Velo Podcast

This week's episode sees us go behind the scenes with Amy Charity, SBT GRVL co-founder and retired professional racer, to find out what it takes to organize one of North America's premier gravel races.

Did you know that you can never have too many outhouses?

Levy and Will take notes on how to find four hundred volunteers, and how to deal with permits, police, and politics while putting on an event that's both fun and safe. Additionally, we dig into the changes made to SBT, what the future of gravel racing looks like, and more

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New Tech Alert: A speedy all-road bike with all the tire clearance,

Senior Tech Editor Alvin Holbrook chats with Levy about riding Cannondale's completely redesigned Synapse that offers massive tire clearance, a best-in-class storage box, and integrated lighting that (might) finally make sense. Further, he explains how one battery powers all of it and the AXS derailleur. The price? $16,499. 

He's also spent some time on a new gravel suspension fork from DT Swiss that features integrated brake hose routing and aero-ish shaping, and even

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This week's show sees Alvin, Josh, and Levy step into a parallel timeline where they have the power to create the bike of their dreams

The crew also talks about riding Kona's MTB-influenced Ouroboros Carbon, the pros and cons of the new Coros Dura computer, and what should be done to the "fan" who rode alongside the race leaders at last weekend's

Beware: this episode of Velo Podcast is a packed one.

Amstel Gold has to be one of the best races of the year, and this year was no exception. While everyone thought Tadej Pogačar was gone, he sat up and started to soft pedal. And instead of blowing it all up at the last climb, Amstel Gold ended up being decided in a three-person sprint. The first two names–Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel–are to be expected. But Mattias Skjelmose? He seemed surprised to even be there, much less that he won.

In this latest episode of the Velo Podcast, we talk about Skjelmose winning Amstel Gold, Mischa Bredewold taking the win at Women's Amstel Gold.

They also preview Liège-Bastogne-Liège and discuss Remco's 100-percent win record at The Old Lady; two starts, two victories! Can he do it again against the likes of Pidcock, Pogi, and Van der Poel? Levy is a believer, whereas Hoody has his money on a certain Slovenian.

And in the tech world, Levy and Tech Editor Alvin Holbrook talk about the newly-released Factor Monza aero bike, his latest gravel bike in for test, and Silca’s Tariff-Limited Electronic Pump.

We told you it would be a packed one!

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Josh, Alvin, and Levy unpack a massive week in tech that includes self-inflating tires winning Paris-Roubaix under a mountain biker, Pogačar's fresh V5RS, and an aero road bike that promises forward thrust in any wind conditions. The guys also dig into Allied's new Able that combines speed and tire clearance, the smart geometry of Norco's redesigned Search, and why (or why not) drop-bar mountain bikes make sense.

There isn't anything else like the Queen of the Classics and, if this season so far is anything to go by, we've got an exciting weekend of racing in front of us. The women's field will face the thirty cobbled sectors under the sun on Saturday, while there's a chance of rain and mud for the men on Sunday as Tadej Pogačar aims to be the first reigning Tour de France champion to win the Hell of the North in decades.

Velo's Andrew Hood, Jim Cotton, and Mike Levy sat down to chat about how to ride the cobbles like a pro, Roubaix bike setup, favorites and wildcards, the chances of anyone beating Kopecky in the velodrome (slim), and how van Aert, Pedersen, Ganna, and Van der Poel could tag team Pogi.

This week's Velo Podcast brings Mike Levy and tech editor Alvin Holbrook together to talk about our favorite trade show: the Taipei Cycle Show.

Velo had Jessie-May Morgan, Shoddy Dave Everett, Alvin, and a video team there to wander all four floors and never-ending aisles that are always packed full of everything from the interesting, exciting, exotic, and maybe even useful to the just plain questionable, and a bunch of stuff in between.

This week, we're talking about some crazy carbon fiber wheels with Mother of Pearl finish on them, whether we should be considering aero crankarms for the gainz, or what about a different crankset that claims to add 50 percent more power to your pedal stroke?

Also up for discussion included some wild new bikes that may or may not exist, and we need to know if the relatively inexpensive Wheeltop and L-Twoo wireless drivetrains from China have finally gotten good enough to consider buying.

If you care about seeing what the future of the bike industry looks like–and what bikes, components, and accessories from Asia look like–you won't want to miss this one.

Can a $600 pair of shoes really be worth the price? Surely not... but also maybe, depending on who you ask.

Today's show sees tech editor Josh Ross and Mike Levy talk about Specialized's new S-Works Ares 2 shoe, as well as how to test expensive bikes and gear, and how relevant that pricey equipment may — or may not — be for many riders who have different priorities. 

Here's a burning question we've had for quite some time: should your bike complement your strengths or shore up your weaknesses?

Wait, hear us out! We thought about the best bikes we've ridden, and there's always something in common: they make us feel superhuman. But what about that that bike makes you feel that way? Is it how it makes up for your weaknesses on the descents, or is it how it only amplifies what you're the best at?

We have a bit of an argument here, with some of us believing a bike needs to focus on rider weaknesses, while others would rather their bikes help them feel better about what they're doing.

Along the way, we talk about Litespeed's new titanium road bike, which they claim is the lightest titanium frame yet. Then, we get nostalgic about old Cannondales as we talk about the latest Topstone Carbon ahead of its launch

Ah, and as we should, we talk about a big crash that happened while filming our first-ever Velo Field Test. Don't tell us we don't make sacrifices for this job!

Listen to the latest episode of the Velo Podcast below.

Bike racing is back! With the UAE Tour and Volta in the rearview mirror, it's time to jump feet first into what looks to be an epic Classics season that kicked off with Omloop and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. Then, it was off to the rolling white roads of Italy's Chianti region for the Strade Bianche, where the women's race climaxed with a duel between Demi Vollering and Anna van der Breggen up the steep final wall better known as Via Santa Caterina. And if you were watching the men's race and waiting to see if Tadej Pogačar could best last year's 80km solo breakaway for victory, he did exactly that but in a very different way, overcoming what looked like a serious crash to notch up his third Strade victory. 

Today's podcast sees Mike Levy chat with Andrew Hood and Jim Cotton about what makes the Classics so special, how Pogačar could win Milano-Sanremo, and why more people need to think like Tom Pidcock.