- Being a pro bike rider is
all about turning the pedals,
but some of the riders out there
actually love tinkering with bikes too.
So I'm going to have a good old chat
to a couple of guys I know
and find exactly what
makes their cogs turn.
(hypnotic EDM music)
(metallic whooshes)
There's someone in particular
who I really want to chat to.
He's an old friend of mine,
and I'm running a little bit late.
Good to see you, mate.
- Ah, about time, mate.
I've got a cafe to go.
- (laughing) Yeah, sorry about that.
We go back a bit actually, don't we?
Did you win a race that day,
or not, when I was--
- Second.
- Oh, right, okay, so I can't say
that it was a real successful
assistant DS I was,
but, hey, I was a good mechanic.
But Chris Lawless, you
absolutely love your tech.
You message me fairly often about bikes
that I give a Super Nice in the Tech Show
and you reckon they're not--
- Don't deserve it, no.
- And stuff like that.
So anyway, you're going to
run through your bike with me,
because you love bike tech.
So, I mean, yeah, you're with Team Ineos
and you've got a pretty
bling bike, I've got to say.
But you do things on it
which I didn't notice
when I first had a look at it.
- Yeah, a couple of little things.
I think the first thing to start with,
one of the first things that
gets changed is my chain ring.
I just run a 54 standard,
no matter what the race is really.
- So all year?
- Yeah, all year.
Sometimes for real quick days,
go up to a 55.
But yeah, for the majority
of races, just a 54 ring.
I think with the way
that racing's going now,
just that extra tooth,
not so much at the end.
It's more when you tighten the wheels,
it's just easier to just stay fresh,
when you can just sit there and relax.
Yeah, you don't have to
be spinning flat out.
- [Jon] What inner ring, do
you always use the same or not?
- [Chris] Yeah.
- [Jon] What's this, 39?
- It's still 39, yeah.
I think for me, when
it starts going uphill,
I'm not really racing, so if I put 34 on,
I'll probably go slower, or a 36.
(laughing) So yeah, I may
as well keep the 39 on.
It gives the mechanics less work to do.
And then, yeah.
- So right, speak about mechanics.
Do you do a bit yourself or not?
- Yeah I think, well, I've
got funny story actually.
When I was a kid in primary school,
people used to take things into assembly,
work they'd done at home,
pictures and stuff like
that, like K'NEX models.
And I was like, "I know what
I'm bringing in, my bike."
'Cause when I was, I think I was 11,
built my first bike up
from the frame upwards.
So yeah, I've always been pretty into it.
- Yeah, that's impressive actually.
I was probably about 14,
13, something like that,
so yeah, you've got one up on me there.
Bikes are easier to build these days.
When I was a kid, they were,
yeah, they were a nightmare.
No, joking. (laughs)
- And then yeah,
I've got the sprint
shifters down in front.
But as you can see,
I've gotten them pretty low down there.
And I've also got 'em turned
upside down to what is usual,
just so when I'm in--
- Not just for the Tour Down Under?
- No. (laughs)
Just so when I'm in the drops,
I don't need to reach my
thumb over to the top of them.
I just literally move it up slightly--
- Yeah, just slide it up.
- When I'm in that position.
- That's a good idea, that.
Does anyone else do it that you've seen?
- It was Cav who showed me that he did it,
so I thought I'd give it a whirl.
And he's won quite a few
races, hasn't he really,
so I may as well try a few things he does.
- Too right.
You've got a pretty
long stem, haven't you?
- Yeah, that's a 14.
It took a while to come actually.
When the bikes first
came out, we only had,
the longest we had for that
width of bar was a 130.
So yeah, I got this fresh at
December, came from Mallorca.
So yeah, it just helped
me get a bit longer.
And yeah, just try and tuck up a bit more,
which is why I have my saddle pointing
a little bit down as well.
I'm not sure what the actual,
how much you are allowed tilting down.
I think it might be about three degrees.
- Yeah, it's about three to me.
I won't tell. (laughs)
But you've got a titanium
clamp on there, don't you?
3D-printed, that's pretty--
- Yeah, titanium 3D-printed clamps,
which all come, for our
bikes anyway, on the X-Light.
Last year, most of us were just running
the standard F12, apart
from for Grand Tours.
But now I think pretty
much the whole team's
gone to X-Light's for the whole year.
- Saves a couple hundred
grams I guess, doesn't it?
- Yeah, it just makes
it a little bit lighter,
which is a good thing for me,
especially because I just
like to ride the C60s
for pretty much every race.
I just like a quick-rolling wheel.
And I'm not making much time
off on the climbs anyway,
so if I can save, if I can
go a bit quicker on the flat
where I'm a bit better,
I'll choose to do that.
- All right, gearing, what've
you got on there, a 28?
- For this race, it's a 30.
- I've seen that on a lot
of bikes here actually, 30.
- I think now for the majority of races,
you just want to run a 30.
And with the 11-speed,
it's not like when it was 10-speed.
You've still got that extra gear,
so the gears still aren't too close apart,
the ratios are still pretty close,
so you can afford to run
quite a big cassette.
- Right, you critique my Bike Vaults.
What's this, then?
You've got a spacer
with the stem down then.
(laughing) What's going on?
It can't go unmissed,
it can't go unmissed.
- I've only recently dropped my bars,
so I think, obviously, you
cut your steerers at once,
a one-time thing.
So I only dropped 'em on the training camp
and I kind of just left that on top.
But yeah, there's not much
else really different.
- Although I have just seen that.
That's cool.
- Yeah, that's just in
case the chain comes off,
even though we've got
the chain catcher anyway.
Just in case there's a bit of chain slack
and it gets wrapped around the chainring.
And it just protects that chainstay,
so you don't have to change your bike
if you carry on pedaling
when the chain wraps around
and it goes through the frame,
which, when you're racing
flat-out, it's pretty easy to do.
You're not going to, you
don't really think to back off
when you're racing flat-out,
so you can easily damage a frame
by just dropping your chain.
- What width bars have
you got, by the way?
- They're a 42, outside to outside.
- You've not gone super narrow, then?
- No, not super narrow.
It's what I'm comfy with.
Maybe I could potentially save
a bit from going narrower,
but I also,
I'm comfy with this setup and
I like the way it handles.
It's not that often I'm
actually riding on the front.
I've done it a few times,
but it's not too often.
- Try not to.
- I've got severe allergies to the wind,
so I try and avoid racing on--
- That's like me in the
sun here, a severe allergy.
That's why you've got a hat on today.
Are many riders into bike tech?
Because I think a lot of the
older riders aren't really.
There's a few, there's a
handful I think that are,
but I think the younger
generation probably are.
- Yeah, I think the younger generation are
because it's just becoming
more and more relevant.
I suppose when some of the
older guys were growing up,
it was still people racing
around on aluminum frames,
even steel frames to an extent,
when they were watching racing.
Whereas since I've
started watching racing,
bike tech's just been growing
and growing and growing.
It's something that's
always been thought about
since I started racing.
It's like you see three
year-olds with iPhones now.
It's just what you--
- Well, they know how to
operate it, don't they?
- I think I'm a bit more interested
than a few other riders across
all disciplines, I suppose,
even mountian biking and cross.
- Yeah, 'cause you were
telling me that on your,
was it on your YouTube feed?
This isn't a lie or anything like that
'cause you told me and I was
like c'mon, don't give me this.
I'm going to interview you anyway,
you don't have to lie to me.
And it is the truth and
what's on your YouTube?
- Well, top of the list
isn't your channel.
It's GMBN Tech.
- [Jon] Dottie, yep.
- Constantly on my laptop screen.
Then it's GCN Tech,
then GMBN, and then GCN.
- That's all right, I'm above
GCN, so that's all right.
(laughs) I'll take that.
- That's just because the
tech knocks, I like you.
(laughs)
- And yeah, you even said
to me though yesterday,
we had a good chat, didn't we?
We had a good catch-up.
It's been a while and you actually said
that when you retire,
when you stop racing,
which is going to be
a long time from now--
- Hopefully.
- You'd like to do my job.
You want to take my job. (laughs)
- You just get to look
at bike tech, don't you?
- You'd love it, I reckon.
(trumpet fanfare)
Now, you've got this
F12 winter bike at home
that's got mud guards on it
and you're desperately wanting to send it
into the Bike Vault, but
you know if you send it in
and there's anything wrong on it,
it's just going to get a Nice.
And I love that, the fact that
you know I'm waiting for you.
- The thing is I live and
train on the Isle of Man,
so the roads are always pretty filthy,
so you'll clean your
bike, go out the door,
and then it'll be filthy again.
So it's hard to get a picture on a ride
and I won't get Super Nice.
(hypnotic EDM music)
- Right, it's been great to chat to you
and I'm looking forward
to geeking out again
because, y'know, we
could talk about tires,
pressures, all that, the
stuff you obsess over, that.
I don't really, I just get on and ride,
but, yeah, it's your job.
- 'Cause it's definitely
getting to my head.
I think it's just becoming
more and more relevant
to stay in touch with and
up-to-date with bike tech.
And that's basically a way
of getting an advantage
without training, isn't it?
More time in the cafe then.
- I like the thinking right now.
Right, good luck for the season.
Cheers, mate.
- Thanks a lot.
(hypnotic EDM music).
(upbeat electronic music)
- Of course, I couldn't do a tech video
about pros who love bike tech
without speaking to Adam himself.
So, right, I'm going to
let you start in a minute
about your bike, but first of all,
how did you get into tinkering with bikes?
- Tinkering?
- Tinkering.
I think that's a nice way
of calling it, isn't it,
playing around with bikes.
- Well, back in the days,
I used to be a member of Weight Weenies.
- That's where we first met.
- And I used to have everything different.
Now it's a bit harder because
we're a bit restricted.
So more it's about position,
the type of frame we can
choose, type of handlebars.
But yeah, so basically my position now,
I'm still running my 38
centimeter handlebars width,
which is as narrow as
you can go with these.
I try and have a negative stem drop,
so I can be as low as possible.
I have my seat, which is angled downwards.
So this just rotates my pelvic quite a bit
and just opens the hip joint angle
so I can apply more power.
My seat is as far forward as possible.
I have a seatpost that
should be the other way,
but I've rotated it forward
so I can get the seat more forwards.
So if you look at time trialists,
they will always be five centimeters
behind the bottom bracket,
'cause UCI rules is five centimeters
behind the bottom bracket,
so I try and get to as
close to that as possible.
'Cause for me as a rider,
that's the position that I ride.
So if I'm riding in the
front, helping the leadouts,
chasing the breakaway,
I'm in a TT position.
So the whole idea is to get
my body in that position
where I can produce high
power for a long duration,
being super narrow at the front
with the lower handlebars.
- Right, when you first
started running those bars,
there was all these people, ah,
what on Earth is he doing, what on Earth?
But now, if we look around,
there's a lot of people doing it.
I mean, trendsetter, how cool is that?
- I did it in, I think, 2009?
And the funny thing is
when I transferred from HGC
to Omega Pharma, the mechanics saw it
and they said, "oh, this is wrong."
I was like, "no, no, no, 38s."
They're like, "uh, but we don't have 38s."
And I looked on the website--
- They're for children!
- But the women's handlebars have it,
so I was riding with women's
handlebars 'cause they had 38s.
But yeah, the whole idea was okay,
your handlebars should be
the width of your shoulders.
But even when I ride, I have
my wrists rotated inwards.
- Just trying to get
as narrow as possible.
- Well, that's how I
just comfortably ride.
'Cause if I'm like this,
then you sort of have to use the muscles.
- Yeah, you put more strain.
- But here, I can just relax
and I can hold that position.
So I lowered my bars.
A lot of guys have changed.
A lot of guys were totally
against this style, but now.
And when you're in the bunch,
it is so nice to go
through little tight spots.
Really, it makes a really
big difference in that sense.
Some of the things that Campag changed was
we used to have the
charging mechanism here,
had some cables hanging out.
Now, it is hidden in here.
- That's really neat!
And I said it in another video,
that that, I think, is more
elegant than the Shimano one
because you can't
accidentally press it in,
can you, I don't think, with that.
Ah, it's just really nice looking.
I like that.
- For me, that's a huge thing.
For the mechanics, it must be a nightmare.
'Cause the craziest thing
is this is a normal stem
and all the cables go through the bike.
- Oh yeah, so they pop out
from the center of the
handlebar there, don't they,
and then go through
and then into the fork.
- So the fork now is a D-shape.
That's why the bolt is not in the center.
So actually the center of the
steering tube fork is here
and at the front, here it's all open.
So the cables go here, run
through, and they spread out,
all internal throughout the frame.
- So since those days of Weight Weenies,
many, many, man, that's like
15 year ago probably now,
bikes have evolved so much.
What would you say is the
biggest, biggest change
since then to now?
I'm putting you on the
spot and I'm really sorry.
I didn't brief you that
I'd be asking you this.
- The biggest change?
(exhales dramatically)
- 'Cause frames, they've
got a little bit lighter,
but back then--
- Actually, when you look back then--
- There was a Scott CR1,
that was super light.
That was super light.
- And do you remember the Tune
hubs and things like this?
So you could build--
- Tune Skyline or something.
- Yeah!
- God, why do we still
remember this stuff?
I dunno.
We need to find a new hobby. (laughs)
- Aerodynamics, that's the thing.
- Wheels?
- Actually, wheels have gotten heavier.
Do you remember the Reynolds
wheels, Reynolds rims?
You could get them for 180 grams.
You could get rims lighter than the tires.
It was crazy.
- Yeah, very shallow section rims.
- So now, okay, the rims,
they're a lot heavier these days.
More aerodynamic, much more
wider, that's one thing.
Tire width has actually increased.
So I used to race on
19-millimeter Tufo Tires,
made in the Czech Republic,
the lightest ones you could also buy.
So the tire width is getting a lot bigger.
The rims' width getting a lot wider.
Frames are more aerodynamic.
The bottom bracket axle
has actually increased
in diameter size.
So back in the olden days, it
used to be a lot more narrow.
Now it's all press-fit,
where before it was threaded.
Disc?
- So many things have
come along, haven't they?
It's funny really, with a bike,
you think a cylindrical tube
is so un-aerodynamic really,
yet we're getting bikes which
are getting more fancy-shaped.
Are you a big fan of the
really wild and wacky frames?
'Cause I know you've
got that Ziff Y frame.
I saw a soft-ride yesterday,
the other day, yeah, yeah!
With the yellow decals
and it was eight-speed,
Dura-Ace STIs on it.
I was like I wonder where the owner is?
I want to meet this person.
Yeah, I love the wacky frame designs.
- I'm a big fan, a huge fan.
When I stop cycling and
I get into triathlons--
- What?!
No, I'm joking.
I know you've done one.
You did an Ironman, didn't you?
- Yeah, I did an Ironman in Florida.
I'm going to make my own frame
and it's got to be almost
like the Ziff frame
and it's going to be totally wild.
There'll be nothing traditional at all.
It'll be purely just for aerodynamics.
- That's where triathlon
is so far ahead of cycling,
isn't it, because you
can do whatever you want.
- [Adam] Yeah, there's no
rules, you can do anything.
- Something which I want
there to be a change
somewhere along the line are bottles.
They've been the same since, like,
1909 or something probably
and they must be able to change somehow.
I mean, we've had slightly
aero ones and stuff,
but no one's really.
I think because they're
a bit more difficult
to put back in the bottle.
- Yeah, but if you think of a way.
There was, ah, I actually can't
remember the brand I've had.
But what I'd like to see one day
is that the bottles actually
go into the downtube.
There's no reason, like totally inside.
- Is it Trek who did
it on a TT bike, maybe?
They had a straw or something.
- In the triathlon
scene, it's all internal,
it's all internal.
- It must get ever so moldy in there.
(laughs)
I'm sure when you make your
frame you'll think about that.
- For sure.
- I think just being able to speak to you
about why you're doing these things.
And I've not even gotten
to your shoes yet.
Do you mind if I pick one up?
- Sure.
- Because, well, they're
mind-blowing, aren't they?
I think these are slightly different
to the ones that I've seen.
- Well, these are the training
ones, they're the heavy ones.
Much heavier than--
- [Jon] Oh, so heavy, these.
- Compared to the other ones, they are.
'Cause I'm having two
riders use them this year.
Won't tell the names just yet.
So these are the real-
- We'll keep that, we'll keep
that between us, and them.
- But we've still got the
3D-printed part at the bottom,
which I find is, for me,
it's the best system.
And I normally have the carbon Kevlar,
but these are the training
ones so I have the bolts there.
And these ones, you can literally throw
at a concrete wall with no problem.
I have deep faith.
- I'm not going to do that.
I'm not going to do that.
And I don't want you to do that either.
No, I believe you that you could.
- Also, I think the last ones,
weren't we sat here when we talked?
- Yeah, we had a good chat.
- So on the top, I had 65-gram
purse gray meter of cloth.
Here, I have 600.
- Wow, 10 times.
- So this is 10 times thicker
and it's just for the training shoe.
So with these, I can
throw 'em in my suitcase,
don't have to be afraid.
I can walk on anything.
It's really bulletproof, these ones.
- [Jon] Are you going to
race in 'em this week?
- I have a light pair here also,
but the idea is I want to,
'cause now that I'm actually
producing these for riders,
I want to give them a shoe like this,
that they can train in,
they can have no fear,
and also give them a super
light pair for racing.
- Did you have an
innersole in there before?
Well, it's like a liner, isn't it?
- Yeah, so what I'm doing is
I'm just testing different
things at the moment
because I'm having other people use them.
So now I have an innersole there.
And you probably noticed also,
I've got one on the tongue,
which I didn't have before.
And because when I make them for myself,
as you can see, you can see
my burrowings and everything--
- It's incredible.
- For me, it's easy to do
but now that I'm going to
do it for other people,
I want to do, just to make
sure how I can make it more,
where I can just produce it,
give it to someone, and it works.
So their first model will be like this
and then once they tell me yes, it's good,
I'll start taking some other
material out, make it lighter,
and then give them a
lighter version later on.
- (chuckles) And you looked at me
when I said about tinkering
earlier on, like tinkering?
(both chuckle)
It's brilliant, I just
wish people could reach out
from their screens and just
feel how light they are.
Because in fairness, these ones are,
I remember last year,
the ones you showed me,
these ones are heavier,
and noticeably actually,
which didn't think would be possible.
- These are 140 grams.
- Yeah, for a pair.
- And they're really light.
(stammering) It's just--
- It is so stiff!
- You can try and.
- It's not going to break.
And of course, your cleats are set back
just a little bit more, aren't they?
- Also these ones,
you see this section here is a lot bigger
because the other riders, they
want their cleats further up,
so I had the three-bolt in there
so they don't rip apart.
- See, a lot of people say
that, about toe overlap.
I remember being a comment,
oh he must have loads!
But how often are you pedaling
in that exact position,
turning the bars that much?
- Very, very--
- Very rarely.
- And you soon get used to the
feel of it anyway, don't you?
- You know, when the
last stage was up here
and we had that hairpin corner--
- Oh yeah!
- I just couldn't pedal two strokes
around the corner, that's it.
So you just roll through it.
- Yeah, brilliant, right.
I'm going to get let
you go and get changed.
Thanks again.
- Thank you, appreciate it.
(exhales dramatically)
There we are!
A casual chat with a couple of pros
who absolutely love their bike tech.
I wonder if Adam could knock
out one of these in carbon.
That's a challenge for him, isn't it?
Let me know what you
thought about this video
down there in the comments section below.
And, as ever, remember
to like and share this
with your friends too.
Don't forget to check out the shop
at shop.globalcyclingnetwork.com.
For two more great videos,
how 'about clicking just
down here and just down here?
And, well, I'm going to try
and find the steering wheel
for this and take it out.
