Cycle Systems Online

One of our graduates from the class of 2021 (when CSA was based in London) is Graeme Hart, who has established a cherished bike shop in Corstorphine, Edinburgh. https://harts-cyclery.co.uk is the sort of shop you can pop by for a chat and an inner tube and walk out with a Dutch eBike, custom built Campagnolo equipped road bike with hand built wheels, and some socks... Hey, we’ve all done it. Hopef...

Kevin Stacey from https://42cycling.com/ joins us again to talk about his first year in business during a global pandemic. If you missed pt 1, which included Kev’s amazing story, it can be found here. https://www.cycle-systems.co.uk/kevin-stacey/We also look at some of the off road gear Kev has been using, like the https://www.dirtlej.com/ onesie and a range of kit from https://www.liquid-life.de/...

Currently a Senior Contributor to https://www.forbes.com and author of the excellent http://www.bikeboom.info/ and https://roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/ Carlton Reid has had a colourful and varied life within the world of cycling. As ever, we feel we could have talked for many hours on a variety of subjects, but we hope to have covered enough for you here. We hope you’ll discover some worthwhile a...

Working for the Mighty Heron. Nick Rearden from Raleigh UKThis week we take a look at the UK bike industry with our good friend, Nick Rearden from Raleigh UK.Nick is a lifelong road cyclist and has been involved with the bike industry since most of us just had our noses pressed up against the local bike shop window. We take a look at how Covid has affected the industry, what this means now and in...

After a look at commuter eBikes and Campagnolo, you mountain bike tech heads must be wanting some action? Well, I hope this was worth the wait? We have a stunning show with Jarno Hoogland. He is not only a former downhill racer from the Netherlands (!) but also has a long career in the mountain bike trade as is now editor of the excellent https://www.imbikemag.comIn this pod we discuss what bikes...

eBikes for many years were the joke of the cycle trade shows. Funny old men with egg stained beards trying to flog staggeringly heavy and appalling looking pieces of wiring and batteries, attached to some shoddy wheels. It was all a bit expensive, poor in performance, unreliable, unsupported by infrastructure or a dealer base and, well, a bit square...In 2021 we find ourselves in a very different...

Join Sean and The Campag Kid for the fourth and final part of our Campagnolo tech journey. We look at 11 and 12 speed groupset technology as well as Campagnolo’s electronic shifting system, EPS.We finish up with a look at the legacy of Campagnolo, both in terms of engineering, and as a brand. This wraps up four incredibly interesting shows which we hope will last as a vital aural history of Campag...

Welcome back to class! In this episode we have part 3 of the definitive Campagnolo history with the exceptional, Campag Kid. We get into Campagnolo’s tools, which are the precursor for many modern workshop kits and the return of Campag’s Jedi with the 10 and 11 speed era. Want to immerse yourself in community and a year long learning programme in bike maintenance? Check out our Team Camp membershi...

We had such a great time talking to The Campag Kid last week that we have invited him on for a few more shows to fill in the Campagnolo story. We had such a flow going for pt 2 here that we ended up with over 90 minutes of unmissable audio. Given how most folks like to listen to content these days we have broken this down to pt 2 this week and into pt 3 next week. Not to fear, as we shall also rec...

As you may have noticed this is our 100th episode of our podcast. From early days on steam powered internet in Devon, to broadcasting from Cycle System’s new Bond villain lair in Switzerland we have had quite a fun ride with these shows. To create a nice symmetry, the first thirty episodes, which we thought were lost, have been sent to us by longtime listener, Roger Stilwell. We have now got them...

In a week rocked by tumultuous world events, Sean and John are joined by Scott Purchas from https://girodilento.com to talk about the world changing topic that is, riding your bike indoors...Inspired by a few comments on twitter by Sean, as he noticed some tweeters were not even tough enough to ride their turbo trainers in the garage as it was a bit cold (!) we decided to take a look at the reason...

Hello, and welcome back to another year with Sean, John and a raft of wonderful guests at the Cycle Systems Academy podcast. We kick off with a cracker, recorded on New Years Eve (it wasn’t as if we were off to a party!) with Mike Stead from www.road.cc In this episode, Mike discussed the new D1X retro fit wireless shifting system from https://archercomponents.com/ it may or may not be for you, bu...

To round off the tumultuous 2020 we shall try to lift your spirits with a round table, ‘virtual Christmas drinks’ with some of our and hopefully your favourite cycling tech people. Featuring, Caroline Stewart of https://cscyclecoaching.wordpress.com/ Troy Laffey from https://www.sram.com/en/sram Scott Dedenbach and David Palan from https://wideanglepodium.com/bike-shop-cx/ John Galloway from https...

https://www.dtswiss.com/en are a very well established brand in the busy wheel market. In this superb gear head pod we get down and not very dirty (it IS Switzerland after all) into the technology behind world beating wheels. Here is the factory tour video Sean mentions https://www.dtswiss.com/enSo tune in and find out why aluminium nipples are not so bad, steel is most definitely real and women a...

https://cyclingtips.com despite sounding like a beginners guide, is in fact one of the most interesting cycling media platforms of the moment. Including traditional racing coverage, in depth reportage and superb tech content and a successful and engaged Membership subscription to help to pay for it all, the Veloclub. https://cyclingtips.com/veloclub-welcome-page/Their weekly podcast is a mainstay...

Sean is joined again by Mike Stead from www.road.cc to discuss the growth of touring by eBikes and the rise of infrastructure that supports this. Mike has particular insight into this as he has facilitated four new Bosch charging stations on the www. Perthshiregravel.com route he has been instrumental in creating. Other charging stations can be found here https://www.bosch-ebike.com/en/service/pow...

We all know that The UCI is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.(Thank you, Hunter S. Thompson)However, they do have a technical department that prevents the Tour de France being ridden on Triathlon bikes, so there is that! All joking aside, the UCI technical regulations are a criti...

Many of you will know that generic bike reviews are often little more than marketing pap or re-hashed press releases, only for the bike’s flaws to be knowingly highlighted in the following year’s review of its replacement. As if the reviewer didn’t know them in the first place! As mechanics, we work on many 9/10 reviewed bikes regularly, see which ones walk the talk and why. What factors make a bi...

Once upon a time there was no such thing as mountain bikes. Yes, many people rode all sorts of bikes off road, some even modified their machines into true all terrain machines, but it took a bunch of Bay Area hippies to create mountain biking as a bona fide sub culture, with a brand new type of racing, (downhill off road time trials), an underground ethos and truly radical and beautiful bikes that...

Now and then we meet an individual who is not your average bike trade type, but who has such a great insight into and passion for the bicycle that we end up talking for hours. Such was the case when Sean met Hani Rashid at an event in Treviso and despite their varying backgrounds hit it off immediately. We knew that Hani would be an engaging podcast guest and it has proven to be the case. The co-f...

This week we welcome the return of Scott Drawer, the former Head of Performance at Team Sky, British Cycling as well as other leading roles in British Rugby and other sports inferior to cycling! Scott has now stepped back from the manic schedule of a full time employee of a World Tour team and has taken a role at a leading English school, as head of Sport. In this wide ranging and fascinating chat...

While you may have read about the new Campagnolo Ekar groupset online, or even been lucky enough to test ride it from a Campagnolo Pro Shop dealer, you won’t have had this much insight we reckon. Long term listeners will have heard Graeme before but for the uninitiated, he is the head of Campagnolo tech training in the UK and founder of the excellent https://www.velotech-cycling.ltd.uk/training.sh...

In this week’s pod Sean and John revisit John’s planned trip to China, https://www.johngalloway.online/And continue to muse on the spec for his bike. A frame has been selected, wheels just about sorted and the dynamo system chosen. What about the gears then? There are SO many options and this is confounded by the face that John was yet to choose between flat or drop bars. Join us as decisions are...

This week we are joined by Dr Xavier Disley from https://www.aero-coach.co.uk a former fellow mechanic with Sean at the Humble Oxford Cycle Workshop, Xavier is one of the cycling world’s leading aerodynamic experts. In this short pod for the end of the Tour de France we look at Aero gains made in this year’s tour and the potential for more gains in the future. You’ll be amazed at some of the mista...

Welcome to another Tour de France tech pod. Here is an interview with Pinarello/Team Ineos bike designer, Dimitris Katsanis, who is also famous for designing the British Cycling track team bikes. This chat was recorded for the Cycle Systems Members https://cycle-systems.lpages.co/cycle-systems-founding-members/ last year and I thought it was better to release the full audio from this than try to r...