Escape Collective

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Channel • 9 Shows

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Sports News

Updated twice weekly
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Sport

Updated weekly
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Entrepreneurship

Every two months
Sports News

Sports News

Updated weekly
Sports News

Sports News

Updated 01/12/2025
Sport

Sport

Updated weekly
Sport

Sport

Updated 5 days ago

2 FEB

Will the real slim Tadej please stand up

Today on the show: No room for the Rockets, Tadej Slim Shady, and Remco can’t stop winning.

2 Feb

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1h 7m
3 DAYS AGO

Pro cycling is box office

Today on the show: A detente in the Hundred Smears War, a small problem for Andrea Piccolo, and some unfortunate news for the spring Classics. To get After Dark, click here.

3 days ago

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34 min
26 JAN

Roos and Rockets

Today on the show: Kangaroos cause chaos, road racing returns to Europe and India, and we have a contender for quote of the year.

26 Jan

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45 min
20/08/2025

Building TrainingPeaks

In 1999, Joe Friel was drowning in faxes. The legendary cycling coach, later author of The Cyclist’s Training Bible, had 72 clients sending training data every Monday. His desk was buried under paper. His son Dirk, then racing in Belgium, figured there had to be a better way. Over beers at The George in Vail, Dirk convinced his best man—and the only web developer he knew—Gear Fisher, to build a solution. Dirk paid him $3,000. That handshake deal became TrainingPeaks, now the go-to platform for endurance athletes, from amateurs to Tour de France winners. If you’ve worked with a coach or followed a structured plan, you’ve likely used TrainingPeaks. What stood out to me while researching this story is that TrainingPeaks wasn’t built primarily for athletes. Their real customers are coaches. That focus, counterintuitive at the time, turned a simple web tool into a 300-person company that now stretches beyond endurance sports into areas like virtual cycling and even music education software. This story is personal for me. Friel’s Cyclist’s Training Bible changed my life three decades ago. Back then, I’d wait by my inbox for his UltraFit newsletter, one of the few reliable training resources for everyday cyclists. In this episode, you’ll hear the founding story of TrainingPeaks directly from Joe and Dirk Friel, along with co-founder Gear Fisher, who ran the company for 20 years. It’s about solving your own problem, knowing your real customer, and how three guys with no business plan built a cornerstone of modern endurance sports. If you enjoyed this and want to hear more, please become a member of Escape Collective by joining here: https://escapecollective.com/join

20/08/2025

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1h 46m
12/12/2024

Dedicated aero bikes are coming back in a big way

Just when we started to think the bike industry was moving toward do-it-all road race bikes, we then get word that it’s all about to change once again. Dedicated aero bikes never entirely left, but as you’ll hear from the geeks, they’re very much coming back. This week, Ronan Mc Laughlin, Suvi Loponen, Brad Copeland, and Dave Rome are all on the pod to discuss the latest new bikes and what is driving these trends. You’ll learn about the biggest dos-and-don’ts in using a torque wrench, plus the geeks answer a few “Ask a Wrench” questions from Escape members. Enjoy! Time stamps: 1:30 - Spotting bikes in the wild is getting easier5:00 - Colnago’s big investment in the new Y-Series is unapologetically for the pros14:20 - On our minds: Dedicated aero bikes are coming back in a big way and sharing our preferences25:00 - PSA: Proper usage of torque wrenches41:30 - Schwalbe’s new gravel range of tyres44:00 - Trek launches a tyre recycling program in the USA46:15 - Ask a Wrench: Removing stubborn tyres on the road53:00 - Ask a Wrench: Wear on metal steerer tubes59:00 - Ask a Wrench: Tyre inserts for XC racing1:06:00 - Geek Warning awards next week

12/12/2024

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1h 8m
24/10/2023

Closing the book on the 2023 season

Ruth Winder joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano to wrap up the 2023 road racing campaign. The crew talks Guangxi and Chongming Island, and ponders some of the broader questions of the season.

24/10/2023

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43 min
22/03/2024

Bonus ep: Question time with Zipp on the how and why of Thomas De Gendt's crash

Four weeks on from Thomas De Gendt's now infamous crash, Zipp has released its findings and explanation, but many questions still remain. In this podcast, Ronan is joined by David Morse and Nathan Schickel from Zipp as he seeks the answers to the questions many have been asking.

22/03/2024

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1h 20m
21/03/2024

Bikes aren't actually more expensive than they used to be

There’s certainly been a lot of outrage over the price of bikes in recent years, and for sure, when the price of a new bike falls inline with a new Ducati, it’s bound to give people pause. There are more ultra-expensive flagship bikes than ever before, but are mainstream bikes more expensive in general? Not really. And in fact, you can pretty easily make the argument they’re not only more affordable, but also a lot better, and the real problem might not be with bike prices, but how the bike industry markets itself. Yeti is also back in the XC game with the resurrection of its storied ASR nameplate, and while it sounds like a heck of a bike, it also raises some questions about the direction of mountain bike suspension in general. Do more e-bikes equal more bikes sold? Salsa sure hopes so with a recent pivot in its product range. And if you haven’t removed your crankset in a while, one listen to our PSA this week might have you heading into the garage. Timestamps: 0:56 – Dave makes his case for why you should buy a 3D printer4:28 – Yeti’s back in the XC race bike scene!22:25 – Salsa is jumping into the e-bike market, and at a very enticing price point32:17 – Bikes aren’t really more expensive than they used to be, but the bike industry sure seems hell-bent on convincing you they are45:25 – We hate to break it to you, but your frame is anything but waterproof51:44 – DT Swiss has some ultralight carbon fiber XC race wheels on the way53:06 – WTB has brought back the Solano name, this time for a new short-nosed saddle54:29 – SRAM’s wireless Blips can now be used on their own for more flexible cockpit setups56:15 – Finish Line is cooking up a new range of hot wax and drip wax chain lubes58:38 – Strava has some new features for cyclists

21/03/2024

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1h 1m
17/07/2023

How is the Tour still this close?

Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano are joined by Abby Mickey to talk: Favorite moments from week two of the men's Tour de FranceUnder-the-radar performancesWhat to expect in the final weekWhat's coming up at the Tour de France Femmes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

17/07/2023

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49 min
14/05/2025

Is lower slower? Aero part 2 with JP Ballard

Part 2 of our listen back to when JP Ballard of SwissSide joined us for part one of our Performance Process deep dive into all things aerodynamics. Ballard is founder and CEO of aerodynamics specialists Swiss Side. The Swiss company produces wheels and aero calf sleeves, but the majority of its work is in offering its aerodynamic expertise to other manufacturers in the cycling industry. He had also sat down with us in January 2024 to record three hours worth of discussion and advice on aerodynamics and performance. In part 2 we discuss if lower and narrower is slower or faster, acid tests for assessing aero marketing, and why aero matters regardless of what speed we ride at, even uphill. We then delve into where’s best to spend your money chasing aero gains, the best bang for the buck, so to speak. Finally, perhaps the biggest takeaway is that JP doesn’t believe the rule of 105 is as critical as we once thought

14/05/2025

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41 min

Welcome to Escape Collective, your home for independent cycling journalism.

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