Velo Chumps

This week the Chumps talk about recent innovations and current trends in the bike industry and who really benefits from them. We explore what might be motivating the brands to develop the products they do, and, spoiler alert, it is not to make a better riding experience for chumps! We end with another listener factoid that is close to Chad's heart.

The Chumps talk Roubaix! After this year's editions of the race, we talk about what makes Roubaix special as a sporting event, not even just a bike race. We give a bit of a breakdown of both the men's and women's races, and then we preview the upcoming Ardennes week. We relay some listener feedback, and we have yet another listener submitted factoid! Listen to the end for that and keep the factoids coming.

We are in the midst of cycling's Holy Week and Statler and Waldorf, I mean the Chumps, are back to talk about Flanders and Roubaix. Like normal we discuss the racing from a Chump point of view, and throw a little history in there for you. Then we talk about some new tires, which are obviously wider than the previous new tires, because new tires are always wider these days (This is the part where we really get grumpy). We end with another listener factoid! Keep those coming.

If you are curious about the unconventional opening of this episode, here is a very important video you should watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlejtD3pzWU

Even if we recorded on April Fools Day, this episode was obviously published after. We talk about some of the annual April Fools products that cycling brands "release," and how those jokes reveal something about the industry. Before that though we talk a bit about racing, both our own races and the pros. Then we share some sad news about Paragon Machine Works and why that might impact Chumps, and then we finish with our first ever listener submitted factoid!

This week's show is in reverse order. After some listener feedback on last week's factoid, we start with the factoid this week. Then we talk about when Milan San Remo got exciting, and some important topics that came out of San Remo weekend. Then we end the show with some tech, including the title topic, the recently spotted updated Canyon Endurace.

This week the Chumps talk a little bit about an epic bike race, but we focus on an even more epic website! You might have already guessed from the title of this show. We also talk about the evolution of gravel racing. Don't worry if gravel racing is not your thing - we are not breaking down any races. We do talk about how the evolution and professionalization of gravel racing will affect us Chumps, and in positive ways at that! Chad brings us home with another historical factoid, so listen to the end for that one.

This week the Chumps lament how boring professional men's racing has become of late. But we give you a solution to this problem (hint: it's not watching more men's racing). We hit a few other fun topics before we get to the new CAAD 14. The CAAD has traditionally been the racing bike for Chumps. But is it still? Finally, the factoid will really stretch your perception of things that could be true, or not. Truth is stranger than fiction? Listen until the end to find out.

Lots of topics this week with road racing officially starting (depending on how you look at things), new chump relevant products that brands recently released and rumors of new products that are not yet released. We also answered some listener feedback that stemmed from our last episode. This week there are two factoids (sort of) - one that might be true, and one that is definitely not true.

Believe it or not, we are back for a 4th season! Before getting too far, I need to apologize for how long it took to edit and publish this episode. We recorded this episode weeks ago, but then I travelled to sunny Arizona for an early season race block. Maybe we will talk about that in a future episode! Anyway, the references might be a bit dated, but it was a fun show with a surprise contributor! The next show will be out much sooner than later, you can bet on that.

We've come to the end of another season of the Velo Chumps! We start off this episode with our resident Shimanophile (Chad) talking up the new GRX updates that dropped recently. After that we go back and review what the Chumps got right (and not so right) this year. No factoid this week, but we promise to have a lot of good ones is season 4. See you next year!