@Hambini is the only man with a hardcore mix of stupidity, sarcasm and engineering excellence, so we dive into aero testing, wide tyres and his own fitness … the pen is working!
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Chapters
00:00 intro
00:30 Fact Checking Jesse’s Comments
07:30 Do Aero Features Matter?
15:51 What Difference Can You feel?
25:06 Fast Bike or Fast Rider?
30:00 Can You Feel Weight Differences?
39:15 Make Me Care About Build Quality
43:16 Could Specialized Make A Venge Faster?
47:52 Underrated Bike Brands
52:44 Chinese Brands in 2025
58:30 Tips For Buying A New Bike
1:04:50 Optimum Tyre Width
1:13:12 Why A Rim Handles Cross Winds Better
1:17:11 Carbon vs Steel Spokes
1:24:40 Is Ceramic Speed Overrated?
1:27:22 S5 or Tavelo?
1:29:41 Innovation in 2025
1:37:38 Hambini’s Fitness Gains
1:48:26 Finding The Time To Train
45 Comments
My Orca Aero Size 53 is an absolute rocket in my size and setup. A wonderfully fast bike that I find myself freewheeling a bunch where I would otherwise be pedaling on my lightweight climbing bike. Depends a bit on the person and setup a bit, I agree.
I am full kool aid on Tubeless and the 105% …. and I did go Hookless cause I wanted Bombproof Enves I ride in east coast US shit and I can't count the times I get home and say oh look at that I had a flat …. and I didn't have to stop and F up my ride. Priceless
Hambini on 85 vo2max just by lifting. Taking notes…
"Doctor approach" any "supplements" too? 🫣😅
Imagine bringing on someone in the engineering space and saying to his face that you couldn't give less of a fuck about it, lolol
This was nice; please have him more often
Fantastic episode, so fun to watch
Hambini MUCH better here than on his channel. I stopped watching him two years ago because it’s so annoying if he was like this, I definitely would watch his channel and subscribe again.
40+ years racing bikes I live in flat Florida. I now only ride outside if it’s sunny and the only way you’re getting my disc brakes from me that I just bought last year is for my cold dead hands. Lol
Disc brakes are 1000 times better than rim breaks
The Madone Gen8 lives rent free in your heads. 😂
I feal like ignoring the aero gains from a bike is a bit odd. I agree that most folks would benefit more from training and better diets, however it's also true that at some point you'll reach plateaus in your fitness based on the time you have to train and/or your equipment. 5w or 10w changes to FTP come fast at the start of someone's training journey, but if you're 2-3 years in, those are big leaps to achieve. Additionally, it allows slower riders to keep up to a marginal faster rider in group rides, save a bit more energy on long events so you can remain at peak power, etc.
Dylan Johnson made a comment I found really interesting in a recent video about you perception of speed often being warped because your brain equates vibration with speed. So if you have an incredibly stiff bike that lets you feel every vibration, it might give your brain the perception of being fast even if that is not the case. I think it was in reference to people saying things like, "but bigger tires just FEEL slower." He used the example of going 100mph in an old station wagon feels insanely fast but if you go the same speed in a Ferrari or something it almost feels normal.
About time you got the king on
Great episode , very entertaining and confusing , each was explaining things from their own experience , that might not apply to the rest . The same problem almost killed Porsche in 1992-1995 when the engineers kept building a car they like and not care what consumers cared, 993 air cooled was outmatched , over engineered , 200 labor hours to construct and losing money per each unit sold, had Toyota save them and taught them how to make cars who people like, can afford and reliable while continue to build supper cars along for the exclusive buyers . Bicycle industry understands very well what people like and care for in 2025. There never been a better time to cycle , you can ride a used $900 Caad 12 or a $17k Dogma , rim or brake, Ride On. I used to make fun of Jesse because i don't think he is consistent or particular educated, he knows what he knows and that is it, i should stop doing that.
I am crankin along everyday with a 1991 MARIN 26" wheel'd MTB with fenders , rack, kryptonite shackle lock for a total of 13kg at 35kmh in the city traffic here in Milano. If it were lighter I'd be faster, but still it's quite agile, or maybe it's just me being a FOOKIN good rider.
Yes wheeltop with the updates is as good as Ultergra. If you have it setup, it is very very good. Ultimate bargain.
There's no way he did a full one hour FTP test and got 320w,chris and Jesse why did you not call him out on that instead of celebrating like he is some kind of legend for doing the full hour. You both know he wouldn't have done 1hr all out and got 320w. If he did then his ftp would be a lot higher if he did the 20min test. Everyone knows you have to be highly trained to actually be able to maintain your true ftp for 1 hour,. He never goes into specifics about anything, even when asked about what type of bike he has that's stiffer, he just says we'll I have 6 different bikes, why can't he list all 6 of the bikes, it wouldn't take that long.
I’m down with the TPU tubes here in the USA.
The best thing about Hambini is, how inconsistent he is with his arguments. At first he says that small % in Watt saved doesnt matters for people with high FTP because its such a low % of their total power output, than he switches naratives and goes on how the small savings are only for the top riders.
Rounded up with the claim of century to improve to FTP to >320Watt in 6 Months from low 200.
Maybe he knows his stuff in engineering, but other than that noone should listen to this dude.
Jesse's questions are so boring wtf how far down the rabbit hole are you
Cool, you should get Dr. Phil on next and give out his medical and nutrition advice for cyclists since he’s a doctor and must be qualified. Muppets.
Brilliant epsiode boys.
Why argue over aero watt gains if you claim you don't care about engineering lol. These guys are the problem with the cycling industry. Just capitalistic consumer chasing after the next advertisement product. What a joke this channel is lol
Light weight can be measured but aero can't really be measured accurately. There is no standard protocol for measuring aero and these companies can pretty much make any claim they want to justify their prices. Aero tends to be a lot of marketing BS
About their sponsor SILCA , I am a big fan but never ever in my life have seen a bigger salesman than their CEO Josh , he can talk for hours for stuff that already exist but convince you to buy Silca. Last year their sealant was the best and could not be injected because was so quick to seal the valve hole won’t let it pass through, now he comes out with a syringe and makes the sealant more fluid , just like everyone else had for years but Silca is revolutionary. That sealant is borderline glue , I have used it for one day /event only and dump it out , leave them stuff inside your tire for few weeks and is rock solid
I can't help but feel Hambini contradicts himself a little bit here but I think the crux of what he was talking about with the aero stuff is that bike manufacturers have shifted to aero-claims being the bulk of their marketing, whilst aero-performance is not the sole indicator of what makes a good bike. He just didn't say that explicitly so I don't think Jesse really understood where he was coming from.
Is an aerodynamically optimised bike faster in most situations? Yes. Is it more comfortable? Not necessarily. Is the frame optimisation the be-all-and-end-all of what makes a bike aerodynamic? It matters, but it's not the sum-total of cDA. If you have optimised everything else, sure – go and buy the aero frame (or if you're in the market for a new bike anyway) — but if you haven't or are not — don't go rushing out to blow upwards of 10-15k just because you can save a few watts. Make sure you're at least running gp5k's first – there's a big upgrade in RR to be found there first according to the road.cc test (I've found that since making the switch, feels way faster and smoother than my old Schwalbes).
+120FTP in a year 💪, big thanks to the hairdresser 🤛
I loved this episode. Hambini debunking Jesse 3 watts matters nonsense and Chris’ weight doesn’t matter drivel, not to mention the “you have to have 32’s tires” nonsense.
HELLLLLOOOOOOO.. dropping truth bombs on the 10w/kg club 😂
Hambini looks so much like Theo von it’s scary
1:22:00 that has also happned to me, on a giant hookless wheels and cadex tires, when i hit a pothole. It also cracked the rims, got it replaced under warranty.
It's like watching marketing and engineering clash—akin to kids trying to negotiate with their parents, but in the end, the parents (engineering) always win.
I'm just gonna say what I feel, I just can't watch Hambini. I used to, I was a big fan but the stories over the years, between his assault on Flo Cycling (just google Flo Cycling and Hambini accusations, I presume a link will look like scam), the incredibly weird stalking of a female journalist (again, google it, I'm not getting my post flagged for not reason), the lying about his job to add credence to his videos, and finally (said as a scientist who is not an engineer, but has many engineer friends), his complete misunderstanding of how real world quality control works is borderline offensive, it reads as that guy who took the college lecturer with no real world experiences one lecture as irrefutable proof of something. Maybe they broached this in the show, maybe there are explanations, but I simply can't watch it to find out unless someone cares to inform me that these issues were in fact addressed, sadly, it will be an episode I will have to pass on
LOL. The vague mumbo jumbo this speaks really cheapens your show.
Great episode fellas. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
My FTP is 800w… with a tte of 30 seconds.
You disagree with hambini saying that you probably cant tell the difference in small watts , and then you say cant tell the difference between a climbing bike and an aero bike with the difference being 4 watts
I have to support @Hambini on tubes vs tubeless. I tried tubeless and as much as I wanted it to work, for my riding frequency (once a week) it did not work as my bike is stored on our apartment balcony and the sealant went hard within a week due to heat (silca sealant) and wheels were way out of balance. Back to tubes!! I think this episode really highlighted there is not one answer to every question, it depends on your use case.
Chris arguing against the law of physics-lol
I am like Jesse. Working out and being outdoors helps me mentally….it seems to clear up the mental fog….
"Age and treachery will overcome youth and skill."
Great interview, thank you gents!
Hambini v 2 clowns
Gotta be honest, this one was hard to watch. Feels like Hambini is living 15 years in the past and couldn’t care less about new cycling trends.
Really enjoy the guests on the show and Chris' race breakdowns. Rarely watch your other episodes that repeatedly discuss marginal gains on bikes I'll never be able to afford, but I'm just one viewer. You are both great presenters that put out some quality content.
The biggest gain on performance is when you lose 10 lbs 😂
This was great. Enjoyed Hambini being serious and more considered.