Chris Johnston (@outdoorbros_), the man with an S-Works box behind him, joins us this week to answer your cycling questions. We help a listener deal with the shame of being dropped by a friend who just started riding, share unqualified opinions on why bike prices are so high, and endure the teasings of @GCPerformance18.
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Got a question? Follow the podcast’s Instagram stories to call in: https://www.instagram.com/howtodropyourfriends/
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00:00 Intro
00:30 Strava Year in Review
01:53 What do you like about Southern California?
02:54 70 miles before 9 am
04:31 Why are there so many S-Works in Orange County?
05:14 If Chris could not ride Specialized or ENVE…
06:36 SoCal Skateboarding to Road Cycling Pipeline
08:27 How often do you ride gravel?
09:17 Kicking the dogs out of the studio
10:04 Importance of consistent training
13:12 Listener Call: Training for a 200-mile race
16:15 Nutrition tips for long races
18:51 Riding at altitude
22:46 Listener Call: Will bike prices ever go down?
35:35 Road bike w gravel tires or gravel bike w road tires?
37:03 Do MTB tires belong on gravel bikes?
39:17 Listener Call: What if your friend drops you?
46:40 EJ Trains dropped me
50:45 When did you start training?
53:44 Listener Call (NOT GC Performance): Why Specialized?
59:56 Best all-rounder according to GC Performance
1:06:49 2025 event plans
1:07:56 Riding with kids in Yosemite
1:09:41 Cycling Court
1:11:10 Cool Down, YouTuber Invitational?
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26 Comments
dachshund? Knew you were a good guy
Great episode. Excellent discussion. Grant calling in made it even better. I wish I didn't like Specialized so much. I live in Kansas and do some distance of Unbound each year and I have a Crux. Before that I had a Diverge. My road bike is an Aethos. I have tried other bikes like a Giant TCR, but I keep getting pulled back to Specialized.
If you organize to ride with a mate you ride with a mate…UNLESS they tell you to go at your own pace. If you want to train…do it on your own time…coz there's every chance they only said yes to riding with you because they wanted to ..wait for it…ride WITH you. Don't like it when others do it and are happy to do it too…well…that's just perpetuating that culture isnt it.
If it's a drop ride..then all well and fine. But I can count the times I've left a mate on a ride on one thumb of one hand. And again..that's after riding with him for 2hrs on the climb already and being near the top. Each to their own
BMC ticks all the boxes on covering the range
Was fun watching y’all
Best episode for sure!
Thanks for hanging up on me hahahaha
Chris is the shit. Knowledge, experienced and his passion for riding shines through. He should be a regular monthly guest for you.
Had no idea about skaters to cyclists. Skated a few years and started cycling because skating just messed up my joints
oh you want to find a way to finance a vacation with your friends? Its called, get a job, you leach! jk, sounds like a fun idea.
my 1000 dollar rim brake SL6 is fastest and lighter than any bike you can buy in shops
Learn to eat real food for LOTOJA early on in the race, then rely on liquid/mixes. I live in Logan Utah and have done this a few times. I have liked boiled red potatoes in salt water and eat those for the first 35miles. If you can get in real foods for the first 75-100 miles has been my trick. You really don't ever need to train more than 125miles on a ride. Mitch come do LOTOJA just for the ride, not race it. I'll have a place for you, come here a week before the race and we'll get you accumulated.
I’m a skater and a cyclist.
Love to see more of us getting into it.
Need more skater roadies 😂
I don't get the whole crying about bike prices thing. You can get a TanTan FM301 with carbon wheels for like 1000 bucks. It's an open mould Trek Domane with Toray T-800 carbon, it's the exact same thing as the Domane SLR from a few years ago. If you don't mind riding a cyclocross frame and wheels you can shave 200 bucks off that 1000 too. Throw a used 10 speed setup on that you're golden, how are bikes expensive that's like 1 paycheck at a fast food job in California.
If you like steel bikes like me then that's even less to spend.
What does Chris do for a living?
Awesome listen so far. Subscribed, thumbs up! Ride on.
I think it’s silly call people back with the same question!
Cool video. Bikes are getting more expensive but the lower end kit is getting better. I picked up an Aethos with a 105 DI-2 group set and its excellent (and I am someone thats had Ultegra, Dura Ace and Record over the years) A note on buying used bikes -Tread carefully, theres lots of scammers out there and they know their stuff. Make sure you see the bike before you send cash, if remote, why not get them on a zoom to check the bikes real as a starting point.
bike community is great. I see all the same people on the rides, I know all the same podcasts you had on today. I LOVE BIKES! RIDE ON!
MTB question. 56YO. Got a SuperCaliber, will probably use that for XC and gravel. Got an Aspero for road. Hung up my Ridley for now. Looking for a trail bike. Leaning towards the new Stumpy Aluminum comp with the Genie shock. They offer a non Genie option but it seems like that bike is optimized for the Genie. Is this bike Genie shock or not at all?
The used market is not that low in Australia. Folks still ask top dollar and they have to been raced hard. Make sure you have a mechanic check it over. Great show. thanks.
they both contribute to what's wrong with cycling as they both support the overpriced s works trash and the elitist version of cycling which is mostly white and keep minorities out with these ridiculous prices which are unwarranted for chinese carbon frames that cost a few hundred to make each. When the chinese comps like x labs start releasing bikes for half the cost no one will go for the over priced labels like rapha and the pretentious white only riders orange county version of cycling will be over. the botoxed head alone speaks volumes about them and they don't represent the sport well unless they're aiming to make it a white club of cycling for overpriced chinese carbon. they make paid ads for white elitists not for cyclists
The best part about all of this is watching dentist or finance bros show up to Ragbrai on their 15k bikes to get absolutely destroyed by a dude on a 1994 steel bike for 7 days straight while he’s pounding IPAs and eating pancakes 😂
Real question: Where is the average point of diminishing returns about a bike to not get dropped on a group ride if you are reasonably fit? Drafting equals 15 pct more or less, so where is the bike only 5 percent slower, 10 percent slower, than your SWorks?
Good perspective from Outdoor bros, despite his own bike collection being a little Vebleny.
Long form rambling 👍🏼👍🏼