Nerd Alert Podcast

Aero road wheels are everywhere these days, but it turns out the idea is much harder to execute when it comes to gravel.

Why is that, you wonder? We ask the questions, and Hunt wheel engineer Luisa Grappone has the answers.

The Right to Repair movement primarily targets the electronics industry, but the concepts behind it strike at the heart of cycling, too: Products should be designed to be repairable, all small parts should be made available — and stay available — manuals, tools, service procedures should be accessible to everyone, and it shouldn’t cost more to repair something than it costs to replace it. In fairness, it’s not all that bad in this respect as far as the bike industry is concerned, but it could be better.

The Nerds make a living nitpicking and critiquing, instead of designing and creating. So what would we change if we could? What products and features would we keep, and what would we get rid of? What would the bikes look like?

Be warned: the crew might have gotten a little more animated than usual on this one.

After several weeks on the road, the Nerds are finally back in the studio!

We’ve got a lot to talk about this week, too, like why the same kinds of fork recalls seem to be happening over and over again, what Pon’s recent takeover of Dorel Sports means for consumers and retail, and a recap of the cool stuff James saw at the recent Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California.

We also start digging through the giant pile of Ask a Mechanic questions we’ve accumulated, like if you can run road tubeless tires without sealant, what chain lube to use if you’re lazy, and whether you should grease your freehub body before installing a cassette. Make sure to have some popcorn handy!

Sorry, folks, we know our usual Nerd Alert schedule has been a little off-kilter, but we figured it’d be better to shuffle things around to accommodate the World Championships — and next week, Paris-Roubaix! Thanks for your patience, and rest assured, there’s more Nerd Alert to come sooner than later!

This week’s episode takes The Nerds to the UCI Road World Championships in Belgium!

Caley, Ronan, and Shoddy scoured the team pit areas for all the shiny new bits, and they found what looks to be new hookless-compatible GP5000 tubeless tires from Continental and some interesting new rollers from Wahoo Fitness.

Worlds is always a weird one for the mechanics given the mix of national and trade teams, and it’s even weirder this time around. We’ve all grown accustomed at this point to not being able to find bikes or parts, but if it makes you feel any better, it turns out that even top pro riders and teams can’t get them, either. A Roubaix win on Shimano 105??? Stranger things have happened.

3T recently wound down its carbon fiber frame production in Asia and brought it in-house to Italy. Manufacturing frames the same way would have prohibitory expensive with Italian labor costs, though, so 3T instead developed an entirely new, and highly automated, process that not only dramatically slashes the amount of manual labor required, but also supposedly makes the frames better. 

What’s the secret sauce in 3T’s new frame building technology, and what are the company’s plans for it moving forward? In this episode of the CyclingTips Nerd Alert podcast, we sit down — virtually, of course — with 3T co-owner Gerard Vroomen, who gives us the full scoop on what this technology is, how it’s different, and what its future might look like.

Are you confused about road tubeless? What works and what doesn’t? Is there an actual rim standard yet? What’s the deal with hookless rims? And why is the whole situation with road tubeless such a mess, anyway?

Helping us answer all of these questions — and more — is Zipp product manager Bastien Donzé, who may be feeling a little sore after the flurry of questions the Nerds sent his way on this week’s show.

This week’s Nerd Alert podcast is a deep dive into the mind of Gustav Gullholm, aka, Dangerholm. 

Dangerholm is best known for building crazily light and bling mountain bikes, whether they’re for cross country racing, enduro or even downhill. And in recent times some of his builds have included stealthy integrated electronic shifting, or hacked suspension lockouts and dropper posts that run off a single controller. 

Now the Jort-wearing Swede has turned his attention to the drop bar world and modified his first gravel bike.

Senior tech editor Dave Rome chats to Gustav about the new build, the design process of such bikes, and DIY paint. If you haven’t already, then be sure to check out the full feature on Dangerholm’s Scott Addict Gravel.

Welcome back to the Nerd Alert podcast, in this week’s episode Dave Rome steps in as host and goes full nerd while diving into the murky waters of chain lube testing.

The amount of mixed information related to chain lubes is staggering and it’s undoubtedly one of the more confusing product areas for consumers. That’s an issue because your choice of chain lube can make a substantial difference to the durability and efficiency of your drivetrain. To help unravel these issues we called up Adam Kerin of Zero Friction Cycling and the founder of FrictionFacts Jason Smith to talk all things within their domains.

Here they reveal what makes a great chain lube, what tests work and why, and what tests you should be sceptical of.  For related reading, stick your head down the rabbit hole of all things related to bicycle chains.

We all know there’s still a massive worldwide parts shortage going on. Need a chain? Cassette? A suspension fork??? Ha ha, good luck with that.

Groupsets may be particularly hard to find, but it’s important to remember there are more options than just Shimano, SRAM, and Campagnolo. Are off-brands like Microshift truly diamonds in the rough, or is it yet another example of you-get-what-you-pay-for?

The Nerds also chat about how the most recent Strava updates might help prevent bike thefts, an encouraging new way to buy refurbished cycling clothing, and the pros and cons of $30 socks. Last — but certainly not least! — we reveal the banging new jingle for our Ask a Mechanic segment.