(logo swooshing)
- Welcome to the GCN Tech Show.
- Coming up, we've got
Continental GP 5000 tires,
a prototype SRAM groupset
spotted in Japan,
hot Taipei tech, your upgrades,
the Bike Vault, and more.
- Yeah, not forgetting our
main talking point this week,
are rim brakes gonna be
extinct in just two years?
- Anyway, nice to have you back, mate.
How's the jet lag?
- I'm pretty knackered.
- Is that why you're drinking coffee at--
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
(energetic electronic music)
(logo swooshing)
- This is the new Continental GP 5000,
which replaces the GP 4000.
And according to Continental,
it's been 12 years in the making.
And they reckon it has the following
improvements over the GP 4000.
- Well yes, starting with
12% less rolling resistance.
Now, they've attributed that to refining
the actual compound of the rubber,
their own proprietary BlackChili,
and then also upping the
thread count on the carcass.
There are now 330 threads per inch.
A bit like your Egyptian sheets, Ollie.
- Only the best, only the best for me.
Also more puncture
protection, 20%, in fact.
And that's attributed to an
improved Vectran breaker.
- And then not to be sniffed
at, five gram weight saving.
Every little helps, remember?
- And it's also said
to be more comfortable
and to reduce vibration,
which is apparently down to
a new way in which Continental
constructs the tire.
But for more information,
we have a first look video
on the new GP 5000, so tech that out.
- (laughs) In that video, Ollie,
you say that it has a sexy little box.
And actually, well, although
I chuckled at the time,
it does have a sexy little box.
- Looks so--
- Yeah, there we go.
Yeah.
- It's a nice package.
- Nice package all around.
Anyway, moving on.
As we mentioned at the top of the show,
it looks like SRAM have a prototype
groupset out in the wild.
We say it looks like 'cause
it's covered in masking tape.
But it is on the Team Katusha bikes,
and they're sponsored by SRAM.
Anyway, eTAP, yes, 12 speed, yes,
but all sorts of other
very cool-looking features.
- Yeah, we actually showed
this in the GCN Show,
but it's so hot and so cool,
we thought we'd show you again.
And Jon Cannings was on the ground
at the Saitama Crit and
actually spotted it.
So take it away, Jon.
- Well, guys, I don't
know if you know this,
but I'm in Japan this week
at the Saitama Criterium.
Whilst here I've just
managed to actually see this.
Looks to be a 12-speed
prototype groupset from SRAM.
So we've got a different style of design
of the rear derailleur, as you can see.
It's covered up here with
a little bit of black tape.
The cassette, that's a 10-28.
That's right, a 10-tooth sprocket.
Look at the chain as well.
That's actually got
flat outer edges on it.
So it's similar to what you'd find
on a BMX bike or something like that
where they go grinding
on rails, I understand.
Chain set though, look at that.
A total and utter redesign.
And get this, a 50-tooth
and a 37-tooth chain rings.
Because of course, if you've got
the 10-tooth sprocket in the rear,
you don't need a big 53 plate
to play with anymore, do you?
A 50 will be absolutely spot on.
That looks to be a new
Quark power meter too.
(logo swooshing)
- On to our main talking point this week,
which is are rim brakes going to become
extinct in the next two years?
Well, I've just got back
from the Taipei Bike Show,
and while I was there--
- How's that jet lag now?
- I'm, I'm still--
- Still jet lagged.
- Still on the coffee.
But while I was there I was able
to chat to Mark Vandermolen,
who is the MD of Vision and
FSA in the United States.
- Yeah, now considering that Vision
are a pretty huge wheel company,
selling both direct to us,
the consumer, and also
directly to bike manufacturers,
he's clearly in quite a privileged
position with quite a lot of insight.
- So Mark, with regards to disc brakes,
what's gonna happen?
What's the future of
disc brake wheel sets?
- Disc brake road, it's happening.
Maybe it's already happened,
depending on who you want to ask.
We're likely at the tipping point,
as far as the market goes,
between rim brake bikes
that you're gonna see at the
floor of your local dealer
and disc brake bikes,
which are currently heavy in development.
Whether that's an aero bike,
whether that's a TT or a trial bike,
all the way through road bikes,
and obviously gravel is huge.
So what you're seeing now is
that we might be at that point
where by this time next
year you're gonna find
that all those bikes that
you're seeing at your local shop
are gonna start to turn
out to be disc brake bikes.
And so that's just one part of
what's happening with wheels,
because with disc brake,
I think you're also gonna
be finding wider rims.
And with wider rims, you're
gonna find wider tires.
You're also gonna find tubeless ready.
- So with regards to sales of wheels,
as a wheel supplier, what proportion
are you currently seeing
disc brake and rim brake?
- Yeah, so for example,
the bikes that are being
specced and set up right now,
those bikes are gonna
be for sale next summer.
Those bikes will be launched.
They would call it a model year '20 bike.
It'll be sold in calendar
year '19, mid-season.
You're gonna see a majority if not all
of the performance level bikes
for that will all be disc brake.
- Really?
- Yeah.
- So it's coming.
- Yeah, it's coming.
That wave is coming,
that tsunami has started.
Maybe it started a long time ago.
But I think some bike brands
have kind of hedged their bets
and they've offered some models
both in rim brake and in disc brake.
But with the UCI kind of going to
the legalization of disc brake, full-on,
Ironman Hawaii with bike course records
being set on disc brake bikes.
I think any hurdles that
might have been there
from an aerodynamic perspective
or from a sporting perspective,
those are being removed.
And so by next year, I
think it'll be interesting
to see what happens at the Tour
and next summer and what's
going on with disc brakes there
and what's happening
at the Spring Classics.
But for sure, the disc brake is here.
- Do you think that we'll also,
so you're saying it's
going all disc brake.
But do you think we will see
the death of tubular tires,
and it will be clincher disc brake wheels?
Is that something that you've
thought about at Vision?
- A little bit.
I think there's still
some performance gains
to be had from tubular,
especially it may be,
save for track, for example.
Obviously tubular is a needed
necessity because of safety.
But also looking maybe at
some premium-level performance
where tubular is still
gonna be able to yield
the result that clincher might
not quite be able to touch.
Clinchers are arguably as
nice, depending on who you ask.
It's a very heated debate, for sure.
We're talking about disc brake
and rim brake and clincher and tubular
in the same conversation.
- We're stoking all the fires.
- Yeah, we're doing everything we can
to stir up the pot here.
So it's definitely a challenge.
You know, having ridden both,
depending on what that application was
and what my ride might be,
I might choose something different.
But from a pro tour perspective,
they still do prefer
tubular in a lot of cases.
However, you do find that
they're starting to go clincher.
And they're also starting
to look at tubeless-ready.
So there's a lot of things
that can be done with that.
- So one last thing, prediction time.
How long do you reckon it's
gonna be before all road bikes
are just disc, as in
every sort of road bike,
new bike that's sold.
- New bike.
New bikes that are sold
at a performance level,
I think that the bikes that we will see,
I think by next year,
by 2019 calendar year,
I think what we'll see
is probably 80 to 90%
of the bikes that are new bikes
that are gonna come out
are gonna be disc brake.
And I think by '20, I
think we'll be there.
Maybe it'll be longer,
but I'm thinking by '20 we'll be there.
- So by a couple of years.
- Yeah, not even, not even.
- There you have it.
Two years, all disc.
Awesome, thanks a lot for your time.
- All right, thank you.
- Nice talking to you, Mark.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
Right, there you have it, two years.
I guess we should start the countdown.
- Yeah.
(countdown beeping)
I mean, I like the idea
of a countdown clock,
but do you think that sound effect
will get wearing over two years?
Should we lose that bit?
Yeah, let's lose that bit.
Right, Ollie, what do you think, mate?
Is he talking the truth?
- It's interesting, but I think we should
just make it clear, rim
brakes will still exist.
They're not all gonna be
eradicated like the dinosaurs.
- Not a dinosaur extinction, okay.
No volcanoes here, or meteorites.
- But what Mark is suggesting
is that all the new bikes for sale
and available in the shops
will just be disc brakes.
- Yeah, I kind of know what he's saying.
But I mean, when we've seen
tech become extinct in the past,
like down tube shifters, I
don't think there were really
any merits of down tube shifters
over what replaced them,
i.e. Shimano STI and so on and so forth.
Whereas with rim brakes, there is still
a definite advantage in
certain applications.
They are cheaper, they
are easier to set up,
and they're still lighter, aren't they?
- Yeah, it's a good point.
And personally, unless disc brakes get
lighter than rim brakes
in the next two years,
for specialist applications
like hill climbing,
I would want a rim brake bike.
- Where you do have to use
your brakes, don't you?
- Well, yeah.
- Yeah, fair point.
What about you all at home?
What do you think on this subject?
I'd imagine it's gonna be some pretty hot,
heated responses to this.
So get involved in the comments section.
Any advocates of save the
rim brake, let us know.
(logo swooshing)
- Uh, more tech now.
Now, I don't know if I've mentioned
this already in the show,
but I've just got back
from the Taipei Bike Show.
- No, not much.
- Yeah.
Asia's biggest cycle industry
trade show, it's huge.
And Taiwan is arguably
the manufacturing capital
for the bike industry these days.
So there's loads of great stuff there.
- There was indeed.
How's the jet lag now, Ollie?
- Yeah, I'm suffering a fair bit still.
But one of the coolest things I saw
was this, which is called the HYCORE T1.
Now, this actually won an
award at the Taipei Show.
And it's a wheel that is
actually a sort of incorporated,
well, it's a self contained
E-bike within a wheel.
So in this tri-spoke design
you've got two 180-watt
motors and a battery.
And the idea is that you can convert
your existing non-E-bike
bike into an E-bike
by simply putting in this wheel,
which I think is a really neat idea,
and it means you don't need
to buy a completely new bike.
I think it's cool.
- It does look quite cool, doesn't it?
Yeah, right, now one of the things
I particularly liked
from your videos, Ollie,
was the new more affordable
Gates carbon belt drive.
As a system, I think it's great,
particularly for
applications like commuting,
because the belt drive is
almost maintenance free,
certainly when you compare it
to a conventional chain drive.
I mean, for a start, you
don't need to clean it,
which is mind-blowing.
But typically you've only ever found Gates
carbon belt drives on
bikes over about $1000.
But they reckon that they are now able
to manufacture it using
composite materials,
and so it's gonna be able to appear
on bikes around the $500 mark,
which is pretty cool
for commuters, isn't it?
- Yeah, it's always great to see tech
trickling down into more
affordable price points.
I'm always a big fan of that.
Something else which caught my eye
was these new glasses
from a company called--
- I see what you did there.
- Yeah, new glasses from
a company called Trieye.
Now, they're actually
a really simple idea.
They feature a small and discreet mirror
that's either in the bottom left
or bottom right of the glasses,
depending on which side
of the road you ride on.
And the idea here--
- I did have a chuckle in your video.
What side of the road do we drive on
in England?
- I couldn't remember.
Jet lag.
And then the idea is that you can use
this as a rear view mirror.
And it's just a really
neat but simple solution
that could improve road
safety for cyclists.
I think that's a good idea.
- Yeah, and you know what,
I'd actually be quite
interested to try that.
I've never felt the need to have
a rear view mirror while I cycle,
but then never has there been an option
that's quite so discreet.
So yeah, very interesting.
Canyon have clearly been busy
with launching their 2019 bikes,
including this one, which
caught my eye last week.
It's the new aluminum Grail.
So the aluminum version
of their gravel bike
that's existed in carbon up until now.
Because it's aluminum,
it's more affordable.
The entry level 1099 is
pounds, so about 1300 euros.
And just look at it,
that is one sexy bike.
- That is a looker, isn't it?
- Yeah.
- I mean, well, gone is the
marmite carbon hover bar,
which some people love
and some people hate.
But without it, I mean, that
is a really smart-looking bike.
- Isn't it?
Now, you'd think,
probably it's not gonna be
as smooth as the carbon version
'cause the really clever seat post
fixing on the carbon one is gone.
And of course, it doesn't
have that hover bar
which is designed to make
life particularly smooth.
But yeah, what a seeming bargain.
We've actually got a video where we look
in-depth at the carbon Grail,
and also their carbon
Inflite cyclocross bike,
because we put the two head to head.
Gravel bike versus cross
bike, what's the difference?
- Yeah, we invented a new sport as well.
- We did.
- Called gravel cross.
- Oh yeah.
- I was rubbish at it.
- All will be revealed on GCN on Sunday,
so make sure you check that one out.
(logo swooshing)
We are pleased to be able to announce
some winners for you on
the Tech Show right now,
because we've wrapped up
some of our wicked unboxings.
And so first up, we've
got the Cycliq Fly12 CE
and the Cycliq Fly6 CE camera lights.
Okay, you ready for this?
Your winners are Jake Park from Canada,
Stevan Vanneste from Belgium,
Edward Ngai from Austria,
Allen Kruckel, from the US,
and Aaron Perry from the US as well.
Or probably Aaron, do they call him Aaron?
Aaron, I don't know.
We call them Aaron here.
- We also have the lucky winners
of the Sigma Rox giveaway too.
So we have Philipp Schellback from Germany
and John Kinder from Great Britain.
- Yeah, there you go.
Congratulations to all of you.
You should have heard from us already.
But if you haven't, ta-da.
(crowd applauding)
Surprise.
And for all of you that
haven't won, do not worry,
because there is another
unboxing coming up very soon.
And as ever, it's a cracker.
(drill whirring)
(cash register dinging)
- Screw Riding Upgrades, Buy Upgrades,
where you submit before and after photos
of upgrades that you've done
to your equipment or bikes
for a chance to win the ultimate trophy,
the prestigious GCN apron/cape, capron.
- Nice, and how do they submit, Ollie?
- Using the uploader link
in the description below.
- Right then, well, before we get
on to this week's submissions,
we've got last week's results, haven't we?
You will remember them, I'm sure.
We had Mark and Kim's tandem
versus Scott's ultimate Zwift setup.
And the results, can you guess?
- No, what was it?
- 58% went for Mark and Kim's tandem.
So there we go.
(crowd cheering)
- [Ollie] We'll actually
send two caprons out.
- Yeah, you're gonna have to.
- 'Cause there's two of them.
They can't share it, can they?
- No.
- Do you know what's really crazy though?
And when I looked at this,
I recognized that bike.
I have seen that bike being
ridden in the Mendips near here.
- No, that's like our local.
Better not call them range of hills,
but most of you would
laugh at the description.
But really?
- Yeah.
Well, I just--
- Weird.
- I assume it was Mark and Kim riding it.
I mean, if it wasn't and it's been stolen,
it's somewhere in the Mendips, last seen.
(logo swooshing)
Last week we had a Merckx head to head
between the modern 525
Merckx of the AG2R team
versus the retro 1969 Merckx,
as ridden by Eddy himself.
The winner.
(hands drumming)
With a whopping 74% was the modern 525.
- [Simon] Yes, yes, get it!
- You seem quite pleased about that.
- I am quite pleased.
Well no, I mean, I love the
retro one, don't get me wrong,
but anyone who watched last week will know
I'm not a massive fan of Molteni colors.
And I'm really relieved
that obviously a lot of you
are not fans of Molteni colors either.
- I quite like it, actually.
- Really?
- Yeah.
- You'd like a brown cycling kit?
Slightly ironic, actually,
given that he's--
- AG2R.
- He's sponsoring
the AG2R team with their
brown shorts.
- They have brown kit, yeah.
- But--
- Anyway.
- Boy, yeah, I'd not thought
about that, actually.
I'm stuck between a rock
and a hard place now.
Anyway, let's move on, shall we,
to this week's Bike of the Week,
where there are no brown bikes,
no brown cycling kit, thank goodness.
- But the shorts will be brown.
- They will, because it's cyclocross week.
Jon Cannings, as you'll
have seen, no doubt,
was over in Belgium checking out,
getting his grubby hands, in fact,
on some cyclocross tech.
One of those bikes was from newly-crowned
under-23 European Cyclocross
Champ, Tom Pidcock.
It's this really rather
fetching specialized Crux.
And what is going up against, Ollie?
- It's going up against
Mathieu Van der Poel's
Canyon Inflite, which we have a video
up on the tech channel.
So you can check that out in
more detail if you want to.
- Indeed, already sprayed
up as European Champ,
so he's got a special colorway.
It's quite an interesting
one, this one, isn't it?
We've got SRAM on Pidders.
We've got Shimano on Van der Poel.
Bit of a contrast going on.
- Yeah, some nice tan wall
side tires on both though.
- Yeah, you gotta love
cyclocross for the taps.
Anyway, get involved,
let us know your vote.
(logo swooshing)
- Bike Vault time, where you submit
pictures of your bikes and we judge them.
They're either nice or super nice.
And if they're super
nice, they get submitted
into the bike vault and
we ring, where's the bell?
- Jonny's bell, it's up there, isn't it?
(tools rattling)
(bleeping)
There we go, right then.
- Do you want to ring the bell?
You don't get to ring it as often as I do.
- No, I have my fingers in
my ears when you do that.
- Okay.
- Yeah, yeah.
No, I don't want to.
- All right.
- Don't want to go near it, thanks.
Right then, what's first, Ollie?
- [Ollie] First up we have this awesome
Cervelo Soloist from 2006,
(impressed whistling)
which has been submitted by Lars,
who's from, well, Germany, near Munich.
- [Simon] I'm gonna say, Ollie,
background aside, I'm loving this,
because that's like a
modern icon, isn't it?
That's a classic bike that
you've got your hands on, Lars.
But not only that, you've made it look
absolutely drop-dead
gorgeous with a selection
of kind of period, correct,
and modern components on there.
Those wheels look like 3T
Orbis C40 limited wheels.
Nice.
- Yeah.
- [Simon] It's an important
frame though as well, isn't it?
- [Ollie] Well it is,
oh, it's Carlos Sastre
famously won riding the Soloist.
He was, which team did he ride for?
I can't remember the name.
- Uh.
To be fair, actually,
he won riding for CSC.
It was when he went and he had
some sloppy teammates at Cervelo Test Team
that he suddenly lost the ability to win.
- Yeah.
- He didn't have the team support, did he?
- Yeah, I think it's fair to say.
Anyway.
- What are we gonna say?
I think there's only one conclusion
we can draw from that, Ollie.
(bell ringing)
- Super nice.
- Super nice.
Right then, next up we've
got this one from William,
who sent it in from
Cowic-chan, Cowichan Bay.
Anyway, thank you, Ryland.
- It does look very nice.
- [Simon] It does look
amazing, doesn't it?
And what a bike, a BH Ultralight RC.
Campi again, Campagnolo Record.
Ooh, Campagnolo Record EPS.
Yeah, very cool.
- I know where that is.
- [Ollie] So I've been there.
I've been at this--
- What?
- Yeah.
- What is, what?
Oh yeah, I saw that tandem
when I was out on my bike.
Oh yeah, that random shot of
an island and some yachts,
yeah, I've been there.
- I've been to Salt Spring Island.
It's a very nice place, very nice place.
But yeah, phospholuminescent plankton
in the water around there, very nice.
Anyway, we digress.
But that is where, yeah.
It's a very neat bike.
I like the blue bar tape,
the way that matches the
highlights on the frame.
- Very nicely done.
It's quite easy to get it
wrong, matching bar tape,
isn't it?
- It is yeah.
- But that is a prime example, William.
Nice work.
- It's just all very neat and tidy.
Matching bottles, cages,
all looking on point there.
- [Simon] Love those Bontrager
wheels as well, R3 tubeless.
Oh, and he said this is
my fourth or fifth photo
trying for the Bike Vault.
Love the show.
Ah, there we go.
- Well, do you know what?
I think fourth or fifth
try, I think he's nailed it.
- He has nailed it.
- Yeah.
- I can't fault that, mate.
- No.
(bell ringing)
- Super nice.
- It's in.
- What's next, mate?
- Next up we have this
Boardman Pro carbon.
This photo has been taken in
one of my stomping ground,
where I like to ride a lot.
- Used to be mine as well.
- And Lasti's as well.
- Indeed, yeah.
- Monsal Head in the
Peak District in England.
It's another sort of very
famous backdrop there.
But the Boardman Pro carbon, nice.
I like the way he's got yellow bar tape
to match the highlights on the frame.
And for me that's a classic
bike, the Boardman Pro carbon.
About eight years ago, it came out.
But it was a quintessential English scene
with a quintessentially English bike.
But it was a really affordable
carbon bike at the time,
around a sort of thousand
pound price point.
But it's good to see that eight years on
it's still going strong.
- [Simon] Yeah, I like that, mate.
I do like that very much.
- Yeah, I mean there's still,
there's a few little things
niggling me on it, like the--
- Composition of the photo.
- Yeah, that's not quite right.
I mean, yeah, and the uncut steerer.
It's been around awhile.
You would've thought by now he would've
dialed his position in,
if we're being picky,
which we have to be.
- We do.
- [Ollie] Can't let any old
bike into the Bike Vault.
I think it's a nice.
- Yeah, I'm sorry, but
I think it is a nice.
I mean, it is really nice, isn't it?
But it doesn't quite not--
- I mean, the crank arms
aren't quite in the,
he's not in the big ring.
It's nearly time for the end of the show.
- Yeah, a bit of a damp
squib on the bike vault.
And what's worse, Ollie,
is that countdown clock.
Rim brakes are gonna
become extinct in one year,
364 days, 23 hours, and well, 50 minutes.
Not long, is it?
- There's plenty to look forward to.
Coming up on the channel
this weekend we've got
carbon wheels versus aluminum wheels.
What's the difference?
- It's true, yeah.
I am gonna look forward to that.
I'm also gonna look forward to that
aforementioned video on GCN on Sunday.
Gravel bike versus cyclocross
bike, what is the difference,
because that one is a
little bit more subtle
than aluminum versus carbon, isn't it?
And also if you're in the mood
for some more videos right now,
please make sure you
check out Ollie's amazing,
don't get a big head, amazing video
about how carbon fiber bikes are made
when he went over to see
Look in France, and also in Tunisia.
Make sure you check that one out.
- I am pleased with how
it turned out, I thought.
- Oh, it's cool, mate,
it was a great watch.
