Inside GRX development with Shimano's Sander Kuik and Rwanda Beyond

02/08/22 • 48 min

Gravel Union Talks is a podcast series full of inspiring stories, news and events from the world of gravel biking. Each month hosts Carlo and Olly will be chatting with guests who are passionate about riding off the beaten track... adventure riding, bike packing and gravel racing.

In this episode:

Gravel Union Talks hosts Carlo van Nistelrooy and Olly Townsend welcome:
Sander Kuik, Digital Transformation Director at Shimano Europe on the development of GRX components and his favourite own titanium bike build
Simon de Schutter, organiser of the Gorilla Gravel gravel event in Rwanda and the social programme he is supporting

Want to bring in ideas for topics or guests? Mail Olly at [email protected]

Check out our platform and socials
www.gravelunion.cc
Insta: @gravel_union
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GravelUnion/
Komoot: https://www.komoot.nl/user/1080024447202

Thanks for listening. Please share a review (it really helps us!), like and share!

Don’t forget: join us now for a free membership with loads of benefits! https://members.gravelunion.cc

Links:

Back in May, we launched an occasional series of features called Gravel Gear, which was all about the gravel bikes that you’ve built and use. This time we’re featuring this fantastic looking build from Gravel Union reader Gideon Thomashttps://www.gravelunion.cc/article/gideon-thomas-genesis-croix-de-fer

How do you fancy racing over a 200km gravel circuit, taking in more than 8500m of climbing through the stunning scenery close to Mont Blanc? If you do, then we have just the thing – the 2022 Gravel Tour du Mont Blanchttps://www.gravelunion.cc/article/gravel-tour-du-mont-blanc-2022

Sander Kuik made his dream come true. With the help of T-Lab Bikes he built his own titanium gravel bike. Follow the whole journey; from idea to reality:
https://www.gravelunion.cc/article/the-custom-built-dream-gravel-bike-part-1
https://www.gravelunion.cc/article/the-custom-built-dream-gravel-bike-part-2

Sander Kuik talks about his job at Shimano. You can also land your dream job. Check out the current opportunities https://shimano.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/Shimano

Simon De Schutter pitches Gorilla Gravel (https://www.gravelunion.cc/article/Gorilla%20Gravel%202022) in the podcast and tells us more on the Rwanda Beyond project; a great example of joint growth. We also did a long read on it with great photograpy: https://www.gravelunion.cc/article/rwanda-beyond-project

In this episode:

Gravel Union Talks hosts Carlo van Nistelrooy and Olly Townsend welcome:
Sander Kuik, Digital Transformation Director at Shimano Europe on the development of GRX components and his favourite own titanium bike build
Simon de Schutter, organiser of the Gorilla Gravel gravel event in Rwanda and the social programme he is supporting

Want to bring in ideas for topics or guests? Mail Olly at [email protected]

Check out our platform and socials
www.gravelunion.cc
Insta: @gravel_union
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GravelUnion/
Komoot: https://www.komoot.nl/user/1080024447202

Thanks for listening. Please share a review (it really helps us!), like and share!

Don’t forget: join us now for a free membership with loads of benefits! https://members.gravelunion.cc

Links:

Sander Kuik talks about his job at Shimano. You can also land your dream job. Check out the current opportunities https://shimano.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/Shimano

Previous Episode

Henna's Winter Gravel Top Tips and Scotland's Pride Dukes Weekender

In this episode:

Henna Palosaari (@hennapalosaari), on gravel riding in winter time with top tips and great stories from Finland. Henna is the most northerly based of all of the Shimano Gravel Alliance riders.
Stu Thomson (@stu_thomson) puts forward his elevator pitch for the 2022 edition of Dukes Weekender and waxes lyrical about his local community of Aberfoyle (Scotland).
Co-host Olly Townsend (@gravel_union) talks about the new website and his favorite articles on www.GravelUnion.cc

Check out our platform and socials
www.gravelunion.cc / Insta: @gravel_union / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GravelUnion/ / Komoot: https://www.komoot.nl/user/1080024447202

Thanks for listening. Please share a review, like and share!

Don’t forget: join us now for a free membership with loads of benefits! www.gravelunion.cc/join-us

Links:
For anyone currently sitting in the northern hemisphere, it’s probably winter outside your window, which means cold temperatures and wet trails. We thought that for this week’s #filmfriday extravaganza we should offer up some sunshine and some inspiration. https://www.gravelunion.cc/article/badlands-filmfriday

Back in August, world record breaking expedition cyclist Mark Beaumont took on the GBDuro – a 2000km bikepacking race up the length of the UK. The film of his race, with all the drama, excitement and stunning scenery is now ready for its launch to the world. https://www.gravelunion.cc/article/maiden-race-film-launch

Serbia Upside Down is the story of eight adventurers from Serbia and Germany who traversed by gravel bike over the most stunning mountain ranges of Western Serbia.
https://www.gravelunion.cc/article/serbia-upside-down-into-the-unknown

We sent James The Intrepid out into the cold to try and figure out the best way to make winter riding fun. https://www.gravelunion.cc/how-to-make-winter-gravel-riding-fun

If, like Andrew Terker and his wife, you are fortunate enough to call Switzerland your home, then gravel riding from your door looks absolutely stunning. https://www.gravelunion.cc/article/gravel-riding-in-switzerland

Next Episode

Route planning with Katherine Moore from komoot and Scandinavia's Nordic Gravel

In this episode:

Guests:

Katherine Moore, komoot editor and expert gravel route planner - www.instagram.com/katherinebikes and www.instagram.com/komoot
Maarten Peteeuw - Nordic Gravel Series - www.instagram.com/nordicgravelseries
Gravel Union Talks podcast with hosts Carlo van Nistelrooy and Olly Townsend.
GU’s editor-in-chief Olly on last month’s most popular articles on the Gravel Union platform.

Want to bring in ideas for topics or guests? Mail Olly at [email protected]

Check out our platform and socials: www.gravelunion.cc

Insta: @gravel_union / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GravelUnion/ Komoot: https://www.komoot.com/user/1080024447202

Thanks for listening. Please share a review, like and share!
Don’t forget: join us now for a free membership with loads of benefits! https://members.gravelunion.cc

Links:

Doorstep Challenge: check out www.gravelunion.cc for all the latest info!

Komoot webinar for Gravel Union members
Rescheduled Monday 21st at 19.00 GMT/20.00 CET - Learn more about komoot and how it can benefit your gravel riding. Register for free. https://www.gravelunion.cc/article/gravel-union-members-komoot-webinar

Ultra Distance Scholarship
Gravel riding has some pretty high barriers to entry – everything is expensive, you need some decent skills and fitness to get the most out of it and perhaps most importantly, you need someone to help, inspire and motivate you to give it a try. If you’ve grown up in a community where for whatever reason, cycling wasn’t an option, then how are you going to get to experience the joy of gravel riding? https://www.gravelunion.cc/article/the-ultra-distance-scholarship

South-Africa: Far Not Far
You don’t always have to travel hours to find adventure. It is often just around the corner, it’s all about knowing where to look. That’s the ethos that Charl Dettmer, resident of South Africa and co-owner of ACME bikes, followed when he put together this fantastic sounding gravel bikepacking trip recently. https://www.gravelunion.cc/article/Far-not-far

Gravel Events Calendar
The Gravel Union events calendar offers a comprehensive, worldwide view of gravel riding events and races. https://www.gravelunion.cc/events

Gravel Union Talks - Inside GRX development with Shimano's Sander Kuik and Rwanda Beyond

Transcript

Carlo van Nistelrooy 0:05
Hello welcome everybody. This is Gravel Union Talks, a podcast series Full of inspiring stories, news and events from the world of gravel. Each month we will be chatting with guests who are passionate about riding off the beaten track, adventure riding, bike packing and gravel riding, gravel racing rather. I'm your host Carlo. I'm still having a slight cold. Olly is the co host all the way from Newcastle UK. In every episode, we have a star guest star guest of tod