“Here’s a man who never buys his own bearings”: Peter Sagan pressure washes his poor Specialized…and people aren’t happy; Cereal offender; How to watch our James May interview; School bike buses + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"Here's a man who never buys his own bearings": Peter Sagan pressure washes his poor Specialized...and people aren't happy
Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you, no bike ask for
Under pressure that wears a bearing out
Splits an S-Works in two
Puts grease on streets…
Making sure my @iamspecialized beauty is fresh and clean before we fly to Utah for a long training session!@TeamTotalEnrg @TotalEnergies @sportful @ride100percent pic.twitter.com/GjtMK1x35g
— Peter Sagan (@petosagan) May 11, 2022
Peter Sagan is doing some of that sponsor-plugging that pro riders love to do (yesterday, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl suggested Julian Alaphilippe could only begin his rehab on Tacx rollers) …
Anyway, the three-time world champ has outdone the two-time world champ…sharing a video of him jetting his S-Works clean of all dirt (and grease) after a ride. He’s jetting off himself too…heading to Utah for “a long training session”. That kind of makes it sound like he’s going to do one seven-day endurance ride and then head home…but we’re not here to question Sagan’s training, only his bike washing…
Anyway, the reaction to the vid was pretty predictable…
Are unlimited bottom brackets part of your contract?!
— Euan Gordon (@EuanGordon1) May 11, 2022
Luckily for you your mechanic will be replacing those bearings.
— Jay (@Mtnbiker15) May 11, 2022
Those poor bearings pic.twitter.com/AhiCh04W4Y
— Mellow Velo (@m3llowvelo) May 12, 2022
I’m so glad you are not cleaning my Specialised Tarmac bike!
— Paul Jefferies (@jefferies918) May 11, 2022
I guess when your bike only has a lifespan of a year before you get a shiny new one, it doesn’t really matter what you do to it…
Case for the defence?
Imagine an entire thread of comments telling a professional cyclist how he should be washing his bike 💀
— Devin Columbus (@dcolumbus) May 12, 2022
Yesterday's Giro stage...
The peloton today#Giro105 pic.twitter.com/N6K6yiNJSY
— Cycling What Ifs 🤌 (@cyclingwhatifs) May 12, 2022
At least today we should get some action…
196km and 4,500m of vertical gain…this could get interesting…
💗 Giro d’Italia 2022 💗
🚴♂️Stage 7⃣ | 🚴♂️ Tappa 7⃣
📌 Diamante – Potenza ⭐⭐⭐⭐
📏 196 km
⏰ Start / Partenza 11.40 AM
🏁 Arrival / Arrivo ~ 5.15 PM
📺 11.40 AM @raisport – 11.30 AM @Eurosport_IT
📊 Live: https://t.co/fXV9eXe6s2Powered by @ENIT_italia#Giro pic.twitter.com/YAWuyDTC6z
— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 13, 2022
Bad news for Cav, not that he’d be winning today anyway, but leadout extraordinaire Michael Mørkøv has abandoned the race after developing a fever overnight…
Cereal offender: police crack down on reckless driving after woman caught eating bowl of cereal
4pm road.cc YouTube: we talk to James May for Drink at Your Desk Friday
Apologies if you’re sick to death of the reminders…
And for a teaser of what to expect…James May: “I can’t stand road sectarianism – it’s all b*llocks”
Bike buses: the best way to get to school
Second cycle- this morning, school bike bus from Gheluvelt Park up to @North_Worcester absolutely brilliant- children and grown ups were fab and drivers were generally considerate 😊 loving the growing active travel community @BikeWorcester pic.twitter.com/6PQqhOEFuv
— Playful_Lists (@PlayfulLists) May 13, 2022
POLL: Is pressure-washing your bike okay?
As with seemingly everything in cycling, nobody can agree if jet-washing your bike is safe or not. Does it blast out all that much-needed grease? Or, if it’s good enough for the pros is it good enough for you?
What could possibly go wrong? 'Celebrities' try track cycling for ITV's The Games
ITV’s The Games, an attempt at entertainment — involving ‘celebrities’ competing against each other in sporting challenges — was back on the telly last night. And this week they had their female celebs racing a Keirin on the track at the Lee Valley Velodrome (kind of disappointed they didn’t choose the Madison to be honest). What could possibly go wrong?
It was (perhaps unsurprisingly for six people who have presumably never ridden on a velodrome before) an absolute crash fest…
Eventual winner Chelcee Grimes had fallen before the race even got underway, then there were another couple of crashes once the derny was up and running. In a who’s who of who the beep are you? Christine McGuinness came second while Olivia Attwood and Lucrezia Millarini both crashed out…
At least the viewers are enjoying the show…
ITV The Games. I need a F**king medal for enduring an hour of that shite!! Can’t take anymore. Absolute pile of steaming 💩💩
— John Branning (@jbrann85) May 9, 2022
God knows ITV have some terrible programmes but The Games really takes the biscuit. Would rather hang the TV out the window and watch the aerial.
— David Shand (@MrYelmorbSD) May 9, 2022
You've convinced me...
If you’re not watching the Giro, you should be!
— Daniel Lloyd (@daniellloyd1) May 13, 2022
Not that I needed any convincing to be fair…we’ve been glued to stage seven…
Moments ago, and with 139km to go, Richard Carapaz, yes, GC favourite Carapaz was in an attack with Mathieu van der Poel and teammate Jhonatan Narváez. They’re back in the peloton now, but it’s that sort of day…get it on asap…
Happy Global Baggies Day
Endura has launched Global Baggies Day to remind us all to chill out and not take life so seriously…
Hearing that particular message from retired pro racers living our dream may seem a little preachy, so have a read of our sister site off-road.cc for our take on what it’s all about…
In short: “Global Baggies Day is meant to be an irreverent rallying cry for everyone, including ourselves, not to take life’s more minor trivialities too seriously, especially when there’s plenty of genuinely serious stuff to worry about at the moment.
“So, whenever we catch ourselves fretting about the unnecessary, take a breath, and come and join us on May 13th for a ride in baggy shorts instead – a wee reminder that life’s too short, not baggies, so let’s enjoy it,” James Russell-Watson, Head of Marketing at Endura, said.
'Cyclist' or person who happens to be riding a bike?
As a cycling news website which reports on crime and wider road safety issues, we often have to ask ourselves a question when deciding whether or not to run a story: is the person a ‘cyclist’ or just somebody who happens to be using a bike at that time?
At risk of delving deep into a semantics rabbit hole, there is, it seems to us, some cases when a person may be given the ‘cyclist’ tag, and others when another title might be better suited.
For example, a bank robber fleeing the scene of a crime by bike wouldn’t be something we’d report on…they’re a bank robber not a cyclist, even if they were riding a bike.
Where am I going with this? Well, we’ve seen a couple examples this week on social media and other news websites…
Please be aware of your surroundings. We have had reports of snatches of mobile phones in Hyde Park by cyclists as they pass pedestrians, especially on the footpaths where cycles are not permitted.
— Royal Parks Police (@MPSRoyal_Parks) May 11, 2022
Would “thieves riding bicycles” be better than “cyclists”? Probably. Does it even matter? I’d be interested to hear what you think…
Question, did you consider using ‘thieves on bikes’ rather than ‘cyclists’ or not?
— TK421 (@TK421VELO) May 12, 2022
Because they’re on a bike. Next question?
— Jane Chapman (@JaneyCMJ) May 11, 2022
Please be aware of your surroundings. We have had reports of snatches of mobile phones in Hyde Park by people riding bicycles as they pass pedestrians, especially on the footpaths where cycles are not permitted.
— Herzberg (@herzberg19) May 11, 2022
Elsewhere this week, the Metro ran a story titled: ‘Cyclist fined for using bank cards in wallet stolen by fox and dropped in street’. Admittedly your first question about that headline may be to do with something other than an erroneous noun…
Yes, Qasim Hussain was riding a bike when he found the wallet, and rode to the shops to use the card. Does that make him a ‘cyclist’? I’d argue not.
If you’re still reading this then you deserve some sort of award, but I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter. It’s one we deal with every day, but writing news stories and live blogs all the time can be a bit of a wood for the trees situation…some fresh perspectives would be gratefully received…
Tom Dumoulin tries, and tries again, to shift breakaway companions
🇮🇹 #Giro
We’re approaching the last categorised climb and @koenbouwman & @tom_dumoulin are still part of the breakaway. Gap between the leaders and the peloton is four minutes ⏱️
🏁 37 km pic.twitter.com/D1hgch9cBm
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) May 13, 2022
29km to go…Tom Dumoulin and Jumbo-Visma teammate Koen Bouwman are at the head of the race alongside Bauke Mollema and Davide Formolo. On the final climb of the day and holding a three and a half minute advantage, it seems they’ll stay away until the finish. Who will win? One of the three Dutchmen or an Italian?
Dumoulin’s just launched his third attack of the climb, countered by compatriot Mollema. The next hour or so will be very interesting…
James May talks bikes! | Drink at your desk Friday
Koen Bouwman wins stage seven of the Giro d'Italia
Koen Bouwman wins stage 7 with some huge power in Potenza! ⚡ The Jumbo Bees got it right. 👏🐝 #Giro pic.twitter.com/o55sdpkVZZ
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) May 13, 2022
In the end, Tom Dumoulin was on teammate duty for faster-finishing Koen Bouwman on the eight per cent ramp to the finish line at the end of stage seven. Bouwman easily beat Bauke Mollema and Davide Formolo, and also took the KOM jersey on the road too.
Dumoulin got his arms in the air to celebrate too, crossing the line a few seconds back in fourth. No significant changes to speak of in the GC group, in fact, no changes at all. That should change over the weekend: tomorrow is an exciting-looking circuit race around the hills of Naples, Sunday takes the riders up Blockhaus…who’ll still be in the race for pink come the second rest day?
13 May 2022, 08:07
13 May 2022, 08:07
Following on from yesterday's angry people in local newspapers...
Business owners claim Tour of Cambridgeshire will cost them £10,000
“A lot of effort and consideration goes into minimising the disruption caused,” say the event’s organisers
13 May 2022, 08:07
13 May 2022, 08:07
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Latest Comments
If the man can't turn his head to check his blind spot he shouldn't be on the road
Follow the road rules. Why is this even a discussion? Because the road rules are not adequately policed. …Solution: how about £100 fines for everyone flouting the road rules / risking cyclists lives on social media and in council chambers, as well as on the roads? That should stop this ongoing waste of time.
@Rendel Harris you've painted a rather alluring picture of social harmony there, but unfortunately you've got my name wrong. I'm Jack, not Nigel. However, to return the compliment, I must think of a story for you. I imagine you sat outside a pub, real ale and pipe propped on the adjacent table, in a similar fashion to Nigel Farage at his populist best. You turn to your wife. "You know what dear? I think I've been a bit harsh in my time. I've shunned the politeness and wisdom of others for too long and want to change my ways.* "There there Rendel", says Mrs Harris. "You're not a bad old stick, it's just living in London that's emptied your soul of kindness and compassion. I've found a lovely new place where we can settle down in our later years. It's on a leafy cul de sac, surrounded by friendly neighbours and smiling faces. There's a guy a couple of doors down, a remarkable man. As well as his towering intellect and rapier wit, he's also a keen cyclist, holding severa local KOMs. Don't be perturbed dear - he'll ride with anyone provided they show other road users the kindness and courtesy they deserve." Rendel turned emotionally, voice shaking. "Oh my dear, thank you for this second chance", and with that the rest of the pub goers turned and applauded the couple, throwing garlands of petals in their wake. The end.
As a Councillor, Edward needs to be paying some attention to all that parking obstructing visibility and manoeuvres at the junction, and sorting out those radii.
Ed Hill was chucked out by Reform in 2025, though TBF to him it was about how to run it rather than ideology I think. He is now reportedly closer to Advance UK, which is distinctly more extreme than Reform. I'd call this Alan Amos style attention seeking.
Emily, thank you for such an insightful piece. I’m a man, but I enjoy watching the women’s races, possibly more than the men’s. The racing is so much closer, we rarely know who’s going to win. You painted a wonderful picture of how a true champion is able to ‘rise above’ setbacks and distractions, and focus their energy on the task in hand. ‘All’s fair in live and war -and sport, but always good to hear riders expressing their admiration for their competitors
@Nigel Garage ...and then everyone applauded my courtesy and I waved courteously to all the people who were courteously throwing flowers and cheering and courteously waving flags that said "Nigel is the best!"
The picture from street view clearly shows give way lines from the roads to the green painted cycle/pedestrian lane. The road user should give way (or must...) to the user of the green lane. This would of course apply to any cyclist on the roadway.
If I recall there is a cave or two along the route - perhaps they were sheltering from the heat in one of those having taken it for a Golf bunker?
“So if there’s a cyclist travelling down the cycle path at the moment, from this position I can’t see them because my blind spots are too big on the left hand side of the vehicle”, claims Hill. Well, there's your problem, right there...🙄
25 thoughts on ““Here’s a man who never buys his own bearings”: Peter Sagan pressure washes his poor Specialized…and people aren’t happy; Cereal offender; How to watch our James May interview; School bike buses + more on the live blog”
The case for the defence is
The case for the defence is GCN’s video Should You Jet Wash Your Bike?
For those that can’t be bothered to watch the video – if you try really really hard and blast your bottom bracket really solidly from about an inch away from the inside of the crank consistently for a few minutes you can start getting some water ingress (they did 85s with no ingress – only after smashing for 2 minutes solid, and 3:25 in total, did they get ingress). So yea, for me the healthy dose of perspective is if you try to get water into your bearings with a pressure washer, you can probably manage it, but if you aren’t actively trying to break your bike, it seems like you probably won’t.
I dunno, my purely anecdotal
I dunno, my purely anecdotal and unscientific evidence is that our old fleet of demo bikes in our shop (Specialized funnily enough) seemed to always come back from days at trail centres suspiciously clean (or at least, that sort of ‘faux’ clean where the muck has been blasted off but no cleaning product has been used, a sort of faint patina of muck still left on the frame) and had no end of issues with bearings and seals etc. and just generally felt and sounded awful.
Maybe just a result of being used by a handful of neglectful customers (‘ride it like you’ve only put a £50 deposit down on it’) but put me off ever jet washing my own pride and joy.
Yeah but you’d not be jet
Yeah but you’d not be jet washing it like you only put a £50 deposit on it eh!
I assume that GCN did this as
I assume that GCN did this as a one off, on a brand new bike/ bottom bracket. The concern is not that you can trash your bearings in one go, but the damage to the seals is cumulative and shortens the life of the grease/ bearings.
I have seen a lot of articles over the years where pro team mechanics are held up as experts in bike maintenance, but they really aren’t as drivetrain consumable parts are treated by them as disposable whereas an amateur/ leisure cyclist on a budget needs their chain to last 000s of km, along with cassettes, chainrings, bearings etc.
The people to ask about bike cleaning and maintenance are the ones still running a mid 90s 8 speed Campag groupset who are committed to buying a new one “if it wears out”.
Exactly, what’s the rule of
Exactly, what’s the rule of thumb advice for riding through flood water, nothing deeper than the bottom of your frame as you’ll just end up trashing the BB bearings via water ingress, and likely the pedal and wheel bearings too.
Focusing high pressure water on those same areas, and specifically in the way Sagan shows, how is that not going to produce the same result ?
Every rider I’ve ever seen on video who pressure washes bikes has either the support of a professional mechanic, bikeshop or a bike manufacturer who simply constantly replaces bearings as consumables for them or replaces the whole bike yearly instead anyway.
It’s like I was never keen on Specs Future Shock tech, as it might have been ideal for Sagan to use in the Belgian classics but any long term mechanical issue caused by water ingress would never show up as the race bike would be discarded and replaced after those races.
Back in the 90’s we did a
Back in the 90’s we did a silly thing in Mountain Biking UK that involved riding deep under water, with SCUBA gear.
The bike was one we’d had on test, so we thought we better get it super-thoroughly serviced before we sent it back. Pete, the mechanic at (now sadly demised) John’s Bikes, reported no water in the bottom bracket or hub bearings, and was pretty confident that the combo of labyrinth & rubber seals on Shimano hubs of the time would resist jet-washing.
“But if you print that I’ll kill you,” he said.
Ahh John’s Bikes in Bath.
Ahh John’s Bikes in Bath.
Was an occasional visitor to Bath in my late teens early twenties, it being the first decent town down the M4 from me.
Fond memories of going to look at MTB Porn there and in Total Fitness whenever I visited.
The best thing was that if
The best thing was that if you hung out in there long enough you’d get to observe John Potter’s idiosyncratic relationship management technique as it applied to reps and awkward customers.
In commemoration of one incident his staff got him business cards that said:
John’s Bikes
John Potter — Proprieter
Here’s a fiver now fuck off
I’d trust alot of bike
I’d trust alot of bike equipment made in the 90s to be able to do that, I doubt the stuff we get made now is so similarly well engineered.
just ask those riders from Ride London in 2014 how their bikes fared after riding through the flooded underpass.
Carior wrote:
Possibly, but I am fairly certain that the £800 Triban I ride is not built with parts that provide the same kind of protection against these things that the multi-thousand quid bikes ridden by the GCN crew do.
Jetmans Dad wrote:
It would depend on the specific make of course but your Triban is very likely more robust and able to take abuse than a top-end racing machine; top racing bikes and components are generally designed on the assumption that their owners will be continually cleaning, oiling and fettling them and their lightness leads to fragility – look how often racers have to change their bikes in the course of a stage. Thoroughbreds need more kid glove treatment than carthorses.*
*I know next to nothing about horses, this metaphor may be bollocks.
moving on from the bearings,
moving on from the bearings, who washes thier bike like that with bottles still in the cages.
There is nothing ‘poor’ about
There is nothing ‘poor’ about Speciali*ed
ITV’s The Games – Well.. that
ITV’s The Games – Well.. that was akward to watch. I don’t think any one of them knew what the hell was going on at any point of that ‘race’.
How is “celebrity” defined
How is “celebrity” defined nowadays? I literally didn’t know who any of those women were!
Are you a judge ?
Are you a judge ?
brooksby wrote:
I’m pretty sure one of them is Paddy McGuinesses wife, but beyond that I’m also left in the dark. I think ‘selebratty’ is defined as anyone who wants to be famous and has either followers on social media and or has been on the tellybox.
One is Mel B’s (Spice Girl)
One is Mel B’s (Spice Girl) daughter, another was in Harry Potter I think…part of me is glad I dont recognise any of them because it means I dont waste my time normally watching the kind of rubbish they must have been in to qualify as celebs, though I must admit I did watch abit of this briefly just to watch the unfurling carnage.
Don’t know what the
Don’t know what the commissaires were playing at – first and second should clearly have both been disqualified for passing the derny.
I know I killed someone after
I know I killed someone after 10 pints and driving at 3 times the 20 mph limit but it’s simply not fair I am locked up for this long.
he had a prior drink driving
he had a prior drink driving conviction from 2014 too.
The most peculiar thing is
The most peculiar thing is that they were guessing whether he had made a guilty plea before he arrived at court from the way the article was written.
Guilty pleas are often made just before the case arrives when the defendant’s team look to see who turns up at court – hoping to get away with it if witnesses don’t turn up. You don’t get the full discount. Presumably they were arguing about whether the guilty plea was submitted in advance of the trial which gets a lesser sentence than on the day. TBF the guy didn’t get much off his sentence.
theres more case detail at
theres more case detail at https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/drink-driver-who-killed-salford-23940217
though it raises more questions, like I didnt think you had to give permission for the police to look at your phone for anything anymore, or to consent to them investigating your car, this is that crazy thing that theyve treated this simply as a motor vehicle collision, rather than manslaughter.
I mean when they arrest people charged with murder, they dont ask their permission to do a forensics check on their car do they ? or ask for permission to look at the murder weapon.
but it sounds like there was some sort of procedural screw up and enough legal wiggle room to say the plea hadnt been recorded properly. not withstanding I dont think you should get the full plea reduction anyway if your non cooperation with the police actually hinders their investigation and potentially destroys vital evidence.
I jet wash my bikes, lowest
I jet wash my bikes, lowest setting, never point it at hubs, BB or headset gaps. Nothing to worry about, just don’t get too close to bits you don’t want high pressure water applied to.
The most water damage I’ve had was when an oncoming car ignored a very deep puddle and effectively threw several buckets of water over me simultaneously – that destroyed my Fly12 which I left on my bike while jet washing (though to be fair I rarely bother washing the handlebars). My Fly6 has been jetwashed several times.
Cyclist scum !
Die cyclist scum !
https://twitter.com/popdeath/status/1525833766039609351