Geek Warning

It’s not the usual weekly show format this week, as instead, it’s time for our annual tech awards. Don’t worry, this isn’t just us praising new products, in fact, there’s hardly any of that.

These are awards you won’t likely see promoted by the respective brand, as afterall, a poo emoji isn’t likely to help sell product. It’s not all negative though as the full cast of geeks discuss the biggest new tech trends, a few most desired products, and the most anticipated new products for 2025.

With absolutely no sensical order to anything, let’s dive into the Geek Warning tech awards of 2024! Thanks for a great year, and you’ll hear from us again when 2025 arrives.

Warning, spoilers (aka time stamps) below:

1:00: Biggest tech trends of 2024 - All-road bikes, wider gravel tyres, converging categories, and shorter cranks
13:00: The unexpected gimmick we don’t hate - Head units with integrated bicycle bells
15:40: Silliest new product of 2024 - RAF’s aero backpack
18:40: Thought-invoking/Most nuanced/potentially bad award - Zipp XPLR 303 gravel wheels, Highbar helmet system, Visma’s TT Giro Aerohead II helmet
29:00: Most desired small product that doesn’t yet exist - A “long press” SRAM Blip shifter and a self-dropping dropper post
34:00: Best new aero thing - Time-trial saddles for road bikes
37:00: Best new maintenance tool thing - A different way to check chain wear from Abbey Bike Tools and disc brake piston presses
41:30: Great new product most likely to bankrupt us - Scott Addict RC, RockShox Flight Attendant suspension, Body Rocket Aero Sensor (guess who picked what?)
47:00: Glasshouse of the year - GCN Tech Show #359
48:30: Worst trend of 2024 - Half-baked products being released for sale (looking at Wahoo and Coros as examples) and product leaks
59:00: It’s about time they fixed it (aka most improved) - Pinarello Dogma F, SRAM Red AXS shifters, and SRAM brakes in general
1:08:30: The more of this please bike industry award - Genuinely serviceable and repairable components, better representation in the industry, and less waste in general.
1:14:00: Most anticipated new product for 2025 (which hopefully happens) - Shimano GRX Di2 1x, Shimano XTR Di2, SRAM mechanical T-Type shifting, Specialized reVenge, Fox’s answer to Flight Attendant suspension
1:21:00: Looking to 2025 and some changes to the Geek Warning team

Welcome back to Geek Warning. It’s been a big few weeks for the cycling world, with the Classics and the Sea Otter Classic sharing a weekend.

Ronan Mc Laughlin and Dave Rome kick off the show chatting Roubaix tech, including some hacked derailleurs and questionable measurements. Then they chat about Colnago’s latest race bike.

Dave then jumps on with US tech editor Josh Weinberg to talk all things Sea Otter, including some of the bigger tech news. Plus, there’s a beginner's guide to why many in the industry are seemingly obsessed with gearboxes in place of the old derailleur.

All of those chats are based loosely on content already published on Escape Collective. So check out the Tech section of the website in order to see more on all of these things.

The episode wraps with our usual Ask a Wrench segment with pro race mechanic Brad Copeland. As a reminder, you’ll need to be a member of Escape Collective (go here) in order to access this popular segment of the podcast. Members can submit new questions here.

Time stamps:

1:30 - We told you so corner and Roubaix tyres
6:40 - 13-speed shifting taken to 12 and what tells of SRAM road of the future
17:30 - UCI is measuring things. Why?
25:20 - Colnago’s new V5RS
33:30 - Sea Otter is a Classic
39:00 - The rise of the gearbox
47:30 - Upside-down suspension returns
53:00 - Sea Otter big and small finds (Qvist, Continental, Vittoria, Abbey Bike Tools, Terravail, mini inflators, and much more)
1:08:00 - Stromm’s new aero road bike
1:13:00 - Ask a Wrench (members only)
1:17:00 - Upgrading bolts, where and where not
1:26:00 - SRAM Transmission on a non-Boost bike
1:35:00 - Wheels taking on water

Join Ronan, Dave, Suvi, and Brad as they discuss all things related to modern tyres. You’ll hear why Ronan now prefers hard-to-fit tyres, tips to make the installation easier, and our favourite online (free) pressure calculators.

Of course, there are a few bits of news to cover, including an interesting new freehub patent from Lauf. And as usual, Brad and Dave answer a few mechanical questions submitted by Escape members.

As a reminder, we’re now covering tech news in our Daily News (published on site each day), and that means we’ve also made some changes to the podcast (for the better, we hope). Let us know in the comments how you like (or not) the format changes we’ve been making.

Time stamps:

1:15 - Corrections Corner related to pulling a chain from wax
2:50 - On Ronan’s mind is that tyre fitment woes may not be a wholly bad thing
18:00 - Making tyre installation easier
21:30 - Ronan finally reveals the tight-fitting tyre
24:30 - Pick One: Tyre pressure calculators
39:45 - MRP creates a Cage Guard from SRAM Transmission derailleurs
41:55 - Thule purchases Quadlock
43:00 - Stinner’s introduces a well-priced USA-made stock geometry steel bike
44:50 - Lauf’s teases patent for a springy freehub
47:00 - Ask a Wrench: chain noises on SRAM Eagle AXS
55:20 - Ask a Wrench: installing new brakes and hoses
1:00:05 - Ask a Wrench: removing a stuck headset bearing

The Tour de France can’t be that big of a deal. After all, they couldn’t even sign up 200 participants! But despite the low turnout, there’s quite the disproportionate amount of new tech to discover there, including a mysterious new Ridley aero all-rounder road racer, new tires and saddles from Specialized, a hint that a new SRAM Red groupset may be pending, new aero helmets, comfy-looking shoes, and upsized wheels from Campagnolo.

We also discuss Pinarello and Tune recently changing hands, how everything new in the MTB world seems to be designed for e-bikes, the return of CNC machining, and why your suspension fork is probably feeling sadly neglected.

3:50 — A sneak peek at Ridley’s new semi-aero all-rounder

7:09 — Specialized now has road tires just for wet conditions

15:50 — Yet another 3D-printed saddle model from Specialized

21:16 — Is a new SRAM Red groupset coming soon?

27:15 — Some funky new shoes from Q36.5

29:13 — Ekoi’s got a new aero road helmet

30:31 — Campagnolo is going wide with its new Bora Ultra WTO 45 wheels

32:31 — Mmm, built-in satellite shifters

36:34 — Pinarello has a new owner

42:40 — Lightweight has purchased Tune to create a German weight-weenie powerhouse

45:35 — Garbaruk has a new CNC-machined road and gravel crankset

49:30 — CNC machining is back in a big way

56:21 — UDH isn’t coming for road bikes; it’s already here

1:05:35 — MTB R&D seems mostly aimed at e-bikes these days

1:13:49 – Your suspension fork probably isn’t working as well as you think it is

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's regular (and free!) episode of Geek Warning has James Huang, Zach Edwards (of the Boulder Grupetto), and Dave Rome back on the mics. With only a small amount of news to discuss, much of the conversation surrounds bigger and broader-reaching topics.

Seeing so many sales out of the bike industry is great for those in the market for a new bike, but it's a worrying sign of financial struggles ahead. It's obvious the boom is over, and it may be a few years for stock glut to clear.

The mountain bike brand Guerrilla Gravity (GG) quietly ceased operations in September. Now fellow American company Canfield Bikes is providing aftermarket product support for owners of the thermoplastic bikes.

Zwift has announced new annual pricing options for those looking to save a little with a year-long commitment.

The episode then turns to what's on our minds, including Dave's recent boiling point over squealing brakes and a deeper conversation about lower-cost race bikes off the back of Caley Fretz's Trek Emonda ALR 5 review. The geeks then discuss their favourite mountain bike dropper posts.

The episode wraps up with Dave Rome at a Wera Tools media event, where he interviewed employees Lutz Buchholz and Ralf Joesch about the company's increasing presence within the cycling market.

Geek Warning is produced with the support of our members. Join as a monthly or annual Escape Supporter today, and pay only $1 for the first month. Not only will you receive full access to all Escape Collective content, you’ll also have access to our new exclusive podcasts. Simply head to our join page, select the monthly subscription, and enter the code PODCAST at checkout to redeem this special trial offer.

Timestamps:

5:03 – It’s a buyer’s market at the moment
14:17 – Guerrilla Gravity is closing shop
17:03 – New pricing options from Zwift
19:45 – Squealing brakes are on Dave’s mind
24:19 – Lower-cost alloy road race bikes used to be better
36:39 – Pick One, our favourite dropper posts
45:55 – a PSA related to tubeless valve stems
49:30 – an interview with Wera Tools