Thanks for having me on, mate. Always love talking to people passionate about the sport I love, but in a slightly different way. Opens new perspectives, and makes for good friends. 💪
Hey Benji, cool that you cycle all the time. even when i was a over 5w/kg rider i was always using a small ring of 34 and i have allways a 36 rear biggest sproket... i can only suggest that for any climb, i would sometimes even prefer to have higher gearing available...
Matey confirmed his "youtube grifter" status: - using relatives and their personal issues to play on public emotions ✅ - having an engorged ego ✅ - not hesitating to throw shade and publicly shame others who might not see us as superstars unlike the brainwashed audience ✅
Thank you for a wonderful conversation!! You are both examples of what can be achieved in the cycling TH-cam space when you are genuine, honest and care about the quality of what you produce. I felt as though I was listening to two old friends catching-up with each other after being apart for a while. I am a true fan of all of the content that each of you create.
Appreciated the push to get lower gearing for newbies. I bought an old carbon road bike to start cycling and it came with 11-25 rear gearing. I didn't even realise it was an issue until the first time I rode with others (of about the same fitness) to notice how much I was suffering up hills. ...I still haven't done anything about it though 😬
Dear Peak, thank you for your really great videos on this channel. I truly believe you are adding a real value to our sport through your talks , videos, reviews and even sometimes lectures. For me only few types of videos are missing. One could be a video to sum up the longevity of the different component of your bike in one video. And another one could have been a video on the Arkea Ultim Challenge, in the same way as you did for the Vendee Globes ! In all the cases thanks again for this great content, I am still a student but will be more than pleased to be a patreon once I have a paycheck !
I did already start a username for a peak torque sailing channel but its super niche! Ahah. Not uploading anything yet. But thanks for your suggestions.
how do manufacturers calculate stress on a frame? I heard the industry standard is 60+ tonnes through the seatpost? That seems a very high number, is this correct?
Couple thoughts, I couldn't help but feel like Benji was getting a lot of unsolicited advice here unnecessarily. Also, just because driving sucks in Hong Kong doesn't mean you can't complain about it in the UK. (American here so I get the car culture wanting to murder all cyclists).
Following Benji around on different social media platforms means I get to continually learn new things about cycling from new-to-me folks. Thanks for this interview and all the info!
Thank you both for this. I was trying to think why, apart from being a fan of your individual output, did this interview just bring me joy, and I think it’s because as a TH-cam consumer, you’re generally so starved of genuine sincerity and here, even in the interview environment you both continue to have it in spades.
I disagree about there being a lack of metric for indoor/outdoor riding. If you're not pedaling outdoors, your power will be lower, and thus reflected in the average power, normalized power, or whatever metric you use for training load. A 1 hr swift race or a 1hr outdoor criterium are both extremely hard and I feel shattered after both, but it's a very similar feeling, and both have a relatively small TSS.
Really appreciating this long form content Peak, I feel like it balances the slightly more controversial takes on the regular videos very well; you do a good job as a host and the conversations turn out really insightful 👌🏻 Like I've seen other comments say on previous episodes, I definitely feel like I'm left with some extra knowledge as a result of watching this, as opposed to just killing time and listening to some hot takes, like on other cycling podcasts; so keep at it if you can, this is proper stuff 🙂👍🏻
Great interview. Really enjoy his podcast/analysis on LRCP especially after GCN evaporated... It's always good to learn a bit more about the personalities behind it.
José Been is probably the best commentator in the gcn/eurosport/discovery lineup. Can’t believe anyone could complain about her. Particularly when we have Sean Kelly and Wiggins kicking around spouting nonsense!
i'm happy for LR's success and them getting recognized by the pro teams. in sports, there are many enthusiastic fans who share their thoughts on the game on forums (realGM etc) or youtube. legit expert or not, some fans just become good observers of the game.
Fascinating to see two smart young men looking to develop and monetise their considerable talents. Big fan of both and emotionally invested in LRCP. Maybe an age thing, but Im also totally sympathetic to and respectful of more mainstream commentators and presenters….like Carlton, Rob, Brian, Dan&Si, Ollie, Jose, Chris H etc etc. Theyre all talented, knowledgeable and hardworking people that know a lot more about cycling than I do. 👍
Fantastic! I want to remark on the data metrics like F1. I would love to see all the data metrics of the riders on screen, heart rate, power, W/kg, lactate, especially normalized against their capacity. Particularly during critical moments. Oh, rider X is in the red zone holding 440W with an FTP of 390W and look at his lactate skyrocket, while rider Y is in the draft, CdA 0.2, he's doing 350W, under his FTP of 360W, but his lactate is also rising because he has 4000kJ in the legs, whereas rider X was shielded in the bunch for 4 hours - who will crack first? One metric I dislike is when in a race they show the speed of the peloton vs the break. Totally meaningless. The conditions in the break and at the front of the peloton are never the same. Show the gap and maybe add a real time gap-delta so at a glance it's easy to see if the peloton is gaining or losing. I think eventually we'll get there, where we have realtime data, in part because so many more people are riding with power and attentive to their own metrics. Naturally they will want to see what is going on in races. Also, having real time data would make the rider's performance more transparent... perhaps why it might not be adopted. Anyway, just some thoughts!
Love that part about Eurobike and equipment in general being detached from pro racing. And TH-cam: Insta and TT have much greater audience and better suggestion algos to push the product. Maybe that's how easily we can accept whatever the snakeoil superlube there is, because of a bubble we live in. Especially folks still reading newspapers.
Hi from Hong Kong. I guess you get used to riding in the traffic. At least there aren't any "bikejackings" like in London. Swings and roundabouts. Cheers
@BenjiNaesenTV personally, 3 W/kg seems like a more realistic goal, good luck either way! I have set goals that are too far out from where I am and get discouraged, but that could just be my personal issues 😅
I feel most of LRCP haters are oldies, seen better days, know their old school ways are dead & like to bully people. I love Benji & Patrick I think they are the future of cycling along with all the young superstars riders.
Have to disagree. I have lived in London and Sussex and done a lot of cycling around Surrey. Currently in Liverpool and cycle in Lancashire a lot. There is a lot more traffic in Surrey, but I think people are maybe a bit more used to bikes. I've found close passes, punishment passes and abuse to be worse in Merseyside and Lancashire, not by loads but it's certainly not any better. I think it's bad in the UK in general though. There's no infrastructure and drivers have no respect for cyclists. Belgium is one of the best places in the world to cycle and most drivers are also cyclists so the difference in infrastructure and attitude must be stark for Benji.
This was a lot of fun! I’ve watched you for a while and Benji via LRCP. I think your kind of content has a longer shelf life because your engineering expertise probably has less of a genetic cap on it and is timeless in a way. It sounds like you still get most if your income via a day job and I hope that the combo of whatever you get outta YT keeps you creating for as long as you want to.
Glad someone finally mentioned F1 and live telemetry data. I think standardized manufacturer teams would help too. As opposed to teams whose names change every year
Good show. Not a big deal, but Benji was in the process of telling the funny story about how he acquired his bike, and you sort of cut him off. I do the same thing.
I also listen to Benji and Patrick for the analysis part, they are almost always spot on and the delivery is great. The GCN/Eurosport commentators are exactly that, they comment races and most of them are quite entertaining. So one could say each has their own corner in cycling and do not compete imo
Re sponsorship, what you don't want is a situation where the sponsor talk slips seamlessly into your analysis. This happened recently with Patrick, a perfect segue, and it made me feel uneasy. Much better to do the Move/Lance thing of doing all the (many ads) at the start, with QR code on the screen, then move onto the chat.
Great show, thanks! I really enjoy the podcasts! Just a quick note about gearing, I think the easiest is to get a 2x gravel bike with a 46/30t chainset which probably comes with an 11-34t cassette, which you then switch out for a 11-40t. Works great for Shimano GRX 11sp even though officially the GRX 2x derailleur only works with 11-34t (I'm sure you can do something similar with sram). Put some fast 32mm tires on if you like it skinny or go for a 40mm if you like comfort on less than ideal roads. Perfect beginner (to advanced intermediate I would argue) road bike. If you find yourself running out of hard gears (first of all congratulations), you can easily switch to 48/31 (you might have to also change the cassette (maybe you kept the 11-34, that came with the bike?), not sure if 48/31 still works with 11-40 at the back).
There should be a swarm of drones over the big races with beacons on the bikes. Directors could set individual drones to follow or switch between specific reiders. That along with graphics feeding speed and power etc would make a much more engaging viewer experience.
Not too hard to control for training load indoor vs. outdoor. Consider looking at work instead of hours/kilometers. 1 Kj is the same inside vs outside (of course minor differences in muscles used).
I got 105 r7000 - 50/34 with 11-32 immediately swapped for 11-36 and it works great straight out of the box. Absolute minimum and I am after serious training finally close to 4 W/kg, so for people closer to 3 W/kg setups that bike industry is currently selling are completely ridiculous. Like some people's minds are still in the 60s - take Emonda ALR - new frame but short cage derailleur AGAIN and 28c tire clearance. Trek are insane.
It’s funny that I was bored of PCM game much faster than watching Benji’s PCM content… actually I probably would watch it untill now despite not playing the game for a long time ☺️
Great chat. On the topic of wanting a 11-36 cassette at 1:13:45, I run 11-36 without issues, unmodified. Shimano spec sheet says my medium cage derailleur tiagra limit is 11-34 but 36 works well. Just needs B limit screw wound in. This saves buying a GRX derailer. The easier gears and the PT front 180mm disc adaper makes hills up and down better.
Bit late on this - but the default sram rival setup of 46/33 or 43/30 on the front and 10-36 on the back is insane range and 'great' value (as far as you can go for price with batteries...)
Great talking points. Re gear ratios - I found myself rarely using the 11 cog and the 34 cog to 34 chain ring was still un-necessarily hard on big hills just taking the fun out of it. Changed from 12s Ultegra to a 11s GRX chainring (48-31) and pretty much everything is achievable. Suffering no longer required.
I've enjoyed watching Benjis videos... i'm a big guy (bigger than you where at your max) but also a little taller... gearing has always been an issue on road bikes, my first road bike I ended up going to a triple crankset (this was an old 7/8 speed bike). my touring bike runs MTB bits so a 34t cassette and a 22t crank, my current road bike had sram red 10 spd stuff I ended up changing the rear der so I can get up to a 36t cassette (in spec) and a triple crank but removed the big ring (no need for 125 gear inch... even running the 42t i've got a 100 gear inch... I've also dropped the granny to a 26t, so a 19 gear inch. to100 gear inch range covers me with even stupid slow... 80 cadence is at 4.5mph (7.2 kph)... changing the crankset gearing makes so much of a difference... you may have to go used... but it is a wonderful thing.
Really found that very interesting. What about track cycling. Go along enjoy a beer watch lots of short exciting events and you can see the whole thing from a comfy seat. Excited about your frame building project. That will be extremely interesting. I would think very expensive as i would think the volume will be small especially if you are going to do different sizes. Good luck
You should drop a Peak Torque style thoroughly engineered clickbait title/thumbnail just to prove your TH-cam worth. Perhaps on 1st April. I can only see good things coming from this channel and monetisation will help with the longevity
Non-UCI compliant is a great idea, I mean the target market is probably never going to be troubled by UCI commissaries as they leave their house or participate in sportives/fondos.
I've enjoyed the chat, but a mention of Peak Torque frame is particularly exciting! You know, with your recent gravel bike content you got me to look deep into gravel bike geometry, which led me to find out that a road bike with slightly wider tire clearance doesn't make for a good gravel bike. That's exactly what 99% gravel bikes on the market currently are. I designed something quite different, which in theory should be fast and capable pretty much anywhere. I need to get it built though, probably out of chinese titanium...
I agree Telemetry Sells cycling coverage - I get more TH-cam views than I would expect on my videos because of telemetry making it more interesting as raw video is not that engaging unless you are in the video or are e-scouting the ride/segment - I subscribe/view/like Jeff Linder's NorCal Cycling race videos with commentary and telemetry but rarely watch Justin Williams' raw race video even though Justin is the superior crit racer.
I completely disagree with the statement of "no climb is hard if you have the right gearing". There are climbs so steep that the main difficulty is keeping your bike straight because you hardly move at all, the front wheel has almost no contact with the ground unless you move all of your weight forward, the summit is within your eyesight for an hour but you never have a feeling of being any closer and the mental grind just kills your motivation. And you can't let off for even a split second because any drop in watts immidiately makes you stop. You have no confidence in your balance going that slow so every car passing you feels more threatening. The struggle is real and the gearing has no relevance in that case even if I grant you that such climb segments are pretty rare (for me that would be anything with at least 500m @ 20% or more but your mileage may vary).
Have you seen PTO (T100) races? They stared showing speed and HR data, fastest segment times and it made the race fun to watch compared to Ironman races.
As an avid watcher of both, his been a really excellent watch. Agree with PT that I feel like social media in cycling is already way too big, but its heavily focused on the influencer side which to me is an absolute joke. It's also a trap I think for people to want the really fancy equipment esp using the same stuff as pros, For me switching to an endurance bike has actually been great, stopped caring about being remotely aero (Even living in a very windy place) and just got more comfortable to spend some nice time outside. Hard recommend for Benji as well.
regarding the cadence topic. i think if you do LIT and force to not go for "mountain" climbs. you can achieve quite some consistency on the strokes per hours. I checked on my side an indoor ride and TH section (hilly) so over a duration of 2.5hrs i had per hour a stroke indoor only of 4% more strokes indoor... i had outdoor also some fairly steep downhills but could always pedal with the 52/11 combination... But in general i really like this metric thinking! good podcast you started
From the black and white thumbnail and glowing photo I thought for a second this was a memorial video and benji had passed…heart sunk for a second…very glad that wasn’t the case
Australia I recon would have the worst driving culture in the world. The number of close passes I put up with on a daily basis commuting is ridiculous.
i would prefer to listen to the sports nerds like LRCP or cyclingdane than ex conti pros with a show that talk about "what's going on in the cycling youtube space?!"
The Life Time GP series was excellent. The head of LT said the races are financially supported by the public events that run alongside them. That’s not a model I can see adopted in Euro road races.
Great episode with an unexpected guest and interesting topic selection! What kind of frame are you going to produce? Is it the Roubaix Concept frame you mentioned previously?
Great conversation! I’m also really interested in that little teaser you put out there about designing a bike frame!
7 หลายเดือนก่อน
Have you considered having a talk with "Hardtail Party"? He's really experienced with all sorts of hardtail bikes, different geometries, materials, compliance, etc. Would be nice to listen to you two mix your knowledge
Great points... Completely agree, don't sell ads, build an authentic brand that people trust. That's could be worth far more. PS cycling needs a mascot like Taylor Swift 😂 reckon red bull is eyeing it up because the riders are young, interesting, relevant and cycling in Asia is growing
B I used to live in Dorking and riding in the south east is horrible because of the drivers. Lots of good trails around there so Gravel or XC MTB would be safer. With the weight loss, ignore Cal's focus on fat consumption reduction. It takes way longer to burn off fat than Cal's or so I am told
Benji, the Surrey Hills are really great for cycling…Coldharbour Lane, Whitedown, Box Hill etc. Worth it even if you have to drive there, to avoid the A25. 🫤Join local cycling club - they know all the good routes and will welcome you adoringly🤞Make a vid of the ‘Octopus’ ride for the channel. That’s the perfect watts per kilo test for you. 😬
Thanks for having me on, mate. Always love talking to people passionate about the sport I love, but in a slightly different way. Opens new perspectives, and makes for good friends. 💪
Whos that then? :)
It is awesome to hear your (Benji's) story. This is making me a bigger fan of you and Patrick. VERY human.
I had no idea you were that tall 🤯
Hey Benji, cool that you cycle all the time. even when i was a over 5w/kg rider i was always using a small ring of 34 and i have allways a 36 rear biggest sproket... i can only suggest that for any climb, i would sometimes even prefer to have higher gearing available...
Matey confirmed his "youtube grifter" status:
- using relatives and their personal issues to play on public emotions ✅
- having an engorged ego ✅
- not hesitating to throw shade and publicly shame others who might not see us as superstars unlike the brainwashed audience ✅
Lanterne 'the love guru' Rouge responsible for Benji meeting his wife, you love to see it
The crossover we didn't know we needed. But the one we deserve.
Thank you for a wonderful conversation!! You are both examples of what can be achieved in the cycling TH-cam space when you are genuine, honest and care about the quality of what you produce. I felt as though I was listening to two old friends catching-up with each other after being apart for a while. I am a true fan of all of the content that each of you create.
Cheers. This was the first time I had ever talked to Benji, and we just hit record. We got on pretty good i think!
Peak out here casually knocking out awesome interviews with awesome people.
Appreciated the push to get lower gearing for newbies. I bought an old carbon road bike to start cycling and it came with 11-25 rear gearing. I didn't even realise it was an issue until the first time I rode with others (of about the same fitness) to notice how much I was suffering up hills.
...I still haven't done anything about it though 😬
Dear Peak, thank you for your really great videos on this channel. I truly believe you are adding a real value to our sport through your talks , videos, reviews and even sometimes lectures. For me only few types of videos are missing. One could be a video to sum up the longevity of the different component of your bike in one video. And another one could have been a video on the Arkea Ultim Challenge, in the same way as you did for the Vendee Globes ! In all the cases thanks again for this great content, I am still a student but will be more than pleased to be a patreon once I have a paycheck !
I did already start a username for a peak torque sailing channel but its super niche! Ahah. Not uploading anything yet. But thanks for your suggestions.
I run 11 speed GRX with 46/30 and 11-40 cassette no problem!
Very interesting conversation. Loved hearing that you're talking about creating a frame. Can't wait to hear more about that.
how do manufacturers calculate stress on a frame? I heard the industry standard is 60+ tonnes through the seatpost? That seems a very high number, is this correct?
Couple thoughts, I couldn't help but feel like Benji was getting a lot of unsolicited advice here unnecessarily. Also, just because driving sucks in Hong Kong doesn't mean you can't complain about it in the UK. (American here so I get the car culture wanting to murder all cyclists).
Following Benji around on different social media platforms means I get to continually learn new things about cycling from new-to-me folks. Thanks for this interview and all the info!
Jez Cox is a very good commentator, but he does seem to be on the 'outside' of the cliquey group of others, apart from Robbie McEwen.
Just to be clear, we Americans don’t care about the Lifetime series besides maybe a few newbs to gravel.
Thank you both for this. I was trying to think why, apart from being a fan of your individual output, did this interview just bring me joy, and I think it’s because as a TH-cam consumer, you’re generally so starved of genuine sincerity and here, even in the interview environment you both continue to have it in spades.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I disagree about there being a lack of metric for indoor/outdoor riding. If you're not pedaling outdoors, your power will be lower, and thus reflected in the average power, normalized power, or whatever metric you use for training load. A 1 hr swift race or a 1hr outdoor criterium are both extremely hard and I feel shattered after both, but it's a very similar feeling, and both have a relatively small TSS.
Really appreciating this long form content Peak, I feel like it balances the slightly more controversial takes on the regular videos very well; you do a good job as a host and the conversations turn out really insightful 👌🏻
Like I've seen other comments say on previous episodes, I definitely feel like I'm left with some extra knowledge as a result of watching this, as opposed to just killing time and listening to some hot takes, like on other cycling podcasts; so keep at it if you can, this is proper stuff 🙂👍🏻
Cheers
👌 I’m always a fan of crossovers with my favorite personalities. Good job, guys!
Great interview. Really enjoy his podcast/analysis on LRCP especially after GCN evaporated... It's always good to learn a bit more about the personalities behind it.
José Been is probably the best commentator in the gcn/eurosport/discovery lineup. Can’t believe anyone could complain about her. Particularly when we have Sean Kelly and Wiggins kicking around spouting nonsense!
Absolutely agree. We need her and Rob Hatch and no one else~
Benji sounds like the kind of Bloke you would want as a friend.
I'm actually a bad friend because I always forget to text back or to catch up with people. 😅
Yeah, Nah..... :-) Ask LR what that means.@@BenjiNaesenTV
i'm happy for LR's success and them getting recognized by the pro teams. in sports, there are many enthusiastic fans who share their thoughts on the game on forums (realGM etc) or youtube. legit expert or not, some fans just become good observers of the game.
Can't you just change the crankset to some sub compact or whatever its called? Surely don't need 48 or 50 on big ring anyways?
I live in Asia... Definitely finish a ride feeling mentally exhausted after dealing with the crazy traffic situation.
Absolutely loving these podcasts
Fascinating to see two smart young men looking to develop and monetise their considerable talents. Big fan of both and emotionally invested in LRCP. Maybe an age thing, but Im also totally sympathetic to and respectful of more mainstream commentators and presenters….like Carlton, Rob, Brian, Dan&Si, Ollie, Jose, Chris H etc etc. Theyre all talented, knowledgeable and hardworking people that know a lot more about cycling than I do. 👍
Fantastic! I want to remark on the data metrics like F1. I would love to see all the data metrics of the riders on screen, heart rate, power, W/kg, lactate, especially normalized against their capacity. Particularly during critical moments. Oh, rider X is in the red zone holding 440W with an FTP of 390W and look at his lactate skyrocket, while rider Y is in the draft, CdA 0.2, he's doing 350W, under his FTP of 360W, but his lactate is also rising because he has 4000kJ in the legs, whereas rider X was shielded in the bunch for 4 hours - who will crack first?
One metric I dislike is when in a race they show the speed of the peloton vs the break. Totally meaningless. The conditions in the break and at the front of the peloton are never the same. Show the gap and maybe add a real time gap-delta so at a glance it's easy to see if the peloton is gaining or losing. I think eventually we'll get there, where we have realtime data, in part because so many more people are riding with power and attentive to their own metrics. Naturally they will want to see what is going on in races. Also, having real time data would make the rider's performance more transparent... perhaps why it might not be adopted. Anyway, just some thoughts!
Love that part about Eurobike and equipment in general being detached from pro racing. And TH-cam: Insta and TT have much greater audience and better suggestion algos to push the product.
Maybe that's how easily we can accept whatever the snakeoil superlube there is, because of a bubble we live in. Especially folks still reading newspapers.
Hi from Hong Kong. I guess you get used to riding in the traffic. At least there aren't any "bikejackings" like in London.
Swings and roundabouts.
Cheers
Two of my personal favourites in the cycling world. This was pretty great
@BenjiNaesenTV personally, 3 W/kg seems like a more realistic goal, good luck either way! I have set goals that are too far out from where I am and get discouraged, but that could just be my personal issues 😅
I feel most of LRCP haters are oldies, seen better days, know their old school ways are dead & like to bully people. I love Benji & Patrick I think they are the future of cycling along with all the young superstars riders.
Have to disagree. I have lived in London and Sussex and done a lot of cycling around Surrey. Currently in Liverpool and cycle in Lancashire a lot. There is a lot more traffic in Surrey, but I think people are maybe a bit more used to bikes. I've found close passes, punishment passes and abuse to be worse in Merseyside and Lancashire, not by loads but it's certainly not any better. I think it's bad in the UK in general though. There's no infrastructure and drivers have no respect for cyclists. Belgium is one of the best places in the world to cycle and most drivers are also cyclists so the difference in infrastructure and attitude must be stark for Benji.
This was a lot of fun! I’ve watched you for a while and Benji via LRCP. I think your kind of content has a longer shelf life because your engineering expertise probably has less of a genetic cap on it and is timeless in a way. It sounds like you still get most if your income via a day job and I hope that the combo of whatever you get outta YT keeps you creating for as long as you want to.
I have enjoyed Benji for a few years now as he has gained "english speaking proficiency" you are a fine counter to Broe love your take.
Glad someone finally mentioned F1 and live telemetry data.
I think standardized manufacturer teams would help too. As opposed to teams whose names change every year
Good show. Not a big deal, but Benji was in the process of telling the funny story about how he acquired his bike, and you sort of cut him off. I do the same thing.
Great episode. I think Benji and Pat are the dopest dudes in cycling TH-cam.
I also listen to Benji and Patrick for the analysis part, they are almost always spot on and the delivery is great.
The GCN/Eurosport commentators are exactly that, they comment races and most of them are quite entertaining. So one could say each has their own corner in cycling and do not compete imo
Really liked this episode! Nice lad!
Would never have picked Peak Torque as shy! Comes across as extremely confident, with the knowledge and expertise to back it up.
Same with Hambini 🤣
Benji, I love your honesty and humility. You are special.
Re sponsorship, what you don't want is a situation where the sponsor talk slips seamlessly into your analysis. This happened recently with Patrick, a perfect segue, and it made me feel uneasy. Much better to do the Move/Lance thing of doing all the (many ads) at the start, with QR code on the screen, then move onto the chat.
Very interesting
1:07:24 I’d never thought about that on the Strava relative effort. It’s a good point
Thanks PT and Benji for a great convo!
Great show, thanks! I really enjoy the podcasts! Just a quick note about gearing, I think the easiest is to get a 2x gravel bike with a 46/30t chainset which probably comes with an 11-34t cassette, which you then switch out for a 11-40t. Works great for Shimano GRX 11sp even though officially the GRX 2x derailleur only works with 11-34t (I'm sure you can do something similar with sram). Put some fast 32mm tires on if you like it skinny or go for a 40mm if you like comfort on less than ideal roads. Perfect beginner (to advanced intermediate I would argue) road bike. If you find yourself running out of hard gears (first of all congratulations), you can easily switch to 48/31 (you might have to also change the cassette (maybe you kept the 11-34, that came with the bike?), not sure if 48/31 still works with 11-40 at the back).
I'm riding on 48/31 11-40 it works great. A friend is riding 46/30 and 11-42 at the back. works just fine
What cycling needs is more Peak Torque and Hambini !
Cant tell if thats a vase or a nalgene but either way I rate it
There should be a swarm of drones over the big races with beacons on the bikes. Directors could set individual drones to follow or switch between specific reiders. That along with graphics feeding speed and power etc would make a much more engaging viewer experience.
The noise would be like having a swarm of bees 🐝 around your head constantly. 😅
Not too hard to control for training load indoor vs. outdoor. Consider looking at work instead of hours/kilometers. 1 Kj is the same inside vs outside (of course minor differences in muscles used).
True. Apart from if on mountain or gravel rides where the kj measured by the output power meter is not representative of the extra kj in body work!
Excited for the bike frame! Lezzzgo! 😎👍💯
Again, great content ❤
Also thanks Benji for the great race insights!
@PeakTorque, it would be great if you could get an Escape Collective tech editor on
Great idea.
PT is the frame in development for TT or for road? Very interesting to see. Still waiting for the trinity build update too :)
road
Great video thanks guys.
Thumbnail-Benji brought me here
I got 105 r7000 - 50/34 with 11-32 immediately swapped for 11-36 and it works great straight out of the box. Absolute minimum and I am after serious training finally close to 4 W/kg, so for people closer to 3 W/kg setups that bike industry is currently selling are completely ridiculous. Like some people's minds are still in the 60s - take Emonda ALR - new frame but short cage derailleur AGAIN and 28c tire clearance. Trek are insane.
How much toe overlap will your frame have?
I've never heard a non-hungarian pronounce Budapest correctly until now.
Peshhhhht? Easy mate
It’s funny that I was bored of PCM game much faster than watching Benji’s PCM content… actually I probably would watch it untill now despite not playing the game for a long time ☺️
Great chat. On the topic of wanting a 11-36 cassette at 1:13:45, I run 11-36 without issues, unmodified. Shimano spec sheet says my medium cage derailleur tiagra limit is 11-34 but 36 works well. Just needs B limit screw wound in. This saves buying a GRX derailer. The easier gears and the PT front 180mm disc adaper makes hills up and down better.
Bit late on this - but the default sram rival setup of 46/33 or 43/30 on the front and 10-36 on the back is insane range and 'great' value (as far as you can go for price with batteries...)
Great talking points. Re gear ratios - I found myself rarely using the 11 cog and the 34 cog to 34 chain ring was still un-necessarily hard on big hills just taking the fun out of it. Changed from 12s Ultegra to a 11s GRX chainring (48-31) and pretty much everything is achievable. Suffering no longer required.
great podcast, love the honesty from both of you!
I've enjoyed watching Benjis videos... i'm a big guy (bigger than you where at your max) but also a little taller... gearing has always been an issue on road bikes, my first road bike I ended up going to a triple crankset (this was an old 7/8 speed bike). my touring bike runs MTB bits so a 34t cassette and a 22t crank, my current road bike had sram red 10 spd stuff I ended up changing the rear der so I can get up to a 36t cassette (in spec) and a triple crank but removed the big ring (no need for 125 gear inch... even running the 42t i've got a 100 gear inch... I've also dropped the granny to a 26t, so a 19 gear inch. to100 gear inch range covers me with even stupid slow... 80 cadence is at 4.5mph (7.2 kph)... changing the crankset gearing makes so much of a difference... you may have to go used... but it is a wonderful thing.
Really found that very interesting. What about track cycling. Go along enjoy a beer watch lots of short exciting events and you can see the whole thing from a comfy seat. Excited about your frame building project. That will be extremely interesting. I would think very expensive as i would think the volume will be small especially if you are going to do different sizes. Good luck
You should drop a Peak Torque style thoroughly engineered clickbait title/thumbnail just to prove your TH-cam worth. Perhaps on 1st April. I can only see good things coming from this channel and monetisation will help with the longevity
If you start putting black rectangles as your thumbnail, then you'll be as cool the TheDarkInstall. Not a bad thing...
Non-UCI compliant is a great idea, I mean the target market is probably never going to be troubled by UCI commissaries as they leave their house or participate in sportives/fondos.
I've enjoyed the chat, but a mention of Peak Torque frame is particularly exciting! You know, with your recent gravel bike content you got me to look deep into gravel bike geometry, which led me to find out that a road bike with slightly wider tire clearance doesn't make for a good gravel bike. That's exactly what 99% gravel bikes on the market currently are. I designed something quite different, which in theory should be fast and capable pretty much anywhere. I need to get it built though, probably out of chinese titanium...
Just swap to a GRX crankset, 46-30. No other changes and you’ll be happily flying up the hills with less grinding.
I agree Telemetry Sells cycling coverage - I get more TH-cam views than I would expect on my videos because of telemetry making it more interesting as raw video is not that engaging unless you are in the video or are e-scouting the ride/segment - I subscribe/view/like Jeff Linder's NorCal Cycling race videos with commentary and telemetry but rarely watch Justin Williams' raw race video even though Justin is the superior crit racer.
I completely disagree with the statement of "no climb is hard if you have the right gearing". There are climbs so steep that the main difficulty is keeping your bike straight because you hardly move at all, the front wheel has almost no contact with the ground unless you move all of your weight forward, the summit is within your eyesight for an hour but you never have a feeling of being any closer and the mental grind just kills your motivation. And you can't let off for even a split second because any drop in watts immidiately makes you stop. You have no confidence in your balance going that slow so every car passing you feels more threatening. The struggle is real and the gearing has no relevance in that case even if I grant you that such climb segments are pretty rare (for me that would be anything with at least 500m @ 20% or more but your mileage may vary).
Have you seen PTO (T100) races? They stared showing speed and HR data, fastest segment times and it made the race fun to watch compared to Ironman races.
As an avid watcher of both, his been a really excellent watch. Agree with PT that I feel like social media in cycling is already way too big, but its heavily focused on the influencer side which to me is an absolute joke. It's also a trap I think for people to want the really fancy equipment esp using the same stuff as pros, For me switching to an endurance bike has actually been great, stopped caring about being remotely aero (Even living in a very windy place) and just got more comfortable to spend some nice time outside. Hard recommend for Benji as well.
regarding the cadence topic. i think if you do LIT and force to not go for "mountain" climbs. you can achieve quite some consistency on the strokes per hours. I checked on my side an indoor ride and TH section (hilly) so over a duration of 2.5hrs i had per hour a stroke indoor only of 4% more strokes indoor... i had outdoor also some fairly steep downhills but could always pedal with the 52/11 combination...
But in general i really like this metric thinking!
good podcast you started
Great chat, guys! Appreciate the real experiences shared. Looking forward to more of these conversations. Keep up the good vibes! ✌
From the black and white thumbnail and glowing photo I thought for a second this was a memorial video and benji had passed…heart sunk for a second…very glad that wasn’t the case
I would totally agree with your ~4w/kg being that most people can achieve, and anything in the 5w/kg needs genetic gifts
Australia I recon would have the worst driving culture in the world. The number of close passes I put up with on a daily basis commuting is ridiculous.
i would prefer to listen to the sports nerds like LRCP or cyclingdane than ex conti pros with a show that talk about "what's going on in the cycling youtube space?!"
The Life Time GP series was excellent. The head of LT said the races are financially supported by the public events that run alongside them.
That’s not a model I can see adopted in Euro road races.
I run ultegra with a GRX 2x 46:30, and an XT 11:40 cassette. Works perfectly on road and gravel.
Great episode with an unexpected guest and interesting topic selection! What kind of frame are you going to produce? Is it the Roubaix Concept frame you mentioned previously?
Thanks!
1:27:07 yeah don’t bother with uci. Every changing rules
Thank you Chaps ❤
The podcast's name is lost on Aussies
just purchased your 180mm adapter for my Bianchi XR4 Awesome
55:40 same as Singapore. I think cost of cars are so much you feel entitled to the road.
11-36 SRAM 11 speed fits Shimano free hub and shifts fine 👍🏼
Benji, you can make Z2 ride interesting by concentrating the video on the environment, cafe stops etc.
smaller chainrings are better for us too, who really pedals over 50 kph
Great conversation! I’m also really interested in that little teaser you put out there about designing a bike frame!
Have you considered having a talk with "Hardtail Party"? He's really experienced with all sorts of hardtail bikes, different geometries, materials, compliance, etc. Would be nice to listen to you two mix your knowledge
He was talented footballer lol
super excited to see peak frame.. it's going to be so much better and radical than the openroomen frame
Great interview!
Great points... Completely agree, don't sell ads, build an authentic brand that people trust. That's could be worth far more. PS cycling needs a mascot like Taylor Swift 😂 reckon red bull is eyeing it up because the riders are young, interesting, relevant and cycling in Asia is growing
B I used to live in Dorking and riding in the south east is horrible because of the drivers. Lots of good trails around there so Gravel or XC MTB would be safer. With the weight loss, ignore Cal's focus on fat consumption reduction. It takes way longer to burn off fat than Cal's or so I am told
Benji, the Surrey Hills are really great for cycling…Coldharbour Lane, Whitedown, Box Hill etc. Worth it even if you have to drive there, to avoid the A25. 🫤Join local cycling club - they know all the good routes and will welcome you adoringly🤞Make a vid of the ‘Octopus’ ride for the channel. That’s the perfect watts per kilo test for you. 😬
But getting scuffed by a tinted window audi q7 in Esher is part of the fun no?