Aero gravel bikes are not always the fastest choice

About this episode

The episode discusses the effectiveness of aero gravel bikes, workshop lighting tips, and XC tech insights from World Cup racing.

Are full-blown aero gravel bikes all they’re cracked up to be? Dave and Ronan share some strong thoughts on why this may be the wrong path, or at least, why it’s still early days for these being the faster choice. For those in the workshop, Dave shares the importance of good lighting and some of his favourite hand-held options for seeing better. Alex Hunt then jumps on to talk about XC tech from the opening round of World Cup racing, including why the conditions caused so many dropped chains. Of course, members of Escape Collective get Ask a Wrench, this week with guru Colin Williams. Dave and Colin answer a handful of questions, but a chunk of the time is spent chatting about their most underrated and overrated tools. Time stamps: 00:02:13 - A Traka load of new, unreleased gravel bikes from Factor and Ridley 00:06:46 - Cervelo Aspero 5 where it’s good and where it’s really not 00:13:41 - Has gravel learned everything it knows from XC? 00:18:03 - Is the Factor Sarana Ronan McLaughlin’s bike for ultras or just confusing? 00:29:42 - A good thing to share about lighting 00:41:47 - Alex joins to talk MTB World Cup 00:43:51 - New bikes spotted in South Korea from Scott and Lapierre…

People in this episode

Hosts: Dave, Ronan

Guests: Alex Hunt, Colin Williams

Topics covered

• aero gravel bikes
• XC tech
• workshop lighting
• World Cup racing
• bike tools

Keywords

• aero gravel bikes
• workshop lighting
• XC tech
• Cervelo Aspero 5
• bike tools

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Escape Collective

Products: Cervelo Aspero 5, Factor Sarana, Scott, Lapierre, 1x drivetrains

More episodes of Geek Warning

• New climbing bikes are being seen, but rarely raced · June 11, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Inner soles, 20 grams, and a new voice · June 5, 2026 · 50 min
• The Crux is now a DirtMac · May 28, 2026 · 51 min
• Going further on gravel · May 22, 2026 · 49 min
• Will beep boop suspension come to gravel? · May 14, 2026 · 45 min
• Campagnolo is oh so back · April 30, 2026 · 1h 3m