Cycle Systems Academy

As the final week of the Giro d'Italia hit the big mountains, the bikes got lighter and less aerodynamic. Sean and John moun the dearth of Pantaniesque action and mbike mods in this year's race, but do have a look at Sean's new climbing bike.

This week we welcome back Jean Paul Ballard, CEO of Swiss Side. Sean has been testing the new Gravon 420 wheels and we get into the technical details of Swiss Side's performance analysis for gravel wheels and tyres. We also recap on Jean Paul's recent visit to the IronMan World's in Utah.

Hi, it's Sean here -The world is in a strange place right now...Things we previously felt were stable - such as our careers - are feeling a lot less reliable.It's pretty common to be waking up in the middle of the night worrying if you're going to be able to continue providing for your family.A lot of our past students have been taking their knowledge and skills around bike repair and turning it into a profitable business - either on the side or as a full-time career.The demand is pretty high right now, and there simply aren't enough bike mechanics to go around.Perhaps you too have dreamed of turning your passion for bikes into a side income?Well, funnily enough, as I'm starting a new life in Switzerland, I am also doing just that. I'm setting up a workshop in my garage and aim to do a few services a week of high end bikes for the most demanding customers. I've gone right back to basics, although this time I won't be filling my calendar for 8 hours a day with fixing bik

This Week's podcast is an introduction to the enviable selection of wheels has been sent by DT Swiss and SwissSide for testing. From performance gravel and adventure wheels to the best superlight and aerodynamic offerings, Sean is testing them all this Summer to see what difference the right top end wheel can make.This is just a short primer for the main testing, and you can look forward to chats with SwissSide and DT Swiss, in a factory visit very soon.

John Galloway and Sean take a look at the bikes and equipment used for this Springs arduous cobbled classics races. From Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to Paris Robaix, this season within a season contains many cycling fans favourite races.

Avoid epic fails in the backcountry!Regular guest and Bike Shop Show star, Scott Dedenbach returns to talk about the mechanics and tech of bikepacking.

Track 18 in Cycle Systems Academy. 

After Biniam Girmay’s win in yesterday’s Gent Wevelgem, the first victory by an African rider, we speak to Britain’s only ever winner, Barry Hoban.While you can hear incredible racing tales from Barry on the https://cyclinglegends.co.uk/ podcast, on this show we focus as much on the bikes that Barry rode and the tech of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Of course, there is much racing discussion and some fascinating as well as vivid descriptions of races of 60 years ago, as well as Barry’s description of his first ever race bike and machines he rode in the amature and then pro ranks in the continent.

This week join Sean and editor of https://www.imbikemag.com/ Jarno Hoogland to look at the latest MTB technology and trends.Looking at acoustic and electric mountain bikes, as well as events that are opening up in 2022, Sean and Jarno pick through the hype and marketing to see if 2022 is a year of technological evolution or revolution.

This week’s episode is a look at the mechanics of the body. Trevor Payne works with athletes from varied sports, including cycling and triathlon from which he was an elite competitor himself.www.athleticperformancetherapy.com is Trevor’s homepage where you can find out more about rehabilitation from injuries, something most of us have to deal with at some point.

This week Mike Stead returns, joining Sean for a chat with the owner of www.Silca.ccFrom a diverse background, including motorsport and a real life ‘Breaking Away’ Little 500 race, Josh was a key part of https://www.sram.com/en/zipp and has worked with such cobbled classic luminaries as Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan on Paris Roubaix victories.We get into Silca’s tools and why Josh decided to buy the company and get into some of the engineering behind bike racing, covered in more depth in Silca’s Marginal Gains podcast and YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHhgHOQoD_AQ84jYWfzWvAw

In this week’s podcast we pay tribute to a giant of the sport of cycling in the South West UK, Ken Robertson.Ken passed away recently, while riding his bike and thus ended a lifetime of cycling, racing, organising and nurturing new and seasoned riders alike in the sport that we love.Mid Devon CC’s very moving tribute page is https://www.middevon.cc/ken-robertson-memorial-and-tributes where you really get a grasp on how much he contributed to the sport over many decades and what Ken meant to the people he touched. In this podcast we speak to seasoned cycling veterans, relative newcomers and a young semi-pro rider, all of whom worked with or were guided by Ken on their cycling journeys.We’d like to thank Ken’s family for giving their blessing to this podcast, which we hope will provide a lasting audio tribute to a genuine legend who will be sorely missed by so many.

Recorded exactly ten years to the day of The Bike Shop Show episode 1, Sean catches up with Scotty D to find out if he still bans mix and match kit and loves glueing tubular tyres. You too can sit and listen to every episode of the BSS right here https://bikeshopshow.libsyn.com/2012/01

Morocco has become a real destination for gravel and adventure racers as well as mountain biking in recent years. Hisham Ghourdmani www.instagram.com/moroccosingletracks is an MTB guide and bike mechanic in Marrakesh and is perfectly placed to tell us about the riding and cycling culture of the country.BH Bikes visited Hisham in 2019 with pro rider Alex Cure and filmed a real sick edit to launch their Lynx bike. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkvs14BDN3o is the making of the film and https://youtu.be/meE96Va8vz0 is the full edit. Stunning stuff, I’m sure you’ll agree?

www.cyclingindustry.news is our favourite source of, well industry news worldwide.Editor, Mark Sutton has his finger on the bike trade, from collecting data about UK bike business’ to worldwide transport trends.In this, the first episode of 2022 Mark and Sean get into all of this and more.

When you come to Cycle Systems Academy you don’t just get an education, you get comradeship and shared stories and love for the bike.Some of these stories are inspiring and powerful. One such is the life so far of Chris Jones, Cycle Systems Instructor, our resident MTB and suspension specialist.From early days in the British Army, to injury and a long, difficult journey to competing and winning at the highest level in adaptive surfing and mountain biking, Chris’ tale is inspiring, sometimes upsetting and ultimately incredibly life affirming.This is the final pod of 2021, so thanks for joining us on our journey through bike tech this year. We look forward to joining you next year for a massive step up for our digital content with the Alpha launch of www.cyclesystemsonline.com see you there.

Sean is joined by Bosch technical trainer, Mark Haylett and regular guest, Mike Stead to discuss the new Bosch Smart System. Launching in 2022, this is in fact the fourth generation of eBike tech Bosch have launched,Mike has just completed his dealer training course with Mark, (who incidentally is one of CSA’s oldest friends), and so both guests are in a very good position to educate all of us in what is coming our way from the German eBike boffins.

Today, as promised we bring you a suspension special with Mat Clark from https://plushsuspension.uk We get into not only the latest fork and shock tech, but also the importance of set up, an oft overlooked but critical factor. Here's that video of Jordie getting pummeled with "rider feedback"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pI0YFmD-Ys&list=PLWM_256O70OsN7T8BFN1tHUO4kCAz63fx&index=134Actually, the entire Dialled series is incredible. 150 videos of suspension service, setup, tips, theory etc.Here the Flight attendant podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-inside-line-podcast-vital-mtb/id1193681611?i=1000537746175

Ryan Downes has been creating quite a buzz with his company https://www.ryanbuildswheels.co.uk a workers co-op where all staff are paid equally and co-own the business.Being a wheel obsessive himself, Sean was chomping at the bit to ask Ryan all about his work and quite a few niggling wheelbuilding issues that keep us all awake at night. (Ok, that’s just Sean.)So be prepared to sort your inbound from your outbound spokes, your nipple lubers from your dry threaders and another two barrel blast at road hookless rims!

This week we are joined by Cycle Systems friend and long term podcast listener, Andy Pettitt. Andy is a very well travelled cycle tourer, a bike collector and connoisseur of fine beer and music, so we had plenty to chat about.I’m sure many of you are planning some cycling trips after a couple of years at home, so tune in and let Andy inspire you to hit the road.