Nerd Alert Podcast

Much of the attention on the Right to Repair movement in cycling has been concentrated on hard goods, like bikes, wheels, components, and so on. But it’s also important to remember that you can often fix clothing and bags at a nominal cost after a crash or even just due to wear and tear. Why throw it away when you can bring it back to life? In this week’s episode, we chat with two brands – Velocolour and Ortlieb – who are doing just that.

The Nerd Alert podcast had an unplanned week off, but rest assured we’re now back on schedule. In this episode, Senior tech editor Dave Rome chats with No.22’s co-founder Bryce Gracey. For those unfamiliar with No.22, let’s just say they’re often one of our first stops at the USA-based custom bike shows they attend. This episode has a varied chat: including a deep-dive on the updates that No.22 revealed at the Philly Bike Expo, geometry concepts, stealthy travel bikes, and more. Enjoy!

One fun fact came out during our discussions with Specialized engineering mastermind Chris D’Aluisio: much of his testing of the company’s new Diverge STR fully suspended gravel bike has been on tarmac with a full complement of road components. In his words? “It’s awesome!” That got us thinking, especially given D’Aluisio’s background in Moto GP racing: if full suspension is good for gravel, then might it also make sense on the road, too? Give this one a listen before you pick up the pitchfork.

This week's episode is all about aerodynamics, efficiency, Filippo Ganna, and how Dan Bigham engineered two hour records.

With the news that Pinarello's new Bolide F HR 3D track bike is the first UCI-approved 3D printed bike, Ronan visited Metron Dimitris Katsanis and find out how a bike is 3D printed and why.

We’re back in the studio for a group show after a whirlwind of activity at the recent UCI world championships, and we’re wasting no time with the heated debates. Do dropper posts (or even suspension posts) have a place on gravel bikes? What about Meta’s tease that it’s entering the virtual reality world for indoor cycling? Do our opinions even matter?? Either way, the Nerds really did do their homework this time, sharing their thoughts on the ideal setup for hidden cable routing – frame designers, take note!

Welcome back to the Nerd Alert podcast! This week sees Dave Rome and Caley Fretz together in Wollongong, Australia for the 2022 Road World Championships. And along with VeloClub community manager Andy van Bergen, this episode circles the topic of the big event. Things start with a few new things in the world of tech. The talk then turns to those dropped chains plaguing the past week of racing. And then we wrap up this relatively brief episode with a chat about the logistics involved in racing on the opposite side of the world, something WorldTour mechanic Kevin Grove (supporting Team USA) offers insight on.

Welcome back to the CyclingTips Nerd Alert podcast! This week senior tech editor, Dave Rome, gets to cover something that has become a personal hobby of his – 3D printing. Joining Dave is Brian Park, the editor-in-chief at Pinkbike and Chris Heerschap, an engineer, bike mechanic, Veloclub member and 3D print extraordinaire. These two tinkerers have both created, designed and manufactured their own saleable 3D-printed products (such as a few covered on Pinkbike this week). From the basics of home 3D printing to some fun projects, and a chat about where the tech may be headed, there's plenty to take in.

Do bike companies conspire to release a whole bunch of new bikes at once? It sure felt like it this week, as we saw the announcement of the new Trek Domane, the new Canyon Ultimate, and the new BMC Kaius all in the past few days. The Nerds discuss the salient features of each one — pros and cons — as well as a big industry indicator that the market really is cooling off big-time. Prices might finally be coming down for some stuff, but other items are still super hard to come by.

This week’s episode of the Nerd Alert podcast is certainly a special one. Dave Rome and Ronan Mc Laughlin chat with the newly crowned Hour World Record Holder, Dan Bigham. Prior to besting Victor Campanaerts' 2019 World Record, the British track cyclist was best known for his work in aerodynamic engineering. He’s worked with Mercedes F1, Canyon-SRAM, Team KGF/ HUUB-Wattbike, and Jumbo-Visma, and is currently a performance engineer with the Ineos Grenadiers. He also happens to be the brains behind the WattShop. With such a resume in tech backed by a world-beating engine, it was well overdue that Dan joined us as a special guest on the podcast. Here we chat about the things he’s allowed to discuss related to his Hour Record, we touch on the things he’s not allowed to discuss, and plenty more.