In this jam-packed episode, James and Dave discuss a handful of new gravel and road bikes that caught their attention during the week. Trek enters the rear Radar game to compete with Garmin, yet James’ early impressions of the CarBack raises more questions than answers. DT Swiss has just released a new mountain bike rear hub with a wholly new ratchet system, you can read about the new 240 DEG hub at escapecollective.com , and a bonus episode of Geek Warning with DT Swiss is also available, too. ...
Apr 19, 2024•59 min•Ep. 314
It’s time for another bonus episode of the Geek Warning podcast. Typically only Escape Collective members have access to the full versions of these, but this week we’re feeling generous. This episode coincides with the release of DT Swiss’ Ratchet DEG system (link to review), effectively an oversized 90T version of the famous Star Ratchet design. Here, tech editor Dave Rome interviews Friso Lorscheider and Brandon Wold from DT Swiss about this new mountain bike rear hub and how it fits into the ...
Apr 18, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 313
Jonny Long, Kit Nicholson, and Dane Cash join Caley Fretz to ponder whether the Ardennes Classics might merit some reevaluation, to discuss World Cup mountain bike racing and the NCL going on hiauts, and to look ahead to a clash between Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar.
Apr 17, 2024•49 min•Ep. 312
Gracie, Loren, and Abby call in back up in the form of Matt de Neef to try and figure out what exactly happened on Sunday at the Amstel Gold Race. The shortened race impacted some teams more than others, and a top rider learned a tough lesson.
Apr 16, 2024•57 min•Ep. 311
Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano discuss just exactly how the men's Amstel Gold Race was won, and how the riders who finished both first and second did lots of things right, whereas the rider whose shadow loomed large at the start only finished 22nd.
Apr 15, 2024•33 min•Ep. 310
The 2024 Sea Otter Classic hasn’t even kicked off yet, but the Geek Warning crew has already got a ton of new bikes and gear to talk about this week. All-road/endurance road bikes are clearly enjoying a moment in the sun with the launch of the new BMC Roadmachine and Enve Fray, and Liv has another fresh full-suspension mountain bike landing in shops. Fox has also completely revamped its range of suspension forks for MY2025, Dave and James chat about why they’re big fans of Project321’s third-gen...
Apr 11, 2024•50 min•Ep. 309
Loren is back in the studio this time with Abby and Gracie to take a deeper dive into the racing at Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift and look ahead to the upcoming Ardennes.
Apr 11, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 308
Caley Fretz, Jonny Long, and Kit Nicholson talk through some of the side stories that came out of the last weekend of cobbled classics and wonder aloud what can be done to make the sport safer and less full of dumb people who want to throw things at bike racers. Plus, Iain Treloar interviews two confused deer mascots.
Apr 10, 2024•51 min•Ep. 307
Cosmo Catalano and Dane Cash break down Mathieu van der Poel's dominant display (again) on the cobbles, his team's spectacular showing to support him, and the battle for the podium at Paris-Roubaix, and also the crash-marred Itzulia Basque Country.
Apr 08, 2024•44 min•Ep. 306
Welcome to the second episode of The Rest Day with Jack Haig. In this week's show, Jack catches up with Pavel Sivakov to talk Catalunya and the UAE Tour. They talk changing teams (from Ineos to UAE), what it's like riding for Pogacar, and more.
Apr 08, 2024•29 min•Ep. 305
From next to the Arenberg and inside the velodrome, the Placeholders crew brings you an episode from the ground at Paris-Roubaix. What happened to Quickstep? Will Belgium be mad? What about two world champs winning in one weekend? That was neat. And lots of more, of course.
Apr 07, 2024•32 min•Ep. 304
Cyclings Holy Week is all about Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix, but sandwiched between those two monuments is the sprinters classic, Scheldeprijs. Escape Collective was on the ground for the Week and took a trip to Terneuzen for the start of the race named after the river Schelde to record a Performance Process pit walk special. In this episode, Ronan and Caley take us on a roam around the Scheldeprijs start area, talking flat race bike optimisation, the one bike they’d pick, and much more....
Apr 07, 2024•38 min•Ep. 304
Loren Rowney, Matt de Neef, and special guests bring you all the action from the infield at the Roubaix Velodrome, as the fourth edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift comes to a thrilling close.
Apr 06, 2024•36 min•Ep. 303
From a bar in Belgium straight to your ears: The Placeholders crew preview both of this weekend's Paris-Roubaix races, discuss the Arenberg chicane and the crashes in the Basque Country, and we hear from Emma Norsgaard on what Roubaix means and how to ride it.
Apr 05, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 302
Whew, so much new product news to discuss today, and Sea Otter is still two weeks away! Shimano looks to strengthen its stranglehold on the entry-level market with a new range called Essa, while some updates to the CUES collection may provide some hints at higher-end bits to come, too. Campagnolo finally announces a power meter to go along with the Super Record Wireless groupset launched last year, there’s turmoil at Scott Sports, and some hooked wheel companies are out for blood. Dave and James...
Apr 04, 2024•57 min•Ep. 301
The Placeholders crew comes to you live from Kortrijk, Belgium, this week, where they tackle life's greatest questions (who's better, Boonen or Van der Poel?), debate the merits of goat-based cobble upkeep, and have some Weekly Pain with a real live member.
Apr 03, 2024•47 min•Ep. 300
One year after her historic win at Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift Alison Jackson sits down with Abby Mickey to relive the day and the months leading up to her victory. The two discuss the plan going into the race, and how Jackson manifested her own destiny prior to winning the Hell of the North. Find the full written piece on EscapeCollective.com .
Apr 03, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 299
This week on the podcast Gracie, Loren and Abby break down one of the best races of the year the Tour of Flanders and talk about how Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday gave us an idea of what was to come on Sunday. They also discuss the dynamic of SD Worx-Protime and Lidl-Trek and how the two are circling each other. And Kasia Niewiadoma. We just love Kasia Niewiadoma.
Apr 02, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 298
Cosmo Catalano and Dane Cash break down a grueling edition of the Tour of Flanders and ponder whether anyone in the peloton could have done anything to challenge a dominant Mathieu van der Poel.
Apr 01, 2024•48 min•Ep. 297
We're back with a special on-the-ground episode from Oudenaarde, the finish town of the Tour of Flanders. It's wet, it's cold, but we've found a bar and a fire and are ready to talk about a spectacular bike race (even if the last 50 km were slightly less spectacular). As always, for a deep run-through of the women's Flanders, don't miss Abby and the Wheel Talk crew early this week.
Mar 31, 2024•50 min•Ep. 296
Bridge Bike Works is an upstart brand that's trying to make a go at building premium carbon fiber bikes in Canada. It's not just a geographic thing or a point of national pride here, though. Bridge says it's obviously proud of making bikes in its own backyard, but it's also striving to make better product, period, by keeping the entire process – from R&D to lay-up and curing to paint – under a single unobtrusive industrial roof in Cervelo's old stomping grounds. In this Geek Warning episode,...
Mar 29, 2024•40 min•Ep. 295
The Placeholders crew is together in Belgium and talks through the route, key storylines, and crash-reduced field of favorites for the men's Tour of Flanders.
Mar 29, 2024•37 min•Ep. 294
Welcome back to Geek Warning! In this week’s edition of the regular show, Ronan and Dave discuss why current road bikes may not be ready for emerging trends in seated positions. Later Ronan shares a PSA related to multi-tools that turns out to be more of a Pick One and a rant. On the news side, the geeks discuss the new Cannondale Scalpel cross-country race bike. Pinarello has finally officially revealed its Bolide F HR that Italy will race on the track in Paris. There’s more 3D-printed tech to ...
Mar 28, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 293
This week's episode of Placeholders, recorded after a busy weekend of racing – but before Dwars door Vlaanderen ... – ponders which men's Classics team is best right now, riders skipping races to go to altitude, and whether the "Big Six" is really a thing.
Mar 27, 2024•53 min•Ep. 292
Another great episode this week with Abby Mickey, Loren Rowney and Gracie Elvin. They talked about Classic Brugge-De Panne and Gent-Wevelgem , specifically SD Worx-Protime’s tactics and the sprint finish where Lotte Kopecky made the difference for Lorena Wiebes. In order to really pick apart the sprint finish on Sunday they watched it live while recording. If you’d like to join in you can find the video we watched here ....
Mar 26, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 291
In our final episode of this limited series, we turn the floor over to member questions. Thank you to everyone who became members throughout this series. Every single one of you helps make us produce more content like this. If you're not a member, you can join here: https://escapecollective.com/join/ You can listen another podcast you'll enjoy about 'Why are modern bikes so expensive' podcast here: https://escapecollective.com/why-are-modern-bikes-so-expensive/
Mar 25, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 290
Cosmo Catalano and Dane Cash have plenty to talk about after a week that was absolutely jam-packed with racing. The E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem, and the Volta a Catalunya all get the How the Race was Won treatment as the Tour of Flanders looms.
Mar 25, 2024•53 min•Ep. 289
Welcome to the first episode of The Rest Day with Jack Haig! This new podcast is hosted by Bahrain-Victorious' Jack Haig and will take you behind the curtain of pro cycling. The first episode is a chat between Jack and his roommate, Wout Poels, discussing Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico from the inside.
Mar 24, 2024•25 min•Ep. 288
We don't often think of a saddle as a performance item. Sure, the wrong saddle or poor fit can lead to performance-sapping discomfort or injury, but using the saddle to promote, maybe even improve performance, is something we rarely hear about. But that's precisely how Wove suggests we should think about saddles, and after a year or more of using both it's saddles, I tend to agree. As such, that saddle-centric performance bike fitting is the topic of this week's Performance Process podcast, as I...
Mar 23, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 287
Four weeks on from Thomas De Gendt's now infamous crash, Zipp has released its findings and explanation, but many questions still remain. In this podcast, Ronan is joined by David Morse and Nathan Schickel from Zipp as he seeks the answers to the questions many have been asking.
Mar 22, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 286
