Happy New Year! 2025 was a chaotic year for the industry, and 2026 is shaping up to be a battleground. Today, I’m sharing my three biggest hopes (and fears) for the future of cycling.
From the rising of Eastern manufacturing vs. Western pricing, to the absolute mess of proprietary battery standards, and the concerning rise of AI-generated media—we need to talk about where this is all heading.
Plus, a little footnote on Lithium grease from your questions
In this video:
00:00 – Intro: Hopes & Fears for 2026
00:39 – The Battle: Western Prices vs. Eastern Brands (Accountability & Warranty)
006:00 – The Import Problem: Anti-dumping & Liability
10:52 – The Tech Mess: Proprietary Batteries & Cables (Shimano, SRAM, etc.) 16:15 – The Rise of AI Media: Why authentic voices matter
25:30 – “Grease Gate” Update: Mobil XHP 222 vs. White Lithium
30:00 – Conclusion
Join the Discussion: Do you trust the Western heritage brands to justify their prices, or are you moving to direct-buy Eastern brands? And seriously, can we please get a standard charging port? Let me know in the comments.
Link to info on planet X claim https://www.stewartslaw.com/news/doctor-recovers-4-5-million-settlement-for-spinal-cord-injury-sustained-when-carbon-forks-on-his-gravel-bike-snapped/
Ai Media https://veloracycling.com/
Winspace in the uk https://winspace.uk/winspace-cycletowork.html
Visit Mapdec Cycle Works: We are a real bike shop with a real community. 📍 https://mapdec.com
#CyclingIndustry #BikeMechanic #RoadCycling #Shimano #Mapdec #BikeTech
30 Comments
What is your biggest frustration with the bike industry right now? For me, it's the "cable spaghetti" and charging docks… but I want to know if you think Western brands are doing enough to justify their price tags in 2026? Let me know below. 👇
Yes please make a cheat sheet for greases!
So well'discover that once Chinese direct to consumer brands start to offer European level of warranty, European offices, European legal responsability, European safety regulations standards… their cheap product will be almost the same price tha the fancy brand ones (maybe made in the same factories…).
I have to ask Paul, is the Weldtite TF2 red teflon grease the same as their white lithium stuff? Reason being is I have a tube of it in my shed. I was using it on threads and seatposts etc but I've not used it on bearings yet.
The central battery solution is not bad but putting it into the seatpost becasue there was no frame storage and mixing signals with power, just ruined it. Maybe some kind of standardized downtube battery with yearlong batteries in the shifters could create a very simple front mech and rear mech frame mounting power socket. where the flat spot with say 2 bolts has campagnolo style (mag or pogo pin ) 2 pin connector. between No signals, just power. Could even be a upgrade kit that plugs into existing mech right into the shimano/sram battery socket and is big enough to run a light and charges usb-c at a central location. Extra points if it has a usbc socket out for charging the pedals or your phone from the main battery
So absurd that the system with the same front and rear battery is patented. A battery is a battery. Hope the EU saves the rest of us by enforcing some more standardization like they did with Apple
I have always been interesting in ordering stuff from Panada Podium. What are the "weird" shipping practices?
SRAM's patent seems indefensible, as it's clearly an obvious use case (same battery). In any case using two batteries is stupid, the current DI2 solution of wiring them together has no down-sides except to the bike builder; and is clearly a better experience for the user with just one (much larger) battery for both derailleurs.
Best way around that stupid arSeRAM patent would be a self-energising RD that runs off a jockey wheel dynamo.
I can't believe the idea of 2 same batteries is patentable! Ford should have patented having 4 same sized wheels on a car.
governments of countries like UK, US etc looking after consumer interests rather than rich business owners is a laughable concept.
will continue to buy highest quality lowest price parts from china in 2026 👍
If you post it, AI will scrape it 🙂
Re: AI media.
1. I will unsub / block any AI generated content that I find & recognise. It’s mostly low effort / low value anyway.
2. I subscribe to escape collective because it’s all real content by real people.
3. And I become a channel member of youtube channels that are useful / entertaining (like this one!). Given I’m on the other side of the world and not likely to turn up in the shop to order a 10 grand bike it’s the least I could do!
Great stuff cheers
Chuffed to see that Juicy Lubes greace being given at least a preliminary endorsement as *that's what I'm using*! Chosen pretty much only because it was what a local and respected dealer was selling. And yeah, when I went to the JL website to see just what it was that I bought there really was only trendy marketing guff to see😦
Hah! Clicked straight through to the grease article 🙂
I don’t mind if AI is used to help make your content such as you said your slides but when I click on a video that’s produced fully by AI or one of those artificial voices I automatically close the video and press don’t recommend channel. I want to see a real person even if I don’t always agree with what they say or think.
Yes please on grease cheat sheet – one of the downsides of learning via videos is the lack of a nice concise summary you can quickly scan for the information. Keep up the good work irl and on the channel by the way – I so agree with the sentiment that I feel like I know your brand so well and would love to get a custom build one day having seen the dedication and attention to detail you guys provide.
Grease is the time, is the place, is the motion Now, grease is the way we are feeling…. 🎵🎶
12:50 size and weight is why. Also, I wouldn't use those batteries in your Sony cameras, I say this as a pro camera man, the non genuine Sony batts can cause problems in your FX3, A7iii type cameras. you've been warned!
Unfortunatley the Right to Repair Act does not appear to extend to ebikes. How do we get this resolved. It is nothing short of disgraceful, that what should be a sustainable and relatively environmentally friendly product, has its owners locked out of repairs.
Hello Paul and your team, another excellent video, thanks for taking the time to produce these. A cheat sheet or similar would definitely be a bonus, thanks once again and best wishes for 2026.
as far as i am aware anti Dumping is only if you are selling the goods below its nornal value in that the country it is imported from and is only on certian parts and counties, anti dumping does not have anything to do with quantity, it has to be on the UK’s official anti-dumping list, and has a Commodity code that is affected on that list. that is as far as i am aware. would be interested in where you got the 300 quanity from,
Some of the Chinese groupsets are already using usb-c ports to charge batteries
So – how long before there is an AI generated video from the transcript of this video?
What about some western brands’ miscalculated design like snapped carbon spokes that resulted in a catastrophic accident? Would you be willing to trade, let’s say, €10mio for being on a wheelchair for the rest of your life? The manufacturing QC, design mistakes, have been the so common lately as manufacturers simply focus on figurative data only, the aero BS, going lightweight with minimum knowledge of safety. How’s that, Paul?
I'm definitely interested in your cheat sheet, but wonder of this can happen. i own a small shop, but I'm here in the US…so wonder if brands that are easily available for you, may not be here. I also wonder if all of these companies actually mark and rate their products so if would be useful for you when different brands or compositions of grease. Thanks for sharing!
Your Christmas/ new year period videos are absolutely fantastic!
Thankyou for keeping cycling YouTube ticking
Great coverage on batteries. I vote for the sealed connector on the Shokz OpenRun which is IP 67 level of waterproof. I managed to damage phones and a set of earphones.
A baterryless alternative to radar is a mirror. Electronic shifting is easily replaced with cables. Lights and head unit use the same USB cables and can be recharged from a USB hub at the end of every ride. Problem solved!
Simple solution, avoid plastic parts!!!!