Wow, what a week for those who love cycling tech!

If four new dropbar groupsets from SRAM weren’t enough, then Shimano certainly fills that glass with its sudden release of XT and Deore Di2. Join Escape’s Dave Rome, Suvi Loponen and Alex Hunt as they discuss what’s new and some things to be aware of.

Meanwhile, the UCI released some upcoming rule changes that have many riders and cycling businesses upset. The geeks discuss why some of these rulings have been blown out of proportion, and why one of them is arguably just wrong.

Of course, there are a couple of new bikes (Cervelo and Orbea) to discuss, and CeramicSpeed has released its first do-it-yourself hot melt wax which promises a whole lot of distance.

As always, members of Escape Collective have access to the Ask a Wrench segment at the end of the episode. Here, Dave Rome is joined by pro race mechanic Brad Copeland to answer a number of geeky questions, including a trick for keeping valve nuts in place without over-tightening them, our thoughts on the best cone wrenches, mixing-and-matching chainring sizes on SRAM, a rear shock that’s fussy to inflate, and a Shimano front derailleur that’s hard to shift.

Enjoy!

Time Stamps:

2:15 - Explaining the UCI’s Handlebar width ruling and specifically where it’s wrong
17:00 - SRAM’s new Force and Rival AXS
27:30 - Shimano’s new XT and Deore wireless shifting
36:30 - Cervelo’s new Aspero 5
43:45 - Orbea’s Terra gravel bike gets overhauled
47:00 - CeramicSpeed’s new long-lasting hot melt wax
52:00 - Ask a Wrench (Member-only!)
55:00 - A tip for tubeless valve nuts in place
58:30 - A deep dive and our top suggestions for good cone wrenches
1:10:00 - Mixing-and-matching chainring sizes with SRAM AXS
1:15:00 - Rear shock inflation woes and shock pumps
1:21:00 - Fixing Shimano Ultegra front derailleur that’s hard to shift

In this bonus episode of Geek Warning, Suvi Loponen sits down with SRAM’s Dan Stefiuk and Paul Kantor to chat about the all-new Rival and Force AXS groupsets. From tech trickled down from Red, to the design philosophies that shaped these mid-tier offerings, we chat about how SRAM approaches performance, pricing, and compatibility.

For the full tech details and reviews of these new groupsets – or to sign up to get the full episode – head over to escapecollective.com.

This week in Geek Warning, tech writers Suvi Loponen and Alex Hunt join Dave Rome to discuss their recent factory visits to SRAM, DT Swiss, Oquo, and more.

You’ll hear Dave and Alex debate about using full-suspension gravel bikes instead of a mountain bike. The geeks also discuss a whole lot of new and interesting tech.

As usual, members of Escape Collective have access to the Ask a Wrench segment of the episode, and this week, Australian national team mechanic, Peter Arch, joins to help answer the questions. Members can submit new questions here.

Time stamps:

2:00 - Factory visits
18:00 - Full Suspension gravel bikes are coming back
25:00 - TRP Vistar with Classified is finally official
29:00 - Spoken comes to Sydney in a week
30:15 - Oquo now making its own hub
33:15 - Industry9 acquires We Are One Composites
35:00 - Leaked Roval Rapide wheels
37:30 - No.22’s new Drifter gravel bike
39:10 - Unno returns to XC with the Horn, room for 2.6” tyres
41:50 - Pro’s new internally routed MTB handlebar, please no
46:00 - Trek joins the electric air inflator world
48:00 - Ronan’s big ride
54:30 - Ask A Wrench with National pro mechanic Peter Arch (member-only)
56:00 - Solving a skipping hub
1:01:30 - What’s going inside a hydraulic disc brake?
1:05:30 - Mystery flat tyre
1:10:30 - Safer lubricants and lubing cables