- Alright, welcome to the workshop, Emma.
- Thanks, what a place.
(loud rumbling)
- This week we've got action from the
North American Handmade Bicycle Show,
as well as some latest tech from around the globe.
- And I'm going to make Jon listen to all my arguments
for small wheels on road bikes,
which is something that I care about a lot,
and something that I get asked about a lot as well.
- I think that's going to be a pretty
one-sided argument, to be fair.
(fast-paced electronic music)
Right, so what's hot in the world of tech this week?
- Well, last week it was the annual
North American Hand-built Bike Show.
And sadly we weren't there,
but there was lots of cool tech on social media.
- Yeah and one of the coolest I've seen
is definitely this, from Juliet Designs.
Basically it's a wooden frame, but wrapped in carbon fibre.
Kind of with aerodynamics, meets gravel,
meets old-school tech, I guess, using wood.
- It looks interesting and I think it's beautiful actually.
- Yeah. Let's hope they got a good
varnisher in there to seal it.
- Yes, and no woodworm.
(Laughter)
- If you know anything more though, about this
from Juliet Designs, please do let us know
in the comments below.
I want to hear a lot more about this frame
because it looks wild and wacky, to be perfectly honest.
- [Emma] Yeah, it's gorgeous.
- Yeah, and also weight weenies rejoice.
EE Breaks have just announced a new limited edition run
of their break system.
This time, called their El Diablo.
In other words that mean, red, black, and silver.
- Cool name.
- But apparently, when they last released
some limited edition colours,
they sold over a thousand pairs in just two weeks.
- Wow, and you said it's 170 grammes a pair?
Which is, how does that compare?
- It's about half the weight of Shimano Dura-Ace.
- Wow. - So that's light, isn't it
if you think about that.
- Yeah, that's petty impressive but presumably not cheap.
- No, $630 for a pair.
So, you'll have to save up pocket money for those, I think,
if we want them. - Ouch.
(upbeat music)
- So news flash just in from Lloydy
who's at the Abu Dhabi Tour and he's just sent back
this footage of the new Cannondale frame.
Well, obviously it's being used by a team of
EF Education First-Drapac, presented by Cannondale.
And other than really having aerodynamic frame
and disc brakes we don't know a lot about it,
but I have compared the frame code to the UCI approved
frames list and that appears to be the new
Cannondale System Six frame.
So, who knows?
We don't know more about it right now but stay tuned
and hopefully in the coming weeks,
we'll have some more information for you.
(loud rumbling)
- So Jon asked me if there was a subject
I particularly wanted to talk about this week
and I think he's regretting it because
I haven't stopped talking about 650 wheels ever since.
Poor Jon, sorry.
So it's a subject that's really close to my heart
because as a smaller cyclist,
I don't think that it's always possible to get
a very good position on a bike with 700c wheels.
- Yeah.
Would you ever race a bike though with 650 wheels?
- Yep, in time trails I did actually as a pro.
So, almost all my results in time trial timing were
on a bike with 650c wheels
and I don't think I'd have got those results without them.
- Okay, was that because you could get more aero
on that bike or?
- Yeah, so the question of whether the wheels themselves
are faster, if they're 650 or 700's, is quite complicated
in rolling resistance versus aero, versus weight but
the point is that most of your aerodynamic resistance
on a bike comes from your body position and your head,
so if you can't get low enough at the front,
then you just can't get a decent position.
So for taller riders, say, it's okay
because your bum is pretty high,
so you don't have to go crazy low at the front.
But for me, on a 700c bike,
I just can't get that good flat back position.
- [Jon] Didn't you use 700c in Beijing?
- [Emma] Yeah.
- [Jon] You know I remember this actually.
- Good point, well made.
Yeah, but that was because for Beijing,
British Cycling built me a special handlebar,
they called it, Project Pooley.
They built this base bar that came straight out of the
hand, out of the fork. - Yeah.
- So it was much lower and then, yes,
so my aero bars were on top of that base bar.
Unfortunately, after that Olympics,
the UCI made that illegal so I couldn't
do that anymore. - That's quite typical
of that.
- Yeah, if it works, ban it.
I know, not quite, but so I had to,
that's when I moved to using 650c wheels on my Tundra bike.
- Hang on, you just said 650c, not b.
- Yep and this is where it gets a little bit complicated
but you know that the 650b and c,
I didn't find out until relatively recently
that they're not the same thing.
- No. - No.
They're both smaller than 700c wheels,
but they're not the same size, just to be confusing.
- Yeah
- I found it a bit confusing but luckily Sykes
made it all in an earlier video.
- Yeah, you can click up there to watch it actually.
- And Emma Pooley in fact won her
World Time Trial Championship aboard a Cervelo p3
designed around 650c wheels.
Unfortunately though Cervelo don't make that bike anymore,
and they are starting to fall out of use.
But they are now being replaced by 650b, oh yeah.
Probably because they have been made popular
in recent times by mountain bikers.
More on that in a sec.
- 650c is the traditional smaller size road wheel,
and a lot of bike companies used to make their
smaller size road bikes and time trial bikes with 650c.
And now there's this new trend, it's for 650b,
which allows more clearance for a wider tyre,
so you can run a lower pressure and you go off road--
- Yeah, keep your volume, that kind of thing.
- And I think that's great because
all these 650b road bikes that allows more bike choice
for people my size.
- Okay, I reckon this is something we can really go into
more depth with.
Send you back to that wind tunnel.
- Yep, that will be cool and that's before I've even
started talking about fit, handling, comfort,
and whether small wheels or small frames,
are good for smaller riders in general,
even if you don't care about speed or aerodynamics.
And I think it makes a lot of sense, to be honest.
And I get a lot of questions about this
so do feel free to ask.
- Yeah.
Now last week we asked you, if one bike could do it all.
- And as ever you've been getting stuck into the comments,
and here are some of our favourites.
- Yeah, now much to me dismissing a gravel bike
being suitable for that,
many of you were actually against it, as you can see
by those comments popping up on screen right now.
Yeah, so anyway, I still stand by that.
But let's go thorough some of our comments now.
Matthew Warner, one bike from each discipline please.
I tend to agree with this, that's my personal preference.
It's really just to enjoy the bike riding.
What about you, Emma?
- Yeah, to be honest, I'm pretty happy
if I've got one bike that's working at any time
that I can just ride on, (laughs)
and we're on the Turnway Trainer,
- How about then if you had to choose just one bike.
I asked this to Si last week and Si couldn't do it.
You have to choose three.
- But actually, if I'm completely honest,
can I please have three: a mountain bike,
cyclo-cross bike, and a super fast road bike.
- I think it would be either a road bike
that was rideble off roads, with a fairly good clearance,
so I could take it on gravel,
I got quite into my gravel last year, or a cross bike.
I've got a fairly entry level cross bike
and I'm considering upgrading
because I think that looks pretty fun,
and you can take it on the road when it's slick
and it's not that different, yeah.
- So one or two bikes really?
- Yeah
- Or probably another one on top, because really,
you just get into it, don't you, really?
- Yeah, you do.
- You end up getting more and more and more,
hence my problem at home, 15.
- 15?
- Yeah.
- That's ridiculous.
- Yes, we don't want to go there.
Soon, we will be going there.
I'm thinking of having a little tour.
- So you know N plus one, that rule.
But did you know the X minus one rule?
- No, but be careful because my girlfriend does watch this.
- Yes, well, okay so the number of bikes you should have
is N plus one, where N is the current number of bikes.
But it's also X minus one, where X is the number of bikes,
at which point, you're partner would leave you.
So that is the don't go past X minus one.
- Right, okay so I need to find out what X is.
- Yeah, probably, look into X.
- So that's the plan for tonight.
(laughter)
Jesse Gould, they have to have 5 bikes:
road, MTB, Cross, gravel, trainer bike.
And a gravel tandem but that one doesn't count.
Well, I reckon we can include that gravel tandum bike
because one, it's a bike,
but what does it count to us, one bike, or two?
In seriousness, because it's a long bike.
I know its only got one pair of wheels, but it's...
- Yeah, it's one bike. - One bike?
- One bike, just it's, you know--
- It's just a long one.
Well, final word from Dave Pratt.
The question is not, can one bike do it all.
The answer is, yes, it is, as Jon puts it.
Can one bike do it all well and enjoyable?
A gravel cross bike is the best compromise.
It can do it all, but doesn't do anything very well.
That's an interesting one, isn't it really?
- That is good, I mean, Dave agrees with Jon.
(laughs)
But in all seriousness, it does depend
on how many disciplines you're into in cycling
and how much you want to enjoy it.
- Yeah, I mean last Friday, I had the day off
and I went out riding on my cycling cross bike.
And I didn't enjoy it that much because I took a wrong turn,
ended up going down this track that had been chewed up
by a tractor and horse hooves,
and to be honest,
I could have done with a mountain bike there.
And really, that's where those small bikes make it easier.
- Yeah, and fun is good on a bike.
- Exactly.
Now, some of you remember a few weeks back,
I tired to get Si Richardson excited
about a carbon fibre number holder on the bikes of Team Sky.
- I struggle to get excited about number holders.
I mean, they're not quite on the spectrum of chain catchers.
- That didn't really work but hey, I'm going to try again.
This one with Emma, and the same company, Berk Composites,
have just made a carbon fibre seat clamp assembly
for the Pinarello F8 and F10 models.
Quite specific, but it looks pretty cool.
- Is that the same weight, I guess?
- Yeah, probably about half the weight so--
- And how much weight is that?
- I would estimate about 40 grammes,
so, you know, it's a fair chunk...
If you're really looking to get
that bike weight down, you can do.
£85, I think I saw the price, and I'm going
to keep a close eye on Team Sky's bikes this year
to see if they start using those.
But also I spotted on Victor Campenaerts' time trial bike,
these, pretty cool, unbranded, time trial extension bars.
They just like scoop your forearm, don't they?
- They look quite interesting, yeah.
- Yeah, have you ever used anything
like that on a time trial bike?
- No, not really.
I did experiment with various forearm positions that were
close together, further apart, and one year,
I had slightly longer ones that were slightly scooped
to hold you in, but no, I never race with my arms that close
because I've got scared about sideways stability.
- Oh okay, now here are the highlights
from the North American Hand-built Bicycle Show.
First up is this, from Bishop's Bikes, Chris Bishop.
Now that is some incredibly close clearance, isn't it?
- Yeah, that's very tight.
I mean, you wouldn't want to get any gravel
or anything on that tyre, it would stick.
- If you were to put a bigger volume tubular tyre on there,
then you are going to be in trouble
because that could well rub, or maybe
if you just put a few too many layers of top glue on.
- Yeah, but it's super aero if you get it right.
Very, very close clarence--
- Now, admittedly, I don't know much about tricycles,
but this looks so cool from Don Walker.
Basically it's a tricycle with Di2 on it and disc breaks.
I'd love to give that a go, just to see how it rides.
- It's a beautiful piece of kit,
but I'd be really worried about cornering.
I mean, can you lean the bike?
- You kind of lean and you don't steer,
but you know, you can topple over.
In fact, I've seen people racing grass track on tricycles.
- Golly, yeah, I wouldn't want to topple
because once you get past a certain point,
you can't save it, can you?
- No, and then you're in trouble.
And interesting one as well, its got
cable operate disc brakes, and the reason being is
because that rear break, basically it splits into two,
to operate both of those breaks.
Now Parlee, they're pretty renowned
carbon fibre builder, aren't they?
And check out that, integrated disc brake covers.
- Wow, that looks very bling.
I think that would be a mechanic's nightmare.
- Yeah, now I wonder though, if it's for safety
or aerodynamics, would you reckon?
Because we hear all this safety,
don't we, about disc brakes, but then
it would have to cover the whole rotor, so--
- Exactly, there's still plenty
of sharp things on a bike that can damage you.
I think it's for--there will be a minor aerodynamic gain,
but I think it's mostly to look bling, I think.
- Yeah, and be a pain for us with mechanics.
- Yeah, yeah.
- After last week's induction of the pneumatic tyre,
we've picked something that's certainly
changed the look of a bike for me.
- Yep, it's time to induct the Selle Italia Flite saddle.
- So Selle Italia, they were started in 1897
and for the first 70 years of their business, basically,
they focused on everyday saddles, for everyday bikes.
And then, under new ownership in the late sixties,
they decided to actually focus
on racing saddles, for racing bikes.
- Cool, and the first product would have been--
- Well the first real success was the Turbo Saddle,
that was in the early eighties, late seventies, from memory.
- Okay, and then when did they bring out the Flight?
- 1990
- Wow, has it really been that long?
- Yeah, that makes me feel actually, pretty old.
Because I remember it being launched.
- Wow, I actually used one last year,
so I didn't realise it was such a traditional model, wow.
- Yeah, and basically, I just remember
it was all cut away and it looked uncomfortable.
Everyone was looking and thinking,
that can't be comfortable, but it was lite
and that's why it appealed to us, I think, at the time.
- And what was the reason behind the cutaways on the sides?
- Ah, well that was to reduce friction or chafing,
basically when you pedal.
So before that, I mean the turbo, I was quite wide-saddled,
so you get a little bit of irritation.
- Oh, I didn't know that.
- Narrowed it out.
- Cutaways, innovation, wow.
- And titanium rails, as well.
I think saddles then were about 300, 350 grammes,
not uncommon, which these days, sounds like an awful lot.
So they were under 200 grammes.
- That's a big change, yeah.
- Personally, that really changed the look of saddles.
These days, most saddles you see
are that cut away, and you see the rails.
Previously, they were hidden by the sides of the saddle.
- So, let us know your nominations
for the Wall of Fame in the comments down below.
- It's time for bike of the week,
where we put two bikes head to head,
and you get to vote for which one you like best.
- Last week, we put head to head, the bikes of Wilier,
and that was the Cento10AIR Disc,
and it was up against the KOM model from Kuota.
- Right, both in extra small wheels, 650 wheels, I hope.
No, I guess not.
Anyway, which one won?
Well, this is the biggest victory I've seen
so far on the bike of the week.
- Really?
- Yeah, and with 81% of the votes, was the Wilier.
- [Emma] Wow.
- [Jon] Check that out, 81% of the votes.
- [Emma] Popular brand.
- [Jon] Yeah.
- And this week we're putting together two time trial bikes.
- Yeah, time trial special, after all.
So first up, we've got the bike
of Team Sky, the Pinarello Bolide.
And that's got a force amount of joy race,
a 9150 groupset, pro disc wheel and Tri Spoke,
and look at that, 3D printed titanium handle bars.
- That's cool but is that allowed under the UCI's rules
of everything must be able to be bought by everyone.
- Apparently, you can go into Pinarello concept store
or Pinarello Lab, I think it's called,
and you can get measured up, scanned,
and you can et your bars made.
- Right.
- So it checks the boxes there for UCI.
- I wonder what the waiting list is like.
- Yeah, who knows.
And that is up against this, and I mean,
this looks cool, doesn't it, the bike of Tony Martin.
Canyon Speedmax, full SRAM Red eTap gearing,
Zipp disc wheel, and Zipp deep section on the front.
And look at that, Quarq power metre.
- Nice, I like Canyon because they make
650b road bikes, for small people.
- Don't let that influence your decision, alright?
- No, I'm not biassed, obviously.
- And you know what to do, you gotta vote for your favourite,
just up there, and next week, we'll reveal the results
and have two more head to head.
Okay, it's time for the bike vault.
I've just explained to Emma, what this is all about
so, go gentle on people's bikes.
These are their pride and joy.
First up, we've got Yesper Baila of Koksijde in Belgium,
and this is Canyon Ultimate AL.
Now, I like that and look at those logs in the background.
That must have taken ages to stack them up.
- Yes, that's an impressive wood pile, which is always good.
I do think he could have gotten the lighting
a little better, because it's quite dark, isn't it, yeah?
- It is, yeah.
- But it's a beautiful bike.
- I personally, I really like that.
It gets a super nice, from me.
But... - [Emma] Yeah.
- [Jon] How are you? Nice or super nice?
- [Emma] Super nice 'cause he's mowed the lawn
and he stacked the wood. (chirping noise)
Oh, what is that noise?
(laughs)
- Didn't tell her about that though, did I?
- No, I think it's quite an alarming noise.
- Is it, well, it's an alarm.
- Fair enough.
What about a bike bell, and those dinging noises?
- That's a good idea, actually.
You could bring one in next time.
- Okay.
- Right, super nice though, for Yesper.
Well done. Next up.
JK of Perth, Australia.
Now, you know Perth, don't you?
- [Emma] I do know Perth and I think I know
where that was taken...
Oh, no.
- [Jon] Apparently, in the background there,
that's the CBD.
- [Emma] That is the CBD--
- [Jon] Central Business District.
- [Emma] It is indeed, he's up in the hills somewhere.
- [Jon] Yeah.
- [Emma] Eh, I don't know which wall that would be.
Probably somewhere near Kalamunda I'd guess.
- [Jon] Okay. - [Emma] Eh, yeah.
That's gotta get a super nice for me.
One, it's a nice bike but two, you know I can't take my--
- [Jon] It's a giant TCI advanced.
That is always a nice bike.
Super nice in this case.
(chirping noise)
- Good work.
- Now, what about this?
Kyle Boykin of Atlanta, Georgia.
A Cannondale Slate and they've had it custom painted.
- [Emma] Ooh.
- [Jon] 650b is it?
- [Emma] Yeah, it looks like
it could be. - [Jon] It looks like it.
- [Emma] Yeah, with those tyres on,
I think it must be. - [Jon] Yeah.
Look at that backdrop.
- [Emma] Yeah, and has he perched it on his helmet?
- [Jon] He has, yeah.
Now that, well I'm--
- Cranks them in place, but...
- Yeah.
- But I don't think...
I don't care about this as much
as some people do.
Which, I know I'm gonna get a lot
of comments about this but,
I think crank position is not as
important as the actual bike.
- Yeah, I have to agree with you on that.
- Sorry.
I think the view is stunning, the bike is
pretty beautiful, I like the frame bag
because that's a bit of, sort of cycle touring...
- [Jon] Yeah. - [Emma] Yeah.
- [Jon] Super nice for me.
- [Emma] Yeah, it's gonna get a super nice from me as well.
(chirping noise)
- Three on the trop, could we have a full house?
Well, Peers Frasier of Adelaide
and his Macini Track Bike.
Now that, it looks aggressive that bike, doesn't it?
- [Emma] It is an impressive bike but,
I really feel like he's gone to the effort of
putting his bike there and--
- [Jon] With his stand as well.
- [Emma] With the stand and the bike is spotless,
but he hasn't swept the leaves up in his yard, has he?
- Oh no, oh no.
I mean,
yeah it's...
I don't know what to give this one.
I'm torn.
- I think I feel a bit torn as not giving it
a super nice, to be honest, I think that would be cruel.
- It does look like a great bike and you know,
it's only some leaves, isn't it?
- [Emma] Yeah.
- [Jon] It's a lovely looking bike,
and that red, I do like that.
- [Emma] Yeah, it's a beautiful colour, yeah.
Some retro paint schemes, gorgeous.
- [Jon] Big old stand on the front...
Yeah, it is, that's like the
Lotto Soudal bikes from a few years back.
- [Emma] Yeah.
- [Jon] Now, I give it a super nice.
- [Emma] Yeah, okay I agree, I agree.
Beautiful.
- I think this could be a full house.
So, Reuben from the Netherlands,
this is his specialised allez.
- He's not in the Netherlands here though.
- He's definitely not, not with an altitude like that.
- No.
- Nowhere near the Netherlands.
Um, that looks like fun.
That would be a good road to go down, wouldn't it?
For me, I wouldn't like to go up it
I wouldn't mind going down it.
You're probably the opposite.
- [Emma] Yeah, I'd go up rather than down, yeah.
Yeah, I have to say, I can't take my eyes off the view.
I want to ride up some mountains.
- Couple of GCN red bottles.
I'll tell you what Reuben,
we're getting close to a full house.
- Yeah, I think it's pretty nice.
- [Jon] It's super nice for me.
- [Emma] Yeah, I agree.
- [Jon] And yeah, what a view.
Full house.
So, you know what to do.
Send in your pictures of your bikes
in the most picturesque place
and you're likely to get a super like.
Who knows?
But the email address is on screen right now
So, that's it, nearly time for the end of the show.
And I must thank Emma for coming in, it's uh...
- Thanks for letting me come in and--
- Makes a change from having Si. (laughs)
- Yeah well I'm sorry, I'm not really
as expert as Si, but...
- Only joking, Si.
So coming up on the channel this week:
Tomorrow we've got a visit to the GCN tech clinic.
Saturday, we've got PRO Bike.
Sunday, we have some footage from Dan,
who's in Abu Dhabi.
Monday, we've got some more maintenance,
and then, we're back here for the tech show,
episode number nine.
- Cool.
And remember as well, you can check out
the GCN shop so you can buy goodies and
accessories for your bike, all those fun things.
- T-shirts in a nice baggy size.
(laughs)
and remember to check out the 650b geek video
which was very interesting.
- Exactly, and remember as well to like and share
this video with your friends.
Give it a big thumbs up!
- And let us know if you have any questions.
- Yeah.