Welcome to FriYAY’s Live Blog with Liam Cahill (AM) and Simon MacMichael (PM)
The Downfall of eBikes; WTF of the Day – Send your clips in; Bespoked handbuilt bike show postponed; Froome: Portal “is completely irreplaceable”; World’s priciest bidon (probably); & more
All the news from the site and beyond
Fri, Mar 06, 2020 09:00
SUMMARY
6 March 2020, 09:00
HOW MUCH?!?
We come across some pretty hopeful prices on eBay for old tat, but this one takes the crown.
Ok, so it might be vintage and significant in the history of cycling (I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t around in 1985), but £443.83 for a used cycling bottle. Really?
If you really want to buy it, you can do so here.
6 March 2020, 09:00
Mountain Mayhem venue Marston Lodge tease 24hr race
On Tuesday off-road.cc brought you the news that the first UK cycling race had been cancelled due to Coronavirus as the organisers struggled to take out cancellation insurance. Today, our eagle eyed Jo Burt spots an Instagram post from the race venue Marston Lodge teasing a 24-hour race on the same weekend – who’s keen?
6 March 2020, 09:00
Teams allowed to field an extra rider at Paris-Nice
With Ineos, Astana, Mitchelton-Scott, CCC and UAE Team Emirates all sitting out Paris-Nice due to coronavirus concerns, organisers ASO have said that remaining teams will be allowed to field eight riders instead of seven.
Two teams from the UCI Pro Teams category – B&B Hotels-Vital Concept and Circus-Wanty Gobert – have also been invited to the race.
6 March 2020, 09:00
Stages launch power meter for gravel groupsets
Wondering how you were going to do your gravel intervals (grintervals)?
Well, Stages is now offering their G3 power meter on Shimano GRX left-hand cranks for $349.
If you’re based in the US then you can send your existing crank in for a factory fitting from $299. That makes this a reasonably cheap upgrade for your gravel bike.
6 March 2020, 09:00
Chris Froome: Portal "is completely irreplaceable"
The four-time Tour de France winner paid tribute to Nicolas Portal, the Team Ineos DS who passed away on Wednesday.
Portal had been in the DS role for all of Froome’s TdF wins and Froome says that ‘it’s hard to imagine where to go from here”.
Team Ineos decided yesterday to suspend their race programme until the Volta a Catalunya later this month. This is in part due to the shock of losing Portal and in part due to the ongoing confusion caused by the coronavirus.
6 March 2020, 09:00
Italian races now officially cancelled
Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-Sanremo, Giro di Siclia, Trofeo Binda and the Settimana Coppi e Bartali all scrapped in last 24 hours. No pro racing in Italy until the Tour of the Alps 20-24 April. Organisers hope to run all these races some point later this year
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) March 6, 2020
Following several days of rumours, some rather big races due to take place in Italy during March have been cancelled.
The organisers, RCS, have announced that Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan Sanremo will not take place, though they hope to run the race at a later date.
Also cancelled is the Coppi e Bartali, leaving a gap in the race calendar for many pros.
6 March 2020, 09:00
Bespoked postponed until October
The handbuilt bike show that always delivers some of the most interesting, wackiest and beautiful designs has set a new date later in the year due to coronavirus.
It’s the latest in an increasingly long line of trade shows to be cancelled after Sea Otter Classic was cancelled last night.
The new date for the show is October 16th – 18th with all presold entry tickets being carried forward to the new dates. Anyone seeking a refund can contact Ticket Line customer services
6 March 2020, 09:00
Video - Bombtrack Beyond Jnr. The Analog Kids
The Bombtrack Beyond Junior is ripe for some family bikepacking, the 24″ wheeled adventure bike is purpose-built for little people and specced so they can keep up with mum, dad and the siblings. The latest Bombtrack video will inspire some summer trips for sure, read more on off-road.cc
6 March 2020, 09:00
Jumbo-Visma pull out of Paris Nice
Based on medical advice Team Jumbo-Visma will withdraw from Paris-Nice.
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) March 6, 2020
Another team to put rider and staff safety first is Jumbo-Visma who, having announced that they wouldn’t be starting the Italian races, have now also pulled their team from Paris Nice.
Plan A ❌ Plan B ❌ Plan C ? 🤷🏼♂️
I want to thank my team for this brave decision. Health and family comes first! https://t.co/a7nurrcyNX— Wout van Aert (@WoutvanAert) March 6, 2020
The riders seem to be supportive of the decision, despite it being an early-season target with a lot of work gone into preparing for the race.
tough choices in crazy times. a huge amount of work went into this race as the first major goal of the year but the team has put rider welfare first. (hopefully) plenty more races to come. I’m glad they can think long term gains when I sometimes struggle to see past my nose. https://t.co/dbE2UzNszA
— George Bennett? (@georgenbennett) March 6, 2020
6 March 2020, 09:00
WTF of the day...
Well, we’ve thought of a new feature. First there was Near Miss of the Day, now we present to you WTF of the Day!
What happened here? Answers in the comments below. Socks for the funniest answer. Go.
6 March 2020, 09:00
WTF of the day - Send us your videos
We know that loads of you have cameras on your bike so if it happens to capture something mind-boggling then send it in for WTFotD.
It’ll be a bit like You’ve Been Framed, but we won’t give you £250, or coverage on ITV primetime.
We will be sending out T-shirts to the best contributors though.
You can email it through to info@road.cc
6 March 2020, 09:00
The Downfall of eBikes
It seems that Adolf has turned his ire towards eBikes.
This clip from the film Downfall has been re-subtitled for many amusing scenarios over the years and now it’s the turn of those dastardly motorised bicycles that people are using.
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Son of a Marathon runner, Nephew of a National 24hr Champion, the racing genetics have completely passed him by. After joining the road.cc staff in 2016 as a reviewer, Liam quickly started writing feature articles and news pieces. After a little time living in Canada, where he spent most of his time eating poutine, Liam returned with the launch of DealClincher, taking over the Editor role at the start of 2018. At the weekend, Liam can be found racing on the road both in the UK and abroad, though he prefers the muddy fields of cyclocross. To date, his biggest race win is to the front of the cafe queue.
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Latest Comments
htcltd 3 minutes ago
You have a good memory! I commented on my route decision. WUCA has really tried to clarify things with the supported vs self supported approach. In my Letter of Intent I laid out that I was going to do it self supported using the Tour Divide principles. So when my derailleur failed in China I organised a new one to be sent to a hotel in Mt Isa, when I tore my rain pants I got a Warmshowers host in North Dakota to receive the replacement, I never sought out people to ride with me, etc. But I still failed. I saw my wife at the end of each day in NZ (but I carried 100% of my kit at all time!), and I spent 2 nights staying with friends. So I think I got as close as possible to the principles of self supported as I could.
htcltd 4 minutes ago
You have a good memory! I commented on my route decision. WUCA has really tried to clarify things with the supported vs self supported approach. In my Letter of Intent I laid out that I was going to do it self supported using the Tour Divide principles. So when my derailleur failed in China I organised a new one to be sent to a hotel in Mt Isa, when I tore my rain pants I got a Warmshowers host in North Dakota to receive the replacement, I never sought out people to ride with me, etc. But I still failed. I saw my wife at the end of each day in NZ (but I carried 100% of my kit at all time!), and I spent 2 nights staying with friends. So I think I got as close as possible to the principles of self supported as I could.
htcltd 28 minutes ago
@mctrials23 When I was planning my 2025 World Record ride I raised this issue with Jenny Graham. She said Guinness was set up for records like balancing the most number of books on your head, not these multi day efforts. Fortunately, WUCA are putting in place much clearer rules and I expect that the Guiness rules will be less relevant. They are also quite limiting, I am the first disabled person to do the challenge, but Guiness don't recognise brain injury under their disability category. With regard to comparing the different routes, Mark Beaumont did a great GCN interview on this at the time of Laels last attempt. He pointed out that there are two approaches. Go fast which means avoiding Asia with big loops in North America, or keep to the 'spirit' of the challenge. The latter means if you put your route on the living room wall it looks like you circumnavigated the world. Jenny and Mark's rides were the latter, Lael's the former. I originally had a route very similar to hers but decided my record would be 'tainted' by being within the rules but not the spirit. So I went to one like Mark suggested, with over 7,000 km in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and China.
wtjs 1 hour ago
@mdavidford Same day, Same badge. They're out there! and no such driver has ever considered 'not driving' anywhere, or climate change, or not having a Panzer or 'cyclist ahead' etc. etc. ttps://upride.cc/incident/pg21fwa_bmw_uwlcross/
htcltd 1 hour ago
@mctrials23 When I was planning my 2025 World Record ride I raised this issue with Jenny Graham. She said Guinness was set up for records like balancing the most number of books on your head, not these multi day efforts. Fortunately, WUCA are putting in place much clearer rules and I expect that the Guiness rules will be less relevant. They are also quite limiting, I am the first disabled person to do the challenge, but Guiness don't recognise brain injury under their disability category. With regard to comparing the different routes, Mark Beaumont did a great GCN interview on this at the time of Laels last attempt. He pointed out that there are two approaches. Go fast which means avoiding Asia with big loops in North America, or keep to the 'spirit' of the challenge. The latter means if you put your route on the living room wall it looks like you circumnavigated the world. Jenny and Mark's rides were the latter, Lael's the former. I originally had a route very similar to hers but decided my record would be 'tainted' by being within the rules but not the spirit. So I went to one like Mark suggested, with over 7,000 km in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and China.
chocim 2 hours ago
@mdavidford Yeah, definitely Wilcox. And the depth of the research used here is also attested to by the consistent misspelling of Victor Bosoni's name...
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@swagman - Lots of cyclists own cars - Lots of those car-owning cyclists like to drive their bikes nice places to cycle (we don't all live in the Lake District) - Lots of those holiday-making-car-owning cyclists like to use campsites when they do that - Lots of those holiday-making-car-owning-camping cyclists would find this setup interesting – Ergo, it's not a new low for road.cc but a perfectly legitimate and appropriate product review.
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@swagman - Lots of cyclists own cars - Lots of those car-owning cyclists like to drive their bikes nice places to cycle (we don't all live in the Lake District) - Lots of those holiday-making-car-owning cyclists like to use campsites when they do that - Lots of those holiday-making-car-owning-camping cyclists would find this setup interesting – Ergo, it's not a new low for road.cc but a perfectly legitimate and appropriate product review.
mark1a 2 hours ago
Just to say your Tredz link is to the Continental Grand Prix, not the GP5000, they’re very different tyres.
Paul J 3 hours ago
Concur with KDee's comment. Also, how would a Vittoria T60 be the equivalent comparison, when this tyre has a centre section optimised for tarmac (or very hard packed gravel)? Surely Vittoria's T30 would be the equivalent?
29 thoughts on “The Downfall of eBikes; WTF of the Day – Send your clips in; Bespoked handbuilt bike show postponed; Froome: Portal “is completely irreplaceable”; World’s priciest bidon (probably); & more”
£443.83 water bottle; don’t
£443.83 water bottle; don’t forget the postage “Shipping: £51.18 Standard
to anywhere in the world, arrives in 1-3 weeks.”
I wonder if they’ve got two to make a matching pair?
If you look at it as art /
If you look at it as art / art esoterica rather than cycling esoterica then it starts to make a lot more sense (potentially) given the slightly mad prices that even a limited edition print signed by *someone other than the artist* can go for… example:
Limited Edition Print: Lithograph
Size: 11×8 in | 28×20 cm
Edition: From the edition of 1000
Estate Signed: Signed By the Executor of Haring Estate, Julia Gruen
$3,900 New Listing
Haring was iconic in the mid
Haring was iconic in the mid to late 80s. Think Banksy or Shepard Fairey (OBEY). Depends on how many survive, that could be unique and therefore collectable. His stuff was everywhere for a time – album covers, ads, caps, t-shirts.
It’s going to get a bit
It’s going to get a bit scratched in my bottle cage.
Danny’s gone electric
Danny’s gone electric!
https://singletrackworld.com/2020/03/what-the-heck-danny-macaskill-rides-the-new-santa-cruz-e-mtb/
Well lets hope that we have
Well lets hope that we have great weather this coming Spring so that we can all get out there every weekend – because let’s face it there won’t be any bike racing to watch on TV!
I’ve watched the WTF a few
I’ve watched the WTF a few times. My first instinct was that the rider dived in front of the car deliberately, but it’s clearly *not* that. You can see that the front wheel stops dead to the obvious surprise of the rider so I can only conclude that something breaks – a spoke pinging into the brake disc and getting caught in the caliper would do it.
I’m thinking some actual
I’m thinking some actual evidence of the incredibly dangerous nature of disc brakes.
We were warned.
In respect of the ‘WTF
In respect of the ‘WTF happened here?’… looks like the protagonist got his foot stuck in between the forks and the tyre.
Reminds me of the time I rode straight into the back of a stationary car at some lights which had just gone green, in my attempt to maintain an average speed.
foot brake: i’ve done that on
foot brake: i’ve done that on a folding bike on the way back from the co-op with beers in a carrier bag on the handlebar. my foot slipped between the wheel and the downtube and stopped me dead. the result was much like the above but with added beer and broken glass, and a bent fork 😀
PRSboy wrote:
You know what, I was actually looking for a foot caught in the wheel and didn’t see it, but on reflection you’re right, his right leg gets caught up between wheel and top tube.
Did he? I thought he lost
Did he? I thought he lost balance trying to avoid the wing mirror and then caught the car wheel with the foot going onto the floor?
Might be a bit 50-50 on both I suppose.
A pair of socks as a prize?
A pair of socks as a prize? That is a bit mean; you would get 250 quid off Harry Hill for that.
‘Kin tyre kickers. Serves him
‘Kin tyre kickers. Serves him right.
‘WTF happened here?’
‘WTF happened here?’
new technology developed by “man who pays road tax” ensures cyclists stop dead at red lights, literally!
Smidsy
Smidsy
An XR stunt that he hopes
An XR stunt that he hopes will catch on.
Re. Wtf, Just need to wait
Re. Wtf, Just need to wait for the VAR decision on any infringement
WTF Happened Here…
WTF Happened Here…
Jedi driver.
On a selfish note, this means
On a selfish note, this means I’ll finally be able to go to Bespoked this year – normally clashes with family holiday.
Elliott’s bicycle-flying
Elliott’s bicycle-flying skills have really deteriorated since ET went home.
(It’s based on the cyclist in the video wearing a hoodie, as the boy did in the film, but if you have to explain it…)
WTF
WTF
So that’s what he meant when he reminded me to unclip at a junction…
WTF: Can’t quite see the face
WTF: Can’t quite see the face underneath the hood but I’m ruling out Danny Macaskill.
What happened here? That
What happened here? That blonde woman is HOT! Also – kind = first to go to the guy’s aid 😉
WTF: “I thought this bike was
WTF: “I thought this bike was a bloody Evade!”
WTF: Running into the back of
WTF: Running into the back of one of those invisible cyclists.
WTF: Honest… I only had 2
WTF: Honest… I only had 2 beers.
WTF – looked to me like he
WTF – looked to me like he got his jacket/something else caught on the wing mirror of the car.
WTF : See a penny pick it up
WTF : See a penny pick it up and all day long you’ll have good…..bollocks