less training now than in the winter as season is close and you don’t wanna get to tired. Sprints and intervals and light gym workouts focused on fast movements and coordination stuff and then a lot of bike time – either DH or trail bike.

Bikerumor: Do you take part in any other sports outside of mountain biking, to supplement your training perhaps?

Nina Hoffmann: I just started to love running again, participated in an XC race in my hometown lately haha. Also Motocross is sick and helps to get faster on the DH bike.

Bikerumor: Congratulations on completing your Masters Thesis this Spring. Can I ask, what was the topic, and can you tell us how you juggled academia with life as a professional athlete?

Nina Hoffmann: My Thesis is about an audio hypnosis I developed to help you focus before a DH race start. We tested it with about 20 participants and it showed great results! I extended my studies a lot the last years, so that made racing and university easy to handle and I always worked only in the winter on the studies to focus a 100% on racing in the summer.

Bikerumor: Can you tell us more about the audio hypnosis, and do you use it yourself?

Nina Hoffmann: So to the audio hypnosis – it contains a relaxation part at the beginning to get into a hypnotic trance, then we visualize an optimal race day and connect this feeling to a personal trigger to elicit it later before a race. I’m about to publish a paper about my work, then everyone can read through it. And yes, I do hypnosis and meditation by myself.

Bikerumor: It is no secret that yourself and the wider Santa Cruz Syndicate race team are on the next generation Santa Cruz V10. Did you play a part in its development, and can you tell us much about that at this stage?

Nina Hoffmann: The development started already in 2021 when I wasn’t on the team yet. So Greg did the major work for us haha. But we still collecting feedback on the prototype frame now as it’s a ready to race bike.

Bikerumor: As I am sure you are acutely aware, Fort William will crown the 2023 World Champions this coming August. How are you feeling about it, having had such a great race run at the BDS? 

Nina Hoffmann: Definitely did not harm my confidence! But you know, it’s still long time to go until Worlds and a lot can happen. I’ll give my best that’s for sure, but there are many other fast girls out there.

Bikerumor: What are your overall ambitions for this season?

Nina Hoffmann: Top 3!

Pro Bike Check: Nina Hoffmann’s Santa Cruz Bronson CC

The Santa Cruz Bronson is Nina’s go-to trail bike. At 5ft 8″ tall, the Santa Cruz Syndicate athlete rides a medium in its intended MX wheel size configuration. It boasts a 452mm reach and proportional length chainstays of 435mm, with a 160mm travel fork supported at a 64.5° head tube angle. Nina runs a 150mm drop Fox Transfer post.

“Every ride in the woods is on this bike, also intervals when I’m on the road and don’t have my road bike with me. I ride it at home and take it to races and then ride enduro trails with it. It’s potent enough for proper rough tracks but also playful and light enough for flow lines and little XC rides”

Nina Hoffmann

To service its 150mm rear wheel travel, the Bronson employs a VPP linkage wherein the swingarm articulates about the front triangle via two non co-rotating links, the lowermost of which drives the shock.

In the suspension department, Nina runs a Fox 38 Factory Fork with the GRIP2 damper, and the Fox FLOAT X Factory Shock. Weighing 73 kg, Nina’s preferred settings see 70 PSI in the fork with use of a single volume spacer. She runs the LSC at 9 clicks, HSC at 8 clicks, HSR at 5 clicks and LSR at 4 clicks – all from closed. The shock is pressurized to 150 PSI, with the compression dial at 5 clicks from closed, and the rebound at 6 from closed.

New for this model year is a sag window on the non-drive side of the front triangle. Given that the shock is well nestled into the seat tube partition, the small opening allows the rider to more easily assess travel usage, something that will make setting the sag a little easier than it may previously have been.

The Bronson has two distinct geometry settings; Hi and Lo. A flip-chip on the lower link, where it connects the base of the rear shock, determines the bike’s bottom bracket height and overall handling. Hoffmann runs her Bronson in the Lo position, with a BB height of 341mm. A miniature fender bolted to the back of the seat tube protects the shock’s shaft from debris flung off the rear tire.

For speed control, Hoffmann relies on the Shimano XTR 4-Piston Brakes, with 203mm rotors of the IceTechnologies Freeza flavor. These sandwich an aluminum center between the steel braking surfaces, a center that fans out toward the hub in a bid to expedite heat dissipation. Nina also runs finned brake pads for the very same reason.

Rounding out the cockpit is a Burgtec RideWide Carbon DH Bar with a 30mm rise, measuring up at 770mm with the Burgtec grips. It is clamped by a 42.5mm Burgtec stem. Nina keeps the front end relatively tall with around 20mm worth of spacers underneath the stem. The bearings of a Chris King NoThreadSet keep the whole assembly rotating smoothly.

“I like to keep handlebar width and cockpit in general the same. Also I wanted to ride a mullet trail bike because of having a DH mullet. Trying to ride same tyres as well, basically make it as close to the DH as possible”

Nina Hoffmann

Nina’s Bronson rolls on a Reserve 30 DH Carbon Wheelset, laced to a set of Chris King hubs, the rear of which has 72 POEs. Seated to these 30mm internal width rims is a set of Maxxis tires; a 29″ x 2.5″ Assegai in the MaxxGrip EXO+ casing, and a 27.5″ x 2.4″ Minion DHRII in the MaxxTerra DoubleDown casing.

Atop the 150mm drop Fox Transfer post is an SQLab 611 saddle. Replicating the setup on the V10 DH Bike, she pushes 165mm cranks with Crankbrothers Mallet DH Pedals.

You can keep up to date with Nina Hoffmann’s season by following her on Instagram @nina.hoff96, or by following her team @scsyndicate.

santacruzbicycles.com

The post Interview & Pro Bike Check: Nina Hoffmann and her Santa Cruz Bronson Training Bike appeared first on Bikerumor.

Well, for many folks around the world, it’s not a fantasy. It’s why we have so many people trying to migrate into the USA and most of Europe. They’re trying to escape a desperate if not downright dangerous situation.

And that’s where we pick up in this episode, bringing it close to home with my friend Dmitry Nechaev (pronounced neeh-chive). He’s the founder of Triton Bikes, which, up until very recently, was based in Russia and making gorgeous custom titanium bicycles.

Everything changed for him when Russia invaded Ukraine, and his story about how he and his family got out, and how he eventually relocated the business, his employees, and equipment to Portugal is WILD!

From sneaking parts out to having friends and co-workers ride for days to cross by bicycle at remote border stations, he has some stories to tell. We talk about why he’s living in Israel but relaunching in Portugal, and, toward the end, we talk about how they’re rebuilding the brand getting ready to build its first bikes in its new factory.

It’s a long one, but stay tuned at the end for a recap of a few other things we discussed after I stopped recording. Scroll below for some photos from his journey and setting up the new factory.

A huge thanks to Dmitry for sharing his story with us. And if you’re looking for a new bike, please check out Triton and point some friends its way — it’ll help Triton rebuild the business. Visit its website, Triton-Bikes.com. And Follow Triton on Instagram and Facebook too!

Want More?

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The post Podcast #079 – Triton Bikes’ Amazing Escape From Russia  appeared first on Bikerumor.

With the recent Lithium Ion battery fires in New York creating political will to ban unlisted, non-certified batteries in e-bikes, electric scooters, and other e-mobility devices, I wanted to talk to an expert on e-bike battery safety.

My guest today is Kunal Kapoor, Senior Manager of Quality and Compliance for Bosch. As one of the leading brands of e-bike drive systems, they know a thing or two about battery design, safety, certification, and performance, so I picked his brain on all the things.

If you’re wondering how to best charge, store, and maximize the life of your e-bike’s battery, this short episode is packed full of useful info.

This episode sponsored by:

Spring is the perfect time to upgrade your ride. From top brands to niche names, TPC has a curated selection of new and Certified Pre-Owned bikes for every discipline. Each Certified Pre-Owned bike is inspected, tested, and serviced by expert mechanics, and every bike includes risk-free 30-day returns. Visit tpc.bike/bikerumor and enter code BRPODCAST to save $40 on every order over $200.

Want more?

Find the Bikerumor Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and through RSS, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Hit like, hit subscribe, and hit play! Can’t find it? Let us know which players you use so we can get them up to speed! And let us know who you want us to interview, just use this form to send us your suggestions!

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Keep tabs on all the latest bikes, wheels, components, gear and tech on The World’s Largest Cycling Tech Blog by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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The post Podcast #078 – Bosch explains what’s going on with e-bike battery safety appeared first on Bikerumor.

I’m a huge nerd when it comes to sports nutrition, and nutrition in general as it relates to health, wellness, and longevity. So it’s with great pleasure that I sat down with Dr. Luke Bucci, formerly with Weider and now Chief Science Officer for First Endurance, a sports nutrition brand focused on fueling and improving endurance athletes.

Health, fitness & nutrition are big passions of mine, and I do a lot of personal research on ways to get stronger, faster, healthier, and improve longevity. So, we geek out pretty hard in this one and dive really deep.

Even if you think you know how to fuel properly, my hunch is you’ll learn some things from this episode. We talk about types of carbohydrate and protein, timing and quantity, caffeine dosing, and even why they use certain ingredients but not others, the pros and cons of some popular supplements, and why they’ve switched up the formula for some of the products in recent years.

Whether you’re trying to optimize your race performance or just ride a little faster and further, this one’s packed full of useful takeaways.

This episode sponsored by:

Spring is the perfect time to upgrade your ride.From top brands to niche names, TPC has a curated selection of new and Certified Pre-Owned bikes for every discipline. Each Certified Pre-Owned bike is inspected, tested and serviced by expert mechanics, and every bike includes risk-free 30 day returns. Visit tpc.bike/bikerumor and enter code BRPODCAST to save $40 on every order over $200.

Want more?

Find the Bikerumor Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and through RSS, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Hit like, hit subscribe, and hit play! Can’t find it? Let us know which players you use so we can get them up to speed! And let us know who you want us to interview, just use this form to send us your suggestions!

FOLLOW BIKERUMOR

Keep tabs on all the latest bikes, wheels, components, gear and tech on The World’s Largest Cycling Tech Blog by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

FOLLOW TYLER

Like us? Love us? Follow your host, Tyler Benedict, on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn

The post Podcast #077 – First Endurance dives deep on sports nutrition appeared first on Bikerumor.

Turns out, they were onto something. They’re growing so fast that they made the Inc. 5,000 list of fastest-growing companies, and from the sound of things, they’re just getting warmed up.

In this episode, I talk to Tom Place, who, if you’ve ever run into them at an event, is probably the guy you talked to. Nicknamed “Danger”, he shares why they make their lights the way they do, the pros and cons of helmet versus bar-mounted lights, why lumens don’t matter nearly as much as the marketing hype suggests, and more.

If you geek out on lights, and want a little sneak peek of what they’re working on next, this is a good one. And you can check out their lights at OutboundLighting.com.

This episode sponsored by:

Wherever you ride, The Pro’s Closet has the road, mountain, gravel and ebikes to get you there. TPC carries a curated selection of new and Certified Pre-Owned bikes, and a constantly expanding selection of parts, accessories, and apparel. With available financing and competitive pricing, TPC has everything you need to gear up this season. Visit theproscloset.com/bikerumor and enter code BRPODCAST to save $40 on every order over $200.

Want more?

Find the Bikerumor Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and through RSS, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Hit like, hit subscribe, and hit play! Can’t find it? Let us know which players you use so we can get them up to speed! And let us know who you want us to interview, just use this form to send us your suggestions!

FOLLOW BIKERUMOR

Keep tabs on all the latest bikes, wheels, components, gear and tech on The World’s Largest Cycling Tech Blog by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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The post Podcast #076 – Outbound Lighting explains lumens, beams & light design differently appeared first on Bikerumor.

In this ep, I’m talking with long-time friend Alec White from White Industries about their recent acquisition of Rolf Prima and Astral Wheels. We dig in a bit on the strategy of acquiring what were basically their two largest customers, and what it means for the future of those brands and products.

We also talk about their business in general, how he has grown into running the company his father started when Alec was just a wee tot, and kick around some product ideas from past and future.

I always love talking to Alec, and I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Check below for photos of the Peggers and Limbo Spider products he mentions during the episode!

The White Industries Limbo Spider replaced the small chainring on a front crankset with an adapter that could hold a (then common) Suntour freewheel cog as small as 18-23 teeth!

Check out more of their company’s history on their website.

This episode sponsored by:

Spring is the perfect time to upgrade your ride.From top brands to niche names, TPC has a curated selection of new and Certified Pre-Owned bikes for every discipline. Each Certified Pre-Owned bike is inspected, tested and serviced by expert mechanics, and every bike includes risk-free 30 day returns. Visit theproscloset.com/bikerumor and enter code BRPODCAST to save $40 on every order over $200.

Want more?

Find the Bikerumor Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and through RSS, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Hit like, hit subscribe, and hit play! Can’t find it? Let us know which players you use so we can get them up to speed! And let us know who you want us to interview, just use this form to send us your suggestions!

FOLLOW BIKERUMOR

Keep tabs on all the latest bikes, wheels, components, gear and tech on The World’s Largest Cycling Tech Blog by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

FOLLOW TYLER

Like us? Love us? Follow your host, Tyler Benedict, on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn

The post Podcast #075 – Why did White Industries buy two wheel brands? appeared first on Bikerumor.

In this episode, Anne Hed talks about its rapid development and the impressive results her athletes got on it at Kona, plus what it means for the future of the brand.

We also talk about how the brand is evolving since Steve Hed’s passing in 2014, why things were quiet for a bit, and a little sneak peek of things to come.

She shares a few personal stories about the early days, and just wait until you hear how their first disc wheels were designed, built, and sold. It’s a great origin story, and great to hear what they’re up to now. And check our HED HQ/Factory tour story for a behind the scenes look at their process.

WANT MORE?

Find the Bikerumor Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and through RSS, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Hit like, hit subscribe, and hit play! Can’t find it? Let us know which players you use so we can get them up to speed! And let us know who you want us to interview, just use this form to send us your suggestions!

FOLLOW BIKERUMOR

Keep tabs on all the latest bikes, wheels, components, gear and tech on The World’s Largest Cycling Tech Blog by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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The post Podcast #073 – HED Cycling’s wild startup & development stories appeared first on Bikerumor.

At various points in her career, Tracy has dominated Downhill, Enduro and, more recently, E-Enduro Racing, all on the World Stage. As a huge proponent of a multi-disciplinary approach (as you will read), Tracy has also seen major success in Cyclo-Cross and 4X racing at a National Level. She has an eye-watering list of incredible race results to her name, many of which you can see here. She’s an inspiration to riders the world over, and has been a key mentor in the lives of many young athletes who are now themselves performing at the pointy end of their respective disciplines.

It was a delight to sit down with Tracy for a chat. We discussed everything from the perils of social media, the hallmarks of a successful athlete, the importance of having fun in a training programme, how to get sponsored, equipment parity in eBike racing, future adventure formats, and of course her thoughts on the Bosch Performance Line CX Race Motor. Grab a cuppa!

Note: If some of the last questions seem a little out of date, that’s because we recorded this interview on 16th September 2022.

Tracy Moseley on Athlete Mentorship and Future of eBike Racing

Bikerumor: You’ve mentored a number of young mountain bike athletes over the last few years. I don’t how long that extends back, but I know you were mentoring Jess [Stone] at some point.

Tracy Moseley: Yeah. True, actually.

Bikerumor: Would she have been one of the first, you think?

Tracy Moseley: Yeah, I guess. So, I kind of see Jess as more of, yeah, I guess I did mentor her a lot, but it was almost like just, she ended up coming to Uni in Worcester, so she was living close to us. It was more of like where she was and helping her out just with life. It was a really cool thing. Like I think the thing that really, I guess, stood out to me about Jess, and made me realize that often, I think in sport now you see parents pushing their kids to take part in sport at a really early age. I even have friends that have kids in sports clubs that are like, you know, training starts three times a week at age five. And you’re like, whoa, hang on a minute. And I wonder then, is it the child leading this? Or is it the parent leading this kind of dedication to sport? And then there’s concern that eventually they get to an age where they have a choice and they’re like, I will do this. I’ve been dragged around doing this work for so long. I don’t like it anymore. And I always think that’s so sad when you think you’ve got a lifetime to enjoy this joy sport or whatever it is. And I think it’s a long story here, but with Jess, it was different.

Her P.E teacher was Kerry Bason, who was, back in the day, a downhill racer with Helen Morton, who was one of the girls that gave me my first ever bike from a top level athlete, I think Kerry instilled the kind of the love for cycling into Jess. And then Jess was just a kid that started turning up at a train station saying, “Hey, can someone come and pick me up”, having arrived at Ludlow train station with a bike and a tent. Her parents were not supportive, and she never had the opportunity, you know… they didn’t have any of that background or support or even interest in what she was doing.

And it was purely driven from what Jess wanted to do and what she wanted to achieve in her life and to change her life, I guess, from being, you know… the situation she had at home, it wasn’t great. And she could have ended up just going down a kind of, you know, the route that most people would say is easy… get involved in drinking or whatever, but it was like, I wanna do sport. I wanna do something with my life. And I just thought that was incredible. It’s like, this is a kid of like 16, 17 years old. She’s like jumping on a train and coming to a bike race. And I just wanted to help. I thought it was amazing. And you see the contrast with the opposite side… the kids that are being given everything and five grand bikes at age 12. And you’re just like, whoa, hang on a minute. Um, so Jess has just been someone that I’ve just really wanted to help. Cause you could see there was a genuine passion and she’s just such a lovely human.

So that was almost an easy thing for me to do. She ended up coming to Worcester to Uni, and I just loved being able to help support her. So, I think probably it did start with Jess, I guess. And then, more so with Hattie [Harnden] again. Being local, she got involved in the cycling club. I was helping out coaching the cycling club, and just saw her talent.

I think you can see talent in kids out there that don’t even get chance to have a go at some sports that they’ve got talent in. Opportunity is often the way to expose someone to see, can they, you know, are they good at this? And have they got the opportunity to do it?
I think at Malvern’s [Cycle Club], we were lucky the cycling club was pretty healthy and strong and other kids around them were doing it. And we had this opportunity to give them chance to ride bikes and Hattie [Harnden] and Evie [Richards] went on to do better than I had ever expected.

And yeah, I guess it’s been Ella [Conolly] a little bit in many ways, Martha [Gill]. I was involved with cross-country for a while as the Technical Coach for British Cycling for a few years. Martha was on the GB cross country program. So was Ella at the time with Evie. I did loads of coaching with Ella and Evie one winter.

Ella was just like, just not enjoying racing cross-country anymore. And, British Cycling had said, look, there’s not gonna be a future in this for you. And she was kind of devastated and I was like, but there’s other things you could do with your bike. And that was a year, I think I basically just got a bike sorted for her to go and race Finale Ligure, at the end of one of the seasons in Under 21, and I think she pretty much went and won.

And from then on, it was just like, she was like, no way, I can actually do this. I don’t feel like I’ve done loads. It’s just, again, it’s giving people the opportunity, giving them an outlet and showing them they can do it. It was the same with Martha.

It was like making sure that she got hooked up with Marin back in the day and got her sorted on the path that she’s now on. Her pathway’s awesome. She’s made her own niche; it’s not just racing. It’s her style, her thing. And it’s so cool. Um, so I think sometimes it’s just been more networking connections, showing people that there’s other opportunities than just this cross-country thing.

You don’t always fit the box. There’s other boxes you can try rather than giving up and never wanting to be involved in a sport again, which I always find is pretty sad for the sport when it becomes so serious so soon. So, I think that multi-discipline approach is also something that I’ve really, really pushed hard as well.

Bikerumor: Do you think, there are a lot of young athletes doing themselves a disservice by pigeonholing themselves onto one discipline very early on in their career?

Tracy Moseley: Yeah, definitely, I think for many reasons. I think from a physical athletic point of view, I think there’s lots of benefits to be had from moving your body in different ways, you know. Cycling’s very much just one dimensional, turning pedals, your body doesn’t get to like, you know, weight bare that much. Doesn’t get to change direction lots. It’s lots of different things that you get from, from other sports. And I think when you’re young, you’re developing, the more you can get hand-eye coordination, you know, body weight stuff, strength from other areas, then for sure that’s important an important physical thing but also a mental thing like, one – for it to be fun.

For example, I think one of the things with Hattie [Harnden] recently is she’s obviously focusing on Enduro, but she’s still got her cross-country aspect of her training. So physically that helps, also mentally – she comes back from an Enduro block and then almost like switches gears and goes back to training for something else.

And it’s like, you almost have a break from that seriousness of thinking about one discipline and you can just keep it fresh and enjoy the next one. Um, and I think the enjoyment thing as well… I think is really important to like challenging yourself with something new all the time. It keeps it fun. Keeps it exciting, rather than just that mundane-ness of like, “I know I need to do these same intervals or ride this same track. I’ve got to do downhill laps on this trail”. It’s like keeping it exciting and challenging yourself, I think is super, super important.

And also, for that pressure to mount, you know. If you’re doing the same thing and you know, you’ve got this one outlet, one discipline and when you don’t have a great race, it doesn’t go well. It’s like, well, I’ve got to do it again next week. That’s all again, and maybe fail again.
Whereas if actually you, I’m gonna go do something completely different that’s maybe not my thing and I’m not too focused on it and no one’s gonna care if I win or lose, it like takes that pressure off. And I think that’s also really important when you’re young. It’s like, yeah, it needs to be fun.

Bikerumor: So, with those athletes that you’ve supported over the years, would you say there’s any particular traits or characteristics that kind of tie them all together? Anything that stands out as consistent across those athletes? Are there aspects about where they grew up for example, or is it just purely the kind of competitive spirit they have?

Tracy Moseley: I think some of it’s definitely natural, like a natural talent, a natural competitiveness and ability to want to push themselves. I think that drive, I would say like a real drive. Then the other part of it, I think, comes from opportunities and that’s a big part of it. So, you can be the best athlete out there, but if you don’t get those opportunities, they don’t come along or you don’t have the right people to show you this sport, when suddenly you actually need something. That often is part of it. So, it’s lots of little things. I think it’s almost like all of those little pieces of the jigsaw coming together at the right time to kind of make it work.

Bikerumor: It seems you’ve been that opportunity for a few riders.

Tracy Moseley: I think that’s been it, often. I haven’t done, like I’ve not given them the training program, not like said, you know, it’s this interval that’s working. Actually, on the the training side, I’ve done very little with most of them. I’ve been more of a person to ask advice from like, you know, when’s a good time to ask for sponsorship, maybe, how do you go about it? And just, I think trying to give advice as to how to become a rounded human being that is gonna be successful and be someone who is wanted to be sponsored, I guess, and not being that kind of like, “I’m the best this I should be getting this, this and this”. It’s like, you need to be a nice human. And I think that’s one of the aspects I’ve always been really conscious of pushing. You know, you have to earn it. One of the things I did was I made sure they’ve had to earn their support in a way, which sounds probably a bit weird, but like Hattie and Evie both set off on bikes that weren’t the best, you know. Ella definitely started off on not the best stuff.

Hattie particularly has been one person who, every year, she’s got like a bit of a better bike. It was like my one from the year before. And then, you know, next year she got something a bit better. Whereas like, it’s only now when she’s fully sponsored that she’s getting the best of everything. I think that teaches you that you don’t need the best stuff ever to be successful.

And also, you appreciate what you’ve got. I think that’s the biggest lesson is like appreciating the value of stuff, you know, realizing that stuff that’s given doesn’t just go on a tree. Someone’s had to pay for that or it’s, you know, there’s value to it. And I think that’s really important with young kids as well. It’s like, they don’t realize that they’ve got a £400 mech on their bike and it’s like, they go and smash into a rock and are then like “Mummy can I have a new one”. You know, it’s crazy the cost of stuff. And I think that’s really important that starting off on like the hardtail versus the full suspension bike and building your skills and building your pathway there and really respecting, appreciating everything around you and everything you get is one of the biggest life schools you can get.

I think rather than just jumping on the scene straight away and being given the best bike. Because, where do you go from there?

Bikerumor: There’s obviously a huge focus on social media for the athletes now. It’s a huge part of the role, for better or for worse. You started your career when there was less of a focus on that. I mean, maybe none. Do you think, there’s opportunity anymore for that to be the case? For a rider to pursue their athletic ambitions without being that much in the public eye in terms of selling themselves on social media?

Tracy Moseley: Yeah, I think there is but there’s fewer opportunities for that. You’ve got to basically be an absolutely dominant rider, the best rider in the world and win everything, you know? And then, ultimately, thankfully still, winning bike races is the most important thing for most brands and in most disciplines. Maybe in some it’s less.

It’s hard because I have grown up without that and now it’s part of life and thankfully, I’m actually really glad that it’s now not my job to be a professional athlete because it’s a juggling act to try and do all of those jobs. And it’s also… I think it’s a really dangerous part of sport now because you’re being judged on this false image that you can create. You can do whatever you want for a picture. Life looks amazing. Life is look at me doing this and you can spend ages perfecting this perfect picture. But the thing, is that actually the reality of what you’re doing? And also, I think it affects how you then how you go out and ride your bike with your friends. You now go out and plan rides to video, to session, not just for the sake of going for rides, like switching off, enjoying where you are. There’s so much about rides now that are planned because it’s got be content, content, content.

And where’s the actual rivalry? I think that’s quite sad, especially for kids when there’s so many external influences and they want to be cool, they want to be fit in, they want to have followers. You know, you want be a cool person. It’s a big battle, I think, to kind of have the kind of mixer.

Especially for females as well, we can’t help it but everyone realizes that, you know, if you’re blonde, you’re pretty and you wear not a lot of clothes on Instagram, you get loads of followers from middle-aged guys. It’s like, it’s the sad reality of life and a fact. And, if people are gonna sponsor you purely on clicks and likes, then what do you wanna do to get your likes up? You end up feeling like you need to do things like that, which is really, really sad. And I think people are aware of that more now. And I think brands and companies are… I think they’re starting to come round to it and realize that actually, you know, authenticity, people being able to post stuff that is real to them is more valuable now than just getting random clicks from other people.

Cause it’s random. Are they really gonna buy a bike? No, they’re just scrolling through Instagram. So, like what is the value in that? So, I think, I think it is changing and I really hope in time we do find a balance with the two because yes, it is important. We all love social media. We all follow it. It does sell bikes I’m quite sure, and it does increase people’s profile, but ultimately is it really helping the brands that much?

And also, how is it affecting the people that are having to do it? It’s a part of their job, like, you know, is their actual quality of life any better? Are their skills getting any better, are they enjoying their bike riding?

Bikerumor: You often see them at the end of a season have a meltdown. They’ll also just leave social media for six weeks cause they’re like, I can’t face this anymore.

Tracy Moseley: Yeah, exactly. I wanna go ride my bike.

Bikerumor: That will have been playing on their mind all season, about keeping up the content.

Tracy Moseley: It’s crazy. And I just think at some point, the whole conveyor belt has to kind of end, you know. I still hope that ultimately the people that win races are the ones that get the best opportunities to get sponsored and make a career out of it, and not just the ones that are really good at editing videos, because that’s sometimes how it is at the moment. It’s crazy.

I steer the conversation toward eBikes, given that’s why we’d been invited to the Bosch eMTB Challenge, and because they’re interesting, of course.

Bikerumor: Do you think eBikes can be a useful tool for an athlete’s training?

Tracy Moseley: I think it definitely can be. It can be used in various ways. It can be the chance to still ride if you want to have an easy day, but you still want to kind of go out there and… sometimes just for that mental side, I think sometimes rather than having a day off and doing nothing, if you’re the kind of person that needs to still go out and move and you need to do stuff, then actually that can take the load off your training by using an eBike.

Um, and also for people that are maybe wanting to get downhill time, you know, that kind of, that lapping with an eBike for downhill stuff. It does give you so much time on the bike. You know, it doubles the time you’re riding downhill, basically. You’re lapping quickly, so that can be used.

And I also think, more for me, for the eBike, it’s sometimes about the social aspect of it that can bring those groups together. Not necessarily for the athlete’s riding, but the athlete could go and ride with their mum or their dad. And for example, Evie’s dad uses her eBike a lot to go out training with her. She’s a very social trainer. She wants to be with people. So, her coach also rides an eBike to do sessions with her. I’ve done an eBike session with her. So, to be able to create that kind environment of whatever people need to make them feel happy.
And it does bridge the gap between fitnesses. So that’s a really, really cool way I think the eBikes are probably sometimes overlooked in many ways, but it’s not just about riding them fast and further, it can be for other reasons, just to bring a group together and make a ride more social.

Bikerumor: What is your perspective on the future of competitive eBike racing?

Tracy Moseley: Yeah, um, that is a really tough question because I don’t think any of us really know yet. I still think eBike racing is in its infancy.

And I have, I’ll be honest, been like, you know, why do we need to race eBikes? But then you go back to that, why do we race anything really? There’s always gonna be people who want to be competitive. There’s always that competitive drive. And in terms of industry bike development, it’s that formula one style of… like downhill racing exists not because we sell thousands of downhill bikes… it’s more about the constant pushing of technology and testing it. And it’s the same with eBikes. There’s a bigger picture with eBikes to think about than racing. It’s about getting people active, getting people moving, it’s about giving people a chance to use the bike rather than the car. There’s a whole big picture there. And the racing aspect is always gonna be where you develop the next technology, where your brand gets its recognition, where you get opportunities to showcase what you’re doing, and you’re testing the equipment against, you know, the highest level. So, I think that’s in my mind how the racing fits into the bigger picture of Bikes; it’s not just about eBike racing to me.

So, how the actual racing format goes forward… I think that’s still where we are very much in that evolution setting. I don’t think anyone knows quite what is the perfect format is for racing yet. And I think there’s a difference between, you know, the cross-country style, versus the marathon style, versus the Enduro gravity style.

There’s definitely three ways that you use can use one. Whether all those three areas of racing will continue. I don’t know. I still feel like we’re finding that out. And for me personally, I feel like the kind of, the adventure style is something that I really think lends itself to the eBike, because you can do more and do something different than you would probably do on a human-powered bike. You know, you can get that bit further. You can go further into the back country on a day trip and it’s quite cool what you can achieve with a bit of help from a motor. So, I like the idea of seeing where that develops more than the kind of circuit racing which is always gonna be the easy thing to do. Like, challenging people more technically with the speed and with the terrain, but like that adventure style and where we can go with that would be quite cool to see.

Bikerumor: Can you name a race that is similar to that format?

Tracy Moseley: The eBike World Tour, like the E-Tour du Mont-Blanc. So, it’s a three-day race that I did a few years ago in teams and that was literally three days around Mont Blanc. And um, yeah the terrain you cover, the distance we covered was insane. But then that’s thing, like the logistics of those things are beyond mass participation side. So, that’s where I think battery technology, the weight of bikes… um, if you’re gonna do races where you need support crews to, you know, you pick up a battery on route… there’s such a bigger picture as to how these things evolve. So, I think it’s a long way for us to really find that solution.

Bikerumor: Yet, the UCI is already on board with eBike racing. I think we’ve had a few World Champions now?

Tracy Moseley: Yeah, 2019 was the first one. Would Les Gets have been the fourth one? Yeah, I think it would be.

Bikerumor: The UCI has historically been very tight on rules for equipment and things like in cycle-cross and road in particular. Do you think we’ll see them develop a similar set of stringent rules for eBike racing and if so, how logistically do you think they’re going to be able to enforce those rules so that there’s equipment parity?

Tracy Moseley: That’s the thing, I think at the moment they’re just testing to make sure that no one’s going above that speed limit. You know, and also the power output of the engines. And they are doing that quite thoroughly, I would say, at those World Champs races, they are doing that testing and scrutineering. Um, how far they’ve got in terms of, you know… there’s talk that people can wirelessly change them once they’re out on course. And you know, there’s all always gonna be people that tamper with that.

Um, I think the interesting is, I guess a little bit with the idea of Formula One is that the ride weight makes such a difference to the power output you get from your bike. And until there’s a way of maybe making… maybe weighting the bike, so everyone’s on a similar bike. And also, the motors are very good, you know, the Bosch is very different to a Shimano, is very different to a Specialized, you know, so there’s still quite a lot of discrepancy there. So, at the moment, it’s still very hard to have a level playing field with it.

But then, I guess, in Formula One, you could argue that, you know, the technology of motors and engines changes so much that there’s always one car that is always way stronger than the others at the start of the year. So that’s, that’s what does build development. And if someone’s behind on the form we want for the next year, they’re like, right, we need to up our engineering and how are we gonna make this better? You know, Formula One back in the day had all the issues it had to overcome.

I look back at the analog EWS Series and the first few years of that, they were still trying to find the rules and regs, and there was a lot of, you know, people that were, let’s say, pushing those boundaries. You know, it took a few years to find its feet to work to become what it is now.

So, I still think eBike racing will have a few years where it’s a bit like, “Hmmm, is that fair? Is it really right? Until we kind of work out how it can work and how the industry starts to standardize things as well, I think.

Bikerumor: So, onto the new Bosch Performance Line CX Race Motor. Did you have a hand in designing it?

Tracy Moseley: No, it must have been just last year. I think, so the 2021 season, at some of the E-EWS races that I did, we had the chance to kind of put on a… it’s not the version I think is now the actual Race Motor, bur like the features of what you’re gonna get on the Race Motor… we trialed that and tested it at some of the races.

Bikerumor: What races would that have been?

Tracy Moseley: That was EWS-E in Scotland last year and Finale last year. Um, and it’s one of those things that I kind of maybe had on for practice and then I took it off because they were able to kind of literally just plug it in and do a software update. That’s the crazy stuff you can do with, you know, with the motor technology.

So yeah, looking at, you know, the maximum top speed. Again, that legal limit, and making sure that we get as close to that as we can. There were things like… as you get to that 25 kph, it would kind of cut off gradually. So, now it basically gives you that max power all the way to the end and it’s quite an abrupt cut off.

And definitely the extended boost that you get when you give it a pedal stroke, it gives you like a meter or two meters of almost like a lunge, or could you call it like a surge? And if you want to get up technical stuff, they’ve basically extended that. So, it gives you a real kind of drive up something, and momentum carries you up. So, it’s just quite an aggressive feel.

Again, for racing, every little bit you can get to help, you know, every little kph you can get, helps you get up stuff easier. So, all of those little things they’ve been developing over the last year with the guys that have been racing them.

Bikerumor: Will you change your set up at all when you get a Trek Rail with the new CX Race Motor?

Tracy Moseley: I don’t think it’s gonna change drastically from what we were testing last year. I think it’s basically gonna be a slightly more refined version that they know is, you know, not gonna have issues and come back with errors. It’s not gonna change. So, I don’t imagine it’s probably gonna. Maybe it’s not even gonna be as aggressive in some ways as the ones we tested there. Maybe they’ll dial it back. Yeah. So, I don’t feel like I’m gonna get something new and be like, oh, what’s this? I feel like I’ve got a good idea of what to expect.

It is a bit like taming a wild horse at times, and it’s just learning its characteristics, learning how to ride it, preempting some of it, making sure you are in a good position, you’re kind of riding aggressively and then it’s awesome. If you’re kind of just like a bit on your laurels, and like out for a cruise, it can definitely take you for a ride.

Thank you very much to Tracy Moseley for taking the time to speak to us at the Bosch eMTB Challenge! You can keep up to date with Tracy over on her Instagram @tracy_moseley.

TracyMoseley.com

The post Interview: Tracy Moseley on Athlete Mentorship & Future of eBike Racing appeared first on Bikerumor.

Because the things Predator Cycling is doing with materials, artificial intelligence, computational fluid dynamics, and 3D printing is so far beyond what any other brand is doing, it’s brain-melting.

My guest today is Aram Goganian, founder of Predator Cycling. He’s wicked smart, and since he didn’t mention it, I will: Not only is he pushing the limits of computer design so far that brands like Nvidia and Lenovo are giving him super computer equipment to test, he’s also speaking at their events to teach their teams new ways to use them.

In this ep, he gives us masterclass in design and materials that show how they’re pushing the envelope of not just custom parts, but custom fits to completely optimize aerodynamics down to the position of each individual finger.

This one goes deep. So grab a coffee, sit back, and enjoy.

Check out their wild custom aero extensions, designed with L3GION’s Cory Williams, for an example of how they’re applying this multi-material, multi-step process to create better bike components.

WANT MORE?

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The post Podcast #072 – Predator Cycling’s tech will make your head explode! appeared first on Bikerumor.

Trudy spoke with great enthusiasm about the enormous task she and her team have ahead of them, making it very clear what an incredible opportunity this World First event is for the sport of cycling and everyone that’s part of it, as well as everyone who is not yet part of it but will most definitely be thereafter.

Showdowns for BMX Freestyle Flatland, BMX Freestyle Park, BMX Racing, Gran Fondo, Indoor Cycling, Para-Cycling Road, Para-Cycling Track, Road, Track, Trials, Mountain Bike Cross-Country and Mountain Bike Downhill will all take place over August 3-13, a time during which myself and my Bikerumor colleagues will wish we could be in several places at once. Also… and this is pure conjecture from me, but given EDR-Enduro’s (formerly the EWS) recent call-up to UCI World Cup status, it wouldn’t at all surprise me to see a 14th event added in due course. Again, pure conjecture, but i’d probably bet at least half of the £1.26 in my back pocket on it.

We sat down with Trudy to learn more about specific plans for the World Championships, and what kind of legacy she hopes will remain after the dust has settled, and the medals awarded.

Interview with Trudy Lindblade, CEO of 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships

Bikerumor: 2023 will be the first time in the history of the UCI that 13 Cycling World Championship Events will be hosted in the same place. Can you tell us why that decision was made, instead of having the Championships spread out across multiple countries and continents as has traditionally been the case?

Trudy Lindblade: When the UCI President David Lappartient came in for his first term, this was part of his manifesto, coming into his presidency to try and bring all the World Championships together. And it was just to create an event of size and scales, so cycling could have that moment where everybody in the world can see what a great big sport cycling is. And it’s not just, you know, the Olympic sports that you see on TV every couple of years, whether it be the Commonwealth Games or Olympic Games.

Bringing it together, they can put cycling front and center every four years, because the event will be held every four years prior to the Olympic Games. It helps with that sustainable future of cycling. So again, showing the depth and breadth of cycling.

People who might traditionally have not considered a discipline might go, “Well, I might give that a go”. And then there’s a new audience piece. So, by bringing them together we are mixing the audiences as well. Cause if you think about cycling, it can be quite tribal in a way.

Um, so we’ve got an opportunity to say “Well come and explore something a little bit different”. And then hopefully by doing that we are providing that new audience opportunity to grow people, and bring people into the sport. And that bringing people into the sport can be more people riding bikes. It can be commercial revenues, you know, any of those types of things, which sort of goes back to that sustainable future of the sport.

How does cycling keep up with the other big sports in the world to make sure that it has a long-term future. And there’s lots of other things; obviously the UCI and cycling are doing, but for this and our purpose, you know, bringing an event of size and scale together in one spot allows you to hang lots of other things off it.

Bikerumor: Forgive me. Are there cycling disciplines that will be in the World Championships that aren’t an Olympic Sport?

Trudy Lindblade: That’s okay! So, there are some non-Olympic Sports. So, um, some of the BMX and Urban are not Olympic sports.

So, Trials and Flatland. Um, you’ve got Indoor Cycling, so Cycle Ball and Artistic Cycling. Um, not all of the mountain bike events are Olympic Events. So, you’ve got quite a range of disciplines that are in the World Championships that are not necessarily seen on that big stage every day.

And I think particularly for some of those emerging sports, and I love to use the example of Artistic Cycling because when I describe that to people, they are intrigued by it because it is very different. You know, Artistic Cycling… gymnastics on a bike, Soccer Ball… soccer on a bike, or football on a bike. The indoor worlds were just actually held in Belgium last week [5^th November].

You know, it is different. I sent a couple of our team out there for a reconnaissance because we need to learn a bit about it, you know, it’s not something we’re familiar with and they’ve just come back raving about it. They said it’s a really a good event.

Bikerumor: It’s amazing, and about as far removed from cycling as you can go while still involving a bike.

Trudy Lindblade: Correct. It’s just, it’s amazing what they do. That’s the other thing we sort of talk about, you know, the bike, the humble bike. I call it the humble bike because it is just a humble bike.

And you know, it, there’s just so many things and elements that it can do for you in your everyday life that’s different. And that’s part of the broader messaging of our event is, you know, the bike is not just something you can win World Championships on – there is so much more. So, we can use this event to give those broader messages.

Bikerumor: I suppose with the Indoor Cycling as well… like you say, it was held in Belgium. I think like parts of the sport have different levels of following in different regions of the world. So, I guess it’s gonna raise the profile of every single discipline all at once.

Trudy Lindblade: Exactly. And, and our challenge is to make sure that we do that; it’s to give each of those disciplines in each World Championship its appropriate moment. And we are really conscious of that because we want to make sure that this is an inclusive event and that inclusive means not just making it accessible to people to attend or to watch or to participate, but it’s also, you know, we want to be able to tell people about your blue-ribbon events, and then you’ve got your emerging events or your lesser-known events. And so, we want to tell that whole story of cycling. And that’s really important to us.

Bikerumor: So, we’re interested in knowing what the costs are going be, and also what the cost would’ve been for you guys to put the bid together for Glasgow in the first place.

Trudy Lindblade: Yeah, so this was not necessarily a traditional approach because it came through the UCI president’s original manifesto.

He was talking about it with my Chair, who’s also the Director of Events in Scotland, and some of our funding partners at Sport Accord. It’s where all the sports come together each year. So, we went into an exclusive negotiation period with the UCI to bid for this event.

During that period, we had obviously the opportunity to work with the UCI on demonstrating how we would be able to host. And the great thing is that we had, in Scotland, recently hosted the European Championships in 2018 which was a brand-new event. You know, it was a multi-sport event based in Glasgow. The difference here is our event is Pan-Scotland, and that’s really important for us that we are engaging with as much of Scotland as we can.

We had just demonstrated that we had the ability to run an event – a brand new event – to take it on and run it successfully. The bid was done through Event Scotland, Glasgow City Council, UK Sport, the Scottish Government and British Cycling.

So, we couldn’t be doing this without them. It was a really collaborative approach from the beginning because this event hasn’t been done before. So, we have a shared vision with the UCI about what we would like to see, and I think that’s a really nice way to start your bid where we are coming at it collectively.

We’ve taken this idea and we are creating it together and we’re essentially creating together the UCI’s blueprint for the future. Now, probably that will look slightly different in France in 2027, but at least we’ll have the functional model that will help them take it forward and then each country there on in, as happens in any major event, will add their bit to it.

So, we’ll put our Scottish Kilt over it, and France will put their, whatever the equivalent is, over it and we’ll do it that way. Events of this size and scale can’t be delivered without principal funders, which are our government funders, but without also the support that they bring as well.

And Scotland’s got a ready network of major event credentials; from transport to, you know, their local councils – they’re all experienced in event delivery.

Bikerumor: And what are the expected costs of delivering the event next year?

Trudy Lindblade: Yeah, so with our funding partners, it’s around £45 Million. That is the expected delivery cost. So, you know, we’ve got an opportunity to deliver a terrific event. And we need our funding partners and other partners to help us do that. So, you know, we’ll also be bringing on a range of commercial partners to supplement that.

Bikerumor: You mentioned during your talk at the [Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland] conference that certain facilities were already under development in advance of the event. I’m wondering whether there will be funding available after the event to keep some of those facilities open. Like, for example, just down the road from me at Glentress, they’re currently building the Start and Finish arena for the Cross-Country.

Trudy Lindblade: Yeah, definitely, that’s the purpose of the Facilities Fund. So, the £8 Million Facilities Fund wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t had this World Championships. It was a bit of a catalyst. So, we are really proud of that.

And that was all about, you know, inspiring a nation for cycling about, you know, building facilities. Because we’ve got all of these people that are wanting to cycle and we’ve got to make sure Scotland’s got those facilities to enable them to do that.

And that could be from creating a pump track to making sure toilets and bathrooms are available within facilities. There’s a range of things that that can go toward. So, for us, absolutely part of the creation of these facilities is so that they have a long-term use afterwards. So, for the funding that goes out, you know, there needs to be a plan that’s submitted with that funding.

And, it’s not just about creating it for the event. It’s actually about, you know, for us it’s about the before, during, and after. For us, that after piece is really important because there’s no point us doing this if we don’t have the after piece. Um, and that is really important now. Once we’ve got the funding it’s up to the local authority or the agency has been issued that funding to then make sure that they do that upkeep post. But certainly, that’s all considered in the early stages when we’re assessing the bids for funding.

So, for us that’s really important. Regarding the XC Track near you [Glentress], we’re working really closely with Forestry and Land Scotland to develop the new trails in Glentress Forest. As you know, they’re building that to a Master Plan. We are adding on some extra trails. There’ll be some very limited temporary infrastructure. What we tried to do is limit the amount of temporary infrastructure because we want to keep what we can. So, the timing for us is really good to be hosting this down in the Tweed Valley. You know, Forestry and Land Scotland had that Master Plan ready to go, so we were able to capitalize on that.

So absolutely, we’ll be hoping to leave as many trails as possible there so that people can ride them afterwards. And in fact, for many of our events, um, you can actually, at the moment, ride at many of the facilities; parts of the Mountain Bike Downhill, for example.

You can ride in the Tweed Valley Forest. You might not know the trail yet because they haven’t released the trail, but there’ll be parts that people can try and explore. You know, you can go to the Glasgow Velodrome on a Saturday or after work. Um, you know, the Velodrome is open and I think that’s a little-known fact that the Velodrome is open nearly every day of the year. And you can go in and ride it. You can do a taster session, you can get your track license, you can take your kids on a Saturday morning. That’s a bit of a legacy from the [2018] Commonwealth Games.

So again, you’ve got another major event legacy that we are able to use, you know, just under 10 years on. Um, so really important that we get people to experience what we can, and, you know, emulate their heroes to create the heroes of the future.

Bikerumor: Can you tell us much about what the event at Fort William [Downhill] will look like? Will any new trails infrastructure be going in? Will the downhill track be modified in any way for the event or is it too early to say?

Trudy Lindblade: It’s a little bit too early to say, but we are definitely working with Nevis Range and with Rare Management, our event delivery partner, on what we can do to make the World Championships special.

Because we know how special the World Cups are. I had the pleasure of being there this year and just, Wow. What an event. It bucketed down with rain. And it did not change how people behaved. Do you know what I mean? Like everyone’s still engaged. It was still brilliant. It had great racing. My son watches that downhill video, I reckon every second night.

So, our challenge is, how do we make it that bit better? How do we make it into a World Championship?

So that’s the challenge we’ve set our team, the challenge we’ve set Rare Management, and the challenge we’ve set Nevis Range. Um, and part of that is looking at the course. So, um, there will be more to come. Yeah, we’ll definitely be looking at how we can make it just that little bit different.

Bikerumor: Maybe some legacy features to remind everyone of the World Championships?

Trudy Lindblade: Absolutely. And you know what? We’ve got really ready and willing partners in Nevis Range and also Sports Scotland and the Scottish Government who would help. If we can make those changes, we’ll make sure that we do that. So, we’re in those discussions at the moment and hopefully we’ll have something exciting to share soon.

Bikerumor: For the events themselves, will there be funding to help athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds to make the trip to Scotland compete?

Trudy Lindblade: Yeah, so this event is an opportunity for the UCI and for us to look at things a little bit differently.

So, it is an objective of the UCI and, and with our support, to have as many countries as possible compete. Um, we talk about 120 nations of the 202 member federations of the UCI. If we could, we’d have every member nation compete and we’d work out a way of supporting the UCI to make that happen.

Obviously, the role that we’ll play as the event delivery partner is that we will try and make, particularly for some of those nations that do not have the resources that some of the bigger nations have, we will provide some on the ground solutions to support them. And, I think a really good example there is the para-athletes.

Um, so making sure, because you’ve got para-athletes that compete in road and track, we’re looking at how we can help them move between the venues. So, we are working to find options to work with them to make things easier because we know, and particularly as the first edition of this event, we know how people will move around the event and the competition schedule helps us with that planning.

Um, so we are talking to all the federations and finding out what works, what their questions are. Is there anything that we need to think about as an organizer and how can we help them? And then obviously the UCI will play its roles through how it uses its Solidarity Fund and other things that they have in place for how they support member federations that might need additional support so that. But once they’re on the ground, we’ll certainly do what we can for those nations that do not have not the same resources as the others. In fact, even for the big nations, we also want to make it as simple as possible for them too.

So, it’s just striking the balance to be honest, because we can’t do everything for everyone. We’ve got an amazing event to run. But we want everyone to come to Scotland and experience a great time. So that’s our objective.

You can keep up to date with 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships news on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and plan your trip to Scotland to watch the action in person at cyclingworldchamps.com

The post Interview: Trudy Lindblade on the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships – a £45 Million Mega Event appeared first on Bikerumor.

I have Silca owner Josh Poertner with us today, and we go deep into all things chain lubricant, including a better way to lube your chain that’s surprisingly easy way and massively effective, no matter what type of chain lube you use.

From the challenges of sourcing high quality and authentic graphene to the mixing and formulating, we cover everything you want to know about how it works, and why, when it’s so expensive, you should really still use it. It’s not just about saving watts, and it could save you hundreds of dollars in the long run.

The Silca Hot Wax X may not look like much, but this little tub will probably outlast your bike. Check the full tech story on it (and some other recent products) for all the details.

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The post Podcast #071 – Silca over-explains Graphene & Wax chain lubes, and it’s glorious appeared first on Bikerumor.

They were doing something unique, and the bikes looked killer. So, I went to visit them and came home with a bike that I’m still riding today. Their office was small, doubling as an assembly point and showroom, with manufacturing done offsite.

The appearance of a small, scrappy group of bike geeks was hiding much bigger ambitions, and this little company is poised to change the concept of a high-end road bike thanks to a patented process that allows full custom, full monocoque carbon fiber frames to be made at scale.

But getting from startup to major industry supplier hasn’t been easy. Here’s the story of how Exept launched, survived the pandemic’s brutal effects on their core business, and is now building large-scale manufacturing capabilities for the entire cycling industry.

If things go well, your next big brand dream bike could be full custom, too.

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The post Podcast #070 – Exept’s custom monocoque carbon manufacturing could change the industry appeared first on Bikerumor.

So, I sat down with CEO Gaspare Licata to talk about how the company got here, how they turned things around in the mid-2010s, how some of their more recent products came about, and where they’re headed in the future.

If you’re a fan of the brand, as I am, or just geek out on how the bike industry and product design works, you’re going to love this very candid interview.

Check out the full launch coverage of the new Genius, which comes in carbon and alloy models that are remarkably similar in looks and features. There’s a deep dive on the new Fox Nude dual-travel shock in that story, too.

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The post Podcast #069 – What’s Crank Brothers up to after 25 years? appeared first on Bikerumor.

Check out the full launch coverage of the new Genius, which comes in carbon and alloy models that are remarkably similar in looks and features. There’s a deep dive on the new Fox Nude dual-travel shock in that story, too.

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The post Podcast #068 – Scott Genius’ hidden shock, dual travel design explained appeared first on Bikerumor.

And it was. But after almost three months, 6,223 miles, and 425,967 feet of climbing, he made the self-supported trip from Newfoundland, Canada, to Key West, Florida, on his mountain bike. In this interview, we talk about the experience, the bike and gear he used, and how in the world to plan something so ambitious.

You can check out the route, download details and maps, and get more info about the Eastern Divide Trail at Bikepacking.com. And check out Eddie’s cycling performance services at CycleTechniques.com. If you’d like to donate to the charity cause, head over to GeorgiaCycling.org.

And for more pics and details on his bike and the route, check out our story about his ride, too.

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The post Podcast #067 – How to ride the new Eastern Divide Mountain Bike Trail appeared first on Bikerumor.

When we learned that it used mixed materials, I wondered what else we didn’t know about this now nearly ubiquitous mountain bike component. So I called up SRAM MTB marketing manager Chris Mandell to learn more, and it’s surprising just how much there is to know about this tiny part.

This is my first “What’s up with…” episode, a new format where I’ll be exploring parts and technologies that most of us ride every day but have secrets to tell.

Take a closer look at the UDH and you’ll see the alloy body with plastic overmolded around it. That plastic material acts like a washer between the frame and hanger, letting it “slip” and rotate up and back to protect the derailleur in an impact.

In most cases, you can simply rotate it back into position and resume your ride. But, should it actually break, a replacement is easy to find at most shops and guaranteed to fit any UDH-equipped bike.

The plastic is also ramped to guide your chain back onto the smallest cog if it happens to jump off. That ramp also protects the frame a little, too.

SRAM may have trademarked “UDH”, but the design is an open standard anyone can use. Others, like Wheels Manufacturing, are making their own version that’s all metal and comes with a wide range of anodized colors for the mounting bolt.

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The post Podcast #066 – What’s up with… the SRAM UDH? appeared first on Bikerumor.

Which is more complex than it sounds. From hotel rooms to travel, volunteers to food service, course marking to start/finish staging, there’s a LOT that goes into a major event like this.

I spoke with Tour de Lux president Andy Schleck and nZero founder Adam Kramer to see just how they went about doing it, what they learned, and how events and teams can improve. There are even lessons for all of us on how we can improve our own habits and actions, and as always, there’s a lot more to this than meets the eye.

Above, Andy Schleck, and below, Adam Kramer.

The two partnered to measure the carbon footprint of their race, looking at everything they could…so we talked about what data they measured, how they got that data, and what surprised them.

They also discuss the biggest takeaways, and how teams and athletes play a role in reducing the overall impact of events as much as the organizers do.

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The post Podcast #065 – What’s the environmental impact of a pro cycling race? appeared first on Bikerumor.

That’s when the MADE Bicycle Show debuts, bringing together many of the best-known frame builders, plenty of new and smaller builders, and a curated collection of component brands to an outdoor show in Portland, Oregon.

In this interview I talk with MADE’s co-founder Billy Sinkford about the event, how it’ll differ from long-time fan faves like NAHBS and Philly Bike Expo, and what we can expect as both attending media and consumers. Billy (shown on right in photo), and business partner Rob Reedy (on left), are also founders of ECHOS Communications, which hosts the unofficial all-day media happy hour every day at Sea Otter Classic, so we suspect MADE will have a seriously fun vibe.

If you’ve been thinking about ordering a custom bike start saving up now and plan on being there to meet them all and find the builder that you connect with.

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The post Podcast #064 – Can “MADE” bring back the custom builder bike show party? appeared first on Bikerumor.

In this episode, I interview Matt Harvey with Enduro Bearings, and he answers all of those questions…and a WHOLE LOT MORE!

This is one of my favorite episodes ever because there’s a lot here that surprised me, and I learned a ton about bearings. We dive so deep about materials, what really causes friction, and why some marketing claims are quite likely be too good to be true.

We also talk about how you can immediately improve the performance of any bearing on any bike, straight out of the box, even if your bike, hubs, or bottom bracket are brand new!

Get ready to take notes and set your weekend aside for tinkering!

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The post Podcast #063 – Are ceramic bearings really worth it? appeared first on Bikerumor.

Besides being gorgeous, there are a lot of functional and economical reasons to use additive manufacturing. In this episode, they explain:

• how 3D printed ti bike parts are made
• how they’re made strong enough to handle rough riding
• why they’re a better solution than CNC’ing small parts

…and a whole lot more! Check them out at 22bicycles.com, and our full story about the dropouts for more details.

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The post Podcast #062 – No22 Cycles explains why 3D-printed titanium is better appeared first on Bikerumor.

On this episode, I’m kicking off a mini-series around technologies, products, and designs that are either misunderstood or often tossed into product launch stories without good explanations.

My first topic is radial compliance, which is when a bicycle wheel is able to deform in the vertical plane as you hit a bump or land a drop. It’s not nearly as well known as lateral stiffness, which is a wheel’s lack of flex from side to side under cornering loads, or even torsional stiffness, which is the wind up a wheel can get under a really hard sprint.

To be fair, lateral stiffness is the one you’re going to notice the most, but radial compliance has a lot to do with how smooth a wheel feels over varied terrain.

My guest is Chris Murray, owner of Elevation Wheel Company. Chris has been building custom wheels for customers, shops, and industry folks for more than a decade, then launched Elevation in 2017. He started doing it in a shop, then built production wheels for Borealis before busting out on his own. He’s now built with most major rim, spoke and hub brands, and he not only shares what it means, but we discuss:

• What is radial compliance in a bicycle wheel?
• Which part of the wheel has the most effect on radial compliance?
• Which rim materials and designs are most compliant?
• How do spoke type and count affect radial compliance?
• How can you tune your own wheels’ radial compliance?

We talk about a few specific products and in broader terms, giving you the intel you need to decipher marketing speak and understand how different wheel designs and builds affect your ride quality.

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The post Podcast #061 – How Radial Compliance works in bicycle wheels (and how to tune it) appeared first on Bikerumor.

But how do they get all of the licensing to use team kits and names, athletes, and events and courses? What’s the game play like? The AI and physics and other mechanics? I interview Clement Pinget, one of the developers at Cyanide, the studio behind these games, to get all the answers…

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The post Podcast #060 – Inside the Pro Cycling Manager video game appeared first on Bikerumor.

In this interview, they share the lessons learned from three decades in the industry, and explain why they’re stepping (slowly) away from titanium to focus on Pursuit Cycles.

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The post Podcast #059 – Why Carl Strong quit titanium to focus on carbon fiber bikes appeared first on Bikerumor.

So we wondered, how are they putting top riders into the fastest races in the world on a bike sold in a “big box” store?

We spoke with the team at Decathlon about the bikes, the engineering and design, and what we can expect from the line in stores and in the near future.

Check out the prototype hardtail and full suspension race bikes, and let us know what you think about the bikes and their story in the comments below!

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The post Podcast #058 – How Decathlon is making World Cup-ready Rockrider MTBs affordable appeared first on Bikerumor.