Ugliest Bikes at Aus Nationals and New Factor Ostro Spotted | The NERO Show Ep. 64

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Jesse was on the ground at the Australian Road Championships checking out some of the Pros bikes; Jayco’s Giant Propel, Bianchi Outré and the unreleased Factor Ostro VAM.

Cannondale double down on the ‘fake’ LAB71’s and why is everyone so obsessed with Valtteri Bottas.

Chapters
00:00 intro
00:15 Giant Propel Debate
06:22 Bianchi Oltre Disappoints
10:33 New Factor Ostro Vam
18:32 Pick Our Top Bike
21:09 Time To Move Nationals
30:45 Cannondale Double Down
37:52 Lotto To Orbea
47:07 Cycling Youtube
52:24 Valtteri Bottas Obsession
55:42 Best Cycling Celebrity
58:56 Nero Show At TDU

Footage courtesy of
@jaselikesbikes
@THECONTROVERSIALCYCLIST
@AusCycling
@retrocycling4986
@AverageRob

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SL8 Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qAhuxGYptA&t=76s

Shills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIEFclL5IFI&t=306s

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Welcome to this week’s episode of the Nero show in today’s episode what bikes caught our eye at 2024’s first professional race and what’s the deal with that new Factor canondale have doubled down on the lab 71s and why is everyone so obsessed with valter bass

All right let’s get into it so you were on location this week live on the ground boots on the ground the whole thing where were you what were you up to tell us tell us about it I was at the Australian Road Nationals first professional bike race of the year in

The world I was there getting your eyes on things we having a bit of a sniff about because it’s look it’s been a while since we just sat down and just talked bikes for a bit and I think what better opportunity than a professional bike race finally kicking up there was

Some there’s some fresh stuff appearing what’s what came across your little nose as you were sniffing about around there on the Sunday afternoon well it was if we talk bikes I wasn’t there specifically just to walk around and look at everyone’s bikes but as you’re a coach whatever you’ve got people there

So it’s interesting what’s what’s happening with some of the brands cuz you’ve got it was pretty clear in person and not just looking at it online there’s a difference between the good-look bikes and the badl looking bikes but hold your breath people the brands some of the brands are doing well

To mask it so I put up a story of the jco bikes the Giant propels in person looking at them actually not that much going on very industrial shape of the frame but the paint they’ve made it up for it with the paint I think the paint makes it pop

So I thought it was hot I put a story up I got a bit of backlash and people thinking that thing’s not hot I think look you not everyone can have a good-looking frame but if you can paint it up make it look nice I think they’ve

Done a good job it looks it looks really good and the way it matches their kit is really nice the kadex wheels with the big kadex logos I really like too so I think that package they’ve got there they’ve done well with what is a pretty let’s be honest boring silhouette frame

Yeah big big logos on Wheels that’s I like that I was actually even just a yeah I’m a I’m a I’m a fan of just a big a big grotesque logo sometimes on a on especially on a Pro bike with with that bike in particular though the color

Scheme I know you mentioned it a three part colorway I just don’t know why we’ve thrown silver at the back of that bike it just doesn’t seem to make any sense with the kit or the rest of what’s going on with the whole design language is something that people talk about but

Yeah it just seems to be like is it trying to therefore mimic being an aluminium bike I don’t quite understand the the back end of it um yeah but it was It was kind of harmless I don’t know how many people have seen what happened in the race but essentially it was it

Was two and a half to two and a half hours of Luke PL on television riding around Mount banong no offense to Chris Harper but that was particularly what it was just the equipment side of it it’s just not the same I just reckon so when

When Luke won last year and there was the side on shots of him writing into the Finish Line with the the pinell the Dogma the inos kit I just reckon at that moment dogmas were just flying off the shelves like it’s just you just see that and you’re like a that’s amazing

It just doesn’t quite have the same doesn’t hit home quite the same I get what you’re saying but it’s a Giant versus pinell yeah there’s no other way that’s true like it is just that that is what it is I I think they’ve done pretty well to make the frame look good matches

The kit they’ve won nationals on it like they haven’t just won nationals they’ve just shat on the rest of the field on it so I don’t know what else they can do it’s just that’s that’s almost my point like it was even more impressive performance like and yet I think we’d

All just still come away from that gun oh yeah it’s a giant whereas if whereas if that I think what I was trying to say then if he’d done that on the Dogma everyone would just be like the Dogma see that you know what I mean but yeah

That’s that is what it is it is what it is isn’t it any other any other well just on that team in particular as far as I can tell Caleb’s not even on a giant now what that’s I said that particularly inflammatory I as far as I can tell he’s actually on a

Live that he’s painted up at in the giant scheme because the uh they don’t make the frame in the Propel small enough wow okay that’s that’s actually yeah I mean I’m impressed by that how small a frame does he run um Jesus a 47 okay from Instagram

Comments it’s kind of hard to tell because the Propel non-advanced SL model with the regular SE looks kind of similar to the Liv MH race bike that the women’s jako team are on but rumor has it he’s on a live W which would be pretty like if he’s winning Australian

Criterium Champs on a women’s bike that’s freaking that live is legit so that’s um I they’re gonna paint it as a giant but that’s that’s more of a there’s nothing bad about the Propel it’s more of an ad for how good the live is if Caleb buan wins a men’s Elite

Criterium Champs on it it’s pretty cool I suppose that sort of goes against what we were saying when specialized released their one gender program to remove the women’s specific stuff yeah I suppose if the it just comes down to the body proportions of the person then maybe the women specific

Stuff is [ __ ] and it’s just a matter of what fits you yeah what’s doing the way he accelerated out of that last Corner coming around Jensen PL if it’s handling that well then damn that is pretty cool but I I’m going to say unconfirmed at this stage because this

Is I didn’t actually go and ask him you want a women’s bike we’ll put it out there okay that’s about as much re research as anyone watching this show expects all right now speaking of research did you have a sniff around the bankee this is the first time you might

Have seen it in person yeah that is the first time I’ve seen that new bian Ultra in person even though it was released a while ago miles scotson ex Australian champ was on it um it’s just ugly it’s that’s just that is really for for biane which is Italian

Heritage you couldn’t make a less Italian looking bike than that it is full industrial AO fun functionality spec there’s no art Italian flare to that bike and it just looks it’s probably quick it just looks like it’s it’s it looks opposite of an Italian bike and even in

Person as well stands out even more it’s I don’t know what it is because you know I I’m pretty sure I can pull up some sound Point sound bites of us talking about it a few months ago saying gee I’m kind of I’d love to try that bike I’m

Fascinated by that bike it looks cool that bike mhm but you’re dead right I’ve seen one in person as well and it’s ugly it’s it’s it’s I don’t know how but it’s boring like you look at you look at it in terms of the um all the the extreme

Sort of shapes and everything of it you would have thought the whole package of it would be quite out there but maybe it’s maybe it’s the paint job I was thinking a bit more about it I think it’s I think it’s lacking curves I almost think that’s what we expect from

Biane is some kind of shape like that whereas this is just really harsh lines it’s quite yeah so it is quite harsh the only thing I would say is I don’t think it’s boring I think it’s it’s Arrow road bike but then dialed up to

11 and kind of looking like a super bike but in a really not Artful way mhm I don’t I actually don’t think it’s I would say the Propel is a boring looking frame if you had them in raw carbon no paint the Propel has there’s no curves to it

There’s nothing going on it’s just do its job with this the bankees is kind of like a 12year old boy has designed an arob bike on Photoshop like that’s probably what you’d make so yeah and yeah in yeah but so you think it’s um a little boring

I think it’s kind of overwhelming it’s like a it’s like an overload of just it’s like a if a superhero equivalent of just over the top The Handlebar of it that the The Junction between the seat stays and the seat tube that whole thing is the the

Reason I said boring is the only when I actually saw that in person I actually I I didn’t realize at the time but I’d been riding with the person who had that bike for 20 or 30 but up to an hour mhm and I didn’t even

Think to go oh that’s the new do you know what I mean it didn’t pop out whereas I I I’m normally very kind of good at that stuff like I will identify bikes quite quickly because I’m drawn to them that just sort of disappeared off into the distance maybe more to the

Paint cuz they seem to just they’re not playing on that Celeste colorway really with that with that design it’s mostly black so potentially that’s doing it too H another like if you want to if I’m saying the Propel silhouette of the frame is a bit boring not much going on the Scot

Foil beautiful looking bike yeah really it that is a work of art just looks really nice regardless of the paint it could be any paint it just is really nice looking uh James will was on that going up the hill it looked really freaking good I just can’t say enough

Good things about how that bike looks it’s really stands is that the first time you’ve seen it in person it’s the first time I’ve no there a couple of people in Sydney have them like at the chop seen a couple but not I’ve never looked at it in detail in person holds

Up yeah does so one more bike uh and I got a bit of a I don’t know if this is a story or what but it’s uh this this blew up on on Instagram and on on cycling news so my chain guy chain guy my chain guy y accidentally or I’m not sure

Accidentally but he leaked the new Factor Ostro van so Chang guy in qu in question um did the chain for for Simon Clark and sent it down to Simon Simon sent some pictures back uh to him that he was told he could post after the race which he

Subsequently went and did he now I must admit the guy who was doing the chain didn’t realize wasn’t told specifically what the situation with the bike was went ahead and posted it and uh yeah next thing he’s found himself is his Instagram page all over cycling news and uh

He’s loving it business is business is booming um the cycl news article is hilarious it’s like they weren’t they’re not sure whether Simon class went for the optimized chain or not um but yeah so there it is there is the new um Factor Ostro SE this I don’t know where

I I must have missed this news I didn’t even I saw him writing it I assumed it was just the regular one I didn’t actually go up and have a look at it so I haven’t seen it in person um but there it is new Factor ostram and it’s I think

It’s if we’re going to put so we’ve been going through bikes in this chat so far if I’m putting this in the ugly bucket the good-look bucket with the Scot foil it’s it’s not in with the Scot foil is it it’s uh in the uh it’s in the Propel just I’m

Here to do a job bucket as far as I’m concerned I think that’s a bit harsh on the propel in the sense that at least the Propel seems in proportion yeah now I’m really this okay I’m a bit worried about where we’re headed with aab bikes because to me an

Aerobike a cool looking aob bike like the Scot foil that you just mentioned and I will shout my chartreuse it’s the official color S5 that I have cool looking Arrow bikes all the tubes are in proportion they’re thick they’re shaped but they’re there’s there’s a balance to

All of them front to back yep I don’t like the way we’re headed with this we’re going to throw buckets of tubing towards the front of our bike and we’re going to try and spin out as Tiny a little toothpick seat stays and chain stays as possible because that’s

Supposedly not that Arrow back there so we’re going to save some weight in that regard the result of that is whatever the that is and I just it just looks it honestly looks like they went okay let’s let’s take the factor what was the the full Arrow one factor one the one yeah

We’ll slice it in half with a with a O2 and there it is O2 at the back one at the front H out not interested out cuz I thought the current version of the factor Ostro was pretty good looking that was 100% fairly up there it’s a freaking influencers bike an influencers

Bike doesn’t become an influencers bike for being ugly it’s got to be sexy not sexy what have they done I can’t quite put my finger on what they’ve done they’ve kind of chopped up a bit of the seat tube we looking at the photos here it’s got an ugly collor sort

Of thing on it I mean and then it’s just looks like it’s thicker in the down tube and little thicker in the head tube it’s just yeah it’s it’s actually not now I’m looking at them side by side it’s not that much different from the current version It’s

Just thicker in worse blazes and thinner it’s it’s not a dramatic shift I mean when the metrics come out in this we’re going to we it’s it’ll be what do you reckon 200 gram lighter well they’d be doing well if they made that Ostro 200 Gr lighter but yeah potentially let’s

Say it’ll be it’ll be that it’ll be 11 No 7 Watts faster no no probably not that much three or four three or four yeah three or four and that’ll be it yep same stiffness fair enough a little bit little bit uglier I mean I I I couldn’t I’m just talking about the

Looks here I don’t the stats we can but so this paint Scheme I also find interesting because the front of the bike is the thicker end of the bike so the um the paint schem they’ve done here for the team is the lighter blue in the

Front end dark blue in the back end so you they they’re accentuating the the the thicker part of the frame which I find strange that’s generally the ugly part that’s just very Dynamics you’re trying to hide make the back end it’s a bit thinner brighter

Like I I would be curious what that bike looks like if they swap the frame colors around I mean you look at that I I think the aads a cool looking bike but it’s it’s a cool looking bike because it’s in proportions I mean look at that head

Tube the seat the seat post there’s there’s consistency across that you know yep but at the end of the day would that bike ride better if the if the seat stays were thinner M and would it be more Arrow if the fork was deeper but I find it interesting that

We’ve cuz I always thought and now now we’re not Arrow at the back end anymore but like look how shaped that back end is and I I see that on the S5 as well where it’s like that rear wheel just like hides in behind the seat stays that

Doesn’t seem to be as big a deal for these guys anymore yeah yeah which is I guess good I think that we we I think that’s like if you want a bike designed just to look good there’s a place for that but at the end of the day these are race bikes

Intended to be ridden by World Tour teams they should be trying to make the best bike possible not the best looking one so yeah fair enough I think Factor Factor’s got a foot in both camps here okay like you know and I I again I don’t

Say this out of criticism I say this out of well played Lads like it’s the influencers brand because it was a really sexy bike okay I wonder whether that’s going to hold firm or hold true with with that particular model so so from like a brand decision you’re saying

They should not necessarily be all performance oriented yep try and make it also look the part 100% okay fair cool yeah I’ll I yeah performance oriented they’re not in the world tour anymore so it’s whatever yeah they aren’t are they no there you go finally yeah just

Massive shout to Ren like he’s good on him this is a young young Aussie kid up in Brisbane like Simon just reached out the same way that um I reached out to him so he’s uh he’s got a bit of free publicity here and I love that he’s

Doubled down on this he’s taking screenshots of the Cy news thing which is like which was kind of meant to be S of saying like oh this guy’s like stuffed up here and he’s like stuff this I’m screenshotting this and putting on my and it’s got comments under beneath

Like you know he also had the he was also waxing the chain of the under 23 Australian time child Champion Jackson Midway on the Chain he’s AR using your chain guy chain guy there you go there you what big things big things ahead for for my chain guy now all right time for

You to call a bike from Nationals what what was it for you I don’t know if I’ll put you on the spot here but so I’ve got mine better not steal it um James Wills Scott four with Sham red zip 303 or the 353 Wheels yep but I hate my

Answer but there’s nothing I can do about it it might have also been affected by the race itself which was the Men’s Under 23s race which was the best race of the weekend as far as I’m conc concerned and the winner was Fergus Browning Trinity racing kit which okay

Does remind me a little bit of the nuro racing one in 2021 but I’ll allow that 2022 which is one of the reasons I probably like it but the bike with the kit so it’s an S works it looks like an sl8 it’s it’s sl7 it’s an SL sorry it is

An sl7 it’s an sl7 with Shram but if you go into the details on that frame it’s kind of got this a little bit like the Willie a do for a stter they’ve got that uh I don’t know what that effect is on on the the paint job which is really

Cool it’s like a deep Navy I’m a sucker for navy blue bibs with a navy blue bik navy blue bike uh and then the seat post has got this like pop of like pinky green in it yeah massive massive fan of that uh the way he wrote as well kind of

Kind of helps from my perspective so that’s yeah I just reckon the sl7 I I mean I know I’ve said some [ __ ] about it but oh I think it’s a really cool looking bike and it’s getting cooler as we go does it have kind of old

School cool flare like I’m not on an sl8 yet I’m sticking with an sl7 why does that look cool now I don’t no the answer is I don’t think we’ve reached that point I don’t think I don’t think the sl7 is now retro cool I we’ve quite gone

That far but it is I it’s maybe it’s because it’s again I’m I like those thicker tubes it is a thicker tubed bike than an sl8 um so there’s there’s more bike to look at it’s more shaped yeah I don’t know and yeah that that Shram red chain ring on

It yeah oh you you’re coming around to Shram look at you yes yeah except I think he’s running an evade helmet is it the evade yeah yeah no that’s that’s the ugliest helmet in the pelaton full stop full stop there is no the latest version latest version oh

Is that too yeah um are we going to talk about the race at all or we just going to talk about the the bikes of the race um so did you actually watch it the race well at least the men’s men’s race yes yeah I watched the 23s I watched the

Womens and I watched the men so I got to say they this is quite Australian specific so for everyone in the US sorry hope hope you uh hope you still care but the crowds on there on the day is quite quite poor I would say where is everyone

In Melbourne there’s about 100 people go to the hell ride and if you took out all the supporters there would the crowds on the hill would were so weak like the I’m kind of glad that it’s moving because Melbourne are just not really getting behind it I have to say it’s only it’s

Barely an hour away and I know it was raining so the weather wasn’t awesome but melin’s a big cycling City and there were just not that many people there so I’m kind of glad that it’s moving on cuz it’s it’s a biggest second biggest race in the country and there would have been

Certainly less than a thousand Spectators there yeah the and that’s that’s disappointing because normally it is a bit of a festival like up on the on the hill in the feeding area it’s it’s normally pretty good um oh how hard do I want to go on this how many people do I

Really want to piss off should I or shouldn’t I well all right I’ll I’ll just go for it we’ll see we’ll see um that’s the first time I’ve watched The Telecast as a punter I’m going to say in almost a decade because uh for so many years we

Had we had a dog in the fight basically we had riders in the fight we were doing it ourselves we were maybe supporting someone else down there so that’s the first time I’ve just watched as a punter and I just can’t get over how Melbourne the whole chat is from the

Commentators and the whole scene around that has become are you saying from the sense that as someone that was watching it didn’t really make sense to you unless you were familiar with the Melbourne personalities or was it just annoying you that pretty much all the chat was related to people that were

From Melbourne when they got the entire rest of the country yeah that would be watching that’s a really good question um so you know we get we get accused of talking about the Sydney bubble etc etc here all the time and yeah we do that’s that’s our experience but it’s different

For us because we are not we’re not being paid to do a national broadcast of an Australian championships event which goes out to the whole country which you are being paid to do to represent everyone evenly and I’m sorry you can’t watch that and and realistically say that everyone’s being

Represented evenly to the little points of you know writers getting breakaways and things like that and the commentators will always always concentrate on the Melbourne writer the Victorian writer they’ll know more about them they’ll give the background to them they’ll talk about the coach of them they might give personal anecdotes of

Said Rider or said Rider’s coach or said Rider’s dad or said Rider’s track friend or whoever it might be and it’s nauseating it’s just constant and then the other writers who are outside that bubble very often there tend to be sort of queenslanders a lot of the time and

It’s unless you’re unless you’re either in that Melbourne sort of bubble or the track bubble it just gets completely ignored and you’re you’re kind of a rider on a team they might mention the team that’s about as far as it goes I understand it’s a bloody hard job to

Know every details on a broad spectrum of writers if you’re from a if you’re a commentator from Victoria it’s hard to know the Queensland guy so would you say it would be better to purposefully not go into details that you know about a writer to keep it more even or do you

Think they should just do more homework on more of the Riders so that it’s naturally more balanced uh the second one definitely look we we used to provide the commentators with uh bullet points about every one of our writers so you know Ben Carman did this etc etc Sam

Hill had done this etc etc not once was any of that content that we provided ever used so you know I I guarantee you that any of those any of those amateur teams would be dying for some of this chat and would happily provide some of

Some of that I don’t know if other teams did that but would happily provide it on on the writer’s behalf because we we just want to be talked about and it’s like you’re invisible but beyond that beyond the sort of in the bubble crowd the other thing that kind of bugs me

About it is people get up about the tour to France coverage and and it’s oh it’s about castles and um you know all this sort of stuff whatever I don’t care that’s that particular coverage you’re trying to bring in just a casual sports fan the Casual architecture fan you just want

Eyeballs on that I understand that Australian national championships are Road cycling Nationals know your audience it’s cycling people come on like just give us a little bit more insight into the actual bike racing or oh he’s in the Big Ring oh that’s the big ring that’s that’s the bigger chain

Ring that’s about as much gear chat as we heard the whole time it’s just it’s just H really really disappointing and what’s worse is you know obviously I being a bit critical of Matt Keenan here I I know Matt knows a lot more than he’s giving out here and that’s that’s what

Bugs me even more because he’s really good and he’s really knowledgeable and it’s like it’s almost like he’s being someone saying to him dumb it down or someone saying to him just keep it local I don’t know because he is knowledgeable and he knows a lot about the sport well

He do because he commentates every race even the national like he’s around the national scene yeah um so yeah okay my last little rant promise my last little rant about it is the generic throwaway line of you know so there’s the the world to approach etc etc there and then

There’ll be obvious one of your writers Elliot schilz was in there towards the end and they used these really annoying terms which is like oh well Elliot’s there he’s a domestic riter which shows just how strong the National Road Series is what like the thing is dying and

You’re just using it to make everyone feel happy and warm and fuzzy inside because oh therefore everyone thinks oh the the national development thing must be going well it’s a [ __ ] show everyone knows it’s a [ __ ] show and and yet just toe to pretend otherwise is is not good

Enough and especially in a Nationals event when the people watching no yeah so what you mean yeah I don’t know I just ultimately I I I think like you said in the beginning um the time has come for Ballarat I think it’s an iconic course I would love to see a race

Continue there this chat would dangering the week I’d like to see maybe a an NRS race or some sort of amateur race happen there consistently to keep the course relevant and then so in 10 years time we can go back there fantastic all good but

Yeah we need we need to Fresh blood get get the the puppers crew in wa around it they’ll froth it I was going to say there would be more I’m pretty sure there’d be more spect spectators at boxing day papers Bunchy than they were on the hill on Sunday uh anyway I just

Also want to say there’s a bit of criticism or of the race or for Jacob because it was kind of boring but they haven’t won every year they it’s hit and miss they they they they they quite often they don’t have the strongest Rider and they cook it up so to see them

Come and ride the first four laps like it’s a club race and just like two in a group of 12 another guy Bridges another guy Bridges and just absolutely destroy the field hats off because they haven’t done that past years so to just to get

Luke pla on the roster then come out and just destroy the men’s race toil up the women race I yeah it’s kind of boring to watch but who cares it’s just as a sporting performance it was freaking amazing yeah I agree quot quote of the day though was

Luke pla on you heard this Luke pla being interviewed afterwards he’s like ah it’s so good the Aussies are back I was like look there’s no alternative here it’s Australian national championships Aussies have gone 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 but anyway we’ll we’ll leave that we

This and you said like the beginning uh this is a yeah very Aussie chat I I accept that um but I think that’s pretty common across I mean most people when you say to them that our national championships is it just stays in the same place all the time and if you say

That to Americans or people in the UK they’re like what why it makes no sense so you know I I I think that moving it around getting some fresh blood in it should be should be a good thing not Sydney though I should I should say like having just criticized the way Melbourne

Bubble the Melbourne Mafia Have have held on to this for the last decade please don’t bring it here we’ll completely stuff it up completely all right that’s a that’s a pretty good wrap-up Nationals equipment race just generic rant yep or good it’s good to have racing back

Excited I don’t know if anyone in the industry watches this show but sometimes I see stuff happen on social media with really big Brands and I I honestly feel like maybe this is really narcissistic but it’s a reaction to what we’re talking about so canondale have released

The new EF education bikes yep and they’ve just doubled down they’ve just gone hey we don’t care about anything we we’re we’re going for this lab 71 thing so what they’ve done is it’s a crosspost collaborative poster in Canal Ro EF Pro cycling it’s a carousel of their new nicely custom painted

Super 6 Evo High mod with the high mod sticker in plain view they’ve gone to no effort to hide the fact that it’s a high mod frame UCI logo hm capital letters and in the second sentence of the description the 2024 lab 71 Super 6 Evo

For EF Pro cycling will blah blah blah they they have it’s almost like they’ve just yeah they’ve doubled down they’ve going well we don’t want to hide it we’re just going to make it even more obvious and the other thing they have done was the Top com the top two

Comments on the post were about the fact that what is this and their author which is their account has liked every other comment except those two but they haven’t deleted them so they’re not hiding them when I first brought this up you initially didn’t really care back

Back when we were yeah when we really discussed it you were like well whatever and I was getting a bit up and arms about it what do you think now is this funny is this just the joke now it’s it’s I I still don’t care

From the the lab 71 type stuff but it’s absolutely hilarious and if I could if I this is this is the early leader in the most shared to Chris’s Instagram DMS by followers of the show easily I reckon I had two or 300 people send me this post

With like laughing face emojies like can’t wait to hear your thought anyway it was just which was kind of backed my theory about like I almost felt like this was a reaction to it but okay the thing that triggers me about this is okay there were a couple of posts about

Um the the lab 71 etc etc but this absolutely exploded across all my social medias like people absolutely losing their [ __ ] over how unbelievably good-looking these bikes were the amount of flame emojis that seemingly were commented on this just absolutely blew my mind like the engagement on these

Posts were incredible and I don’t know why this triggers me so badly because on like I I’ve sat here and I’ve winged about focus and their lame looking bikes and their lame launchers of their bikes and said guys you’ve got to do better than this and yet I’m sitting here going well

Canondale you’ve just released this bike that’s got a nice paint job on it and why am I why am I losing my [ __ ] over that why all right so I think the reason is because can Andale have sort of now just purely become this style over substance

Brand okay like you know you know you look well they have because they’ve now just basically gone we’re just going to put a really really pretty paint job over with with false markings like they’re labeling the thing incorrectly with its pretty paint job but it didn’t

Annoy you originally no so is it but is it annoying you because it’s got now they’ve painted over they’ve made it it’s like we’ve relaunched the bike okay with this pretty paint job potentially It’s that or like H yeah and I can I can tell you genuinely

Annoyed I want to get to the bottom of this there’s something there’s something in the back of your brain that annoys you about cuz me personally I I mean I don’t like this color scheme I it’s just not my it’s a bit too artsy fartsy for

Me but I appreciate that it stands out and it looks cool compared to you know plain n works so I I can only take my hat off for that I don’t know why what’s what’s bugging you about it yeah you mentioned you mentioned the phrase artsy

Fartsy right which I got no issues with all good happy days but it kind of so this launch almost identified that to me because um I follow a few sort of photographers and stuff like that and they were losing themselves over this design and even the images of that of

That launch which were so artistically perfect according to the kind of stuff that I was reading mhm which is a whole sort of cycling bubble that I know exists I don’t have really much to do with that side but you know that’s that’s all good but I think in this

Particular circumstance where where you’re designing a really nice bike with perfectly designed artistic images with a fake paint job that underneath is a very different bike that’s I think what’s what’s triggered me in this particular circumstance and also okay and also now that we’re diving deeper into this yeah there was like a

Canondale was always a like a it was like a tool it was just a it was the black super six Evo that was the it was the prins and it didn’t have to be loud because you just knew it was pure quality and it did what it did yep

Okay I can see that y Yep this route this isn’t this isn’t canondale for me this is this is the wrong this is the wrong bubble this is where this is where focus should maybe maybe Focus need to hire this crowd and Spark them up a

Little bit I’m going to do a therapist thing and kind of throw it back at you resynthesize and and throw it back are you a annoy because you actually think it’s a good bike and then they’ve gone and done it up with a nice paint Scheme and everyone’s frothing it

Because of the paint Scheme but you actually think deep down it’s actually a good bike and people should be frothing it because it’s actually just a high performance bike and and not be just because of the paint and then the fact that they’re also doing the fake lab 71 thing then is

A little cherry on top am I kind of am I there yeah you could be heading in the right direction could be heading in the right direction cuz I still don’t quite get you Chris cuz I I feel like this is what we want this is this is the this is

The this is the sort of branding marketing thing that it is we we are we are big on Brands doing yep which which is where I started this little rant okay which was like I don’t understand why this is annoying me because you’re dead right this is what we’re calling for

Yeah so you know how Lotto Destiny have moved to Ora saw that yeah did you see the backstory to any of this no nothing fill me in so we’re late to the party on this I I must admit but I I I noticed during the week on on the gcn news

Chanel that so Ridley are potentially going to sue Lotto Destiny over disloyalty oh regarding ending their agreement early so they were contracted to supply bikes for lotto Destiny for I think another 12 months at least for 2024 but Lotto Destiny backed out of it and as we’ve seen have gone to or bikes

And what’s we what’s okay there’s probably some Financial stuff in behind it but there’s some there’s some weird lines in it so the rumors were that an Anor Dee um was hesitant to renew his cont contract with Lotto Destiny until they found out the what the new or that there was

Going to be a new bike the inference being right he felt there was a disadvantage being on the relas interesting did you have you done any tour magazine looking at because I mean okay that Noah fast looks [ __ ] F enough like yeah I don’t know so the tour Magazine’s

Overall rating for the really Noah fast disc is 1.5 the the lowest score the better the SLL S5 is 1.6 scal system 6 1.6 and the S venge 1.7 dman was 1.7 and if you actually break it look at that break breakdown it was pretty well rounded aerodynamics was

Pretty good 23 Watts which is up there with all the top aerob bikes um the stiffness was fine so me looking at this test I I can’t see what there’s no it doesn’t look like it’s lacking in any area from T magazine test so I don’t know what that would be yeah I

Potentially I don’t know maybe I shouldn’t have even brought that up because I kind of feel with some of this stuff like they start just throwing the like yeah like little room is out as a a way of getting out of contracts do you know what I mean like oh the Riders

Don’t like the bike they think it’s slow uh we let us get out of your contract early or we’ll start like bad mouthing like I don’t know I just sort of feel like there’s a bit of that there stuff Get Lost in Translation like maybe he doesn’t like the tires and then he

Says oh I don’t like the equipment and then the use thing runs with it yeah I the Ridley knowah fast looks fine yeah I can’t really see yeah interesting interesting partnership I don’t know like Belgium brand like how would you describe Lotto it’s like a pretty hard man’s like thing and

Then the or is like the what’s the go with o you know much about Ora Spanish bque region yeah it’s actually really old brand yeah um badel the team that you don’t like whatever whoever they are they should be riding orange bikes get them on the orange bikes um yeah I don’t

Know like I I kind of like it’s just a funny fit that’s all like they’re going to run branding wise they’re going to be running the the inhouse wheels from Ora too it’s the whole setup wheels don’t matter mate Watch Tour magazine don’t keep up actually can I just quickly so I

Had a few a lot of people reach out about the tour magazine thing one one guy who potentially get him on the show at some point haven’t talked this about about him with you he was actually working for a bike brand um in Europe and when they were building their frame

They built so their test bike was always a 56 and they would optimize the 56 because they knew that that was the bike size would be tour tested they would optimize it um around that knowing because they knew the testing protocols that tour magazine did MH which is’s

Nothing wrong with this like whatever like you you know the bike’s going to be tested so they would do that and so they would optimize it to to perform well in those tests which was one of the people pick up on this stuff the comment is are freaking on it because people were

Commenting that like well this testing applies to a size 56 what if I’m on a 48 can you take anything from the results correct I mean I don’t know maybe have no idea it’s so that’s but but that’s what you’re kind of getting at 56 was designed yeah as the as the

Model yeah that’s one of that well that is one of the criticisms can you can they test every you know can they test every frame every size I mean it’s just yeah everyone should ride a 56 that’ be great get everyone that’s a solution you pick the fastest tour magazine bike and

Then you just run a 56 no matter what size so that you know it’s the optimized get Caleb on a 56 that’ be great can we go to some YouTube chat cuz you put one of their videos in here that was I’m going to say I mean viral is a stretch

More like a couple of people sent it to you but it’s this everyone’s a shill yeah Channel again are we are are we gonna can we go fine whatever I mean you put it in the notes I did I did out out of spite I think because this is what you

Do on podcasts you talk about yeah anyway go for it well because it’s like so this channel came up the the controversial cyclist but he’s he’s gone the it’s just a hambini sort of Route all the boys are in the comments by the way durian Rider kind of route and it’s

Another one of these just calling calling channels out channels um I watched two of them and I thought they were hilarious what what’s your what’s your take here no okay I I don’t I like the being called out stuff I think I think you cycling YouTube needs more of that

I’ve got no issue with the uh taking the piss out of each other I would love to see us on there one day being absolutely what’s the UK term they all use reamed what it is just sounds so horrible there you go uh get us on there reaming no

It’s it’s more the the industry is dying or the oh the YouTube’s trying to sell us a fake reality like the the motorbike versus the bike industry stuff that we all meant to get all up about I mean come on at this point like so just

Actually on the videos they are it’s a it’s a common the person that runs the channel is watching like a Dave Arthur or a GC and then just adding just like just chat over the top just random sentences of just like you’re a shield you’re like

Over the top it’s quite funny I you know what it is you know what it is it’s it’s not the actual video I like like you I I like I yeah I like it it’s funny it’s just the comments and it’s just the oh yeah the industry is taking the piss out

Of us oh yeah this these guys are really like like reming like like just don’t watch it then like come on gcn like the the having to go at gcn for stuff because they’ve got ulterior yes they’ve got ulterior motives how do you think they freaking stay alive they they sell

Advertising come on people like I don’t know just find it like and then to use gcn as the or Dave Arthur as the like that’s the reason things are so expensive angle I’m just like how does that link get I just the the thing that kind of I find

Funny is like everyone’s a you’re a shill your mom’s a shill your dogs a shill your all shills it’s like there’s not that much money getting thrown around or like someone mentioned one thing in a video like oh they mentioned a giant it’s like oh Giants paid them

Like what planet are you living on like there’s not that much there’s not just bags of money just getting handed around I think that that is probably the part of it that annoys me of like someone I would say Dave Arthur and the video that

He was reacting to was from 2020 so it’s like a 4-year-old video innocently makes I would say innocently I think it was innocently like makes just a pretty Crap video just basically reading ads just a pretty much a zero value something we would do just chat

Video of like top bikes just cuz he probably knows it’ll get 5,000 views and it was three years ago on his channel like he’s not getting paid by giant but then so I it’s just a pretty Crap video I I I think the reaction videos

Are funny I just struggle to get that up in arms about it because it’s not like he’s getting paid 10 grand to make it it’s just like he probably thought it would get views so he’s just put it out it’s kind of yeah I think it’s fairly innocent

It’s not maybe maybe um maybe our view is is we’re just too in the the bubble because you know we don’t watch I’m and I’m not watching Dave after’s video for an insightful view into his thoughts on the compliance of the giant Propel I’m watching it because I probably haven’t

Seen the Propel yet and he’s the first guy to get his hands on it so I finally just get to see it and that’s all good but yeah look they’re probably are 20,000 other people who are watching are they really expecting no actually no that’s crap I’m giving him too much no

No one’s watching a Dave Arthur or a gcn video and going this is an interesting insight into to how this bike rides no and the guy made the comment in the thing he’s like the amount of bikes that he gets Dave Arthur he’d have to you

Know he’d have to ride be riding 24/7 to actually be experiencing the bike before he talks about it like it’s just just just not real there’s no reality to that what else are you going to say shill no yeah I was going to say what we need more of

Is less bike industry is dying bikes are expensive versus motorbikes you’re all Shields and more probably hambini goes a bit Rogue more specific this product is [ __ ] because XY Z or this product is eight times the price for this proper reason I’m more interested if it’s actually calling something out concrete as

Opposed to these more general just you’re a shill bikes aren’t that expensive it doesn’t we’re not really moving the needle we’re all just kind of laughing at each other thankfully there are some channels doing that and I that’s more what I think would be good to spend more time doing but a real

Scientific debunk like an old school like more plates more dates Style just take it down with facts while I’m talking can you have a look at the video that I’ve uh I don’t know if you have but I’ve written something in there says this is why I love cycling YouTube and

This is this this video it’s a bloke who just bought an sl8 speci ized version I’ll I’ll drop the link down below he sits down for how long’s he sit down for there he sits down for 6 minutes and he tells us about his bike I freaking love

This this is perfect it talks about yeah he uses some of the the phrases we all know and love like holding it speed and it’s nippy and all that sort of stuff but good on him he SATs down but he actually he’s been paid off by paid off

By the bike stand whoever he paid off by big urance because he’s gone back to a defy oh yeah so no he’s a sh so and it’s just great like this is his experience riding it uh and I actually think his experience riding this bike is probably more relevant than most people’s and

He’s he’s kind of saying look did I probably shouldn’t have bought this but I really liked the way it looked and I love the way it kind of felt but then ultimately I’ve had to whack so many spaces under this bike that it’s and I’ve got this back injury from previous

Sort of sports and you know what I think I’m just going sell it and move on and be done with it but like it was just I just love it and not because he not because he got to the end and he was like I actually you know what it’s not a

Bike for me like whatever his outcome can be whatever it is but this is I know it’s not sustainable this is a a this you know what would be great is a way somehow this sort of stuff was built it out to everyone like if gcn for example

Had a an Avenue where where this guy was able to send them their review and then therefore we get to see this because I only I don’t know how this popped up on my feed potentially this is the frustration that the only channels you’re seeing about the SLA is people

Saying how well it holds its speed so the act the videos like this like this Jace like spikes is put up is totally suppressed cuz it gets zero reach so that’s fair Fair Point he’s actually done a good this isn’t like a backyard video there’s b-roll proper microphone this is actually

Pretty pretty good setup right this is this is actually what we’re here for I honestly do think this like I will dig I will keep digging to try and find these as much as I can and I do want to try and bring them out because this stuff

Exists and as I said this is why I love so what’s the so you sorry I haven’t watched it I probably should have watched it so what’s the takeaway he liked the bike as just the wrong position just wrong position yeah look at the number of spaces under there he’s

Just he’s got an old back injury um and yeah he’s just like I I can’t do I can’t do two or three hours more on this than than I can um yeah so he’s he’s begrudgingly going to to send it back okay well he’s going to sell it 54 get around it

Jesse small size is it there we go no but it’s not an S works it’s only a special it’s not an SLC get me on seven why are we all obsessed with valter botas are we all that insecure about our sport that anytime anyone of any value

From another sport who has a global following even looks at Lyra we suddenly jump all over him as if it’s the savior of of all and nothing against the bloke himself he just loves bike riding good on him fantastic I just find the reaction to him by by everyone just

Every sort of normal cyclists is bewildering I don’t really F watch Formula One so my wife messed me when I was at Nash said oh B three boss ass is there I’m like he could walk past now I I wouldn’t even know so it’s kind of irrelevant um I I

Mean look like I could sit here and go like well he’s a big name he’s got four million Instagram followers but like I’m with you like he yeah he’s getting more froth than T paga like he’s getting more engagement than the it’s it is weird isn’t it um and like gcn articles

About how fast he stri so how the article about how fast his Wanga Hill time was was the most viewed article on gcn for over a week this was like a week where the you know to and under is coming up there’s kit releases etc etc so

I am going to cop some stuff for saying why who cares lots of people care this guy’s a massive deal seemingly in cycling yeah now I I will temper all this and say like he’s using his clout to do stuff like he’s he’s the guy who’s got that um gravel race in Adelaide

Going it’s like it’s a legit big I think there’s a proper prize pool for is that the r 100% so Absolut again not against this below getting into cycling I just find how the reaction to it fascinating from the perspective of like are we we just

All must be really insecure that when a celebrity looks at cycling that we sort of swoon and we’re like it there’s a part of maybe it’s the contradiction that kind of gets me or not contradiction but observation that when the T of France is on there’s some dodgy I would say

Websites that have got I would say gotten their maths wrong that are saying either the tour to France is the biggest sporting event in the world or it’s the top five sporting events in the world and I just go what like what planet are you living on where you think Road

Cycling is like a top five sport in the world in terms of the professional level it’s just it’s not and like this is an example where an F1 driver comes in and is is almost kind of pulling so much of our eyeballs and yet supposedly the Tour of

France is like the world’s biggest sporting event you just go nothing adds up and it’s more for me it’s more that reflection that we are um you know this makes us all wet ourselves so we’re still pretty small fry for sport what celebrity would you Swoon over if they did get into

Cycling get me in trouble here I’ve got my answer Sydney Sweeney uh what no who do you think would be a massive deal like a massive deal to get into cycling do they have to be do there have to be another athlete or just celebrity

No celebr ideally not okay yeah I mean I suppose botas is an athlete yeah sorry sorry to offend F1 drivers yeah um could you imagine a world where Taylor Swifts starts getting into cycling gets into cycling rides laap the tour like I actually think that would

What that would do for cycling would be because she’s she is I was listening to this chat the other day like at this point now she’s the biggest celebrity in the world yep mhm full stop she and she’s at like the crest of her wave now she’s she’s probably timed

Dating Travis Kelce one year out like she was dating him last year it would be like the whole world would have exploded because they go on to win the Super Bowl and if she was dating him then yeah know you’re just completely confused by this he’s not winning the Super Bowl this

Year so that’s probably not brought but he’s like she’s easily the most popular I reckon worldwide cross-generational un name it get her on a bike get her on an SLA get her on an SLA that’s well Gordon Ramsey he popped up a couple weeks ago specialized Ambassador um put a post up Instagram

15,000 likes wow it’s G Gordon Ramsay’s up there but but he’s not cool he’s just he’s just a absolute mammal like full that this photo I’ll send it to proper mammal specs it doesn’t really have the I don’t know what do you think Taylor besides Taylor Taylor yeah um like I was

Watching um so did you see average Rob so average Rob is a Belgium YouTuber and so he’s been following some stuff with Vanderpool he do something with Van art I can’t remember anyway they just put one up with a cycle cross shout to Benji for commentating it um and like that’s

That’s another angle like a Logan Paul or a he’s been writing because he’s dating um that jumbo skiing ice skating speed skater woman he he was riding around on a road bike actually that did pop up that got a bit of but not he was

I he was in sneakers he wasn’t in full Ro spec um maybe uh someone not in we okay tell Swift’s not in the sporting Arena maybe a like a politician someone that’s got nothing to do with sport Joe Biden fall off his bike few weeks ago

Well months ago oh sorry it’s not Logan Paul was the brother the brother’s dating her and he the Jake Paul all right let us know Down Below guys uh what celebrity do you want to see in Lyra actually I probably shouldn’t phrase it that way should

I who would you like to see on a bike right so two down under is coming up I am heading down I have a couple things I managed to get a media accreditation uh slimy bastard slimed my way it was actually pretty cool so uh just I just applied as a

Normal human and like they have all like in the official sort of application you got to put like your who publishes you and all this sort of stuff and the neuro show and all this sort of stuff and yeah anyway a couple of weeks later my accreditation came through so that’s

Cool that I don’t know what that actually means I probably should read some of the stuff but it probably means I can go into the areas and that sort of thing so um I’m interested to know what the the Nero show people audience want me to do while I’m down there well well

That’s a problem I’m thinking Chris what are you going to do because it’s do you go interview sort of thing do you do Shane Miller style DC rain maker like looking at the gear do you not do any of do you not film anything do you just sort of walk

Around and just sketch get stuff for us to come back and chat about yeah I’m very curious to see what your approach is going to be to make use of that well this is why I’m I’m asking the audience I’d like them to to give me

A little bit of insight into it yeah look I don’t desperately want to do the walk around and um here’s the road bike cuz gcn will be there whatever they’ll do all that stuff so we can add add our own sort of flavor to it the other cool

Thing was um green Edge did reach out once they found out that I was getting a Le a media pass and invited me to their launch down there so again um interviews and all that kind of stuff interested to know what I do see I’m not convinced I’m

Not going yet I think there’s a last minute oh hello there’s a potential last minute kind of fly down I think maybe just like a two-day little I yeah I’m thinking about it so there’s that element I’m I’m going to do a thing I want to do I want to do a

Norwood crit I want to do a Victoria Park crit while I’m there okay definitely I think the Monday night I’ve sort of pencell that one in one getting in there and having a rip so if any any other YouTubers are going to race gcn guy did last time oh yeah he did there

Ham’s down there so I’ll have a little catch up with him hopefully a bit of a chop off yep what do you want to see you got any what what content what content would interest you you have a good point in the sense that the bike overviews gcn

Just kill so there’s no point the interview stuff just takes so much time and it’s hard to make it entertaining or interesting and what am I going to like like what’s your Ambitions for the race yeah so I’d probably say but I just want you to get I want to

Come in here open the notes and there’s like a thousand stuff of just crap you’ve seen that we can just have just the best Nero Show episode ever that week because you’ve just seen so many different things well we still be we’ll still be definitely online next week so

100% going ahead with the show so I’ll be recording virtually uh next week I have to have a few squeezes while I’m down there Norton Summit squeeze mhm see maybe a Green Hill yep couple of Loops see we can that in the basket range all right with that said Jesse uh we will

See you next week either virtually or maybe maybe you’ll be down there maybe have to think about it all righty we’ll uh we’ll see you all next week guys Then