Cycling with Scoliosis and Mobility Challenges

This episode is brought to you by Sum Up. Now, if you're self employed or a sole trader and like me, the whole making tax digital thing melts your brain, then fear not. Sum up can help. Yes, Francis, you're not exactly known for your paperwork skills, are you? I th I think that is pretty generous. I've seen his spreadsheets. I'd say they are more like abstract art. That's why I have you, Jimmy. My finance yoda, but not everyone has a Jimmy. And that's where Sumup comes in. They've built a great free piece of software to help sole traders get ready for making tax digital. It's all built into the Sumup app. There's no monthly fees and it helps you stay on top of things without the stress. So you can spend less time panicking about taxes and more time doing what you're actually good at. Getting started is easy, just search SumUpMTD online . That's sum up MTD. Trust me. If I can get my head around it, you'll be absolutely fine. My name is Karen and this is my NHS story. You don't realise how blind you are until you have cataract surgery. I was referred to surgical hub and they booked us in for our operation. It was about three weeks before I was there. It's very, very quick. The government is opening more surgical hubs with more than 120 already operating across England, so the NHS can be there for all of us when we need it. Find your closest one at gov.uk slash NHS fit for the future. Ladies and gentlemen, Francis is in the building. Thanks for having me back, guys. I would ask how you are. I know how you are. You've had a rocky couple of days. I've been having a great time. I got on the plane and then I was like, oh, it's kind of like my tooth's a bit sore. And then every hour of the flight, which bear in mind was 11 hours of f lying, it got worse. One pain point per hour until it reached eleven out of ten, like spinal tap. Oh. Yeah. So you basically got straight off the plane. Well, Benny came and got me, and he thought it was a joke that I said 'cause I managed to text him from the plane. I was like, uh I need emergency dentist appointment. He was like, Oh, I thought that was a j a joke. What kind of it's a weird joke . Turns out there wasn't any that day, so I've been suffering, but the uh painkillers great. They really work, it's crazy. You must be disappointed you can go and get British painkillers now though. Yeah, true. You can only buy them in what? P peasley? Measly 16. But instead of 1600. But the positive is the dental work cost you nothing. Well, it costs you effectively nothing. Subsidized by the NHS. Exactly, yeah. Let's not tell them that though, because they might ask for the money back. Okay.arently emergencies are allowed. She also said don't sneeze because your brain will come out of your tooth hole. Don't don't hold a sneeze. I think that was the instructions. I have sneezed a few times. But it's because my brain's quite small, you can just go the whole thing come out. But you you asked her if you could keep your removed tooth as a souvenir, didn't you? I've got it. Might put it on a necklace. Lovely. Yeah. In the merch store. You could catch. One one of one. One of one. Like a real real life NFT. Remember those? It's the wild ones, it's the wild ones. So we all have busy lives, and knowing when to train and to rest is what leads to better quality, more consistent riding. Data helps take the guesswork out of training, which is why today's episode is supported by Garmin, who are legends when it comes to data. Pairing a Garmin Edge head unit with a rally power meter gives you metrics like power, cadence, and left-right balance. And with heart rate data from your watch or heart rate monitor, you can calculate your recovery and train in readiness. That means smarter sessions and fewer blow-ups halfway through the climb. Thanks to Garmin for supporting the show. From various radar taillights and camera headlights to edge bike computers, tax trainers, rally power meter pedals, Garmin cover performance and safety from every angle. Welcome to the Wellman's Podcast, the show where we chat about bike stuff. I am Jimmy, and this week I'm joined by producer Emily. Hello and an in person Francis Cage. And thanks the garment for supporting this show. Let's talk about videos that we have done this week. Francis, you made one called Bike Industry, Please Stop Doing This. And it was essentially a big rant about all of the things that bike brands do when they're selling bikes that annoys you. Mm. It was it it was m it was moaning. It was just moaning for ten minutes. Don't watch it. Yeah. Well I mean this is moaning for an hour, so that that's good point. The condensed version. No, it was a soft. It was just a little little tickle. A moanlit. Wasn't it wasn't an observation of why are things like the this the way they are? Sometimes you have to question it. Well, I I I am very happy that we as an entity have got ourselves to a place where we can talk about things how we want to talk about things and not have to think about sponsorship opportunities. Um so I am I am a as someone that works and represents and owns some of Cade, I'm very proud that we can make stuff like this because it's important. So yeah, thanks for making it, Francis. One of the things that you're complaining about is that the I guess just the there are lots of product, but there's a lack of configuration to the point where you would like it. And I was having a sift through the comments, because there were a lot of them just to see what people's um general opinions were. Um and someone said, This is why my last two bikes have been factors. Pick the colour, fit, and group set with no restrictions. It's still less expensive than a Sworks. I didn't factor did that. Do you know what is less also less expensive than an S works? A full custom bike. True. Very true. Yeah. I guess th this is actually an advert for support your local bike shop if they're if they're good. It's a shame bike shops have to I mean jokes aside, the factor is a good example. I'm not fussed about there being so many options. It's the s fact that the sizes are out of stock because there are so many options and for reference the video had a bit where I just went on the Canyon website. I'm sorry to single out Canyon. It's not just them. But they had 18 models of race bike currently and that's not including the new endure race that they released, which is a race bike. So it's something like twenty something models, all with like slightly different SRAM, slightly different wheels, different paint jobs. So none of them are in stock in all of the sizes and I can only say what what happens there's just so many options and because bikes rely on being the right size, that's where the issue arises . I I d I find it so strange that the business models that I I don't know enough about the business models that they're working to which says they need so much stuff and they can have and again, as Francis says, this isn't just singling out Canyon. Uh brand bike many bike brands, they have loads of options and lots of them have holes in the stock. It it just doesn't make sense to me. I don't get it. Surely they want to sell stuff. So have it as an option . What? Them taking accountability and offering different parts of the checkout. No, no, no. Just like have at least at the very least if you are gonna have lots of options at least have them in stock so you can sell But it's impossible to keep them in stock 'cause there's too many. Yeah. Well those scooze. It's just crazy. I mean I used Apple as an example in the of a way bigger brand that have much less offering. So the iPhones have and don't and don't forget the size isn't really relevant here either. So they could have way more and it wouldn't be so much of an issue. But they have four phones and then they have one tacked on the end, which is last year's model where they're just getting rid of the stock or they're selling it to different markets, and that's you know five . Not twenty. Can I point out though? Uh another comment by Stuart. How many kid media merch options are there though, Francis? And they're all in stock. Oh, so it's fine as long as they're all in stock. Yeah. Okay. I th my problem isn't with Canyon having so many bike bikes on offer, although I'm sure there's some psychology involved, like for their sake. I I know Steve Jobs was like called back in to make some decisions at Apple in the nineties 'cause there was just too many Mac options, and they're like, just don't have as many. Because the decision fatigue is a thing, isn't it? Like you have so many options, you're like, people just and check out. I don't, I'm not a brand psychologist, so perhaps Canyon would be better off with less bikes, but it's the sizing that annoys me. That was always Apple's mentality with even the software, the interface. And it it's it's moved away from that now. There's a lot more um customiz ation options on you know you can add widgets and stuff like that but before they were like if there doesn't need to be an option for change where an app uh you know like an app widget goes and stuff like that don't give people the option just make it incredibly simple. Complexity for the sake of the I I actually have a really good non-cycling example of how painful decision fatigue is and it's renovating a house. And it's like , oh, how do we want the the the bathroom to look? And then generally there'll be like four or five typical styles, like a traditional. Have you ever tried to choose paint? Well, yes, like all of the styles. Unbelievable. It's like 200 paints all the same with different numbers and you're like they're different. What? Ah. Yeah, it's painful. The other thing you referenced in that video, Francis, was about um gear ratios. Consumer bikes should have easier gears across the board. I think even a semi-compact like 5236 is pointlessly big, and 99% of people buying bikes would have a much nicer time with a 34 on the front. If you're racing, I get it. That moment when you're trying to get back on the Peloton after being back at the cars getting stuff and it's slightly downhill and you need the extra gear to get back on, but if you're in that situation, you're on a free bike with a custom gear ratio. Oh, that the yes people will be upset about that because they think they need bigger gears. Yeah, what's supplied on bikes? And interestingly, straight after you recorded this video, we had a conversation and you brought it up because I said that I my plan is to take a gravel bike to Garmin Rideout, which is a 80 kilometre, 50 mile road ride. Um, I'm taking my gravel bike because that's what I have most comfort on. I've put some slick GP 5000s on. Uh, but I was worried that perhaps I might get dropped on the descents . And you said that's that's a non-existent problem. Yeah, I think when you're at that speed, you're doing a little aero tuck or just enjoying the day. Yeah. I mean who are you out van art ? No. Who will also be doing a tuck and not peddling probably. Probably like gravel gearing, I get it. Like the US way more limited than a compact road in most cases, a compact road setup. But even then everything's got a ten on now, isn't it? All the SRAM stuff has a 10. But I think the the reason it's absurd, in my opinion, is that you notice the benefits significantly more than the negatives. The negatives is very rarely you'll go, oh I'm spinning out, I better tuck in . Versus every time you go up a climb and go, wow, I can do any gradient at 90 rpm. Oh literally on the easy it's just always better. Mm-hmm. I well, I I know this from riding on the weekend, and we did a a lovely uh 60k loop up in Northumberland. And after our cheeky little coffee stop, there's a climb back out of where we were , and I was there in my easiest gear, out of the saddle, 40 RPM, you know, grinding out away, and you were literally just dancing away from me. And and that's the thing you start to realize when you actually see it in real life practice is you are actually do it is easier for you because you're able to just gently spin away. I remember finding a video, and someone in the comments would definitely have seen it. I'm sure it had significant views. It's a guy who who inv made his own outrageously low geared b ike for riding up those ridiculously steep streets in San Francisco. And I think he had a beard, and he was like defending his uh creation in the comments like aggressively, and it was hilarious, but also quite cool that he'd done it. I think I I'm on his side. It was great, and he's he's peddling up like thirty percent gradients, but at like ninety cadence, just like just chilling. Well, I was just about I was just about to say for my brain and probably some others, my my brain for some reason can't understand low and high gearing. You s low gearing. So that means easy gearing. Oh, I'll just use it interchangeably. Tadly, sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I would I would I would check it if I if it was going in a video script somewhere, I'd double check it, but I'm I'm talking easy. I guess I want to summarise this before we move on with we get on our soapboxes about little topics like this, and I hope it's not misinterpreted us misinterpreted as us saying that everyone should do that, and if you're running hard gears, then you're wrong. It's actually, more that if you're running easier gears, easy doesn't conflate to week, easy doesn't conflate to beginner. And perhaps there should be uh thought about it in the configurations of bikes that are for sale. It's for set consumer products. Just there's a better starting point for consumer products. And the and it's it it generally, really generally, but for the vast majority of people who are buying bikes, probably could do with easier gears on and other stuff. Oh, do you remember that woman that we saw when we were in in Ibatha? Mm-hmm. There was a I th what I assume was a couple going up a massive climb that we were walking down and the gears on her bike were so hard and she was like chewing the handlebar just trying to get up this climb. Can I also add the bike was definitely too big for her as well. Yeah. And was probably the smallest size they had. Maybe a rental or something like that. And there's a chance that she came away from that experience either thinking, I hate bikes , this was a rubbish day. Why am I so bad at this? You know, all of those feelings, you think it's you. And actually if that had been a better speck's bike speck'd in terms of gear ratio, that would have made a much more enjoyable experience. Oh way more. And then you have one more cyclist. Exactly. Like which is the m the overarching it should be the focus to get more people onto bikes because the more people on bikes very selfishly makes itself uh safer for me yeah being a cyclist, so we all want more people on bikes. Hundred percent. I just think make it easier for them. And that specing the bikes correctly in the first place. Sorry, I shouldn't use the word correctly. More appropriately, in my opinion. Yeah, and and I 'm and I'm sure there will be the odd person which thinks we are elitist in a different way. But actually, you know, we don't care. Well, it's not that we don't care about bike ra ces. Bike races are well served. Oh, but when you're at that point, you get you're in a custom gear race. You've bought you've got a durace crank in the loft. Yeah, it is at that point, isn't it? What it is is if if if i if you're doing something that already works for you, then fine, but there are a lot of people who aren't that well served and it's just about widening the net so more of us can enjoy it. We also want the people who are able to tolerate really hard gears to enjoy it and stay cyclists and enjoy their cycling. But if there is an opportunity to bring more people into the fold and have more people having a nice time but but also better. We are also talking about this from experience. Yeah. Like when I started riding, I was riding astronomically hard gearing. Yeah. And what you learn then from doing the same ride, but with much more appropriate gearing, is you go, oh, that was just more enjoyable. Well the other context is we live somewhere incredibly hilly. Yeah, there's no option. How much time you spent percentage wise in certain gears? Uh definitely on the Shimano one. And I imagine if it's on the Shimano one it is also on the SRAM one. Yeah. To see how long you spend in the uh the ten . But maybe you do spend a lot of time in the 10. Maybe you just need to work on your cadence. Maybe a Burt Grapsch . There was a uh pro racer years ago who just his captain cadence. What's the problem with having low cadence? Nothing really if it's suit if you suit ed to it. Well, you run out of gears. If you're everyone else it actually doesn't make good sense. I mean I I I feel like my um my podiatrist mum would probably say protecting knees. I think there's a bit in um Ali's video where that you know cycling about the YouTube channel called Cycling About and it's run by Ali and his partner and they perpetually cycle round the world while I uploading videos. And he did a breakdown of the maths or math of gear ratios, people's preferred cadence and FTPs and all that and and and proves off-road at least that gravel bikes don't have enough gear have easy enough gears. And uh Sorry, don't have easy enough gears. Don't have easy enough gears. Or it's getting better. Because the release of mullet and all these things. The wide range cassettes. So it's getting way better. But I think there was a bit in the video where he talks about preferred cadence and people's preferred cadence. And it's not like most people it's somewhere in within a accepted range. It's not crazy slow. What's your preferred cadence? About ninety. You can make a T shirt where it's cade . No. We've got enough, apparently. Yeah, I'll stew it as point. No, the plan is I'm gonna keep loading more and more designs into the into our store. Yeah. Till he back till he has them all. Other video that went out , one of Benny's, he made a checklist for if you're planning to buy a used bike. Things that should be considered . Because actually he's he's kind of the king of buying secondhand bikes, I think. He is. He's he hasn't been in this country very long. Well, it's a year now, and he's bought and sold a handful of bikes, I think. He's very good at it. He's very good at research and he spoke to some pro bike mechanics to to get their tips on what to what to look for as well. Um yeah, the his most recent purchase, I saw it at the weekend when we went for a ride. It's a 2018 Factor O2. It's a blacking condition, so it comes with a fancier components, one-piece cockpit and stuff. It's rim brick because he loves rim bricks. Ultegra DI2. It's got carbon wheels. It is insanely light. I picked it up. He thinks originally it would have cost around 7, 500 pounds, which is eight and a half thousand euros or about ten thousand dollars. He got it for one thousand eight hundred pounds, which is two thousand euros, two thousand four hundred dollars. A steal. I think he got ripped off. He is. Well it's just such old technology. It is a beautiful bike. It's very nice. But the most important thing is he is very happy with it. And that's all that matters. He is happy that he has paid the right price for it. It's also about what you're what you consider acceptable. So for example the shifters on that bike are no longer made So if they break , he will only be able to buy second hand. And if he's okay with that, then it's fine. Or if he takes into a bike if he's the type of person which uses a bike shop, they'll go, Your shifter's broken, we can't replace it. He'll go uh um so you bought a bike from twenty eighteen dot com and exactly by a three d printed well it it it's good that there's places like recyclabike and all of the other charities and organizations that are like that because inevitably you're gonna be able to walk in and and just find stuff, but you have to be uh well if it's fitting, isn't it? There will come a point where you can only maintain that bike with second hand parts, which is not a bad thing, but it's just an observation. Or new stuff if you stockpile it. Yes. But you'd already would have had to have stockpiled it. Yes. Literally some of the stuff on that is no longer made anymore. Why do you think I uh stole loads of stuff from K Media when I moved country? Did you? a hundred saddles. It is it is a beautiful looking bike, and Benny is very happy with it, and that is what is important. He looks at that bike and goes, I want to ride it, and that is the number one goal. That is what matters. Well, on that note, I am going to get a us into roundup of the news from the past seven days. First up, a pro cyclist was beaten unconscious after clashing with teenagers while out training. This is Tudor, pro cycling sprinter Arvid declined and he was targeted by around 10 teenagers who started shouting abuse at him. Arvid told Dutch Outlet De Telegraph that he confronted the group, but as he tried to ride off, one of them threw a punch at him and it broke his nose and it knocked him out. Thankfully, there were people nearby that saw what happened and they made sure he was okay. Apparently, nine of the group members were detained, but the person who actually hit him sped away on a fat bike, still at large. That's sad, isn't it? A bunch of little twats. Did you see also there was some teenagers at the Giro lunging at riders? I did. I actually this morning before we started recording, so I'd seen it on them the main feed, them them lunging, but actually there's a video film from one of their perspectives. So I wonder if it was like a social media clout thing. Well definitely it will be. I think they have now been charged by police. Good. Yeah, you can't you can't escape now, can you? Well no, especially if you're filming a video of you doing it. Yeah, well dual business. The guy did in the first one though. On his fat bike for now. Some other Giro news as well. The riders have been warned they have to stop weing in bottles and then throwing them away. I didn't know they did that. I thought they just did the like weird little side thing. I didn't know they were bottles. That's too many like steps. Apparently it's been happening. Because they they get fined if for urinating in public and there has been a number of those fines also given out. So it's probably they're actually doing it in the Peloton. Yeah. Rather than like going to the side. They're actually just in the Peloton with just going . Imagine if you're a fan and you pick up a bottle, just don't drink it. I kind of feel like um this needs to be fixed by just making races shorter. Just ditch the first two hundred K. Nah you you need to see them Daily crits. They need to be worn out. Often you need a you need a p like twenty minutes in. You're like, oh Yeah, but if it's only an hour of racing, it's fine. What crazy? Just just one hour a day, max effort, bosh. Twenty-one days in a row. Circuit so everyone can watch it. You can sell tickets. Yep. Pro cycling is solved. It would be a m how sick would that be? Well it exit it's the tour series. Yeah. Yeah, but it's in the U.S. But it's in the UK. There's the mistake. It's in the UK. It needs to be somewhere that is wonderful like southern France. I think the the way to solve this is they need more portalo us on the stages because then you're not in public. Do that would be a good video idea if you wanted to like go to the tour or something like that. Just go with a massive portaloo and see who see who uses it. Oh, it's like uh Tom Dumelon Dumelon. He did it, didn't he? He He did what? Well he he No it wasn't him was it? Well he he was definitely the one that had an emergen cy at the side of the road. Yeah. That's why he's known as Puma Lan. And then there was I think it was uh who was it? I feel like there's numerous recent footage of people running into people's camper vans for Right, okay. So if you are a business or a landowner in the United Kingdom that is on the Tour de France route when it was in the UK next year, we want permission to set up a Cade portaloo on your land on the route so that we can show up and make a video and try and get some pro cyclists to use our port a part. Yeah, put a camera inside. No, no, not a camera inside. I was gonna say it's no one will use it if it thinks. Camera in the toilet. Hidden camera . No. No, but like I'm like joking. On the subject of weird things that happen in grand tours, I got served on YouTube some old Tour de France footage which described what they called drinking raids. And it's essentially where riders would pull over at the side of the road, run into shops, and just grab anything they want. Mainly alcohol? I've I've seen this before and I love it. And it's it is exactly why there's so much like romance and love for the old cycling ways. It's why there are so many weird little like rules and elitism and stuff, which mostly I don't agree with, but that romantic period of time for cycling. Oh, it's so good. Just literally a bunch of professional cyclists racing the Tour de France, swinging champagne from a from a bottle with it stuck in their pocket, and then like a baguette in the other one. Like it's literally like bikepacking. Like it was early bikepacking, wasn't it? Just eating and drinking whatever you can just to get around. It was well at one point they were self-supported. You see them with the tires. They weren't allowed outside assistance. They'd have to go and repair their bikes. And they weren't even allowed help from like if they had to do some welding, the person in this I think people got DQ'd for like having someone an expert do it. Things like that. It's crazy. Yeah, it's it's so cool though. Well it's you know, there's obviously issues with actually r drinking alcohol and all of the other things that they were abusing at the time. But it's beer bottles sticking out of their jersey pockets going along the road, chasing back on. It must be so dehydrated. You're drunk, so it doesn't matter. Yeah, true. Last bit of G-Ro news that I really have to tell people. I'm currently winning the inter-office fantasy league. Well, if I'm not mistaken, you're not far from winning the league overall. As of Tuesday afternoon before the end of that stage, it might have changed by this by by the time this goes out, but I'm tenth currently. In in the CAD league. In the Cade League. Wow . Well done. Congratulations. Thank you. What's doing it for you? What's because our teams are quite similar. How's mine? You had Jay Vine So I got Tyron Aaronsman, who's doing well, Jai Hindley, who's doing well, V inigo obviously, Milan, Chicone. Well done. Just everyone's just got points. It's good. But I mean, you know, I'll fall on my sword, I'll probably jump down lots of places by the time this goes out. It doesn't matter, you just screenshot it at this point. You just remember this bit. But you know pride comes before a fall. You you've not gloated about it at all and you could have . Oh is that this whole section you gloating. Yeah yeah yeah oh right I see I see I got you. This episode is brought to you by our favourite VPN service, Nord VPN. 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Visit Westfield Stratford City this May half term. Terms and condition s apply . Do you want to move us on, Francis? Yes, the new specialized tarmac SL9 has apparently leaked. The images do look quite legit. Yeah, and to be f air, this another one where this story came out . While we were filming. Yeah. After we just after we recorded, so we're about a week late on that, but we're we're mopping it up now. Yeah, it looks to have uh new seat post, seat tube and fork design a little bit wider. The geometry, if you overlay old SL8 with this, they look very similar . It's UDH. Unlike the SL8, they've just done what Cannandell did, haven't they, where they release a very similar bike with some updated bits. It does it more different than the uh the Canandale's basically the same thing, wasn't it? Just update well we need to update it for UDH. Um Pinarello do a similar thing. Very small changes, every iteration. Unlike some brands we've seen like Factor, where they've just gone wild and made some progressive mad long geometry thing. Uh I shouldn't say the long geometry , I should say steep seat tube angles. There's a new crux coming too, and that was legitimately spotted uh at the Grallock gravel race, which appears to be a little bit inspired by the tarmac S L7. Looks very similar, but with big tire clearance because it's a gravel bike. What do we think about aero gravel? I I don't have any issues with it. Uh what I quite like about the performance gravel space is it gives people more options or the the the it increases the possibility having of having the one bike to rule them all. And I think that's a that's a huge positive. Because for for us at least, we quite like race bike geometry. Mm-hmm. Can tolerate it for now. I'm stuck in the yeah, it's getting harder . Keep waking up and I've got a swap back . Uh but for now it's great and that's how I like my bike set up. Uh why wouldn't you want your gravel bike to be the same? Well it depends on what kind of gravel riding you're doing, of course. There's gravel and there's gravel. One of them is downhill mountain biking. Yes on the wrong bike. And one of them is a toe-up. Exactly. Yeah. Uh but it's all it's all fun and yeah, I like I quite like my gravel bike to have close to the same stem. I'm annoyed that my current gravel bike is a little bit short and needs a longer stem. But to get a longer stem I need to change the one piece of carbon annoying bar. So I just it's never gonna happen, is it? Correct. Um look looking at the pictures, I quite like the crux. It basically just looks like a relatively neat, fast bike that also presumably allows big fat tires. I bet it would look sick with road wheels as well. Oh yeah, hundred percent. Well it basically looks like the SL seven anyway. Uh thirty five mil Conti GP five thousand. Have you got some here? Well, Emily's got them on a bike, isn't it? What's it like? Uh great. It's great. I I actually have N minus one. I have one bike to rule them all now. I'm just riding my because the the the sort of gravel riding I Yeah. The the gravel riding I do is toe path gravel riding. So it works for that and it works to take it on a road. No, I I need to correct this. It isn't toe path gravel riding. It's gravel riding. Gravel. It's actual gravel. Yep. Jimmy gets very upset because everyone calls what we do vegan gravel or Gucci gravel. It's j it's it's gravel is what it is. It's not mountain biking. It's not cross. It's not riding through muddy fields. And I I actually I have no problem with any of those terms because my objective is to have the smoothest path possible without a car on it. I mean, if that isn't what we're all searching for , I don't know. Well that is yeah that is what we are searching for most of the time. Exactly. Uh yeah, and it works great. Apparently they're the uh am I gonna get into this? Apparently the GP five thousands are the the fastest, the fastest gravel tire because it's a road tire. Have they done of rolling resistance? Bicycle Rolling Resistance dot com have they put it in their gravel category? I believe so because I was looking for tires for Emily, and because I know of the type of person she is, she wouldn't want her bike to feel slow. So I was trying to find a tyre that was going to be gravelable in summer , roadable all year round , but is it just basically ticks. It's the it's the tyre you can use 80% of the time. Um and then I was trying to work out how big I could go whilst it still felt like a gravel ti re. How small you could go. How small I could go. That one, yeah. I was trying to read and think at the same time. How big you can small. Uh CX slash gravel tire. So on bicycle rolling resistance. They have the 32 in the in under gravel as well. What? That's just a normal road tie now, isn't it? But it's officially cyclocross slash gravel. So I guess they're putting in 32two- ish because of cyclocross. What would you Well cyclocross is limited to thirty three mil tires, isn't it yeah but you're not riding a slick tire. Well you can be if it's a gr if it's grass one you would probably slippy. You can get your slick tire on a grass field. Yeah. You stop here and there'll be dew. Well it depends what time of day. Usually if you ride in cross, you're doing it in the afternoon. It'd be moist. It will definitely be a mud bath. I would never ride slicks, but I'm sure there's some some lunatics that do. Yeah, so their their current thirty-five has lower rolling resistance than their older thirty-two GP five thousand. But less arrow and heavier. I'm unable to answer that for you. Yes. Almost definitely. But the problem is it's so fast that I now spin out when I go downhill. Oh do you We should get a standard chain set for you? 53 53 10. No, we can even get you a nine sprocket , third party. And you'll be at Burk Grabsh. Nice. Yeah. And you'll get a really bad knee, even worse than you currently have. Come on, let's not start. Okay, we'll do fluff up of the week. First fluff up as we mentioned is your tooth emergency. I've made it worse by I I'm we started recording just four hours after I had my painkillers. Oh. So I'm I'm not timing. Okay. The second fluff up, we were talking about Star Wars last week, and I said it was set in the future. And someone rightly pointed out it's a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Long time ago. Depends where in the uh the chronology . Some of it might be further forwards. Depends what series you watch. Well I'm guessing it's not. I think it's actually It's a long, long time ago. So I knew we were gonna talk about this and I was just like Really? So I did I did some searching and essentially it is not comparable to our time. It's a completely different timeline in a completely different time zone in a different universe. Yeah, of course. The chances, the the the maths around uh an intelligent race evolving in the same way that humans have anywhere else in the universe is so low. The chances are so low that they if it has happened, there'll be too far away to reach us and they just weren't. Why are there humans in Star Wars? Because the the had access to human actors and Ewoks actors. Right. But also, are they human or do they just look human? Are they not technically aliens? Because they're from a different universe. Well what's the chances of another life form forming and it looks so similar to humans? Even less than them forming in the first place. Yeah. Which is already inconceivably low. Where we go, well I'm not gonna watch Star Wars because it's pointless. I thought this was real life . Do you think you can do this next section without me? Yeah, where are you going? Uh I need I think it's our delivery. I think there's there's an issue with it or something. Okay. Bye Jimmy. Should we just do an unpopular opinion without him? Yeah. Okay . You read it. Bagsine hot. This is an unpopular opinion from Stefan, who says everyone in the bike scene tells you to support your local bike shop. I was a lot more overweight back then, and I thought I could get e-bike rated wheels and rims from my bike, so I could ride it again. The people in the shop literally started giggling at me when I entered and told me in no uncertain terms that they don't have anything for me and I should come back when I lost a few kilos. In the end I bought a few old bikes for fifty dollars, used a group set, crank, wheels and tires for around a thousand that were rated for a hundred and seventy kilograms, and taught myself via YouTube how to assemble and dissemble things. Dissemble? I that wasn't it. I made up a word then. Disassemble things. And build up my own steel bike. I use the bike for commuting now. It runs great. I lost 30 kilograms since then. I love your show. Little Heart is great source of information and motivation with ri best regards, Stefan. Aww Well Jimmy's not here, but he did actually put a a reply note uh in the pre-proctiondu document which says f those guys. Yeah . Oh he's back. Oh now he's back. Right, so I missed all of that, but f those guys. You've read this, Jimmy. Yes. Before we started. I did, yes, yeah, yeah. What your thoughts? Um I I would argue that that is a bike shop-shaped object. Oh . Rather than a bike shop. Because uh a real bike shop wouldn't be that repulsive . And even if it isn't the type of business that they do and they service just high-end bikes or whatever, I would if they are an actual bike shop, they would go, oh sorry mate, that's not something we can do, but go and check out these places. They'll be able to help you out. So I I I would like to apologize on behalf of people that like bikes, that this is not representative behaviour of good bike shops or what I consider to be an actual bike shop. Sadly there are some bike shop objects but bike shaped bike shop shaped objects out there. That's a good saying two and far between though. Do you think? I think this is I think this is why so many people I th I think there is such a huge lack of consistency that l there are a lot of people which despise bike shops because they get a bad service and are charged more. The frustrating thing is, and it's the same with bike fit, is when you find a good bike fitter and when you find a good bike shop you go, Oh God, this is what it's meant to be like. And actually you get so much value from that relationship that it just works so well for you. But it it, you know, there isn't a method for just going, that's a good one and that's a bad one. Yeah. It's it's hard really to quant for us to quantify uh whether they're the minority or the majority. Because i if you have a problem, you're naturally going to be going to be more vocal about it, aren't you? Than people who are have a fine relationship. There are definitely lots of good bike shops around. If it happens that your local bike shop are a bunch of A-holes, then the revised statement is support your local bike shop unless they're dicks. Unless it's a bike shop shaped object. Yes, exactly. Also, amazing work, Stefan. We 100% back you. You are doing great. Nice one. He wrote in in dollars, but then in kilograms, I wonder where he's from. Uh Australia. Oh maybe . Aussie dollars, you think. Could be. Well, if you have an unpopular opinion, you can send it to Wild Ones Podcast at CMedia..co uk or WhatsApp us on plus four four seven eight six oh eight six oh two one three and you might feature on a future show. You can also send us questions for listeners takeover. Oh, and we have a video question. Oh, I like these. These are great folks. From Josh in Moab, Utah, USA. And I think the other question was from Utah as well. So Utah really representing on the video questions. Hey guys, this is Josh coming at you from Moab, Utah, near Arches and Canyon Lands National Park. Wanted to ask about the SRAM brakes, the ones with the one-finger braking. I am a Shimano diehard, but after descending that my hands are on fire it makes me want to think about switching so I want to know what your guys take is if that is a good reason in and of itself to switch over to the new group set. Love the channel. Even Jimmy. Thanks . D id did he just say love the channel even Jimmy? The f does that mean hardest to love out of all the things related to the channel. That's outrageous. I think easiest to love. Oh what was the question? I I think he should uh go to change himself to uh nineteen ninety five Sora rim breaks for that be a massive improvement for his descending . Asshole . Wait, he said he liked you, Jimmy. Why are you upset with him? He said he loved you. Backhanded compliment. He said he loved you. It's clearly a backhanded compliment, isn't it? He's there going like, oh, everyone must hate Jimmy, but I think he's okay. But they all hate it. Even Jimmy. So much love. There is even some left . For Jimmy. That is outrageous. Okay, Francis, you answered it. Drop my opinion on strand brakes now. I've ridden them one million times on lots of different bikeses. Y. It will probably make a difference. Uh everyone's grip strength varies. I'm not saying this guy has an issue with grip strength to like even with fancy Shimano disc brakes, you get some arm pump if you're on a technical steep turny descent, like it happens. Um my very good friend Giles, the guy who rides who rode uh to Vegas with me, who has achondroplasia, grip strength is an issue for him because he has short forearms, and grip strength is related to your forearm length. Uh it has complet ely transformed how he descends going from Dura Ace, the latest version of Dura Ace, to the latest SRAM Red . He is like this is a crazy difference. Whereas when I first rode the new SRAM versus Sh imano. I was like, oh, there is a difference, but it doesn't feel like maybe it's 20% better. But I have way more grip strength. So how can I comment? It's it's not uh it's not as obvious. So I think definitely for some people it's gonna make a huge, huge difference. And it is the best in class, I've decided, in my opinion, it is. I I think that is that is a good and fair summary. It's it's it's if if you need it, it's good. I would say if if the descent that he does when he gets to the bottom, he goes like, Oh, that was that was a bit tough, but it was fine, then I'd probably say if you knack your shifter s, replace them with SRAM, you might enjoy it. But make sure you factor in that they are longer. No, but it's all but it's it's it's not just shifters, it's a whole group set . Yeah, because he's Shimano. Well, yes, it is a whole group. So it's expensive. It's an expensive Giles switched his whole group set and then sold his old Dura ce, which is obviously work as well. Yeah. Like there's stuff to factor in there. Who does the installation? Are you paying for that? So it's a significant decision. Um, but it makes a massive difference. Yes, the sh the levers are longer . So if you you can make your bike handle exactly the same as it was before and fit the same, but you probably need to reduce your either bar reach or stem length. Um but on the whole, I think they're really well designed. And I don't know. Giles has small hands as well, and he can use those absolutely fine. It the net it's been a net positive by a long way. So uh yeah . Also the braking is the same pretty much . Across red , force and rival. So don't feel like you have to buy SRAM red for the best breaking. It's not d doesn't really work like that. Um the rival is extremely powerful as well . Changes in sexual performance are more common than most people realize, and support doesn't need to feel awkward. With MedExpress, everything happens privately online. Start by completing a short consultation reviewed by UK registered clinicians If eligible, treatment is delivered discreetly to your home, with ongoing support whenever you need it. You're not alone in this. Visit medexpress.co.uk slash podcast to learn more. Good answer. Very informative. Thank you. Next up, Chris says, I'm new to road biking, and everyone I see is pushing me to get a bike computer. Can you explain to me why the need for a bike computer where my cell phone and can do all the same information well you definitely don't need a bike computer and I and I would uh quite comfortably say that if having a phone works for you and you're happy with it , then stick with it until you get to a point where you go, there's a limitation, and then you can then consider changing it. But if you never reach that limitation, then stick with it. Um I think there's a lot of tradition and there's a lot of formality within cycling. And it's probably that the people which are saying get a bike computer are uh unintentionally pushing the narrative of this is the correct way. But it won't improve your cycling. It won't make you a better cyclist unless you are actively looking for performance. And I would say there's no rules, just ride. Yeah, it it it totally depends how and why you ride a bike. Like a phone will work great if you're doing rides under a couple of hours uh and all you really are interested in is sort of speed distance and maps. The the battery will last long enough and that and you can kind of record your activity and upload it and have a look at those things. I guess a bike computer does have a lot more functionality, but if you're if if if you're not looking for anything more than that, then you're not missing out. Obviously, we are sponsored by Garmin. We are not contractu ally obligated to tell you that you have to have one. Um but generally people end up with bike computers because the navigation or using routes becomes easier. Um , you can share things relatively easy if you're all on the same head unit. If you're looking for performance, there's more options. It stores all of that data in one place. Um battery. Battery's the biggest one, surely. Oh, yeah, battery for sure. Yeah, battery lasts for ages. It's just it's it's a simpler life for someone like me. But like I said, if you're a if the phone has no limitations for you, then there's no need to change it. And endurance is bliss. Yeah, like you don't need a bike computer to fit in. And if someone if you're around people which are saying, don't ride with us because you're using a phone, ride with better people. My phone battery health is now about sixty percent as well. So I could probably record about five minutes of nowhere else's about sixty percent, maybe less. My laptop. Is it I'm gonna r I was fully charged when we sat down. What would we we be? How long've been here? An hour? You want to know why that is? I leave it on all the time. Because you leave it on all the time. Do you remember so we were having a conversation before this? We we got into the office this morning. I was like, oh no, someone's left their laptop on all night. He's like, Yeah, that's me. I do it every night. Not only that, I don't even let the battery sink down to do stuff. But I'm always uploading and downloading files. So overnight I'm like, right, I need to send Emily this thing. I need to send Benny this thing. So the kid the laptop is just always doing stuff. Yeah. And it never I what I should do is set the setting where it like drains and then refills itself while it's plugged in. But so Emily where is what happens? So because Emily has an electric car, she knows everything about battery health. And basically you should never let it go low or high. On a regular basis, it's it's between forty and seventy-five percent. I have a three year old car and it has ninety-nine percent battery health, and they said that was really good. But on the opposite end I have a opposite end I have a phone that's only 60% battery health now. Can AI fix batteries being shit instead of making Will Smith eat spaghetti? Yes. While the internet jokes about AI is struggling to feed Will Smith behind the scenes, that same computing power is completely overhauling how we develop batteries. Instead of decades of trial and error chemistry, AI is discovering new materials, extending cell lifespans, and optimizing battery management in real time. Show you up. AI. Okay, another listener from the comments this time. I would love to hear how Emily deals with her scoliosis in regards to cycling. My girlfriend has it as well, and says she cannot touch a road bike because of that. I wonder which aspects in geometry, fit, or maybe equipment make Emily a successful rider . Bald of you to assume I'm a successful rider . Um, does that just mean I successfully manage to ride a bike? Maybe. To recap, my my spine is S-shaped. I think there's lots of different types of scoliosis, and I think they also affect people quite differently as well. Can we befor beefore you can continue? Uh you went to see Bike Fit James and I prepped him. I was like, oh, you know, Emily has scoliosis. And James was like, Yeah, loads of people have scoliosis. And then when you came in, he then messaged me like, Oh, she really has to go. Yeah, yeah. I don't think you can I mean maybe I'm deluded, but I don't and and I also don't care. But I don't think you can tell that much just from looking at me. But if you look at an x-ray, which I have a lot of, 'cause I had to have a lot of x-rays when I was uh from 13 to 18. And it's it's really bent. It's really doing bits. You can see when you're on a bike, you notice it riding behind you. The way it mainly affects me is because none of my muscles work um symmetrically, usually one side is working really, really hard and one side just kind of stops working, which is why I get stuff like a left-right balance of 70-30. Um so the the main thing I have to do to help that is just like lots of physio and massage. And the the biggest reason I am so mobile is 100% down of my mum, who is uh just genius ultimately. I get sort of physio massage every like two to four weeks, just as much as I need and and lots of like ongoing support. I just text her and be like, this is hurt and what can I do? Da da . Every time I see her now, she gives me more exercises to do. Which is that you don't do which I don't do. But I'm getting to the point. And and actually, do you know what? This is true of it's not just true of me, it's true of everyone. We'd all be better off if we did more mobility stuff and strengthening stuff. And I think for me, I'm starting to notice more issues as I'm getting a little bit older. But yeah, I find the more active I am, the better I am. Like the worst thing I can do is go on a pool holiday and just lie on a sunbed. I just break down and it's my favorite activity. I would love to be such an unhealthy slug. I love to just slug around, but oh it hurts me so much. Um so yeah, unfortunately I have to cycle and unfortunately uh my mum thinks that the cycling specifically has actually made the curvature better as well. I guess because I'm stretching out more and stuff like that. I I have a question for you, which I guess goes into the successful rider thing. Have you ever actually been comfortable on a bike? Like fully comfortable ? Um Um And I think I know the answer, which is why I'm asking it. No, probably not, no, but ignorance is bliss. I don't maybe I don't know what comfort is. Like what's your baseline? No. Probably not. Well, just like when you're just standing, presumably it doesn't hurt. Uh some of the time. No, I know probably not. I haven't been that comfortable, which I think is a big reason why I only really like to cycle in summer and with people because it's all distractions. Like a winter turbo is my hell because you have nothing to focus on other than all mishertz. Turbo in particular, because it's um so more it's more fixed. Yeah. You just move around less. Even though you could probably move around. You can't like throw the bike underneath you and move around and have a little stretch. You just don't, even though you could. I I personally find it so incredibly frustrating how hard it is for us to get you a bike. We've literally been working on this for years and still haven't been able to resolve it. Yeah, and do you know actually that's one of my reservations is that um I think I get a bit of I don't know whether it's imposter syndrome or what, but you go like, oh bikes aren't small enough. And I think, well, maybe it's just me, maybe it's because I'm wonky and I'm I don't want to get a custom bike because I'm worried we'll spend all of this time and money and it's I still won't be comfortable. And I think, well, I might as well not be comfortable on this bike that I already have. Yeah. On a bike I do look very wonky though. I noticed that. It makes me think it's a symmetrical apparatus. Yes. And a non-symmetrical person. So there surely there's just like you have to have a non-symmetrical bike. Yeah, my mum. But it would be a custom thing. Like some it would maybe look like a bike still. Yeah. My my mum really wants to she's like, why don't they put wedges onto saddles? Saddles. And I was like, I don't know, it's just not done. She's like, But maybe we should do it. I like your your mum's uh point of view on things. It's very 'cause it's outside cycling, isn't it so she just goes why and then she goes lifts up a giant sheep, throws it at you. Yeah. Crazy. Side note, my mum let me feel her biceps yesterday. And then she's strong. She's really strong. She's like Anatoly. Throws sheep and um bales of hay around. Yeah, she's a farm girl as well. Yeah. Two sheep . Sheeps. Bella needs a wee, so can you uh wrap us up, please? That is all for this week. Thank you very much. We'll see you next week. Make sure you like and subscribe and do all of the good stuff. Goodbye. See ya. Bye. Bye Bella .