- Welcome to Ask GCN Anything,
and this time, it's our first time
as the new presenters, flying solo.
- It is, we've been let loose,
and no one's holding our hand today.
- So we thought as a way to help you get
to know us better we'd start with Yu_Lock's question.
He writes, when did you start shaving your legs?
- Well, I actually didn't start shaving first;
I started waxing.
I only ended up waxing once, though, and I kind of reverted
to shaving; it seems to be much less painful.
I don't know, what do you think, Chris?
- Well, I started shaving my legs in 1999,
which is a long time ago,
because all the shiny bike magazines had pictures
of the riders with these immaculately muscled smooth legs
and, of course, I wanted to be a pro bike rider,
and the easiest and quickest way to look like
a pro bike rider was to shave your legs.
- And Ollie?
- I think I started shaving my legs
before I started shaving my face.
In fact, I still shave my legs more than I shave my face.
- Yeah, I don't shave my face, so just the legs.
- But, yeah, I mainly do it just 'cause
it's for an aesthetic thing.
- You just wanna look cool, right mate?
- I just wanna look pro.
- Yeah, basically.
- Basically, don't we all?
So, anyway, we've been through all of your comments
and picked out some of our favorites.
And if you'd like us to answer one of your questions,
then make sure you comment below this video
and get in touch using the hashtag #TORQUEBACK,
which is on-screen now.
- T-O-R-Q-U-E.
- Yeah, that's how you spell it.
So the next question, and our major torque-ing point,
for this week's Ask GCN, is from Kara biner,
and Kara biner has written, what to buy first?
A power meter, a head unit, or di2?
- I'd definitely rule out the di2
because whilst it will look cool and it'll feel great,
it's not actually gonna make you any faster on your bike.
- And I personally would rule out the power meter,
so where does that leave you, Ollie?
- Well, I think the head unit is the best way to go,
you know, I think that's where we're goin' with this.
- Pretty much, yeah.
- I think we all agree.
- I think a power meter is a really useful tool
in helping you get faster,
and you can link up a power meter to a smartphone,
particularly if it's got a bluetooth connection with it,
and it's a more modern power meter,
but it's not gonna be as useful
as having the power data right
in front of you on a head unit.
'Cause that's where they're really useful, isn't it?
- Yeah.
- Cost-effectively, the head unit,
you'll be able to do a lot more with it sooner
than you would with a power meter.
- Yeah.
- So I think we would all say is
the first thing to buy would be the unit.
- 'Cause you can see how fast you're going,
and to get the most out of the power meter,
you're gonna wanna use a head unit, so.
- Exactly.
- Head unit, all the way.
Next question is from Dominic Sarmen,
and Dominic writes, my back wheel squeaks
on my magnetic trainer, what should I do?
- That's a good question, Dominic.
- It could be anything, couldn't it?
- It could be a few things,
so where's the squeak coming from?
Is it coming from your hub and the axle
where it attaches to the trainer?
Or is it coming from the tire?
Once you've narrowed it down to where it's coming from,
you can kinda work on the solution,
so something like a silicone spray may help
get rid of any dry squeaks,
or change the tire maybe.
- Yeah, I mean, not much more to add to that.
What do you think, Ollie?
- I think what we're assuming, that the squeak is
only happening on the turbo trainer
because that's what you said, and yeah.
- That's a fair point, it could be your cleats,
it could be kind of anything, so make sure it is
the kinda trainer that's causing the issue.
- I think the key thing whenever you have a squeak
on your bike, and we've got a video on squeaks
on bikes and stuff, and noises,
and it's to just do a process of elimination thing,
and eliminate everything one by one if you can
and then try and find the source.
- Do what I do, if in doubt, give it a quick spray.
- Just lubricate it.
- When is GCN coming to Italy?
This is from 007matbon, and...
- Look, he's a secret agent.
- The answer, it could be, couldn't it?
Maybe he's after information that, you know,
we're not able to release.
The answer from GCN is one step at a time,
but, hopefully, at some point in the future.
- Yeah, I think, you know.
- How's your Italian?
- Ah, I mean it's something that,
I think I'm gonna have to learn.
- Ollie, do you speak Italian?
- Sì.
- Oh cool, there we go.
- My Italian is about the same level
as Brad Pitt in Inglourious Basterds.
- Which is pretty awful.
- So our next question, I really like this question,
is from Drew Sander, and Drew writes,
in terms of handling and steering,
is there a disadvantage to using a head set
with spacers and a positive stem angle on a race bike
versus a slammed stem on an endurance bike,
assuming each combination would result
in the same level of stack?
Do spacers and/or a positive stem angle impact
on how the front end of a bike handles?
What do you reckon, Opie?
- Well, absolutely, it will impact on how it handles
because it impacts your weight distribution
on the bike, so what you want to do is ideally aim
from somewhere that you feel comfortable and confident
and then once you get down to choosing
between the two bikes, well,
you need to decide what you're gonna use the bikes for,
so if you're gonna be racing,
then you're gonna want the slightly racier bike,
but then perhaps with a positive stem angle
because that will give you the better handling
for the application that you're using it for.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, I think it also depends on what kind
of frame you're using.
If you're using a narrow frame or if you're using
a fairly lightweight climber's frame,
as to what kind of angle you wanna sit at,
whether you're gonna be doing more climbing than sprinting
or more flatwork or more arrow work, so,
I think that kind of also makes a difference.
- Yeah, I mean personally, my take is on it,
with regards to the endurance bike,
if it's gonna be slammed, it's gonna look cooler
than having a load of spacers and an upward stem,
I mean that isn't as cool, is it?
- Maybe not as cool, but if that's more work for you.
- So I would go for that, but also, in fact
with the endurance bike, the position might be the same,
if you've had a bike fit, and you've got the stack the same,
but the endurance bike is likely to have a longer rake
and also a bit more front center clearance
and a longer wheel base, so...
- Is that a technical term there, Ollie?
- Yeah, it's gonna mean that there's more stability
with regards to handling, and it's gonna handle differently
in that respect, so if that's something you're looking for,
then factor that in as well.
- Yeah.
- I mean personally I'd probably go for the endurance bike
stacked with a slammed stem.
- Make it look good, high and tall for battle.
- Yeah.
- If you look good, you feel good.
- Yeah (laughs) it's morale, morale on the bike.
- I'm not gonna be fast, so...
- Might as well look fast.
So the next question's from Greg Genna,
since all of the presenters have numerous road bikes,
some with disc brakes and some with rim,
how do you decide what to ride on a given day?
Also, how hard is it to go between bikes with rim
and disc brakes, considering the difference in braking feel?
So, I'm not the best kind of person to answer this question,
as I haven't yet...
- Yet.
- Yet ridden a rode bike with disc brakes,
but these two are very capable of answering this question,
especially, I think, Chris.
- Yeah, so you know what, if I was gonna go ride my bike
in Holland, alone, where it's flat
and I don't particularly have to slow down in a hurry,
I'd probably just take my rim bike, you know,
it's low maintenance, real easy to throw
in the back of the car or whatever, and that would be fine,
you know, it's a different looking bike,
it's used for that application because it's not, you know,
not important to stop that quickly if there are no hills,
however, if I was to go on my bike in a group where I live
in the UK, where it's pretty hilly,
I would certainly take my disc bike because, well,
discs are better, they are more controllable on the whole,
especially with the different weather conditions
that we get in the UK, which are generally quite wet,
slippery, and I just really like
the look of a disc brake bike.
- Yeah, I agree, I think, for me, disc brakes,
if I'm ever in hilly terrain where I'm gonna be
going uphill and descending,
especially if the weather's gonna be rubbish,
but even in the dry, to be honest,
I prefer descending on disc brakes,
then I'm gonna pick a disc brake bike,
the brakes are much better, I would still like to ride
a rim brake bike, especially if it was like a hill climb
or something because it's still lighter, it's that we know,
weight's important in that kind of event,
so I'd opt for a rim brake bike in that scenario.
- Have you openly admitted to wanting
to do a hill climb season, Ollie?
- We can sort that out,
we can definitely sort that out for you.
- Well, I've def done one before,
but anyway, yeah, I enjoy hill climbs,
but the other part of the question,
which is considering the difference in braking feel,
how easy is it to swap between the two?
I think you kind of learn both and you just,
it's quite easy to swap between the two,
but disc brakes do perform much better.
- I mean, the levers feel differently in your hands,
so the second you've got different levers in your hands,
your brain's swapped, it knows that you're not
on the rim bike when you're on a disc bike, for example.
It's just a sensory thing, and you're really aware
of what you're riding, and you just adjust.
- Yeah.
- So, out of interest, what would be your
preferred out of the two?
- Oh, I'd go for discs every time.
- If I could only have one.
- Only have one bike.
- Disc.
- Disc, disc it is, there's your answer.
- Lois Rosas has written in with,
hi GCN, I have poor eyesight;
how can I wear cool sunglasses, any suggestions?
This is a great one for me
because I also have to wear glasses,
and I use contact lenses, which work pretty well for me,
but I know that's not everyone's thing,
so you could consider having prescription lenses made,
I know that Rokr or Oakley, for example,
they make prescription lenses that you can use.
Laser eye surgery, for the extreme.
- Yeah, I think it comes down to your own preference,
do you, you know, do you like and do you feel
any day comfortable wearing contact lenses
or would you prefer to go to prescription lenses?
So it's kind of up to you, but there are,
you know, factories out there that do
supply prescription lenses for sports glasses.
- Yep, it's plenty of choice.
- Yeah, and Joe Dombrowski, as well,
for EF Education First Cannondale.
- Presented by Drapac.
- Yeah, pro rider, rides in the pro Peloton.
He had massive prescription lenses put into his sunglasses.
They're really thick, so even if you've got
quite a big prescription,
is that the right term for it?
- That is the right term, I think.
- Yeah, could be, you're the doctor, Ollie.
- Then, yeah, they can still do prescription glasses, so.
So, the next question is from Edwardo Google,
and Edwardo writes, what is the best way
of increasing your stamina for a short, but not too short,
sprint holding an average speed
of around 30 plus miles per hour on the flat for a minute?
- I would kind of, you know, look at repetition.
The way you're gonna get better is by practicing it.
So if you can put some 30 seconds to a minute efforts
into a training ride, and then the more efforts,
the better really, until you kind of, you know,
feel comfortable, but I think, it's the main thing
is repetition and just practicing, doing many efforts.
- You're quite fast, aren't you, Chris?
- Yeah, definitely, so you wanna help yourself a little bit,
try and get yourself a run up, get into the right gear,
get as aerodynamic as you can as well on the bike,
it's gonna make a big difference, but like Hank says,
you know, six reps in a training session
of around 30 to 60 seconds will absolutely help you power up
and then you just need to focus on the other bits,
which was, as I said before, the aero.
- And I think there are some videos out there about...
- We definitely have some training videos.
- Some sprinting videos to help you
in getting the maximum out of your effort, so.
- So the last question for this week,
Preston Yardley, hey, I have a great question for GCN,
do pro riders have any tricks on getting good sleep
during stage races, like how do you solve
restless legs in hotel rooms?
- Man, that's a good question
because everyone kind of does something different,
whether you're wearing compression socks
or you're elevating your legs,
a lot of pro riders lie on their beds
and stick their legs up on the wall,
and, I mean, do ice baths work?
- You could have an ice bath, I mean.
- That's a question for you, Ollie, there?
- If it was hot.
- I think the jury's out on that.
- The jury is out.
- There's a lot of, the jury's out on a lot of things,
whether it's compression, you know, massages,
cool down rides, everything, but a lot of people
do these things because they do feel
that they psychologically help,
and placebos are massive, so just do anything,
whatever relaxes you, whether that's, you know,
reading a book, I guess, or listening to music, yeah.
- As Brad did, he liked to kind of sit in his room
and listen to music and chill out that way, so, you know,
it's personal preference again, really.
- You just need to kind of unwind from the stress
of the day because the end of a bike race
can be quite stressful.
You need to shut off from the cycling world
and, you know, maybe talk to someone at home,
talk to a mate, music, TV, films,
films is quite a popular one these days, you know.
- Especially Netflix and all that kind of stuff going on,
but YouTube also.
- Yeah, YouTube's way better than Netflix.
- Yeah, I think so.
- Yeah.
- I think I'd stick with YouTube.
- Basically anything you do at home to relax,
a pro rider will be doing in the hotel room as well.
- We hope you found this edition of Ask GCN Anything useful,
and if you've got any questions, don't forget to use
the hashtag #TORQUEBACK and post them below.
And, also, why don't you head over to the GCN shop
because we've got some limited edition tee shirts
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- Once they're gone, they're gone.
- Yep, limited edition.
- Why not check out this week's GCN Show
where they introduce this guy?
- Yeah, my debut, and don't forget to subscribe
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