Escape Collective

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Channel • 9 Shows

Sports News

Sports News

Updated weekly
Sport

Sport

Updated weekly
Sport

Sport

Updated weekly
Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

Updated 3 Aug
Sport

Sport

Updated 21 Sept
Sports News

Sports News

Updated twice weekly
Sports News

Sports News

Updated 8 Mar

5 days ago

The last piece of the puzzle

Talk of big wheels continue to dominate headlines in the cycling tech world. This past week, Trek and Scott raced production-ready 32ers at the World Cup round in Utah, while Sea Otter Europe showcased other production-ready options. With that, Dave Rome chats with Escape’s Suvi Loponen and Alex Hunt about what they each saw in person at these respective events. For Suvi, Sea Otter Europe, with about 80,000 attendees this year, offered an opportunity for a vibe check from members of the European bicycle industry. Members on our member-only feed will also hear Ask a Wrench, this week with Zach Edwards. Time stamps: 00:02:00 - Big brand 32ers revealed 00:09:45 - Sea Otter Europe 00:14:00 - Suvi rides a 32er 00:18:00 - Other big things seen at Euro Sea Otter 00:19:00 - Tyre options are growing quickly 00:23:00 - Industry vibe check at Sea Otter 00:27:00 - On-the-ground interviews 00:51:00 - Ask a Wrench (members only) 00:53:00 - How to service a cartridge bearing 00:59:00 - When to measure chain wear (and our go-to tools) 01:08:00 - How to deal with a rusty part
1 day ago

Bonus: Berd's co-founder on the performance cost of vibrations

Many brands within the bike industry often speak about higher-performing products being stiffer, lighter, more aero, and faster-rolling. And yet when it comes to off-road disciplines, it’s rare for brands to discuss smoothness as a performance metric. It’s an area many have dabbled in over the years, but it’s tough to market a product on. Berd, makers of rope-like spokes, recently published a white paper detailing why they believe their new gravel race wheels are the fastest for the off-road discipline. A big part of that claim relates to vibration damping and impact reduction, metrics that historically haven’t been included in the performance modelling used today to calculate a road cyclists’ speed. In its white paper, Berd proposes that vibration damping and impact reduction should be included as a component of rolling resistance. Geek Warning host Dave Rome has long shouted as much for off-road – smoother is faster – and thought that was all quite interesting. So he sat down with Berd co-founder and CEO, Charlie Spanjers, to hear more. An edited transcript of the conversation is also available at EscapeCollective.com.
2 days ago

Textbook trident tactics at Montreal Worlds

Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano break down all the action from the elite men's road race at Montreal Worlds.
11 Sept

Fashion week, but new bikes

This week, Caley Fretz returns to Geek Warning alongside Jack Duncan and Dave Rome. It’s been a week full of big new bike launches (all of which Escape Collective attended) and there has been some equally big industry news. The geeks discuss new bikes from Scott, Factor, and Enve, and how each finds (or doesn't) a balance between performance and enjoyment. Plus, there’s a shift in product from WTB, some somewhat sad news out of an Australian business, and we speculate over why Specialized’s founder has returned to the helm. As usual, members of Escape Collective have access to the exclusive member-only feeds of the podcast, and in this we answer a number of technical questions in the Ask a Wrench segment.Happy geeking! Time stamps: 00:02:00 - New bikes, new bikes everywhere 00:03:15 - Talking two different approaches to gravel with the Scott Addict Gravel and Factor Elara 00:16:30 - Adding the new Enve Melee to the conversation 00:20:00 - Feelings or performance. Can it be both? 00:29:00 - WTB doing aero wasn’t on our bingo card 00:38:00 - Sad news from Fumpa 00:44:15 - Big changes at Specialized and a fun theory from a dude 01:02:00 - Members-only section and Ask a Wrench 01:05:00 - Our thoughts on running mismatched tyres 01:11:20 - “Critique my chain waxing” 01:12:15 - Gravel handlebar recommendations that keep the levers straight
18 Sept

A hands-on guide to Shimano’s new SPD-SLR

Welcome back to Geek Warning. This week, Dave Rome and Ronan McLaughlin talk through Shimano’s new road pedal system, which will eventually supersede the now two-decade-old SPD-SL. Dave has been hands-on with the new pedals and offers insight into how nuanced the differences are. Dave is then joined by Suvi Loponen to discuss the new Canyon Grail gravel bike along with a number of other standout bits of tech news from the week.At the end of the episode, and for those listening via a member-only feed, we have an interview with Bill Alcorn of BikeFlights about how air freighting and door-to-door bike delivery have changed, and potentially how to mitigate those increased costs. Timestamps: 02:00 - Shimano SPD-SLR, ridden and explained 18:00 - The potential performance gain of lower stack height 22:30 - Shimano’s three shoe widths, wide going wider. 25:00 - Suvi joins to discuss the new Canyon Grail gravel bike 37:00 - Scott’s interesting return to cable routing options 41:00 - Specialized goes internal routing with Future Shock 43:30 - Wolf Tooth gets into hubs 48:00 - Members-only section: Talking bike freight
12 Sept

A Vuelta queen stage worthy of the name

Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano break down the action after stage 20 of the Vuelta a España. To get access to the member's only section of this and future shows, head on over to https://escapecollective.com/htrww and sign up!
9 Jul

A stunning showing in the Pyrenees

Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano break down the action after stage 6 of the 2026 Tour de France.
30 Jul

Industry Special EP4: Survivors and what comes next

Episode 4 of this special industry series looks ahead at the future of the cycling industry after years of volatility. We draw on dozens of interviews with distributors, brand leaders, retailers, and skeptics to explore where growth might come from, who won’t survive, and how pricing, Chinese brands, regulation, and community will reshape the landscape. It’s a candid, sometimes uncomfortable, but ultimately optimistic look at what’s next for the bike world. Note that this episode is cut off part way through and the full audio is available to our Escape Collective members who fund our work. If you'd like to become a member, please go to https://escapecollective.com/overnightsuccess to receive a 50% discount on your membership for a limited time while this series is running. Last but not least, we'll be doing a Q&A episode. Please submit your questions here: https://escapecollective.com/hello/
7 May

Aero gravel bikes are not always the fastest choice

Are full-blown aero gravel bikes all they’re cracked up to be? Dave and Ronan share some strong thoughts on why this may be the wrong path, or at least, why it’s still early days for these being the faster choice. For those in the workshop, Dave shares the importance of good lighting and some of his favourite hand-held options for seeing better. Alex Hunt then jumps on to talk about XC tech from the opening round of World Cup racing, including why the conditions caused so many dropped chains. Of course, members of Escape Collective get Ask a Wrench, this week with guru Colin Williams. Dave and Colin answer a handful of questions, but a chunk of the time is spent chatting about their most underrated and overrated tools. Time stamps: 00:02:13 - A Traka load of new, unreleased gravel bikes from Factor and Ridley 00:06:46 - Cervelo Aspero 5 where it’s good and where it’s really not 00:13:41 - Has gravel learned everything it knows from XC? 00:18:03 - Is the Factor Sarana Ronan McLaughlin’s bike for ultras or just confusing? 00:29:42 - A good thing to share about lighting 00:41:47 - Alex joins to talk MTB World Cup 00:43:51 - New bikes spotted in South Korea from Scott and Lapierre 00:51:56 - Lots of mud and 1x drivetrains aren’t a good match 01:01:15 - Ask a Wrench (member-only feed) 01:02:40 - Best mechanical shifting options for dropbar? 01:12:10 - Chainline variance and e-bikes 01:17:30 - Squeaky shoes with SPD 01:22:00 - Our most overrated and underrated tools
5 Apr

Did anyone read the previews for the Tour of Flanders?

Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano break down the action from the 2026 Tour of Flanders. To get the full show, sign up to become a member here.

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