Bikerumor Podcast

Over the years, custom framebuilder Carl Strong has built quite a name and reputation making some of the best handmade bicycles out there while also setting an example for new builders on how to run an actual business. We covered his "retirement" announcement , but wanted to touch base and hear the full story from him and his wife and business partner, Loretta Strong. In this interview, they share...

Decathlon is a massive sporting goods retailer, equivalent (or larger) than Dick's Sporting Goods here in the States. Packed with very affordable house brand equipment, it raised a few eyebrows when their Rockrider mountain bikes debuted on the UCI World Cup XC race scene. So we wondered, how are they putting top riders into the fastest races in the world on a bike sold in a "big box" store? We sp...

We head to Iceland to ride the all-new Lauf Seigla, an aggressive reinterpretation of what a race gravel bike can be. With massive 700x57 (29x2.25") tire clearance, more rear compliance, and stiffer leaf spring suspension fork, it's a monster that's also quite fast. In this interview, we talk with founder and president Benedikt Skulason about the new design, how to hack it to use a dropper seatpos...

Curious about CBD and its benefits for athletes? What about cyclists in particular? And what about CBG, and CBN? And WADA drug testing? In this episode, we talk to two avid cyclists who also happen to be the founders of Twisted Spoke CBD. More than just a relabeled me-too brand, Wen and Gabe prove that they are beyond passionate about the health and wellbeing attributes that CBD and its derivative...

Colin Strickland didn't grow up cycling, but that sure didn't stop him from bursting onto the scene and quickly making a name for himself. Now a legend in the burgeoning gravel racing world, he's working with Red Bull to host the inaugural Red Bull Rio Grande Gravel race in May 2022. We caught up with Colin to see how the event came to be, get a little course intel, and hear how about his bike set...

Pocket Pedals are a slip-on, hard composite flat pedal surface that turns any road or mountain bike with SPDs into something that's easy to ride around town with regular shoes. While it looks simple, there's a lot more going on with it to be able to work with SPD-SL road and SPD MTB pedals simultaneously. And don't even get us started on Look's pedals, but those are coming, too. In this episode, I...

In this episode, I'm chatting with the founders of Bridge Bike Works, an ambitious carbon fiber bike brand starting up in Toronto, Canada. And when I say ambitious, I mean, they're literally starting EVERYTHING from scratch, there's not a single off the shelf aspect of their entire process, and they're making it all right there at their new factory. So, what does it take to launch a new bicycle ma...

As it happened, I made a last minute trip to Bentonville for the launch of Fezzari's new Signal Peak XC mountain bike. Which happened to coincide with Outerbike and the Big Sugar gravel race. And since I don't like having any downtime whatsoever, I squeezed in an interview with Gary Vernon, who I'll sum up as the orchestrator of all things bike advocacy and infrastructure in Bentonville, Arkansas....

What's up Bikerumor fans! Today, I'm speaking with the founders of Reddiyo, a smart training app that uses your workout data and performance to algorithmically determine your next workout. It's an interesting concept not just because it uses data from the workouts you do on the app, but also your past recorded workouts to get you up and running with an effective program from day one. In this episo...

In the 2 years since we've last partied with the Lauf Cycles team, they've switched from IBD to consumer direct, changed up most of their team, and are trying to find a good U.S. headquarters. They've also been working hard on that full suspension gravel bike that's set to change the landscape, but they don't seem to be in a hurry to launch it. We asked why, and talked a lot about the rest of the...

It's one thing to make a helmet look good. Or to make it aerodynamic. And quite another to make it do both. But when it needs to do all of those things and meet the required safety standards, that's where things get tricky. Fortunately, Giro has a lot of experience, and the man in charge of tying all those pieces together is Rob Wesson. In this episode, we learn how they go from concept sketch to...

We know, helmet retention systems...yawn. Except, there are so many ways to make them, and so many ways to make them work.  And then there's fit...even helmets from the same brand can have drastically different fits across models. But why? In this episode, Lazer's longtime US "helmeteer" Chris Smith explains why they use various systems, the pros and cons, and opines on how to get a helmet that fi...

If you think bicycle helmets are designed to be as safe as possible, think again. The problem isn't the brands...none of the good ones are cutting corners or making false claims. The problem is the testing...it's unrealistic. So helmets have to be harder than necessary to pass those tests and get certified to sell. Which is bad news for your brain. In this episode, Kali Protectives founder Brad Wa...

If you've ever done the Belgian Waffle Ride, you know it's hard. And if you're planning on doing one, you know that pre-race intel can be hard to come by. That's all by design. In this episode, we hear the origin story and thought process behind their course design and more from founder Michael Marckx. And since we're going to be racing in the BWR AVL this year, we got a little secret knowledge ab...

If you've ever wondered why some GPS cycling computers simply work better than others, Bryton explains how the different tech inside means better tracking for your rides. In this episode, Bryton's Thomas Rando shares how all the parts and pieces come together to create the different levels of bike computers we all use to track our rides. From GPS to battery to future features and our own pie in th...

Ever wonder how backroom decisions and the struggle between designers and accountants affects what bikes actually make it to market? Or, more importantly, which features, designs and technologies get to be used to make our bikes better? In this episode, Nex Gen Sports co-founder Paul Farrell shares his experience launching and running both his own bike brands and consultancies and manufacturer rep...

If you're in the industry, chances are pretty good you know Jeff Zell, Panaracer's go-to guy for, well, just about everything, really. So he's the perfect guest to talk about how Panaracer went from one of the earliest brands making legit mountain bike tires, to leaping into the gravel bike category and owning it for quite some time before the rest of the industry caught up. We also talk about how...

Get ready to geek out on how the bearing size, ratchets, pawls, and overall hub designs and spoke interfaces all impact your hub's durability and overall wheel's performance. Our guest is Jacob McGahey, VP of Industry Nine, and with four generations of hubs to talk about, this is an in depth look at what they've learned about torque, longevity, materials, and so much more. We also chat about the b...

Swytch Bike founder Oliver Montague has a few stories to tell, both interesting and quite entertaining…especially when we get to his factory visits. The Swytch e-bike conversion kit allows you to turn almost any bike into an electric assist e-bike, using a front wheel hub motor and lightweight battery pack that clicks onto a proprietary mount that couldn't be easier to use. This interview isn't so...

When none other than Harley Davidson launches an e-bike brand, we have to wonder how they're going to complete? What's makes Serial 1 unique, and how will they translate the Hog culture into pedal-assist bicycles? Yes, they raised a few eyebrows when they announced they were launching a electric bike brand, but one look at the designs shows they've done their homework. In this episode we'll talk a...

Wondering how the Coronavirus will affect your heart? Whether you should ride while you're infected with COVID-19? What the long term health effects are as a cyclist? How long it takes to recover from the virus? We answer all those questions and more in this episode, with special guests Dr. Rand McClain and Trey Richardson. Dr. McClain is chief medical officer and heart health expert at LCR Health...

A couple of episodes ago, I interviewed my friend Christian about his experience as a black cyclist working in the industry. I invited him back to co-interview this week's guest, Rahsaan Bahati. Rahsaan's a multi-multi-multi-time national champion pro road racer who's been on some of the top, and most controversial, teams. In this episode, he shares how he got into cycling, his experience in the p...

This weekend was set to host the Downhill World Cup at Fort William, Scotland. In the absence of racing, we caught up with an athlete who’s raced that track no fewer than 13 times over the last 8 years, a rider set to inspire a generation of aspiring downhill racers, the 2013 Junior World Champion, Tahnee Seagrave. We chatted with Tahnee on June 4th, at a time when she’s recovering from injury at...

I'm recording this on Friday, June 5th, almost one week after the Black Lives Matter protests started and spread throughout the country. To say this is an interesting time in our history is an understatement. And to say I'm curious about where we go from here, equally so. I like asking questions. I like learning. And I like talking to interesting people. And this week, I got to do just that with m...

Budnitz Cycles is one of those brands that has definitely elicited strong emotions over the years, and they've made some beautiful bikes. So it came as quite a shock to me when they posted that they were shutting down. I wondered why, so I called Paul up to get the scoop. And his answer? Well, let's just say this conversation does not disappoint. It's short, just 20 minutes, but worth a listen. An...