From hookless hubs to the latest in 11-speed shifting, the past week of tech has been quite the rollercoaster for the tech-minded.

This week on Geek Warning, Ronan, Dave, and Alex from Escape Collective’s tech team catch up to run through the news and offer plenty of thoughts along the way. This one is a little heavier on the news than we typically like to do, but it’s been quite the busy week on that front!

Of course, members of Escape Collective also get access to the full version of the episode that tacks on Ask a Wrench at the end. Zach Edwards joins Dave in answering a handful of interesting member questions, including one from a former winner of Unbound 200.

Time stamps:

• 2:40 - The new Cervelo Caledonia
• 3:34 - OneUp joins the XC SPD pedal game
• 6:40 - Nobl’s new sub-1,000 gram MTB wheels
• 9:20 - MicroShift’s Advent MX 1x11 shifting
• 10:10 - Shimano Tiagra goes 11-speed
• 11:50 - Hookless hub failures in the WorldTour
• 17:00 - Giant’s vaguely new Propel
• 22:00 - Merida’s new Reacto is finally released
• 31:00 - Closely overlapping road range confusion
• 50:30 - A SPD to flat pedal adapter that’s a Good Thing
• 53:50 - Ask a Wrench (Members Only feed)
• 54:45 - Getting specific with 2x shifting on Cane Creek EEwings cranks
• 1:01:50 - Do you need to bleed brakes after undoing and/or cutting hoses?
• 1:09:40 - Rusty chains, chain wax, and when to replace
• 1:19:00 - A real fancy bike behind Zach

It’s common for everyone to chase the simple answer for what the best product is. In this week’s Geek Warning, Dave and Ronan discuss why those chasing the best of something may be landing upon fiction.

Additionally, you’ll hear about the differing paths in aero road wheel design between the latest from Princeton Carbon Works and Cadex. Of course, there’s a PSA. And our Good Thing segment returns.

As with every week, members of Escape Collective get access to our Ask a Wrench segment. This week, Zach Edwards joins Dave to discuss greasing principles, whether to lube electronic derailleurs, mixing-and-matching SRAM brakes, and more.

If you like the show, then please consider leaving a review. It’s much appreciated.

Happy geeking!

Time stamps:

• 1:20 - Princeton Carbon Works’ research into rim widths
• 10:50 - Cadex’s new aero combo
• 20:00 - SRAM’s new gravity MTB products
• 22:55 - Ibis has a new XC bike
• 24:00 - On our mind: There is no best
• 36:50 - PSA: Know when you don’t know
• 46:00 - Good thing: Sync Ergonomics Aerobar Three
• 51:00 - Ask a Wrench (Members only)
• 51:30 - Do you lube the pivots of electronic derailleurs?
• 59:20 - Shimano MTB vs Road on an indoor trainer
• 1:04:00 - Mixing SRAM dropbar shifters with four-piston calipers
• 1:09:30 - Applying grease to a thread and how much to use

Oh hi, Dave Rome here. It’s time to get geeky about spokes.

I recently wrapped up a long-term review (now live on Escape Collective) where I compared two identical gravel wheelsets, one built with bladed steel spokes and the other built with Berd spokes, a spoke made from a Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene, aka, Dyneema.

Those white Berd spokes have been growing steadily in popularity, and off the back of Tom Pidcock and Pauline Ferrand Prevot winning the last Olympic games on them, I was ever more curious. To help with that curiosity, Tristan Thomas of the New Zealand-based wheel company, WheelWorks, lent me some wheels in order to get some answers to questions I had.

This episode is a sit-down with Tristan to discuss spokes and the considerations around an interesting polymer product like Berd. Happy geeking!