Alex Paton: Welcome to the GCN Tech Show. Oliver Bridgewood: This week, I've got so
much. Motocross wheels for your gravel bike, 40 million pairs of Oakleys, modular carbon
cranks, your upgrades, the bike vault, snacks of the week; loads.
Alex: Plus, we've got our main talking point, why average speed doesn't matter. Before we
move on to our poll from last week, let's take a quick little look at our GCN followers
within the GCN app. I'm currently sat on 509 followers, thanks everyone for that. How are
doing? Ollie: 1,548 at the time of recording.
Alex: That's impressive. Ollie: That's pretty good isn't it? Amazing.
Alex: You're winning that by a long shot. Ollie: I know, I finally won a race here on
GCN. Thank you to everyone that's gone into the app, downloaded it, followed me. That's
amazing, I've beaten all the other GCN presenters, yes. I'm true to my word. I thought I was
trying to get 500 followers. I said, if I got 500, I would give away some merch and
pick a follower at random. Because I got so many I'm going to pick two people at random.
I've got in the GCN app, and I've picked THE_SCHWARTZ. Get in contact, and we'll get you a prize,
THE_SCHWARTZ. Who else have we got? LUKEGIFFORD9, as well. Well done both of you. I will send
you some merch in the post, get in contact. I'll send you a note as well.
Let's have a look at the poll results from last week, which was, which lightweight bike
would you have? I was a bit surprised by this. Completely dominating the win, Canyon Ultimate
CFR, 56% popular bike. Alex: A very popular bike.
Ollie: Yes. Second place was the Specialized Aethos, 36%. Then the Berk Cycles Custom and
AX-Lightness Vial, both only on 4%. Alex: Quite specialist bikes though, aren't
they, those two? Ollie: Yes. I think it's the usability of
the Specialized and the Canyon, they're still day-to-day usable, it's good. Well, there
you go. People still want function. Alex: They do. Shall we head on to our main
talking point for this week? Ollie: Let's do it.
Alex: Why average speed doesn't matter? Ollie: Yes. What's got us thinking about this
is, what Dan's Racing news show where he talks about the average speed the pros ride on their
training rides. Also, I've noticed a thing on fitness tracking social media platforms.
You get a thing where, if I post a ride - and I see it on other people's rides as well - a
lot of people comment just purely on the average speed. It's as if they only judge a ride based
on the average speed. Alex: Yes, people do focus on that a lot,
don't they? Ollie: Yes. While I do appreciate any kind
words of encouragement that I get on any ride, it's always welcome. It does highlight to
me that I think people are focusing far too much on this one particular metric, at the
expense of things which are far, far more important. The reason why I say it is because
sometimes, I'll do a flat recovery ride, and loads of people will go, "Wow, incredible
average speed." I've averaged Zone 1 effort. Then sometimes, you'll do an amazing 20-minute
power test up a climb, so you've gone really slowly, but you've done PB power or whatever,
but because it's really slow and you've not gone very far, people just think--
Alex: Yes, people just naturally assume it was a rubbish ride, even though you've done
some of your best numbers that you've done. This is something that I see throughout cycling.
However, using average speed is only one sort of snapshot into your ride, it can't see all
of the different metrics that you could use to compare two different rides or riders.
It's a bit of a flawed method if you only look at one of those data points.
Ollie: Yes, exactly. By far, the thing that has the biggest impact is the terrain that
you ride on. You could average say 150 watts on a really flat ride and have an average
speed of 20 miles an hour. You could then average more power 250 watts, but on a hilly
ride, and only average 12 miles an hour. Alex: Actually, something that I did forget
to mention is that average speed is very important when you're doing a time trial or a race.
That is when average speed is the big factor to consider. This is something we see throughout
cycling. Using average speed is only one snapshot, into your ride. Sure, if you're racing or
doing time trials, then obviously, average speed is everything. Using it to compare different
rides or riders together is a bit of a flawed method really because there's lots of other
factors to consider. Ollie: Exactly. By far the thing that has
the biggest impact is the terrain that you're riding on. You could average 150 watts on
a flat ride and have an average speed of 20 miles an hour. If you could average more power
say, 250 watts, but do a hilly ride, you might only average 12 miles an hour, and you've
gone much harder. Alex: To see if you've been sucked into the
average speed trap, it's time for a quick quiz, isn't it? You'd answer yes to any of
these if you've done that, so boosting your average speed. The guys at home can play along
too. The first one is, have you ever started and finished your ride, once you get out of
town, to avoid traffic lights slowing down your average speed?
Ollie: Yes. Alex: If you live on a hill, do you end your
ride at the bottom of the hill so the average speed doesn't go down when you climb back
up to your house? Ollie: Yes.
Alex: Okay. Do you ride moderately fast everywhere just forgetting to do quality training?
Ollie: Yes. [laughs] Alex: This is a good one. Have you ever done
a point to point ride with a hurricane tailwind? Ollie: Have you been looking on my Strava?
Alex: You'd think so, wouldn't you? Ollie: Yes. More than once. [laughs]
Alex: Okay. Good to admit to that. Have you only ever ridden on flat roads just to boost
the average up? Ollie: Yes.
Alex: Okay. By my careful calculations, you've answered yes to every single one of those.
Quite clearly, you have been sucked into the average speed trap.
Ollie: If you have been sucked into judging rides by average speed, then you're not alone
and you're not necessarily a beginner. I happen to know of World Tour pros, who will remain
unnamed, whose coaching staff has actually judged their fitness in terms of, "Are they
ready for a race?" Based on the average speed they've been doing in their training rides.
Which seems ridiculous when they have access to all the data, power meter numbers, and
everything, mental. Alex: Yes, that is a little bit crazy. That's
the beauty of tech, isn't it? It gives us an easy way to quantifiably measure people's
efforts. The best way to do that is with a power meter, we can look at that and irrespective
of weather conditions, roads, elevation, we can see the work that's been done, and at
what intensity. Ollie: Yes. On top of that, we have access
to weather data now. You can see what the wind was doing, what the temperature was,
these all do affect your speed. We can even look at road conditions without even being
there, by looking at something like Google Earth. We have access to so much data, all
of which can be used to actually build a picture of how hard a ride was.
Alex: In time trials, this is a very basic and simple process. Quite simply, the rider
with the fastest average speed will win. In road races, it's quite a different story because
there are other teams, other riders, and tactics to take into account. All of which could help
a set rider save their efforts for when it matters the most, be that at the end of the
race, or a crucial point within that race. Then fundamentally, that rider will finish
the race with the highest average speed. Ollie: Yes, this is a really important point
because although we're saying don't look at average speed, obviously in a time trial,
it's really important. Watts don't win races, in that there isn't a prize for who got the
most watts at the end of the race- Alex: No, definitely not.
Ollie: -it's who went the fastest. There's been instances where I've gone pretty fast
in time trials off pretty average watts because I've been so aero. You compare that to someone
like Conor Dunn, who is as aero as a barn door, but he's done over 400 watts. Well done,
Conor. Alex: Yes.
Ollie: A bit like-- Do you know what I mean? Alex: Yes, you just love aero, don't you?
Ollie: I do, yes. Alex: The dangers of the average speed trap
are that you only focus on one thing, and you overlook lots of other factors that could
help you progress. If you're the type of person that focuses on your average speed because
it looks cool and you're trying to impress your friends, well, you could be missing out
because crucially, you could be doing specific intervals to help improve your training.
Ollie: Yes, intervals make you faster rather than just riding tempo pace all the time and
having a faster average speed, having a lower overall average speed but incorporating, intervals
into your ride is a much better way to train. We see the pros do it. They'll often go out,
they'll average just 25K an hour on an epic ride. What's misleading is that within that
if you dig into the ride, you see that they've probably done some mental 400-watt average
20-minute effort up a climb. Then either side of it, they've just completely parked it and
just ridden super, super easy, recovering. Alex: That's right. It's all about targeted
training, to work on areas that are going to help you improve the most.
Ollie: Yes, I'm glad we cleared that up. Basically, what we're saying is that don't focus on average
speed, do focus on average speed. This is basically like government briefing for the
coronavirus. Alex: Shall we have a poll on this, though?
Ollie: Let's have a poll. Alex: Yes, come on. Which of these methods
have you used to increase your average speed. Ride with a tailwind? Pause your bike computer
during slow sections of your ride? Or none? Or quite simply don't care about average speed.
Ollie: Head over to the GCN app to vote in that poll, and we'll reveal the answers next
week. Alex: It's now time for Hot Tech. The hottest
tech by far this week is the launch of GCN+. Ollie-Ollie: That's right. We've been working
hard behind the scenes the last couple of years to make the best documentaries we've
ever made. Alex: Oh, yes, and we've got some great in-depth
tech documentaries coming out. Ollie: We do. The great thing about this project
is it has allowed us to spend more time and effort on videos and give them far higher
production values, and just go into far more detail, something which we're just not able
to do on YouTube because making really high-quality content is really expensive, but don't worry,
the YouTube content isn't going anywhere. We're still doing all that. It's not going
to be compromised in any way. Alex: Next up, Rotor, who are famous for their
Q Rings, their ovalized chainrings, have launched some brand new carbon crank arms. Now, they've
been making aluminium ones for a little while now, but these are 100 grams lighter than
the aluminium, ones and 11% stiffer vertically, and 36.1% stiffer horizontally, so there's
some good changes that they've made there. Ollie: I'm quite impressed by the modular
system and approach to this design throughout their crank sets.
Alex: Yes, you can just swap out the components, can't you? You can choose different crank
arms, you can choose different axles. As you say, the center spider can be changed for
four or five bolt fitment plus, you'll like this, you can add in a power meter.
Ollie: Yes, you get the INspider and slot that in, which is cool, because it means that
you could buy a chainset, and then if you want to upgrade it at a later date, it's quite
easy to just change the spider, but you can keep the chainrings, your cranks, that all
stays the same, and it just swaps in. I think it's a good, clever design.
Alex: This week, Zwift have launched their Black Celebration Series. This is a year-long
series of events to celebrate Black history, heritage, and athletes.
Ollie: It will include social rides with special guests, and these social rides will be at
1.5 to 2 watts per kilo, meaning that they're easily accessible to a wide range of cyclists.
Next, we have the SKS AIRSPY, which is a rather nifty little gadget. It fits onto the valve
of your wheel, and then it pairs to a smartphone app or it could pair to your Garmin device,
and then it can give you real-time tire pressure data as you ride. It can also display the
status of your tire pressure using a traffic light system. Then through the app, it can
actually give you recommendations on tire pressure settings, in terms of how it learns
over time. Alex: This uses a single coin cell battery
to operate, it is compatible with Schrader valves and Presta valves, as well as tubeless
systems, and we have seen this technology around before with the TyreWiz, but of course
the AIRSPY is noticeably cheaper at £110, which still--
Ollie: It's still expensive. Alex: Yes, it's not that cheap, is it? As
you mentioned, compatibility is something to take note of because this only works with
Garmin devices. Well, Ollie, I know you said you've been on a bit of a losing streak lately,
but have you ever lost a race on Zwift? Ollie: Yes.
Alex: Oh. Do you think it might have been because of a power drop out?
Ollie: Obviously. It's not because of watts, is it?
Alex: Okay, yes, well, Wahoo have got you-- Ollie: True story this, right? What happened
was, I was on Zwift, I had the turbo in the utility, my mum comes in, and she used the
microwave, which was next to the turbo and she starts defrosting some minced beef. It
was in there for a while, and the microwave signal interfered because it was right next
to it, it interfered with the signal I think, and it cut out because when the microwave
stopped it came back. I was like, "For--" Alex: Well, Wahoo were obviously aware of
the use of the microwave, and have come up with a solution to this using a direct connection
which is available on their latest V5 KICKRs. Ollie: Thank goodness.
Alex: Thank goodness. This is a small unit which allows you to directly connect your
smart turbo with your Wahoo KICKR directly to your laptop, so power dropouts are a thing
of the past. Ollie: I can just microwave frozen minced
beef to my heart's content now. Alex: You can.
Ollie: Some cool news coming from Oakley now. Oakley custom sunglasses have been around
for a while, but they've just relaunched and revamped their custom configurator and added
loads of options into it. Alex: Got absolutely tons of options. There
are now over 40 million different personalization combinations that you can do on the Oakley
site. Right, our final bit of hot tech this week
comes from Spinergy and they have launched a brand new gravel wheelset called the GX
MAX. They have designed this drawing on technology from their motocross wheels. These feature
an increased spoke count, features a larger hub, and more robust ratcheting mechanisms
in the freehub, 24-millimeter internal rim width, and Spinergy's PBO spokes.
Ollie: Yes, which stands for Polyphenylene Benzobisoxazole.
Alex: Wo. Ollie: It's a cool polymer this, right? It's
got 5.8 gigapascals of tensile strength. That's like 1.6 times more than Kevlar.
Alex: That is cool. All I know is that they're made up of 30,000 individual fibers. Three
times stronger than steel and half the weight of steel. We get the best out. Available in
650B and 700C, and $1,000 or £750. Ollie: There you go. More hot tech next week.
[music] Alex: Right, it's now time for snacks of the
week, and I had high hopes for this week's because quite a few people have messaged me
asking for the address of where to send the snacks into.
Ollie: Well, Sachin Kotecha. Alex: Again?
Ollie: Again. Alex: A guy coming up with the goods
Ollie: Oh, this boy, what a legend. He sent us some Wham Bars which we're trying to find
out if they're vegan or not. They're definitely vegetarian. I think Wham Bars are vegan now.
Anyway, Wham Bars, just pure sugar basically. That's going to give you a lot of energy on
the bike, isn't it? Alex: It's going to be ideal once it's warmed
up in your pocket a little bit. When they're cold, you just snap the things in half.
Ollie: I'll have a Wham Bar. Alex: Have one to see you through to the end
of the show. Ollie: Cheers.
Alex: Cheers. [drilling sound]
Narrator: Cha-ching Ollie: It's now time for Screw Riding Upgrades,
Buy Upgrades. Got a Wham bar in my mouth, more a sherbet [inaudible 00:16:20].
Alex: Cool, there you go. Ollie: Here are some more upgrades you've
made to your bikes [unintelligible 00:16:26]. Then we'll judge them, and then you win a
bottle if it's the best upgrade. Right, last week's upgrade--
Alex: Shall I do this bit? Ollie: Yes.
Alex: Once you get through that. Last week, whose upgrade was the best? We had COOKSET's
custom painted Raleigh. That was good that one, against Deebatss budget gravel bike,
and the viewers have voted. COOKSET's custom paint Raleigh, 80% of the votes.
Ollie: Good paint. Alex: Get in touch over on Facebook and we'll
get the water bottle out to you. Ollie: Who have we got this week?
Alex: This week, I guess I'll do it as well, shall I? This week we've got K567. It says
back in 2018, I found a BMC road machine, damaged frame. I had it repaired and painted,
but then two years later, they found this Felt FR1 disk, so stripped down the BMC, sold
it, bought the Felt, and built the Felt up. Here it is, we've got Rotor powermeter, CeramicSpeed
pulleys, Zipps. Ollie: With the 240s DT Swiss hubs, love those
hubs. It's not going to be easy though because we're up against REDBIKE. Now, REDBIKE had
his first road bike which was a 2011 Raleigh Airlite 100. Got it for just £325 new, and
it's been slowly rusting until he's decided to give it a new lease of life as his winter
bike during lockdown two. Is it lockdown three now? Anyway-- [chuckles]
Alex: 3.1? Ollie: Yes. It was pretty heavy back in the
day, it was 11.6 kilograms when he got it new, but he's upgraded it a lot and got some
Fulcrum wheels for just £120 off an auction site. Then he's managed to replicate the position
on his summer bike, because he said he got this bike, it wasn't quite the right size,
but he's got the tape measure out and put on an appropriate stem and stuff and some
better handlebars, and he's fitted a mudguard as well. He's lowered the weight, get this,
by 1.4 kilos. Alex: That's a lot.
Ollie: That is a lot. Good upgrading. Nice river scene as well.
Alex: Yes. Head on over to the GCN app and let us know who your vote gets, or who gets
your vote even. Ollie: [chuckles]
[music] Ollie: It's now time for the final part of
the show, The Bike Vault where we judge your bikes to be either nice or supernice. If they're
supernice, Alex will ring the bell and they will be committed to the Bike Vault forever.
As ever, you can play along at home on the GCN app voting for all the bikes that we feature.
Without further ado, first up this week, what have we got?
Alex: We've got NIKEFUTBOLERO-- Ollie: Got Addict RC 30. I love the paint
job on that SCOTT. That is awesome. Alex: Really iridescent color to it.
Ollie: Yes, and that satin green, it's like a beetle. It's great. I like the integrated
cockpit as well. It's proper cool. Alex: It's a bit of a belter of a picture,
isn't it, this? Ollie: Yes, that's a cool photo.
Alex: Presumably, he's in the West? Ollie: Yes. I think that's a beautiful bike
and a nice photo. It's Biggie Smalls. It's clean. We can see the bike, no excess steer.
That's a "supernice", is it? Come on. Alex: Yes, it's a "supernice". [rings bell]
Ollie: Next, PRESTAPOST has submitted-- What is this?
Alex: What is that? It's a Trek Boone. Ollie: It's a Trek Boone cyclocross bike.
We've just had the cross Worlds. That is a cracker.
Alex: That is a cracker, isn't it? Ollie: Ah, look at the Crankbrothers.
Alex: Good Bike Vault submissions this week. Ollie: That's a "supernice". Straight up bike.
Alex: "Supernice" straight out. [rings bell] Ollie: It's made our life easy.
Alex: Yes. Ollie: That's a beaut.
Alex: Appreciate that. Ollie: Who we got next?
Alex: Next in we've got, WILKINSPALMA22 with their Specialized Elite Allez 2014.
Ollie: Oh God. Alex: Oh, we've taken a turn for the worse,
yes? Ollie: Just non-drive side. What is going
on? What is-- Alex: Non-drive side, cranks, gears, tires,
valves. Ollie: Just all sorts of stuff going on there.
Alex: Jaunty angle, wrong-- Wrong everything. It doesn't even look like it's in a safe location.
Ollie: No. Alex: Right.
Ollie: It's like parked on the hard shoulder of a freeway.
Alex: It's getting a "nice" from me I'm afraid, sorry.
Ollie: Yes, "nice". Next, we have ODIN2823. It's a lightweight climbing bike. It's a Ribble
SL R. What do you make of that? Alex: Oh, another stealthy one in here.
Ollie: It's got those nice Hunt wheels on that are filament wound. I like the filament-wind
pattern that it creates in the carbon. I think it looks cool.
Alex: Do you want a little interesting fact? Tested the pre-production version of those
wheels a few years back. Ollie: Down the Arenberg Trench?
Alex: Yes. Well actually, that was a different set, but those ones I had on my winter bike
for-- nearly three years ago now. Ollie: Oh, cool. Oh, it's those new Grand
Prix 5000 Continental tan wall ones. Alex: Nice.
Ollie: They're cool. Oh, they look good, don't they? Black bike with tan-wall tires.
Alex: We've had good submissions this week. Really like this.
Ollie: That's a "supernice". Alex: It's a "supernice" right? No doubt.
[rings bell] Ollie: Next, ANDYB542 and he's been riding
on the Isle of Wight with his Ridley Fenix SL. What do you make of that?
Alex: Nice bike. Preparations look good, correct gear, tires--
Ollie: It's a strong week this week, isn't it? Come on. Look at that.
Alex: I spent some time picking these out. I invested heavily into it.
Ollie: That's a 'supernice', isn't it? Alex: Come on, "supernice". [rings bell] We've
been throwing the "supernices" around today. Ollie: Blimming good. Lastly this week, we
got a submission from, wait a minute, Harry Tanfield from Qhubeka Assos.
Alex: Very nice. Ollie: A world tour submission who submitted
his BMC Teammachine SLR01.What do you make of his Team bike?
Alex: That is a nice picture. That's looking good.
Ollie: That's a professional level photog-- Look at it.
Alex: [chuckles] Very professional. Ollie: Depth of field there. Crisp, clear,
well lit. Alex: Very well lit.
Ollie: Beautiful photo, isn't it? Alex: Sandy beach.
Ollie: Yes, sandy beach. It's not quite sideways as we like. It's a bit of a-
Alex: A very jaunty angle. Ollie: -jaunty angle but it's still very nice.
Alex: It's got wheels aligned, tires aligned, [unintelligible 00:22:45] aligned.
Ollie: Oh, it's a beautiful bike. Not quite Crank's level, but it is Biggie Smalls. Although,
at more careful inspection, once we zoom in on this very high-res photo onto the name
sticker on the bike, it reveals that this is actually Fabio Aru's bike and not Harry's
bike. Alex: That's a bit sneaky. That's a sneaky
one, that. Ollie: We can't allow this.
Alex: No. Ollie: Because if we allow this, it sets a
precedent that anyone can submit any old bike. The Bike Vault is your bike.
Alex: Yes. Ollie: "Nice".
Alex: This a "nice". Sorry, Harry. Ollie: Well, that' it for this week's show.
Hope you've enjoyed it. If you have, then please give it a thumbs up and subscribe if
you haven't already as it-- well, it does help support the channel. We'll see you next
week. Alex: Right. I'm off to stuff my face with
Wham Bars. See you in a bit. [00:23:30] [END OF AUDIO]