Check out the audio versions of the podcast here: https://podfollow.com/the-wild-ones/view
Welcome to our special Listener’s Takeover edition of the Wild Ones Podcast. This week we’re joined by mechanic Nic, and cycling coach, racer and mechanic James to answer your questions.
Here’s the full breakdown:
00:00 Avoid these common tubeless mistakes
10:10 How to maintain muscle mass, build fitness & lose weight healthily
16:44 Belt drives – overrated or underrated?
21:39 How often should you bleed your disc brakes?
23:25 Best bike upgrade for a more comfortable ride
26:48 How to overcome a fear of steep climbs
36:20 How difficult is it financially to run a bike shop?
45:36 How to get a job in a bike shop
49:26 Training resources for 50+ cyclists
49:39 Weight, eating disorders and coaching
54:26 How to return to training after illness
59:06 Why metal bikes are better than carbon ones… according to Nic
If you’d like us to send in a question, story, some good news, things you’d like us to discuss or anything else, email us at wildonespodcast@cademedia.co.uk
Thanks and see you next time.
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29 Comments
Hi, can you let me know Nick's bike shop? I really like his philosophy and am thinking it might be time to go for a metal bike with more 'character' – I have a carbon TCR that I really like but agree it is a little 'souless' – many thanks and love the content. Guy
I have trouble with setting up and holding tubeless. my Back wheel looses air constandly but the front not and on every 2nd ride i get a flat. i suspect that my rim (wich seem to be an inter connected one) is at fault. are there any tips?
my ride yesterday had a nasty little climb, only half a mile long but with sections approaching 15% grade and maybe 10% average. Anyway, what I did was psych myself out on the approach, then stomp my way up in a hard gear until I blew up less than halfway through, then I almost crashed downshifting and barely dragged myself to the crest of the hill gasping for air the whole time.
so that's one strategy you can try.
My alu bike is plush af – I'm pretty sure it's mainly because of the seatpost bending (simply a decent amount sticking out) and visibly the seat tube as well to some degree. Maybe there is more to it, like droped seat stays, but a recently designed alu frame can be comfortable – look at Giant Roam or Contend AR, Felt Broam, Merida – all great.
easy: 1-5 dont use tubeless
hydraulic Disk brake bleeding… I have had my Felt Z2 with Shimano disks etc for 8 years, 45,000km. I have bled the brakes twice.. Time One: I wanted to know how to do it, then Time Two: I wanted to renew my knowledge.
no difference before and after.
The only downside I found was the disks wear out too fast and the pads wear out faster. Not Cheap. In about another n years I will get another bike and it will have a 180mm front disk and a 140/160 mm rear. By then I hope disk pads will be better…. the braking is just better.
Linda. Need to practice riding out of saddle: maybe with hard gear on the 7% climb. If worried about falling off, try flat pedals for a while. The out of saddle technique needs slow pedal strokes in rhythm with your breathing to some extent. Lean further forward if real steep but push bum back if rear wheel slips. Sit back in saddle when gradient eases.
I have experience with both belt and SS chain. Belt is nicer but makes 0 sense financially.
I've had very good experiences with the new Peaty's Holeshot sealant, even on road tires. It is way more liquid than previous versions which people didn't seem to like very much. Sealed during a long road ride without me noticing it (at 60 psi). Also keep in mind that Stan's has Ammonia in their race sealant, which damages the tires sidewall over time and making it porous, so if you don't go through tires every 6 months I wouldn't recommend it! Also did a tubeless setup for a friend recently, the new Maxxis High Road got seated as easy as a heavy mountainbike tire… can recommend
No Cushcore hype?
Panic attacks sometimes are only hyperventilation
I find Silca sealant to be trash and I agree metal bikes are indeed way better than plastic bikes. Almost every time.
"Comfort is the #1 thing you want for 95% of cyclists" – bang on! Doesn't matter if it's a pub bike or touring bike or downhill bike or aero road bike… get a bike that fits well and is comfy.
Massively agree that road and gravel bikes are overgeared for 90-95% of riders. I still see bikes for sale where I am (foothills of the alps) with 25mm tires and 52:36 w/ 11-30 cassette. Who the hell wants to ride 25mm tires on 36:30? Road bikes should have 30:34 best gear like GRX and GRX should have 30:37 or 30:40 best gear…
I recently fixed 3 bikes: 2 internal hubs with belt and 1 with chain. One had a belt that would not snap properly to the chainring so new belt was installed and fixed the issue. The bikes were not that used but we are in Singapore so the weather conditions are pretty harsh on bikes and seems on belt. For trying the 3 bikes myself I also agree the chain is the best and even comfort wise, belt seem interesting sensation the first time but chain looks more dynamic for some reasons. As to internal hubs, 7 or 11, I would go more for 7 (they were all shimano) as some of the 11 gears don't really show significant difference from the others. And for commuting on not too hilly locations like Singapore, 7 do the job.
Please stop talking about nutrition. The lack of knowledge is cringeworthy. Stick in your lane guys.
I had a Gates belt drive with Alfine 8 hub on my old BMC commuter. The belt was a nightmare and ended up snapping. If you get a flat you must re-install the belt 100% accurately otherwise it will snap. And re-installing an Alfine 8 is not simple, trust me.
I was a fairly serious DH racer years ago, and now a full on roadie/tourer. I had trouble with the lack of vibration dampening on my bumpy local roads, and have found the Redshift stem, and a carbon seatpost have helped immensely. I have also run 35c tires (sorry, tyres for you), which are the 3rd bit of significant improvement, with little subjective difference in rolling resistance (no matter what is published) compared to narrower rubber – probably due to lower pressures. Carbon wheels do nothing, and may be actually worse; carbon handlebars are marginallly helpful, but I don't like the feel…
47:37 obviously that's not true. Every skill can be learned, but not by everybody. It's a throwaway statement, i know, but i see the consequences of that philosophy – I see tons of software developers hating their job because they "learned the skill" (kinda), but miss key capabilities to do the job – they just learned the skill because it is well paid, but they lack the talent and abstraction capability. Same goes for sales – there are many sales people out their suffering because they have to fake being a sales person all day. If you ever saw a really good sales person, you know that he/she has something that can't be learned.
But there is a general lack of "sporty" steel geometries. I mean if you currently ride something like Specialized Diverge, what would be adequate steel frame / bike (that feels equally fun to ride obviously)?
Did I miss the point when they were talking about the vittoria corsa shown on the thumbnail?
Something that's not often talked about for getting better at climbing when you're scared and axious about it: ACCEPT THAT YOU'RE GONNA BE SLOW!
Embrace it. Love it. Actually try to pedal as slow as you can, by getting in your smallest gear and lowering your cadence to the max. I'm talking about 5 kph. Make it your challenge. Climb as slow as possible. Enjoy the process.
I love climbing because it's okay to be slow on a climb. Because there's less traffic on a climb. On the flat, when you're getting overtaken by cars at speed, you feel like you have to speed up. Alone on a deserted climb, you're actually free!!!
Totally agree with Nick and his steel bikes mindset, its a tool, not a contemporary design piece, its needed to be ridden, scratched etc. if bike doesn't have a sight of usage- bike hasn't been ridden
I live in Flanders, and I changed my cassette to a 28 from a 32, because I wasn't using the two easiest gears at all.
9:27 That's how I ended up married for 20 years …
Why do you refer Aluminium frames as Alloy? When actually aluminium isn't an alloy. Titanium on the other hand is an alloy, it's known as a super alloy. Should you not be referring aluminium frame's as Ali or ally! 😂
Tubeless section – (10min) using a tube on a tubeless wheel is a waste of time. You will only get you a flat after a few KM’s. If your tubeless wheel stopped one item (glass, thorn, wire, nail) from flatting your tire, it’s still in there and unless you take the time to pull every single one of those items out (on the side of the road) tossing in a tube will not get you home. You’re better off carrying a little bottle of sealant, plugs and pump. Just my thoughts.
I will never go back to chain, unless I needed the most efficient, ultra supreme road bike for nice weather rides, as then chain is king. For a commuter: belt, if only for the lack of residu on your pants. 🙂 In 14 years I never had a belt fail on me, sprockets wear out faster than the belt itself, especially on full suspension bikes, you are looking at sprocket replacement after ~10000km of sand/snow. On hardtails the sprocket wear seems less as there is no tensioner in effect.
Interesting point from Nick regarding metal bikes. I had (still have) a titanium frame (an old Airborne) and bought my 2023 TCR last year – there's about 1.5kg between them. My data shows that I am definitely faster for the same power output on the carbon bike, and some of that is weight. But…in my opinion, it's not just about the weight (as seems to be his mantra). Weight transfer and flexibility makes a big difference in speed. When I try to sprint, or climb fast on the titanium bike, I can feel it flexing under me, and that in itself is disconcerting – that doesn't happen with the TCR which just goes! On the flipside, the carbon bike is much more twitchy whilst descending on the rougher roads, whilst the titanium bike is more compliant and confidence-boosting – it's more planted. Adding to this is the bike geometry. Carbon bikes tend to be set up in a more aggressive manner, meaning the aero gains from the system as a whole can be huge.