Bikerumor Podcast

A couple episodes ago, Lachlan Morton shared his plans for an around the world record attempt. In this episode, I'm talking to someone who's actually done it. In 2018, Jenny Graham set the women's speed record for riding 18,000 miles around the world in 124 days and 11 hours. And she did it unsupported, without, well…we'll get to that, because the extent of her minimalism is pretty remarkable and...

If you've ever wondered how tire size and rim profiles affect aerodynamics, this episode is for you! My guest is Dov Tate, founder of Parcours Wheels , a UK brand that's been pushing the envelope on wider rims optimized around wider tires. The story of how he got to that point, from putting 360º wind sensors low on the bike to intentionally doing wind tunnel tests without a bike frame attached to...

If you've ever found yourself focusing so much on the outcome of a ride or race rather than the experience of the ride itself, I think you'll enjoy this conversation with Lachlan Morton. As one of the top ultra endurance riders in the world, Lachlan's had some grand adventures, from riding the entire 2021 Tour de France route, including transfers, solo and unsupported…and beating the peloton into...

I'm back with Matt Harvey from Enduro Bearings for Round Two, all about Bottom Brackets! If you haven't listened to our first chat , I recommend it as we go so deep down the rabbit hole of bearings that it'll give you a lot to think about as you're trying to optimize your bike. In this episode, we focus on Bottom Brackets because Enduro recently released a report that shows the results of years of...

Alexey Vermeulen is a former pro roadie, having ridden for the BMC development team and then Lotto NL Jumbo before switching gears to gravel, where he now rides for Jukebox Print, ENVE and Shimano, among others But you might know him better as "that guy that rides with the dog on his back". I met Alexey at Sea Otter this year and, as I was going through the photos of his new custom ENVE MOG, I tho...

I think, at some level, we all crave adventure. It's why the Zombie Apocalypse genre is so popular. What would we do if we had to drop everything and just... escape. Start fresh. Well, for many folks around the world, it's not a fantasy. It's why we have so many people trying to migrate into the USA and most of Europe They're trying to escape a desperate if not downright dangerous situation. And t...

If you have or are considering buying an e-bike of any kind, chances are you're wondering about battery safety and how to maximize performance. With the recent Lithium Ion battery fires in New York creating political will to ban unlisted, non-certified batteries in e-bikes, electric scooters, and other e-mobility devices, I wanted to talk to an expert on e-bike battery safety. My guest today is Ku...

If you've been trying to figure out sports nutrition and how the right supplements, timing, and ingredients can help you ride faster, farther, and longer, and then recover stronger, this episode is for you.   My guest is Dr. Luke Bucci, formerly with Weider and now Chief Science Officer for First Endurance, a sports nutrition brand focused on fueling and improving endurance athletes. Health, fitne...

Outbound Lighting popped onto the scene a few years ago with a very different take on mountain bike lights. Not only did the products look different, they had a different philosophy about where they should be placed, and how the light patterns should work. Turns out, they were onto something. They're growing so fast that they made the Inc 5,000 list of fastest-growing companies, and from the sound...

So, why would a boutique hub brand buy two wheel brands? In this ep, I'm talking with long-time friend Alec White from White Industries about their recent acquisition of Rolf Prima and Astral Wheels. We dig in a bit on the strategy of acquiring what were basically their two largest customers, and what it means for the future of those brands and products. We also talk about their business in genera...

A while back, I thought it would be cool if there were an app that made it easy to find a group ride anywhere in the world. I spent days (which turned into weeks) storyboarding my idea. Turns out, I was a bit late to the game, as there are several options helping cyclists find others to ride with, whether it's road, mountain, gravel, or whatever. Today, I'm speaking with the two guys behind Chasin...

Just before the 2022 Ironman World Championships in Kona, HED Cycling broke the internet with their unbelievably deep 180mm aero wheel. In this episode, Anne Hed talks about its rapid development and the impressive results her athletes got on it at Kona, plus what it means for the future of the brand. We also talk about how the brand is evolving since Steve Hed's passing in 2014, why things were q...

So, I hope you're ready to have your head explode.   Because the things Predator Cycling is doing with materials, artificial intelligence, computational fluid dynamics, and 3D printing is so far beyond what any other brand is doing, it's kinda mind blowing. My guest today is Aram Goganian, founder of Predator Cycling. He's wicked smart, and since he didn't mention it, I will: Not only is he pushin...

If you've ever wondered how wax chain lubes work, why they're better, or what graphene is and how it works as a lubricant, you're in luck. I have Silca owner Josh Poertner with us today, and we go deep into all things chain lubricant, including a better way to lube your chain that's surprisingly easy way and massively effective, no matter what type of chain lube you use. From the challenges of sou...

A few years ago, I met an Italian upstart custom carbon bike brand at Eurobike called Exept . They were doing something unique, and the bikes looked killer. So, I went to visit them and came home with a bike that I’m still riding today. Their office was small, doubling as an assembly point and showroom, with manufacturing done offsite. The appearance of a small, scrappy group of bike geeks was hid...

As a brand, there are few that have created such iconic products as Crank Brothers, and have weathered the ups and downs of both market conditions and brand reputation. But now, in 2022, they’re celebrating 25 years in business. So, I sat down with CEO Gaspare Licata to talk about how the company got here, how they turned things around in the mid-2010s, how some of their more recent products came...

At the 2023 Scott Genius launch, I interviewed two of the mountain bike engineers behind the design, Etienne Chaloin and Tim Stevens. From hiding the shock inside the frame to creating a new dual-travel design with Fox, they explain why they went with the new design and how it all works. WANT MORE? Find the Bikerumor Podcast on Apple Podcasts ,  Stitcher , Podbean , and through RSS , or wherever y...

With the trails and route still being defined when Eddie O'dea set out to become the first person to complete the new 6,000 mile Eastern Divide Mountain Bike Trail, it was sure to be an adventure. And it was. But after almost three months, 6,223 miles, and 425,967 feet of climbing, he made the self-supported trip from Newfoundland, Canada, to Key West, Florida, on his mountain bike. In this interv...

It may surprise you to learn that the SRAM UDH, or Universal Derailleur Hanger, is half plastic. When we learned that it used mixed materials, I wondered what else we didn't know about this now nearly ubiquitous mountain bike component. So I called up SRAM MTB marketing manager Chris Mandell to learn more, and it's surprising just how much there is to know about this tiny part. This is my first "W...

The Tour of Luxembourg is a relatively small multi-day race on the World Tour calendar, but it attracts some big teams. That combination made it the perfect test bed for measuring the environmental impact of a professional cycling race. Which is more complex than it sounds. From hotel rooms to travel, volunteers to food service, course marking to start/finish staging, there's a LOT that goes into...

If you've been missing the chance to see some of the bicycle world's finest builders display their work, mark your calendars for late summer 2023. That's when the MADE Bicycle Show debuts, bringing together many of the best-known frame builders, plenty of new and smaller builders, and a curated collection of component brands to an outdoor show in Portland, Oregon. In this interview I talk with MAD...

Are ceramic bearings really worth it? How much drag do bearings really produce? Does the type of grease matter? Or is it faster to use no grease at all? What about removing the seals? In this episode, I interview Matt Harvey with Enduro Bearings , and he answers all of those questions…and a WHOLE LOT MORE! This is one of my favorite episodes ever because there's a lot here that surprised me, and I...

No22 Cycles recently unveiled their gorgeous new 3D printed titanium dropouts, made for them by Silca, and they're just the beginning of what they can do with this manufacturing process. Besides being gorgeous, there are a lot of functional and economical reasons to use additive manufacturing. In this episode, they explain: how the parts are made how they're made strong enough why they're a better...

Ever wondered what "radial compliance" is in a bicycle wheel? On this episode, I'm kicking off a mini-series around technologies, products, and designs that are either misunderstood or often tossed into product launch stories without good explanations. My first topic is radial compliance, which is when a bicycle wheel is able to deform in the vertical plane as you hit a bump or land a drop. It's n...

I'm a bit of a video game fan, and obviously a cycling fan, and always a tech fan. So when all three are combined, I get really curious, and Pro Cycling Manager caught my eye. It's been around for years, updated each year with that season's teams and riders, plus a Tour de France edition that mimics that year's route. But how do they get all of the licensing to use team kits and names, athletes, a...