(whoosh)
- Welcome to the GCN Tech Show.
This week, it's just me, but don't worry,
'cause we've got a ton of great tech to talk about.
So, let's get started.
Before we do though,
if you haven't already subscribed to GCN Tech,
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(upbeat music)
What's hot in tech this week though?
Well, this is very hot news, super hot,
incredibly good news in my view.
And that is that UCI has officially sanctioned
disc brakes for use in road racing.
So, up until now,
anyone who was using disc brakes
was using as part of a four year test period
the UCI put in place to judge
their feasibility and safety of the brakes in racing.
But with this announcement,
that test ends one year early
and discs are officially sanctioned.
Of the course of the rear test,
it's fair to say there's quite a degree of pushback
from the pro peloton,
especially towards the start of it.
That's because they questioned the safety
with some injuries,
really quite nasty looking injuries,
being attributed to the use of disc brakes in the peloton.
- Following an open letter from
Francisco Ventoso of Movistar,
the UCI banned disc brakes in the pro peloton
with immediate effect.
- Yeah, Ventoso had received some particularly nasty
and deep wounds to his leg after a crash
at the race in Paris-Roubaix,
which he says were caused by coming into contact
with a disc brake.
- And they also had to question their practicality.
Many of them said that they could stop
and brake and descend really quite well enough
with rim brakes first of all
and were reluctant to change
and then, if you needed a really fast wheel change,
you had people asking,
how quick that would be with through axles
on a disc brake bike
compared to quick releases on a rim brake bike?
I don't know, maybe that's a matter of
a bit of practice makes perfect there as well.
But increasingly, the riders have, fair to say,
accepted disc brakes and that some high profile riders
have actually begun to use them in many races too.
Plus, clearly the UCI, with this announcement,
is happy with the brake safety.
- Daniel, we asked the pros a couple year ago
what they thought about disc brakes in the peloton.
And since then, there's been a bit of change,
I think, personally.
What's your thoughts on that?
- I try some bikes with discs
and the technology is super, it's fantastic.
The disc brake makes,
for sure in the rain especially,
the brakes safer and stable
and you have the same feeling, you know?
You can brake everywhere.
- The bit that excites me the most about this announcement
is that with it,
the riders, teams, and more importantly,
bike and component manufacturers
can go all in on disc brakes for road bikes.
That's because one of the biggest marketing vehicles,
which is the pro peloton,
can now ride them at every race
with no risk of them potentially not passing the test period
and therefore not being used.
Great news for all of us
'cause we'll see things in product development.
So, things that will help us to change wheels more quickly
and I reckon we might even see on some races,
riders from every team using disc brakes.
In fact, I think we'll see the whole peloton
using disc brakes for some races.
I want your opinion on that one though.
So, we've got a poll,
which you can vote on up there,
which is, when will we see the first race
where everyone uses disc brakes?
We got 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, or I don't know.
And if you don't know,
make sure you comment below with what you think.
We're right in the middle of
road race national championship season at the moment
and we wouldn't normally mention race results
on the Tech Show.
That's more the domain of the GCN Racing News Show,
and of course, the GCN Show,
but we thought Jonny Brown of Hagens Action Berman,
who's just 21 years of age,
just won the USA Pro Road Nationals,
deserved a bit of a special mention.
That's because he won the race on an aluminum bike
and to my knowledge,
that must be the first time or the only time that's happened
in quite a number of years.
If you think the pro peloton is made pretty much
the whole sale switch to carbon fiber bikes
and I think again to my knowledge,
correct me if I'm wrong in the comments of course,
the Specialized Allez Sprint aluminum bikes
that's the Hagens Berman Action team are using this year,
is one of the first times
that a pro or pro continental team
has used an aluminum bike for quite a number of years.
If you do know exactly how many years, comment below.
(whoosh)
If you couldn't tell from the title,
this week's weekly tech talking point
is all about mountain bike tech.
Which is fair enough because we are very good mates
with the guys at GMBN, GMBN Tech, and EMBN.
But what I was wondering
is instead of what us road cyclists
could take from a mountain bike cousins in tech terms,
what could we maybe give them?
If you think about it,
some of the biggest tech innovations,
some of the things that are used by road cyclists,
literally on almost every bike,
came from mountain bikes.
So, things like disc brakes, tubeless tires,
1x groupsets, and also the first aluminum bike
was a mountain bike.
That's a lot that we've taken.
Another bit of mountain bike tech
that we've just started to borrow,
but I think has pretty quite huge applications,
especially if you're riding gravel
or riding on rough roads,
is a clutch rear mech.
Now, Shimano actually released its first ever
clutch rear mech for road groupsets,
back at the start of the year.
What a clutch in a rear mech does
is it just prevents the chain slapping around so much.
So, it reduces noise, which can be a bit annoying.
It reduces damage to your frame,
and also, it reduces importantly the chance
of your chain dropping off when you're
putting the power down on a cobbled climb
or on the forest perhaps.
Shimano's rear mech was the Ultegra RX rear mech,
which incidentally, also uses shadow derailleur technology,
which Shimano first introduced on mountain bikes.
That isn't to say us road cyclists have given
mountain bikers nothing, that would be wrong.
Oh no, the wide spread use of carbon fiber,
first appeared on road bikes.
So, things like carbon fiber frames,
carbon fiber rims, and carbon fiber handlebars.
Mountain bikers kind of have us, road cyclists,
to thank for that.
Carbon fiber's use in mountain biking
is so wide spread now,
that there's even downhill races being won
on carbon fiber bikes,
which 10 or 15 years ago,
probably seemed quite a way off.
Not forgetting of course, power meters,
which without a doubt,
have transformed training for mountain bikers
who like to compete
and if you're a bit of a stats geek,
I think power meters are always a good shout.
Finally, the one, maybe the biggest gift
we've give mountain bikers,
apart from John Tomac's drop handlebars
that he used to race downhill races on, lycra.
Cross country riders are all over it.
Downhillers however, are not allowed to wear it anymore.
That's because the aerodynamic advantage of lycra
was deemed to be so much,
they stopped everyone using it.
But if you look at some downhill riders now,
they're actually using tighter and tighter baggy clothing
without it being lycra.
And thinking of lycra,
that brings me onto what could be the main bit of tech
that mountain bikers could borrow from us road cyclists
and while most mountain biking is relatively low speed
and in many cases, relatively sheltered
if you're riding in the woods,
I think that aerodynamics,
especially for the racing mountain bikers
could be the way to go.
Take helmets for example,
clearly a open-faced time trial helmet
is not gonna be the thing you want for a downhill race,
but if you look at downhill helmets,
they look really quite aerodynamic
and the top downhill riders regularly reach speeds
of 40 miles an hours plus, sometimes 50 to 60 miles an hour
if it's a really, really fast course.
So, could downhillers gain split seconds,
which is often what their races are decided by in any case,
but having helmets like for example, Moto GP helmets?
Moving from helmets to frames.
Most mountain bike frames don't appear
as though they're designed with aerodynamics in mind
and that's fine,
'cause like we said,
mountain biking is often lower speed,
but the fact is,
particularly in downhill,
when you're reaching those really high speeds,
every second does count.
So, by making a slightly more
aerodynamic mountain bike frame,
sure, you've still got some,
I don't know, maybe a 80 centimeter buzz riding like that.
But if their bike is marginally faster,
maybe they'd be more likely to win.
So, with the front end of mountain bikes
being so wide and having so much kit on them basically,
when you think of suspension forks and disc brakes
and stuff like that,
maybe that does cancel aerodynamics out slightly.
But what we're saying is
maybe a slight advantage is just fine
in most of those races.
Another point is aerodynamic wheels
and when I say aerodynamic wheels,
it's easy to think of really deep section wheels.
And even on road bikes and gravel bikes,
most riders, if they're riding a really rough technical race
if you think something like Paris-Roubaix or Flanders,
will not go for the deepest section wheels
on offer from their team sponsors.
So, talking about deep section wheels,
but some lower profile wheels on the road
are still designed with aerodynamics in mind
because even if you're going up a climb on a road bike,
those guys are still climbing at 20 miles an hour
or 30 Ks an hour in some cases.
So, aerodynamics absolutely is a factor,
as is rotating weight.
So, low profile aerodynamic wheels are the way to go.
Maybe some aerodynamics on downhill wheels,
cross country wheels,
if it comes down to a sprint,
if it comes down to 0.1 of a second,
that would have made the difference.
So, you've heard my thoughts
on what I think we could lend to our mountain bike cousins,
but I want to know yours.
Make sure you comment down below.
As road cyclists, we've borrowed so much great tech
from mountain bikes tech,
which has literally transformed
how we are able to ride our bikes,
where we are able to ride our bikes,
how our bikes are made,
the cost of our bikes.
What can we give them back, apart from lycra?
Let me know down in the comments.
(whoosh)
More tech news now
and if you haven't already liked this video,
make sure you do hit that thumbs up button.
First up in our more tech news section.
Cube has released a brand new time trial bike.
Yeah, that's right.
It has many of the features that you'd expect to see
on a top level time trial bike,
about to be debuted at the Tour de France,
by Cube's Team Wanty Groupe Gobert.
So, it has for example,
an integrated stem that sits in line with the top tube.
But it also has two pretty unique features.
So, first up,
it's has a split head tube,
which acts like an arrow riding into a headwind
and also acts to stop negative effects of crosswinds
which can be really quite negative
if you're riding a deep front wheel,
a disc rear wheel,
and you have your hands on your aero extensions.
Quite difficult to style that one out sometimes
and as well as that,
it also has, and it's only going to be
available in disc brakes.
It's one of the very first manufacturers to do that.
Not the absolute first,
but the start of a trend
and again, linking into our very first feature in this show,
which was the fact that UCI
has made disc brakes legal for all racing.
I've been having a look on a KickStarter,
which I quite enjoy because there are some
truly weird and sometimes wonderful things there
and I found this.
This is the Helix bike.
The unique thing about the Helix bike
is that it steers with both the front and rear wheel.
I've got no idea exactly how it does it,
but it looks a hell of a lot of fun.
I would love to try it myself,
but I think to really push it and see if we can go
as impressive as the guys in the KickStarter video
over on the Helix page,
we'd have to give it to someone like Blake over at GMB
or maybe even Lloydy,
'cause Lloydy's quite good at wheelies.
Our very last bit of tech news
and that is Virginia Tech University
and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
are collaborating on a revamp to helmet testing protocol.
Now, it says that it is going to be better
in taking into account more
real world injuries and situations
than current testing protocols.
So, these are current official testing protocols,
rather than any tests manufacturers
might have put their helmets through
since the current protocols only take into account
damage from skull fractures.
Where as this test is going to take into account
the softer injuries if you will.
So, things like concussions, traumatic brain injuries
that may not necessarily involve a skull fracture
and also impacts kind of on the side of the helmet
and the back of the helmet.
Rather than just on the top of your head.
Really interesting stuff
and they've only tested 30 helmets so far,
so we do look forward to finding out a bit more
when they've tested a few more different helmets.
But better head protection is great news for all cyclists.
So yeah, definitely looking forward
to finding out more on this one.
(whoosh)
With Jon away and given the fact that UCI
has just announced disc brakes are okay to race on
and the lead story of the show,
which is really about mountain bike tech,
I though I would put a bit of a left field
suggestion up on the wall of fame this week.
But it's a whole bike, not like any bike,
it is the mountain bike.
It's a very specific mountain bike.
It is the Breezer #1,
which was the first ever purpose built mountain bike.
Now, it was built by mountain bike pioneer, Joe Breeze.
So, Joe Breeze used to take part in the Repack races,
which went down Mount Tamalpais in California
and those bikes were originally done on clunkers,
so beach cruiser bikes basically.
They just weren't up to the demands of riding
that Breeze and his friends were putting them through.
So, Joe Breeze went and built the very first
purpose built bike, the Breezer #1.
Which included supports from the frame
down to the drop out,
to prevent the frame from folding.
It had riser bars and brake levers borrowed from motorbikes.
Like we said, mountain bike tech has had such an influence
on all bike tech, not just mountain bike tech.
So, we think it's a fair shout.
If you have a nomination for the wall of fame next week,
tell me down in the comments
and let me know if you agree with this one as well.
I will be there and I'll reply to a few.
(whoosh)
Giveaway time now and we've got two very lucky winners
from our Oakley unboxing giveaway.
They are Benoit De Perthuisand Vera Olinyk.
Both of you, if you are watching this right now,
make sure you get in touch,
because we would love to get your Oakley swag
as seen in the unboxing video last week, sent out to you.
If you still want to win something,
we have another giveaway going on right now.
It's the Zip 404 Firecrest wheels.
To enter that one, just click the link
which we'll put down in the description.
(whoosh)
Bike of the week now
and last week, you all voted on Corin Rivera's Giant
versus Richie Porte's BMC
and the winner, the winner is Richie Porte's
62% of the vote.
Corin Rivera actually got 37% of the vote.
So, there is 1% missing somewhere, but anyway.
On to this weeks bike of the week
and since we're getting so close to the tour
and since I love tour,
it's actually the reason I got into cycling,
I thought we vote on a couple of favorite road bikes
from last years race,
'cause there was some seriously cool ones there.
We'll be checking out more this year of course.
So, you can vote on Mark Cavendish's custom Cervelo
or Greg Van Avermaet's custom gold decaled BMC.
Vote up there and also let me know your favorite ever on GCN
tell me down in the comments.
(whoosh)
Right, bike vault time now.
As you have doubt less noticed,
we have no Jon, it's only me,
so make sure you get involved in the comments
and let me know what you think of the bikes
in the bike vault.
And also,
if you want to submit your bike to the bike vault,
email address is on screen now,
and we'll stick it in the video description as well,
so check that out.
Gotta get the bell.
First up, this is from Kai,
and it is the
and here it is touring in Navik in Northern Norway.
I like that, I think that's really cool.
(cow bell ringing)
We'll do a quiet super nice,
'cause the bell is quite loud.
After Kai, let's go for Barnabus from Kent, here in the UK
and it is a picture of his Pinarello FP Team,
on the Brighton Beach.
Looking very nice, it's another super nice.
Two super nice photos. (cow bell ringing)
Hurts my ears.
Next up and this is from
Patrick and Patrick has said,
having seen the Peugeot folding e-bike last episode,
he thought he'd send us another somewhat more modern Peugeot
this is a Peuegot RSR01.
Carbon fiber racing bike.
Looks very nice.
It's at a stunning view,
so it's Boardhead Lookout in the Blue Mountains.
Never heard of it, but it looks very nice spot.
And I haven't seen a modern Peugeot bike
for a number of years.
So, for me that's another super nice
(cow bell ringing)
One more, two more, one more, no two more.
So, this is from
Aaron Griffiths and this is his Ritte Ace custom built.
Nice bike against the wall shot, very clean.
It's another super nice.
I'm just too generous. (cow bell ringing)
Next up, last one as I said.
So, this is
a shot on two Canyon's, love it.
It is from the Kemina Region, north of Portugal.
And it is a bike ride of 110 kilometers
which has 2200 meters of elevation gain,
which sounds frankly, brutal,
and again, it looks like a stunning view.
They are both very nice bikes.
(cow bell ringing)
every thing has been super nice this week.
We want to see your super nice bikes.
Make sure you send them into the email address on screen
or in the video description below.
Well, that is about it for another week
of the GCN Tech Show.
I do hope you enjoyed this video.
Make sure you hit the thumbs up button,
make sure you share it,
make sure you tell us what you thought down in the comments
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Make sure you subscribe too
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Before we go though,
I want to give a shout out to these.
So, we have some very limited edition GCN t-shirts
available now in the GCN shop.
A link will be on screen at the end of the video
and down in the description.
Once these t-shirts are gone, they're gone,
and they are super limited.
So, if you'd like to get one,
make sure you head there now.
What's coming up on the channel this week then?
Well, tomorrow, so on Friday,
is Fabio Aru's road bike.
On Saturday, we've got an unboxing.
This week with our partners and friends at Topeak.
On Sunday, we've got a tire pressure geek edition.
On Monday, we had a maintenance video, of course.
Fast forward to Wednesday, where it's the tech clinic,
where Jon will be answering all of your
very difficult bike tech questions.
On Thursday, it's gonna be another episode
of the GCN Tech Show.
Before you go, make sure you subscribe,
if you haven't done so already.
If you want to check out another video,
I can thoroughly recommend this one from Emma
at the Women's Tour,
when she finds out what's most important to the riders there
about their bike set up.
That is right there.
And like I said, if you want to get your hands
on a very limited edition yellow t-shirt,
the links on screen.