Cycle Systems Academy

One of our graduates from the class of 2021 (when CSA was based in London) is Graeme Hart, who has established a cherished bike shop in Corstorphine, Edinburgh. https://harts-cyclery.co.uk is the sort of shop you can pop by for a chat and an inner tube and walk out with a Dutch eBike, custom built Campagnolo equipped road bike with hand built wheels, and some socks... Hey, we’ve all done it. Hopefully his success hasn’t been built on underhand testosterone patches and a blind eye from UKAD, as the BC Olympic success from 2012 appears to have been.In all seriousness, Graeme and his team, Frank in the workshop and Danny in the shop are thriving and are putting energy back into their community by campaigning for safer cycling routes for all. Graeme is very active on social media, find him at https://www.instagram.com/harts_cyclery and https://twitter.com/harts_cyclery and is well worth a follow for a chat or to get advice.

Kevin Stacey from https://42cycling.com/ joins us again to talk about his first year in business during a global pandemic. If you missed pt 1, which included Kev’s amazing story, it can be found here. https://www.cycle-systems.co.uk/kevin-stacey/We also look at some of the off road gear Kev has been using, like the https://www.dirtlej.com/ onesie and a range of kit from https://www.liquid-life.de/Kevin’s mtb guiding training was done at https://www.instagram.com/scottishadventurecycling/We then get into a one year review of Kev’s Hope HB130 which has seen some action in the last 12 months. Here is a nice article on Hope’s own site about it. https://www.hopetechhb.com/hb-news1/2020/2/5/catching-up-with-new-hb130-owner-kevin-stacey

Currently a Senior Contributor to https://www.forbes.com and author of the excellent http://www.bikeboom.info/ and https://roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/ Carlton Reid has had a colourful and varied life within the world of cycling.As ever, we feel we could have talked for many hours on a variety of subjects, but we hope to have covered enough for you here. We hope you’ll discover some worthwhile avenues after listening, not the least the digital version of Roads Were Not Built For Cars, here. https://roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/special-offers/A fantastic example of a life well lived (with many miles left to cover), Carlton’s engaging stories and warm manner certainly inspire us to get out there and live our own, we hope you feel the same.You can hear Carlton regularly on the excellent https://www.the-spokesmen.com/ podcast, a longtime favourite of ours.

Working for the Mighty Heron. Nick Rearden from Raleigh UKThis week we take a look at the UK bike industry with our good friend, Nick Rearden from Raleigh UK.Nick is a lifelong road cyclist and has been involved with the bike industry since most of us just had our noses pressed up against the local bike shop window.We take a look at how Covid has affected the industry, what this means now and in the future and also look at bike mechanics training within the trade.

After a look at commuter eBikes and Campagnolo, you mountain bike tech heads must be wanting some action? Well, I hope this was worth the wait? We have a stunning show with Jarno Hoogland. He is not only a former downhill racer from the Netherlands (!) but also has a long career in the mountain bike trade as is now editor of the excellent https://www.imbikemag.comIn this pod we discuss what bikes and components will actually reach the consumers and trade this year, eMTB and acoustic MTB innovation and tech goodness, why downgrading your MTB is sometimes a good idea and of course, why Jarno chose to live in Switzerland over anywhere else in the world. (I think Slough was a close second.)Once you’ve heard the show, check out the latest IMB online, it’s a cracking read and makes us yearn for a Europe wide road trip with the mountain bikes before a blat over to Whistler for a pilgrimage.

eBikes for many years were the joke of the cycle trade shows. Funny old men with egg stained beards trying to flog staggeringly heavy and appalling looking pieces of wiring and batteries, attached to some shoddy wheels. It was all a bit expensive, poor in performance, unreliable, unsupported by infrastructure or a dealer base and, well, a bit square...In 2021 we find ourselves in a very different marketplace. Here in Europe, the eBike has gone mainstream and the USA, Australia and many other countries are fast catching up. So it is no surprise then, that individuals and companies from outside the bike industry are entering it with some pretty advanced product, with all the dealer network, tech knowhow, branding, marketing and build quality they have established elsewhere, Think Bosch, Yamaha and now, Harley Davidson with the new https://serial1.com/ eBikes, launching in Germany and the USA soon.In this pod, Sean talks to Ben Lund, the Vice President of Product Development at Serial 1 Cycle Company powered by

Join Sean and The Campag Kid for the fourth and final part of our Campagnolo tech journey.We look at 11 and 12 speed groupset technology as well as Campagnolo’s electronic shifting system, EPS.We finish up with a look at the legacy of Campagnolo, both in terms of engineering, and as a brand. This wraps up four incredibly interesting shows which we hope will last as a vital aural history of Campagnolo in the English language.

Welcome back to class! In this episode we have part 3 of the definitive Campagnolo history with the exceptional, Campag Kid. We get into Campagnolo’s tools, which are the precursor for many modern workshop kits and the return of Campag’s Jedi with the 10 and 11 speed era.

We had such a great time talking to The Campag Kid last week that we have invited him on for a few more shows to fill in the Campagnolo story. We had such a flow going for pt 2 here that we ended up with over 90 minutes of unmissable audio.Given how most folks like to listen to content these days we have broken this down to pt 2 this week and into pt 3 next week. Not to fear, as we shall also record a pt 4 to finish where we get right up to the 12 and 13 spd era.To say there were some eye openers in this show is an understatement! The Campag Kid’s empirical knowledge, backed up by years of riding and fully refurbishing Campagnolo equipment means that we are now students in his university.So, quiet at the back, notebooks at the ready as Professor Campagnolo is in the house!

As you may have noticed this is our 100th episode of our podcast. From early days on steam powered internet in Devon, to broadcasting from Cycle System’s new Bond villain lair in Switzerland we have had quite a fun ride with these shows.To create a nice symmetry, the first thirty episodes, which we thought were lost, have been sent to us by longtime listener, Roger Stilwell. We have now got them uploaded, in order on the feed. Just scroll back to find some real gems. What is interesting is that even in five years, these early shows are time capsules in many ways.We’ll get them uploaded to the website, with some shownotes soon.Anyway, we wouldn’t let ep 100 pass us by without doing something special right? Beginning on the idea of covering, ‘100 Years of Bike Tech’ we firstly talk to the wonderful @thecampagkid of Twitter and Insta fame. https://www.instagram.com/the_campagkid I’m sure you’ll agree that this conversation just gets us started on Campagnolo history, so loojk out for a follow up episode or two!We

In a week rocked by tumultuous world events, Sean and John are joined by Scott Purchas from https://girodilento.com to talk about the world changing topic that is, riding your bike indoors...Inspired by a few comments on twitter by Sean, as he noticed some tweeters were not even tough enough to ride their turbo trainers in the garage as it was a bit cold (!) we decided to take a look at the reasons for riding your bike without going anywhere.As ever we delve into the tech, useful mods and hacks and insult half the world’s population on the way.Hopefully this will be part 1 of 2 as we plan to research and then produce a deeper show on this topic covering the digitalisation of exercise and society as a whole and what this means for our lives on and off the bike.

Hello, and welcome back to another year with Sean, John and a raft of wonderful guests at the Cycle Systems Academy podcast.We kick off with a cracker, recorded on New Years Eve (it wasn’t as if we were off to a party!) with Mike Stead from www.road.cc In this episode, Mike discussed the new D1X retro fit wireless shifting system from https://archercomponents.com/ it may or may not be for you, but it does open up a realm of possibilities for the creative bike mechanic.We also discuss the https://www.hopetech.com/ road brake callipers and the contrast between a Kiwi and Stopfordian (Yes, that Is a word!) New Years Eve.

To round off the tumultuous 2020 we shall try to lift your spirits with a round table, ‘virtual Christmas drinks’ with some of our and hopefully your favourite cycling tech people. Featuring, Caroline Stewart of https://cscyclecoaching.wordpress.com/ Troy Laffey from https://www.sram.com/en/sram Scott Dedenbach and David Palan from https://wideanglepodium.com/bike-shop-cx/ John Galloway from https://velocast.cc/ and of course Sean from CSA, we take a look at everyone’s life in 2020 and try to make sense of it all.Have a tipple of booze or herbal tea with us as we get as close as most of us can to a good old knees up down the pub. Enjoy, thanks for your company this year and we’ll all see you soon.Sean, Julia and the Cycle Systems team!

https://www.dtswiss.com/en are a very well established brand in the busy wheel market. In this superb gear head pod we get down and not very dirty (it IS Switzerland after all) into the technology behind world beating wheels.Here is the factory tour video Sean mentions https://www.dtswiss.com/enSo tune in and find out why aluminium nipples are not so bad, steel is most definitely real and women are the best wheel builders!You can check out the DT Swiss Academy Martin mentions herehttps://www.dtswiss.com/en/dtswiss/business-partner/dt-swiss-academyThis pod will be the first of two, with the next one to focus on DT Swiss’ suspension development and design coming in the New Year.

https://cyclingtips.com despite sounding like a beginners guide, is in fact one of the most interesting cycling media platforms of the moment. Including traditional racing coverage, in depth reportage and superb tech content and a successful and engaged Membership subscription to help to pay for it all, the Veloclub. https://cyclingtips.com/veloclub-welcome-page/Their weekly podcast is a mainstay for many people’s engagement with the cycling world and has sprouted equally entertaining offshoots, such as Sean’s favourite, the Nerd Alert tech pod. https://cyclingtips.com/tag/nerd-alert/Sean chat’s to Caley Fretz, editor-in-chief about his background in cycling, how Cycling Tips found it’s unique voice and a few small topics such as diversity and corruption in cycle sport!

Sean is joined again by Mike Stead from www.road.cc to discuss the growth of touring by eBikes and the rise of infrastructure that supports this. Mike has particular insight into this as he has facilitated four new Bosch charging stations on the www.Perthshiregravel.com route he has been instrumental in creating.Other charging stations can be found here https://www.bosch-ebike.com/en/service/powerstations/Of course it wouldn’t be a new genre of cycling without new bikes, right? The German manufacturers in particular have been heads down for a few years working on just this, the ‘Trekking eMTB’. With models as radical as the Nikolai G1 Eboxx e14 https://en.nicolai-bicycles.com/bike/g1-eboxx-e14/ through to the similar but more sedate Reise und Muller Delite https://www.r-m.de/en-gb/bikes/delite/ this genre looks to appeal to hardcore shredders and a completely new market too.Of course, we always come across a few funny gems along the way. Here’s the electric trailer we mentioned. https://ridekick.com/Here’s th

We all know that The UCI is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.(Thank you, Hunter S. Thompson)However, they do have a technical department that prevents the Tour de France being ridden on Triathlon bikes, so there is that!All joking aside, the UCI technical regulations are a critical part of cycle sport and of course affect the bikes we will eventually ride as well.Join John and Sean as they look in detail at these new rules and how they may pan out in 2021 for the bikes the pros (and you) will be riding.

Many of you will know that generic bike reviews are often little more than marketing pap or re-hashed press releases, only for the bike’s flaws to be knowingly highlighted in the following year’s review of its replacement. As if the reviewer didn’t know them in the first place!As mechanics, we work on many 9/10 reviewed bikes regularly, see which ones walk the talk and why. What factors make a bike great to ride, simple to work on (or at least not a nightmare) and future proof in an ever changing world? Join Sean and John for a subjective, if informed view in what they look for when selecting a new steed.

Once upon a time there was no such thing as mountain bikes. Yes, many people rode all sorts of bikes off road, some even modified their machines into true all terrain machines, but it took a bunch of Bay Area hippies to create mountain biking as a bona fide sub culture, with a brand new type of racing, (downhill off road time trials), an underground ethos and truly radical and beautiful bikes that evolved from mechanical experiments with old clunkers into handbuild masterpieces by Gary Breeze and Tom Richey.That story is told in full in the film Klunkerz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sjRCzRrPac and one of the main characters is the one and only Gary Fisher. https://mmbhof.org/gary-fisher/Gary’s story has been told many times, although there are so many ideas and memories buzzing round his head at any one time, it is a bit different each time, like looking at a different side of a gem and seeing many reflections. Very exciting news for us is a new book by Gary called ‘Being Gary Fisher (and the Bicycle Revo

Now and then we meet an individual who is not your average bike trade type, but who has such a great insight into and passion for the bicycle that we end up talking for hours. Such was the case when Sean met Hani Rashid at an event in Treviso and despite their varying backgrounds hit it off immediately. We knew that Hani would be an engaging podcast guest and it has proven to be the case.The co-founder of https://www.asymptote.net/ and Professor at https://www.dieangewandte.at/ Hani has just released a very limited edition of Pinarello bikes for World Bicycle Relief. https://www.hanixpinarello.com/ In this pod Sean delves into Hani’s past and philosophy in order to try to understand the mind and soul behind this varied and inspiring body of work. We then look together at the future and where we (and bikes) fit in!