Bike Sizing and Fit Challenges

Close your eyes. Listen to Monday.com. Feel the sensation of an AI work platform. So flexible and intuitive, it feels like it was built just for you. Now open your eyes. Go to Monday.com. Start for free and finally breathe. Next to me. on an anti-portion operation. Two days drive from anywhere. What's your case? Wanna change the video station? In sport this week. Or jump in and keep us company. Still listening, you belong here. Army. Recruiting now. Search Army Jobs. Today's show is supported by Garmin, and thanks to their tax trainers, I don't even have to leave the house to get a proper ride in. Mine's literally set up all year round. There are so many reasons that I jump on it instead of heading outside. Like when it's snowy or icy? Or I just want to do some clean intervals. Or I don't have much time. Or I'm dog sitting. Or I want to ride at unsafe times of the day. Indoor training is totally different and a much more pleasant experience now than it was when I started cycling. Yeah, stuff like the motion plates are a game changer. You just have way more ability to simulate a real ride. The road feel, steep virtual climbs, sprinting. And when you pair tacks with an edgehead unit, rally power pedals, your garment watch. Or a heart rate monitor, you get a full indoor outdoor training system backed up by heaps of data. So big thanks to Garmin for supporting the show. It's the wild ones, it's the wild Um, you may have noticed Francis had his hair cut this morning. You may not have noticed as well, 'cause it basically looks the same. Always looks the same. That's the scam, isn't it? That's the goal, is it? Well, I think it just goes same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same Oof, Lego hair. On a different subject. Jimmy, you are the finance man here, I think. It's not me, and it's not Francis, so I'm assuming it's you. By default only. Yeah. Um how much how much budget do we have for this show? Unlimited. Unlimited. Yeah. Well I have not been spending Well, I'll I'll I'll take that on board. Uh on in that case, can we buy Albert Einstein's saddle? Yes. Great. No further questions. Why is it for sale? Why is it eight thousand euros? Well that was Where's the rest of the bike? Where's Albert Einstein? Why doesn't he need his saddle anymore? I I I think the older I get, the more I am fascinated with artifacts of the past. And I currently really want to buy like Roman little bits of Roman stuff. I'd love to get like a a Stone Age axe or something or other, a dinosaur's Tusk or something like that. So starting with Albert Einstein Saddle, I feel like is a good You know, it's early enough in history I can just keep moving backwards. And his physical theories are still correct? Yes. Relevant. It was up for auction with a minimum bid of eight thousand Euros and no one went for it. So I wonder if there's now an opportunity to sort of slip in and offer them a Cheeky Backhand up. I I'm amazed that that didn't sell. I'm assuming they didn't actually promote the auction well enough. Like that's a cool thing to have. Like regardless, like I wouldn't pay eight thousand euros for it. That's a hell of a lot of money. But there's a lot of very wealthy people in the world, and I feel like there's got to be some very, very, very rich person that's like really into Albert Einstein that would just think it was cool. Honestly, it doesn't look in bad condition either. It's it's about a hundred years old. Very traditional. Leather Saddle. Sprung. Wrong. Brooks esque, but not Brooks. How much would you pay for it? out of your own pocket. don't know. I think I would pr prefer to have the money rather than have Albert Einstein's chair if I'm completely honest. It's not a chair. It's a it's a saddle. Saddle. Francis has got into a head with the chair. Like I was gonna say two grand and then I thought I'd rather have the taste. This is Emily's answer to an buying anything. Exactly I don't buy anything. Even food. She's like, Well, but I'd rather just save the money just in case. Yeah. You wouldn't even give like a tenner for it. Realistically I'm not gonna get it for a tenant. No, but I don't I'm talking about what you're gonna get it for. I'm saying what would be the maximum amount of money you would part with to have that as a possession. Five hundred pounds? I don't know. I don't think you would. You'd go I'd rather have five hundred pounds. I wouldn't. Right. What's your figure, Francis? A fiver. Fiver. What's what four? It's just cool. Talking point when you have when you have a soiree. Oh, what's that really old Gammy Saddle you've got in them all? Well, have you ever heard of Albert Einstein? Yes. Well tis. Was it? Just think it's such a good conversation. There's only so much I would pay to have a conversation piece, though. Give five hundred pounds for that. Okay. We're we're agreed, then I'll put the bid in this afternoon. Thanks. Excellent. Welcome to the Wild Ones Podcast, the show where we chat about bike stuff. I am Jimmy, and this week I'm joined by Francis Cade. Hey. And Producer Emily. Hello. And once again, thanks to Garmin for supporting this show. Right, to start things off. We're gonna settle a debate. Mm. We have got to the bottom of something very, v very important. Just so important that affects so many people. Oh, the new SRAM shifters. Really longer or not. Well you keep saying there. Because they are. Um no. We will explain the reasoning. Well, they definitely are for some people. Uh we've mentioned this a few times. The new SRAM. Force rival red. E one, I think they call it, the new version has the amazing braking. To make the braking better, there's change the pivot point and they've made the levers look a lot longer. And there is some debate over whether They are really longer or not. We have said perhaps you need to account for the difference in your bike fit and maybe Even change your stem length, or whole handlebar to be able to account for it. If you want the same position after changing to one of these group sets. A listener. Deep Greetings from Calcutta, India. You keep saying the new SRAM shifters are longer, and I agree they look longer in photos. But Mike Fitter Neil Stanbury. Fantastic by fitter has a YouTube channel. Is it his own channel? He does it maybe in a collaboration with Cam Nichols. Uh, they put out a video saying that while they look longer, once set up, they aren't significantly longer. Also, if someone with small hands Like Giles, who I mentioned last week, can get comfortable on these new hoods, are they really longer? The new levers also apparently have more reach adjustment than the other group sets. He's interested in our thoughts and what Bike Fit James has to say about them. If you just looked at the shifter end to end, you measured it, yes, it would be longer than. comparative group sets and Srams all group set, but he says that if you measure it from where you actually place your hand. It isn't that much longer. And here lies the problem. Yes. We m Jimmy was like feel like this is he he went which was made some noises and then went downstairs and then came back and was like Hm. No words were communicated. But I feel like something had happened and I'm like I think I'm gonna go and test this shifter thing by putting a bike together with one SRAM shifter and one Shimano shifter and see what happens. He's like, I've already done it. That's what Jimmy was doing. And it turns out We all Put our hands on the shifters in a completely different way. Shimano has Kind of smooth. Have Slope. Uh to the top of the shifter. And I end up sliding all the way down it. And that's where my hand sits. Jimmy's hand doesn't do that. The Sram ones has a kind of a more aggressive shape to it. And my hand sits. Much further forwards. We think. Centimeter and a half. For you, yeah. Maybe even more, depending on The angle as well. Um Penny. again puts his hands on them different, and the difference is much, much Smaller? No, he was the same as you. Yeah. You were I held them different. You only had a small difference. Yeah, so so what I the first thing you notice is that if you set them up in the same place the SRAM one will be significantly higher than a Shimano one. So the first thing you have to do is set the Shimano the SRAM shifter lower. Based on the clamp. Based on the clamp but ignore the clamp. The clamp is about a centimeter further down the bar than the than a shimano one. For them to be identical. And then yeah, as Francis was saying, for me, I hold both of those shifters right at the end, and there's still about a half a centimetre difference. Whereas Francis holds a Shimano shifter significantly further back and therefore gets shorter position. He's getting hit by about a hundred uh centimeter and a half difference between the two. Uh, as is Benny, 'cause they both hold those shifters different than I do. The conclusion is They are definitely longer. Regardless of how you Use the shifter. But If you're like me and it's only half a centimeter, the chances are you can just absorb that and you won't notice it. problem then comes, and how do you know who you are? Exactly yeah. In life. But bear in mind though, this really only applies to people changing shifters on ex on an existing bike. Or buy the exact same bike a second time. Both of those scenarios it's not Don't you do that. Yeah. H how how how could you possibly not have a Dura Ace and a a red bike set up exactly the same otherwise for different days. The vibes. So we wanted to check these workings out, didn't we, with Bike Fit James? So you asked him, have you had to adjust bike fit to account for the new SRAM shifter system? Are they longer? He said, Yes they are. If he fit is, dog sh It'll make a difference. If not, you're able to absorb the difference. So he also thinks they're longer. Yeah. Bike fit customers, I suppose he ends up seeing. Lots of different people holding bars in lots of different ways. But if you're doing a bike fit. Fit first by later. Then you You account for that, don't you? It's not uh you're right. There's rarely a such well, I guess if you're doing set upgrade upgrade. Yeah. Wh which people do do for sure. guess it depends like how sensitive you are to adjustments as well. Like for someone like me who is riding a bike that's slightly too big and therefore I have the shortest possible stem and I have my saddle, I'm already making a lot of compromises on that bike just to be able to tolerate the reach. If I was to then add potentially one point five centimeters on, depending on how I was to hold them. That would potentially for me make a big difference. Whereas You're already at the limit. You're already at the limit. Whereas for someone you might just be able to change something slightly and and tolerate it without actually having to do anything else. Giles did this. He upgraded from Dura Ace. On exactly the same. No other changes. I'd like to argue that's not an upgrade. Side grid. That's a top topic for another time. Topic for another time. Uh it was a big upgrade for him because now he is w way happier on De Sense. Um but uh he did have to shorten his stem length by a centimeter. He did do it, did he? Yeah, yeah. Answer Deep's question, he says Giles can get comfortable with these new hoods. Are they really longer? I guess that does answer it. He he adjusted something elsewhere, didn't he? I think All hoods are big for his hands. Yeah. So. The breaking the p the confidence in the breaking is the was the goal. Yeah. So maybe the shifters are they do fit they're uh Girthy. Aren't they? They're like they're they're thick. Well there's there's a point that they're kind of similar, but the majority of it is Girls yeah. They're very, very different. Designed. Yeah, the ergonomics is Bunker's different. Yeah. Um but they both Feel comfortable. Yeah, for sure. Right. I know as soon as Put my hands on and then they both go. And they just sit. Very like on the bike downstairs, I'm like, oh As soon as you ride it, then it's just it's completely different. Legal. Hope it answers Deep's question. Bit of science for us to start off. Okay, let's do some news. Firstly, Saram has defeated the UCI after taking them to court over a trial to restrict gearing. So you may or may not remember that SRAM and Cycling's governing body have been arguing. For a while now, actually, over plans to restrict gears to a maximum of fifty four eleven or forty nine ten. If you don't know what that means, then I recommend you go and check out Francis' latest video called Bicycle Group Sets Explained for Newbies. Like and subscribe. But essentially a standard SRAM cassette starts at a tens brocket, so SRAM sponsored riders would have had to have used 49 tooth chain rings. Shimano and Campi both start at eleven tooth, so their riders could use an arguably more desirable fifty-four tooth. The UCI thought that the restriction might help limit professional racing speeds. SRAM said it unfairly disadvantaged their riders and ultimately it was uh quashing competition. And ultimately the court has sided with Sram. UCI tried to appeal it, that appeal has now failed, which means for now at least uh the matter's settled and it's back to the drawing board for for the U CI. In the case I noticed that the UCI was criticised for not involving manufacturers enough. When coming up with the rules for this trial in the first place. And it's interesting because ultimately this case is now going to set. precedent. So the UCI is probably going to struggle to make any new rules like this. about a regulating equipment at least without having to have manufacturers on board first. Which is actually Probably a positive, 'cause it will mean they'll have to focus on things like Better course design. appropriate safety on the course rather than things like Maybe. I'm tired of saying things. Oh, they're gonna send us a letter. Yeah. No, bring it on. Send us a letter. I'd love to read it. Well, th this also works quite nice for Shimano, 'cause they're probably about to drop a nine or ten Oh yeah, do you think they uh they must have had a discussion about it. Should we be doing this? Obviously it's facts spec speculation based on previous conversations and conspiracy theories that I've claimed. But Which may or may not be coming. Nine tooth. I don't think they even the even Stram don't put a nine, do they? 'Cause it just ends up being just working Badly. Uh there is a nine though. Someone does a nine. Yeah, someone does a nine. No, no, no, they do, but I don't think SRAM does an official one, do they? Like a company that can select the D or something. Yeah, smaller cogs cause extreme chain articulation, increasing friction and wearing out parts faster. So the ten is they deem the ten enough, but you can definitely buy a third party cassette with a nine on it if you really, really, really wanted a nine. You I definitely know you can get them. Yes, Ram don't sell them. Ten ten's their smallest. Ten twenty eight, ten thirty, ten thirty three, ten thirty six, ten forty four, ten forty six, ten fifty. And then we go into elevenths. Let's move on. Amazon just bought the rights to a new psychological thriller. Set around the Tour de France. Pumping black. It starts Matt. Matalic. Natalie Portman and Jonathan Bailey, and it's been described as an adrenaline fueled dangerous thriller likened to whiplash. Black Swan. Is the synopsis. Here's the synopsis. I can't say that word. Here's the synopsis. You said it three times. Yeah, fine. Go on, go with it. Yeah, say a full time. I do this when I'm uh when I'm filming videos. The other day I filmed a video. Fifty seven minutes of footage. All talking. The video is twenty minutes long. Is that how many times I thought I fluffed up my words? And didn't. 'Cause the first one is always fine. So what am I doing? Changing like, oh maybe the sentence needs to finish on a high. And it doesn't it never does. It never does. It's the synopsis. I'm editing in my I I my editor brain is there trying to make decisions for the right like you just need to like get rid of that. I do I actually enjoy being in the ro in the room when you're recording a video because you will say a line five times and they will be nearly identical. Still. Um everyone in the comments. Give Francis a confidence boost that he can get it first time. You're really good at reading. Yeah. You're like the king of reading. Well I can't say synopsis, so. You if that's the fifth time you said it correctly. Go on then, Francis, what's the synopsis to you? I bet you couldn't even say it wrong now if you wanted to. Here's the synopsis. Set in the competitive world of professional cycling, we follow pro Taylor Mace, who at thirty five years old is finding himself aging out of the sport. He's taken under the wing of Andrea Leith. Doctor, driven by her own thirst for victory and power. To the tour de France progresses. Taylor must take increasingly dark measures to protect his secret. It's set to go into production in the fall. Okay, awesome. This sounds right up my street. I'm quite looking forward to this, 'cause like it it looks like they're making cycling themed material. Being about Techy cycling stuff. It's gonna be about drugs. Surely it's about drugs. Well yeah, but it's gonna black source. Pumping black I'm intrigued. I really enjoyed whiplash. I have not seen the other one. You've not seen Black Swan. No, I've not seen Black Swan. What? Yeah. Oh wow. Oh you need to watch it. It's like psychological and there's a competitive element to it. It made me think as well, maybe Um have you ever seen the film The Perfection? Yes. Great film. scary. It goes more into like horror than psychological, but it's psychological as well. And it has a sort of competitive element, the comp the high level cellists. I'm excited about this because Both of those films made There from what I understand from Black Swan, at least looking at the trailers, they made ballet. Really cool and good and a thing you should probably check out. Well, I'm only basing it on the trailers. Yeah, like technically good, yes. It looks exciting and Romantic. You think that it might do the same for cycling. And whiplash definitely makes fusion jazz or what I'm gonna get the genre wrong I don't know what it's like is it jazz? It's jazz. I haven't seen it. Yeah. No uh just drumming. And that kind of that kind of drumming. Yeah. Yeah, but it's not drumming like Jimmy. So sad. Yes it is. Well I don't play jazz. Oh well that's fine then. It's different dr different drumming. Yeah, but i if you're i if you're like a music buff, then yes. It's not just drumming, but to a normal person. Emily. Just drumming. There's a lot of drumming. There's a lot there's a lot of drumming for me in that film. Is there. I mean I haven't seen it all, but what I've seen is drumming. My point is they make it look cool and maybe they'll do the same thing. It's likely. This film is being directed by Mimi Cave, who also directed Fresh. Have you seen Fresh? It's a twenty twenty two. Horror and it's also very good. Sebastian Stan. And uh Daisy Egar Jones. Eighty percent popcorn meeter. Wait, I think I if it's the one I think that it is, then it was great. There's a lot of very positive People involved in this, isn't it? This is gonna be good. gonna be good. I don't think it's gonna do anything positive for cycling, unfortunately. No, I'm not sure it is is gonna either. gonna make it look dark and seedy. Natalie Portman's basically Dr Ferrari, isn't she? My name is Kathleen, and this is my NHS story. Having a persistent cough is quite socially embarrassing. So I went to see a respiratory nurse who sent me off for an X-ray at my local CDC. And they were offering Sunday appointments and evening appointments, which was great. The government is opening new community diagnostic centers, with many already available 12 hours a day, seven days a week. 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. Available England wide. On the subject of drugs. No. Oh no, it is on the subject of drugs. Do you remember a few weeks ago we talked about indoor cycling company My Wush introducing drug testing for amateur races? So they have people logging on from all over the world to do their Sunday races where they offer prize money. Because there's cash to be won, they want to make Things are fair and legitimate. Hence this testing. And You could be chosen at random or you know, you might there might be some targeted testing going on, but if you're selected, they say that testers will be at your door within three hours of the race ending. And when we talked about this the first time, I wondered how they were achieving this because three hours does not seem like a lot of time for testers. to any location in the world. that has an internet connection good enough to Well I finally have some answers straight from the horse's mouth. spoke to Matt Smithson, who is the director of Esports and Game Operations at My Wush. And the reason I'm saying whoosh is because he said whoosh. I'm pretty sure it's woosh. Okay, well anyway, here's how it actually works. Riders have to sign up by Wednesday evening for the Sunday races. My wish then let the people at the international Dorping Test and Management know by Thursday morning who they want tested. The races don't get alerted until race day, but actually it's not that they have three hours to get there. The testers have three to four days to get to you. And uh they reckon that actually they're likely to be knocking on your door as soon as the race finishes. They don't want you to hang around for three hours. Um, I asked what happens if someone lives incredibly Remotely. Maybe North Central Island, but somewhere remote, the answer was they will be there. I also asked what about mechanical doping? And it turns out actually it's incredibly rigorous as well. So if you're new, to be able to even sign up, you have to have approved trainer, you have to have a secondary power meter, you have to film yourself, weighing yourself and showing what your height is. You have to do a bunch of different power tests. You're then categorized. If you were to then exceed the data that was in this power test, you're disqualified. You have to retest. can't win prize money until you've done two races. Community. very much like all of these kind of platforms, very much self polices because, you know, they're doing it above board. They want it to all be fair. Uh if things aren't stacking up, they can also make you live stream yourself during one of these races so that they can Check everything's above board. Um Also, if you've been there for a while and you're getting watched for irregularities too. So Math sa Matt, Math Matt says he is tracking recovery rates, he's tracking improvements, he's tracking trainers, power meters over multi-week periods to make sure everything's legit. So In conclusion. If you were thinking about trying to steal money from My Wosh or the UAE government who funds them. You know, s a bit of weekend pocket money, then it isn't as easy. as you might think. I do this cup as my plans. Yes. I don't know, this still seems pretty easy to me. I feel like I could easily get around that. I feel like I actually want to make a video now which is Racing my woosh until I get tested. We got the same idea. Well, you want to do that as well. Well my idea was if you can help me with mine, I'll help you with yours. W my idea was J'aimerais. But then someone, you down there. Doing that with the pedals. I think a leg is stronger. I think it could be better you just riding. I think a leg is stronger than well as helping you know, like You know when you like Last rep on a thing and you're like You know, spotting someone, but just that all the time for pedals. Were you inspired by me spotting you doing some weights? Yeah, yeah, I was. You're now thinking, Oh, what other things can Jimmy spot me on? Massive fraud. Peaceful food, yeah as well. But now we've said it on a podcast. Well, yeah, exactly. Do we do we need to say this isn't sponsored? No, it's it's not about being I'm not endorsing them. What I'm doing is providing some more information 'cause last time I said I don't I don't see how this is even physically possible. I questioned them. So I'm giving them a right to reply. Information and good journalism. I I still think I can get around this. Okay. I mean but but I mean there's literally professional cyclists who get around drug testing. It doesn't mean that it's gonna have a hundred percent success rate. You're doing Icarus but for indoor. Yeah. Yeah. In your inest. In inner in innerest. Yeah. Yeah. Right. should be the name of your band. I say yours because I do not want to be in it. Should be fusion jazz, which I don't What instrument do I play? All of them. Larry Poppins go. Icarus needs to be done again by someone, but instead of Starting with a man, no offense to the gu I can't remember his name. Instagram. The documentary maker. He's it brilliant documentary turned into something else in the end, but his original idea, which was to dope and see Yeah. How easy it is to get away with. But they started with like a kind of pretty good average bike rider, good to average, and then doped him to do a grand fondo. I wanna start with like Someone who's already The start take Lawrence. Who's like when he's pinging, see six watts per kilo. Explain and then Lawrence's Lawrence my racing we grew up racing together. He's still very fit and strong. But uh Aging now? Perhaps. Like the guy from the film? And we so we need to give him the black substance. And see what happens. See how easy it is to get away with it. Someone needs to I'm not saying I don't want to do it. I haven't got time to do this, but someone needs to do Icarus again. And actually. Just to see how easy it is. Brian Fogel. And Vogel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great documentary. I I wonder how successful it would have been if it was the original idea. Nowhere near as successful as the nowhere near yeah. So maybe it's a crap idea. But It would be interesting to see how fast you could make Lawrence if you just pumped him with drugs. Just for clarity, I wasn't saying that the idea was crap. I think it's a good idea. Yeah. And just for clarity, this is all a joke and probably don't do it 'cause it would probably be dangerous and you'd end up well you Probably get really strong and ripped and fast on a bike and then Die. Right, well, on a completely different note. There is a new study. that has just come out. It's actually a review of multiple studies and it has found that cycling can reduce anxiety and depression, strengthen social connections, and sharpen cognitive function. It can also improve mood and enhance emotional regulation, as well as all of the physics. And to be honest. I feel like most people who cycle, including me. We'll probably not be surprised by any of this news. How much money do you think was wasted on doing that? Well I don't think it is a waste because i if these these studies exist And then it allows people to push for like better infrastructure, more programs designed to get people into cycling. Like you need to have you need to demonstrate that there is merits in a in a in a debate. Yeah, hundred percent. Yeah. But do you not just think if all of the millions, probably hundreds of millions that was wasted on reports and consultations If it was all just spent ones. No, because the world would be a better place. The world is run by people. The world is run by marketing. You have to sell your ideas to the people that uh control the money. Because if you just went in and you were like, Give me two hundred million for cycling lanes, they'd go, No, I hate cyclists and they are an annoyance and they it doesn't serve anything. Whereas if you can go in and be like, look at all of this research that goes against your prejudices, it makes you have a stronger case to be able to sway people on a council to give you money. The whole world is marketing and the whole world is winning an argument and that's I think this kind of thing helps that. Well no, it does, of course it does. It's it's but my point is What a incredible waste of resources. Why can't People that uh empower not just be it why why just stop being an idiot. Seems like common sense. To you because you're in it and you're first hand seeing the benefits. Exercise in general. Being good for you. Some governments get it, don't they? There is there is examples of countries who just get it. Mm-hmm. You got one. Uh it's up to us to convince us. Huh? Do you have one? Country Paris KA Netherlands. Paris is not a country, but they they they uh hasn't the city of Paris like drastically changed so like restricted cars and now it's like way better for cycling? There was something which actually came out really recently on that. And I think it's that over the last decade Paris has spent loads of money on massively improving cycle infrastructure. And as a result of that, there's the the amount of cars that are driven in central Paris is now like I wonder what the stats are in London, 'cause I I think That has must have happened over okay, it's been a few years now, but every time we go we're like, Oh, it's better again. So there was a report that came out uh in November last year. Cycling journeys in London have increased by forty three percent over the past six years to one point five million journeys a day. That's class. Big increase. So good. Yeah, and and this is it, you know, you go, Okay, I understand it's it's good for the environment, it's good for physical health, but if you ha also have studies showing it's good for mental health and social connection and cognitive function, all of that, it becomes harder and harder for people to go, Oh no, I don't want to spend my capital budget on this. Even just taking that space away from cars. And giving it back to people. Yeah. And they okay, there might be a few bikes in there that people who don't ride bikes, oh that's annoying, but then they see a street which hasn't isn't littered with cars and parked cars and they're like, Oh no, we do actually want this. If you show it to people, then nearly everyone goes Yeah, that is better. I have a question for you. Yep on this topic. In what ways? If any, do you think that cycling has changed you as a as a person? I think a lot of these are based on When I was a teenager and I got into bike racing. So maybe a bit specific and different to other people's, but Discipline. Uh the lessons on consistency, time spent socialising with people who are older than you, different walks of life. It brings people together, like you join a cycling club, suddenly you're hanging out with sixteen, and you're hanging out with thirty year olds. And there's just so many things to learn from that. Is that allowed? Yeah, we do. Actually it's quite an important thing. And it is an important thing for especially like teenage boys. People who are not the just their dads because you don't listen to your dad. You're way more likely to listen to the advice from someone who's like, Your mate's dad. So that's kind of S same thing happens in a cycling club. You just like you listen to the advice and you listen to you just don't listen to your parents at that age, do you? Positive male role models. Hundred percent. Uh back to my list. Being competitive yet collaborative with your peers. Is handy. Mm-hmm. Nutrition. Bike mechanics, basic mechanic mechanical skill. uh working how working out how things work. Uh The logistics of getting to bike races and having to organise your own budget, finances, it all it's just everything. It's just like a fast track to Everyone, you know, I think having any hobby probably contributes a lot of these things. Maybe it's not so specific to cycling, but those are the things I noticed. But but it that's the thing, uh a lot of the stuff we talk about in general about cycling also has applications outside of cycling. The only thing that doesn't is like the specific tech stuff, but the the life skills and the community is You know, it's it's it's seen not just in cycling, it's in lots of things, not even sport related stuff that have positives. I think for me I When I was at like the point of my life where I hated my job the most in the finance days. Sport was the only way that I got through all of that phase because it was it allowed me to go, I don't I hate doing my job, I hate doing my job, but the second it finishes, I'm gonna go and have fun and enjoy myself and hang out with people and better myself in different ways. And focused on that rather than focusing on work and then eventually things Help themselves. I also do remember. um any medical professional I've ever spoken to about anxiety, stress, depression, any of those associated ailments. always there's this focus on Don't stop being active. Keep being active. Keep being active. Keep being active. And I never really understood it, but It's just to stop your body from ultimately shutting down. And you know, there's so much connection between your brain and your nervous system and your body just in general that Actually you want to keep it moving and active, one way or another. You can't think yourself out of bad thoughts, can you? If you're anxious, sat on the sofa, you can't think your way out of it. If you go outside and ride, then suddenly you're in a different mindset and a different environment, it really works. Yeah. Um, I have one last one. Which is not racing related. Cycling provides novel experiences. On mass. Like every time you go for a bike race, something novel happens and we are wired to seek that out because of Looking for food and shelter and being we're like inquisitive, aren't we? We're like looking for things, searching. And uh That's what keeps us Interesting. I like that point. That really really digs into the idea of Just ride. You know, that idea of just just do stuff on a bike. It doesn't have to be fast. It doesn't have to be performance. It can be if you want it to be, but also you will still have There were there are positives to Pootling around the box for twenty minutes. And unlike if you're just on legs. Yeah. can go like, Oh, what's that over there? And then you just ride and check it out. I think you can yeah on legs as well, though. Yeah, but slower. On legs you're more likely to go to the same places 'cause you're not going as far. My run is always the same. Yeah. Whereas my bike ride, I'm like, Oh just try I' try this road. Yeah. I would like to add Bon more. how I think it's improved me is conf confidence in the feeling of competence. Getting good at a Any any skill. you obviously have like a massive increase at first, and then maybe there's just marginal gains or, you know, things go up and down, but the feeling of Being proficient at something. cycling. I I find uh makes makes me have a a feeling of self confidence and self worth and I like that. Which probably again feeds into, you know. anxiety and depression can give you low self worth and that kind of thing. So actually feeling good and feeling like you've accomplished something, even if you go out for a little ride, it's all sort of adding to the the bank of Positives about yourself, isn't it? Mm. You're proving it to yourself. Yeah. That you can do it. Yeah. Annoyingly, you're always watching yourself, aren't you? I was gonna say There's basically no scenario where you do exercise And regret it. But there are actually some. Like when I got for sore ass the other day. Yeah, that was you actually didn't regret that. You didn't know, did you? No, it was still fun. I always think that, but then I think I'm not sure I if I sat and played computer game for four hours that I would regret that either. You would, because then you'd get a bad back because you were in a weird position. With like crab hands on your computer and then the next day you'd be going, Oh god, I can't do that again. Whereas if you'd gone out for a half hour run or ride, you'd gone, Oh, I feel lovely. Badne instead. Totally different mindset. Yeah, it's also you're you're just riding going, I wish my bike actually fit me. Wish my bike had a screen so I could play the Sims. What was the original thing? What ways cycling changed you as a person? I was trying to think about I I do other s it's changed the way I lay out my day as well. Like I I have to there's things I If I'm trying to learn something. And think about it and listen to it on a bike ride or a run. It's good processing time, isn't it? It it really forces you. I remember this is this is a side step, but I did America. when I was in my third year of university and it's basically like you go to a kids summer camp in America and you work out there. Like Camp Granada. Guess so. Like like Band Camp. Except it wasn't Bandcamp. Um and I remember the the guy who owned it being like, you know, it's the hardest and easiest job in the world because you know, it's not It's not incredibly complex, the work. It's just kind of entertaining and making sure kids are safe and stuff, but also it requires a lot of Focus and attention. So in that in that way it's hard, but actually it's easy, but it also means that you kind of it takes your mind off other things and it feels quite rewarding. And I find the same in a bike ride. It's not hard. I mean it's as hard as you can you make it. Sometimes people make it hard, but it requires quite intense focus, way more than running as well. Um so you're you're kind of forced to be like whatever else is going on in your mind. Place it there for a little bit, park it to the side, focus on the task at hand. Laser focus. Yes. And it can kind of bring down anxiety because of that. If you've got lots of I've got seventeen million ideas going on, you've got okay, no. I'm just gonna focus on this task for a little bit. Well, maybe we should wrap up this section by asking our wonderful audience How it has changed your life and put it in the comments and I'll actually have a look through them. Yeah, or just if you feel like it's changed you or benefited you as a person. Or if you think it's made you worse, I'd like to know about that as well. Warm in here, isn't it? Oh so hot. Twelve lights in here. Right, I'm gonna finish up very quickly with a note to say. The women Giro shop. Shots? Nope. What? The women's G Roll starts at the weekend. So if you enjoy fantasy leagues and you want to continue on playing with ours, um you can sign up to the Cid Media one. I'll put a link in the description. You have to submit your team. Before the race starts. I like I'm definitely in on this and if I don't beat you. 'Cause you are absolutely stuffing me on the men's one. If I don't beat on the women's one, I'm gonna be Really annoyed. Why? I'm horribly competitive. Okay, fine. I don't I don't like to admit that I am, but I'm horribly competitive. Well get your team in by Saturday. Yeah. Before then. So do it on Friday at the latest if you want to join in and have fun. I'm in. Again, Sims amends. There's no prizes other than eternal annual glory. This episode is brought to you by our favourite VPN service, NordVPN. Now it's zero detail a month. And if you're into pro racing, you might already be familiar with NordVPN. Yeah, a VPN is a virtual private network. It basically protects your privacy online by masking your IP address. And you can also change your location. And one of the things you can do is stream your sports and your entertainment wherever you are. It's really handy, for example, if you're travelling and you want to have access to your usual subscriptions. Well, we we used it recently. We've just got back from holiday, which was wonderful. And it was nice to be able to access some of our stuff. With Race Season in full swing, a VPN is a useful piece of kit to have, and Nord is one of the best. And I'll be honest, I was pretty surprised that NordVPN has tons of privacy tools. It helps keep your data secure. It protects things like your passwords and your bank details, which can be especially useful if you're doing things like using public Wi Fi. can alert you to dodgy websites too, and there is a password manager. One account can cover up to ten devices, so Your whole household is covered. If you hit the link in the description, you'll get four extra months free on a two year plan, which works out at over seventy percent off. Nord also offers a thirty day money back guarantee, so there is no risk. click the link in the description. Get the deal. Thank you very much. Thank you. Changes in sexual performance are more common than most people realise. And support doesn't need to feel awkward. With Med Express. 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 dot uk slash podcast to learn more. We're gonna do some more of your unpopular cycling opinions now, and Matt says Unpopular opinion the bike industry completely missed the mark on commuting. Everyone keeps trying to sell us race bikes, gravel bikes, cargo bikes, or Dutch bikes, when what many riders actually want is simple. Get to work twenty percent faster, with thirty percent less physiological cost, while carrying normal work gear and not arriving drenched in sweat. We've obsessed over saving five watts in racing, yet no one has seriously built the aero commuter. I think endurance geometry, proper mud guards, integrated aero luggage, partial wheel fairings, dynamo lights, maybe even a tail fin rack that smooths airflow instead of a giant panier acting like parachutes. If you're commuting eight to fifteen miles at eighteen to twenty two miles an hour, aerodynamics matter massively, arguably more than shaving grams. The future commuter bike should feel less like a city bike and more like a practical randoner machine designed to beat traffic. Carry a laptop and make the car feel dumb. Here's my horrible attempt to render something. And it's a picture of a drop bar bike. Arrow. Massive deep wheels, dura ace. Long reach handlebar and a tail fin rack on the back. And a full frame bag. A full frame bag. Yes. Full triangle frame bag, custom made. By chat GPT. To be honest, it's the sort of thing that the one bike to rule them all with everything integrated and all of the cables. You have one charge point for everything. It g it goes fast, but it's comfortable. You can carry stuff if you want to. I think I can't remember if we talked about it or not, but that w that was what I was I started this process with my howler before where I put mud guards on it and I started I was gonna get a rack and all of that kind of stuff and I gave up on it. Um Think. needs to be all about. Hardcore aero, though. A fast bike for commuting. Cool. But not like not don't go too far. You don't want to put like an aero lid on or like clip on clip on bars. You still want it to be something you want you look at and go, yeah, I want to ride that. I want this this is the kind of bike that when we go and ride it the length of a country, that's what we that's our setup. And people make fun of it and they're like, Oh well, y you should have proper panniers and uh and a a high vase vest. It's like w I've seen people doing that and it looks I've ruined, admittedly. They they are also having a great time. within themselves, but I can't ride that flat bar Hunter thing. Just uh it be so Painfully slow in compared to what I've ri ridden otherwise. Before. Maybe you should just slow yourself down a bit. Slow your life down. You might enjoy it more. Can't. Think of how many additional interactions you would have. Num more novel interactions. Yeah, exactly. I can no, 'cause we speed run the novel interactions. Ah. So even when you're talking to people it's like you're on Black black s sludge. What was it called? Yeah. Pumping black. Yeah. Black sludge. Yeah. Alright, don't don't have a taste of it. Don't get one of these bikes. 'Cause then you'll realise that every other bike is annoying to ride. feel too slow. Don't make the mistake I made. Y you do in London see people commuting on T T bikes. Probably more 'cause they're taking their like race bike to the to the time trail afterwards. Yeah. I've seen you commute in London on a T T bike for that exact reason. Have you? Yeah. That white one you used to have. Look at the people doing Competitive people in T C R have found the setup that is the fastest over We've got to cover loads of ground and carry stuff. Yeah. That's the kind of they've they've they've solved it. It's that. Yeah. Although it is cre arrow is creeping in. Yeah. They're wearing the s the long socks and things and Well the gravel space is about to um Yeah. Well, on the subject of um gravel and triathlon, I'm doing a duathlon later this year, which is Gravel run, gravel ride, gravel run. Maybe I should get one of these. That makes sense? No. No, it's not. Gravel front tire. Gravel front tire. Wouldn't you want it the other way, though? Um you don't you just want gravel on both. Yeah. You'd want the fastest gravel tire on offer, which is currently a GP five thousand road tire in thirty five millimeters. That actually would be a really good Dry No, 'cause then it needs to be the sweet spot of dry and wet, doesn't it? 'Cause if it's too dry, it gets slippery again. And if it's too wet, it gets slippery. Whereas that point where there's where it's like There's moisture in the subsoil, but not the surface. It's actually really grippy. Rust. I don't know, is that a thing Roost. It's a mountain bike a thing, isn't it? Wait, what is roost? Oh no, no no no, I'm thinking of a different word. What is Lone. Roost is the spray of sh you get when you go around a corner. Mountain biking, loam refers refers to soft, fresh, and loose forest soil that provides incredible traction. Hero Dut. Decompose organic matter. Mixed with mineral soil. So like Can be two. Dry. Yeah. Mountain by fast. Anything else? No, I'm gonna move us on because Bella and I are melting here. Cool. Very hot in this uh studio today. Next, Wenzel says, I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I live in northern Germany and I feel a bit left out on competing for King of the Mountains. This is why I think Strava should combine ride data with wind data and have King and Queen of the Wind segments, where it's about the highest achieved speed relative to the wind. This would, for once, benefit heavier riders, instead of the featherweights. Thinking about it, King and Queen of the Wind doesn't sound like a good acronym. Maybe winner of the wind. W or W would be better. Oh, it's already a it's a video game. Yeah, Wow Wow is reserved for one of the greatest computer games of all time, sorry. World of Warcraft. I like this idea. It was I guess you would have to it would be like one of those very elusive segments that only came up sometimes if it was windy, and you'd have to probably have a a minimum that it wind speed that it kicked in and probably a maximum that it kicked out to avoid people being divis and Do they have the accurate wind data for the for that? Yeah, but on weather apps and stuff. The problem is No matter how you position Alternative ways of Strava segments. it will always be held by the person willing to do the most ridiculous thing rather than the person that is most appropriately uh trained or um deserves it for their UCI of cycling of Strava segments. So Actually Delete Strava. Don't worry about it. It's not important. Oh yeah, good one, Jimmy. Although actually um I was thinking about this and I do have an unpopular opinion that is Strava related and it is delete Strava. But it's i if you're taking a significant break from sport And Come back with different goals or at a different part of your life or after a significant injury or whatever it is, consider deleting your profile and just starting fresh. And some people will think that is mad. Also, this isn't just Java, it's anywhere that you uh log your your data in your rides, you know, connect up or whatever, just scrap it. And this is what I did. I took Several years off from riding, really. I could not get back into a rhythm. And I've just got back into a rhythm and I made the executive decision to delete. all of my accounts and start again. um because I knew that the comparison would be quite unhelpful. And actually Start in again. And now getting the hey, this is your longest ride. Hey, this is your new biggest out power output. This is your new da da da. Getting all the PRs on the segments again has been incredibly motivating. Badges. To getting me back into Yeah, badges and all of that kind of stuff. But uh 'cause I just have completely different benchmarks now. Compared to ten years ago when I was also using it. Um And I was a lot fitter and all of that kind of stuff and it w you know, it won't apply to everyone. Some people will want to keep those memorable big rides. Like I've lost all my memorable big rides, but actually, so what? Like I still remember that I did them. I've still got pictures for them and, you know, keepsakes and stuff like that. So uh I feel like I have gained a lot more than I have lost by just Starting again. I like it. It's a good theory. I um think I w I definitely would have benefited from that like five years ago, not having the comparison. But I the other issue I have is the comparison I already I also know in my head. So whether the data's there or not. Yeah. I know what I'm comparing myself to. Yeah. And I I I feel like I've come f full circle now. And actually I like that I do still have some of the data, 'cause every now and again I can I can go, Oh, let's have a look at how good I used to be. I was a I I did I was I was good one. I did a lot of work and I and I I earned those times and I like to appreciate it occasionally. Well the other option is you just make a second profile. Mm. Okay, I've got to end this section with A little message from a listener called David. Hey Wild ones, this is David from Dublin. Love the show. I've been listening since the beginning, but I thought it would be a good idea to finally have some more jingles for the show. Fulfill your dreams. Maybe Jimmy can stop talking about it. Keep up the good work, lads. Is he meant to jingle. Yes, so Thank you. It better be good. Can't be picky, Jimmy. Thank you to David. And on that note, if you have an unpopular or want to send us a question, you can send it to Wild Ones Podcast at CadMedia.cod EK or WhatsApp Us on O seven eight six oh eight six zero two. Yeah. Score four for the international. I love the little bass laugh at the end, that's cool. Nice one, David. Nice one. That was good. That was good. And now on to listeners takeover. That's the other jingle that you said. There's a second jingle. Yeah, two jingles. Thank you, David. I like that one. That one's really good. That was sick. It had um it it it definitely had a an Irish Irish rock sort of twang to it. That's cool. That's a good jingle. That's a that's a good one. I don't love the telephone number one. Might have to remake that. But that one, that's a ten ten. We've got to keep that. It's based on your melody. The the phone one is based on you. Yeah, I know I'm aware of this. Okay, fine. That doesn't mean that it makes a good jingle. Okay, fine. Corbyn says I've recently purchased a CAD ten, and I'm eager to upgrade it in all sorts of ways into a dream build. Primarily to make it look good. But also to hopefully make it a bit faster. New wheels are at the top of my upgrade list. I love the look of deep carbon wheels. However, since I live in wet and hilly San Francisco, Fully carbon wheels with rim brakes feel like a bad idea. I've learned that carbon fairings bonded to alloy rims are a thing. e G the head. Black series. They look great. My question, are they any good? It sounds like they're heavy and the fairings can be fragile. Do any of you have experience with them? Love the pod. Thanks in advance for any feedback or ideas. Turns out these are the wheels. I I'm assuming that you chose this question on purpose. That's her on my personal bike. Oh, of course, I knew that. I have the six sixty mil sixty mil versions. This is how all carbon wheels were. An aluminium rim, but with some plastic on the top. The heads are A very well made. Well it's a family business, to begin with. Great. Uh but extremely well made. Uh with a carbon bit bonded to it. Which is extremely fragile so you can't hang your Bike up on hooks. But the braking surface. Looks Black it looks like a carbon one, but it is actually alloy and has a bit of a rough surface on it, so it Break. Very well. So it's best of both world both worlds. I think they're probably heavier than a yeah, they're heavier than like a modern carbon set, but It's it's basically the best of a crap product. Correct. But more importantly, this guy's named Corbyn, so we've got the Rimba people are gonna come Stab you with pitchfork snap. For rim breaks. But Just don't bother with carbon ones. Alloy Rin breaks. Win. Correct. It is just alloy rim break. Yeah. So take the plastic junk off it and just have the alloy rim break. No no no make the bushing noise. Alright. They're supposed to do the noise that back in when it back in the day racing. Why? Old school carbon wheels sound so much better than new school. I I'm not sure. Yeah. Thinner? Thinner, 'cause it's all just like super thin 'cause it's like an echo inside it. That was like the best bit about my T T bike, is it like You bring that back. do that animal. They they're very good looking wheels. I'll I'll give you that. Um but uh we haven't talked about have we talked about any films yet. Oh yeah, we did talk a whole section about films. Corbyn. Corbyn Dallas. I went that's where my head went as well. Straight away, that's where I went. The greatest film of all time. All filter with a teeny tiny bit of cigarette on the end. Don't know it. Fifth element. Fifth element, yeah. The greatest film ever. Okay, we have also a voice note from Craig in Perth, Western Australia, and his question is about bike sizing. So about a year ago I started road cycling and I purchased myself a Cube New Road Pro. Which was the size medium. Love the bike, uh, but I bought it not really knowing what I was doing and anything really about the size and fit of my bike. So in that year I've lost Thirty five kilos. And obviously it's changed the way that I sit on the bike and the way I ride the bike as well, I guess. Having had a bike fit since. Um, I've had to change a lot of things on the bike, which um I've gone to much shorter crank arms. And I've also had to go for a very short stem, uh, which my stem length now is a seventy mil. Look around at other bikes and I look at the bike sizing online, I'm kind of around the medium mark. Some of 'em say I'm in between medium and small. So it's a real confusing time and a really confusing place, especially for us in WA. We don't have a lot of stores that carry a lot of different bikes. So it's really, really hard to be able to go and try the different bike sizes and get a really good feel about what sort of size bike I'd be looking at. My question is I'm one hundred and seventy four centimeters. Um, so I think I'm pretty much around that fifty three or fifty four centimeter bite mark and probably really should be going for a size small. Currently on the Cube my seat is as Pretty much as far forward as it can go, apart from maybe a centimetre or so. Um, so I really feel like I'm probably in a bike that's way too long for me. Just wanted to know your thoughts and um Yeah, why can't we get a standardized sizing of uh of bikes around the place because it is so confusing. And it's so hard. Yeah, love to hear your thoughts. Love the show, love the podcast. Huge fan of the YouTube channel. Keep up the great work and love look forward to hearing from you guys. Cheers. Thank you, Craig. Well, first of all Uh well done, Craig in changing your life enough that you lost thirty five kilos. Good work. And also, I'm sorry that the bike industry has once again failed someone. He's right, it's confusing. It's just somewhat confusing, isn't it? Like I uh I feel like he's answered his own question. I feel like he knows the answer to his question. Think he does as well. He's he's had a tiny stem put on it, his seat slammed all the way forward. He has bought a medium and everything. feels too big, he thinks more. Is a hundred and Seventy four centimeters. Which is five foot eight and a half. He's basically pretty much smackbang in the middle between me and Francis. Yeah. And Francis is at Probably the mid of most small bikes. And I can tolerate a small bike, but are much more suited on an extra small bike. Says to me. Basically no scenario this guy should be on a medium unless it is a completely redesigned uh bike from one of the big manufacturers because all of their mediums are for five foot ten plus, whether they say that or not. Seventy millimeters stem is very short. slamming saddle forwards. Clearly there's an issue with the reach of the bike. I think Bike size often comes down. The the limiter is always the reach. And I would not uh turn your nose up and looking at the endurance models as well. The new road is not In between a race bike and a In between a road bike and a endurance bike. They're all robots, but you know what I mean. Uh it's not if you Go on to uh bike insights.com. put in a specialise Roube and a Cube new road of the same size, and you'll see the Roube, which is a pretty Standard endurance jumps tree bike. Is Shorter and taller. Um depends how flexible you are as well. Like there's it's impossible to Recommend a bike? Sounds like a small Something that's fifty one centimeter. It Um that's a confusing number as well, though, because a lot of bikes will be labeled fifty one centimeter and not a single tube on it will be fifty one centimeters long. Confusing. But size small with a longer stem. He's gonna handle better. Be more suited. possibly even an extra small with a longer stem if he's currently running a slam saddle on a seventy mil stem. Depends on the bike. It does depend on the bike. But yeah, the the the the frustrating thing I think that uh we relatively consistently talk about Is It's so much easier to make a bike bigger than it is smaller. So if so just make the starting points smaller. Well the bike the he did he mention calculators, bike size calculators. On the websites. Think I feel like he did. Uh The recommendations on most most we have a video about it. It puts specialized put me on a fifty six centimeter Mike. An ally. Okay. It's ridiculous. Yeah. It's a joke. They need to not have the calculators on the in on it's just it does more damage than it Solves. Stupid. I mean it might be worth I know you said there's not loads of shops around, but there are a couple, even if they only stock a couple of brands. If you can the more you try, the more you know, surely. Even if he finds out actually, okay, fine uh in an alley I'm this size, then you know, you go somewhere like Bike Insights and you put that up against other models and it might you might gain some insight from that. Oh, it's the best way to check to to compare stuff. Yeah. Um, he also said he'd had a bike fit. Can you look back over that bike fit that fit data and see if there's anything to be gain from that, I'll speak to the bike fit. Yeah. I would ask him if he was here. What does the position feel like on your current bike? Like are you happy with that position? Regardless of the handling and how the bike looks, because it might just look Um Which matters to people. Does it fit? Because if it does, then you could work out exactly what would then be the same position, but with a smaller frame that's gonna handle Or nicely. Fingers crossed for you, I hope you find Right, bike. And remember, once again, you can send us your dilemmas for listeners takeover. The email is Wild OnesPodcast at CadMedia.co or WhatsApp Us. On Oh seven eight six oh eight six oh two one three Score four for the internationals. There's reverb on that final. We've we've spent Time, money. Energy. Blood, sweat and tears, removing echo. From our voices. He's added it back to Emily's voice at the end. Yeah, really has. Damn. Well, that is that is all for this week. Thank you very much for listening. And See you on the next one. Expedia You're here. But are you here? You go to Majorca in your head all the time. During meetings, in the car, the Yorker is on the mind. But when you're ready to go, there's Expedia, the one place you go to go places. Flights, hotels, villas, cars. You can buy more and save on your trip. So what are you waiting for? Expedia. The one place you go to go places. Members only, savings vary, subject to availability, at or protected. You're not gonna like this. If you had car finance between 2007 and 2024, you might have been overcharged. 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