Our Unpopular Cycling Opinions…

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Now on to our big question what are your unpopular Road cycling opinions this one is inspired by a question wiggle asked its followers on Instagram this week and there’s lots of debate in the comments so I’m going to read out some of these comments and you can tell me whether you agree or

Disagree first one is high-end aluminium trumps low-end carbon I I used to ride race a SLL S1 which I guess would be considered high-end aluminium and it was awesome and I regret ever getting rid of it but it’s really harsh so I think if you want like a a

Nice bike to ride around most of the time and not just race crits on it just get carbon one because you’d be hard pressed to find a bad carbon frame these days new so my first thoughts is I don’t really see what high-end aluminium is compared to low-end aluminium I can see

An expensive bike versus a not expensive bike but surely it’s all the same it’s aluminium how it’s um buttered isn’t it it’s how the tubes are formed and how they’re I don’t think there is such a thing as high-end aluminium I think there’s just expensive aluminium bikes and cheap ones you know

That within reason of course there’s going to be like I’m sure you could make a bike where it’s basically made of paper but I don’t think that really happens it’s interesting ultimately what I’m getting at is the opposite of what you’re saying about carbon cuz I would

Assume that a really cheap car carbon bike would be junk whereas you you think that actually everything is just good now um carbon stuff yeah I think it’s got to a point where it is extremely good even at the lower end whereas back in the day do you remember when you

Bought like Planet X frames and stuff and they were just flexi and all over the place whereas the cheap carbon frames now are actually pretty decent I I was actually talking to some people at core bike about this kind of idea that generally speaking everything is good

Now it’s the same with tech cheap phones are good there’s stuff that has Merit over other stuff MH but the minimum standard of most things these days is pretty good isn’t it but then would you also apply that to some AliExpress stuff that’s been purchased like there was those Carbon

Wheels that um a guy contacted you sent them in and we talked about and they actually that’s QC issue though isn’t it rather than the product actually being bad Q QC and warranty so actually that’s that’s where stuff is good or bad now though and isn’t it same as you in loads

Of aluminium bikes I think they’re mint but they do tend to ride pretty similar yeah you get lighter it’s all about thickness of the the tubes isn’t it and like that’s what you’re paying for better something constructed slightly better I don’t think there’s that much difference between aluminium and carbon anymore to

Be honest you know arguably aluminum is a bit harsh or whatever but good bike’s a good bike next one is aesthetic is important it’s important to some people the where I agree with this is if you look at your bike and you go oh yeah that is mint you’re you want to

Ride it more yes what I don’t think is important is having white shoes and white socks and white helmet and white glasses I don’t think that is that doesn’t make me enjoy riding anymore helmet and glasses no but definitely white shoes and white socks cuz I can

See them then I go oh yeah they look cool and then I ride faster so I agree with it if that inspires you to enjoy riding more but don’t put that on other people yes next one is you shouldn’t wear pro team kits the yellow Jersey the PO dot Jersey ever

I massively disagree no I disagree I think you should wear whatever the hell you want to wear that’s a weird um culture around that isn’t there back when I started racing it would be like oh you know only only newbies would wear Pro kit where and but whereas in

Football it’s like the done thing isn’t it if you’re a supporter you wear the jersey and it’s just a nicer culture isn’t it I like that bit of football black cycling gear is me bring on the bright colors I neither agree or disagree with this cuz sometimes I wear all black

Sometimes I wear lots of bright colors yeah it just depends on my mood really I’m I’m so I just can’t be bothered choosing kit or clothes so I always just wear the same thing so I got like five of the same t-shirt and it’s the same

With kit I just go oh I just choose black it’s easier it’s okay not to wear Lyra correct agree I don’t really have anything more to add that wear whatever the hell you want an hour on Amazing roads is better than three on average roads an hour on average roads is better

Than three on average roads why would I ever want to cycle longer than an hour yeah that’s that’s easy to agree I think I do I do like a long ride sometimes especially when you’re going from point to point but but I don’t think this I love an hour this isn’t

About duration though this is about the road quality so it’s ultimately saying if you’ve got those like beautiful buttery smooth roads where it’s it’s like ulating and a bit weavy and you just it just rides real amazing doing that for an hour is better than doing more on something that’s just normal yes

Yeah I agree I’m I’m always going to agree with that but I also do agree with 1 hour is better than three yeah but like even if if it’s like you’re going to ride five hours this week I would rather one hour ride yeah yeah yeah rib

Breaks are still a good option um I love Rim breaks I think they are amazing I think they are good in most scenarios however I think they are not a good option because less manufacturers are making things as time goes on they’re going to become harder and harder to access and

Buy I have been riding a leftover from our SP Scott sponsorship a rim breake addict with carbon wheels and the brakes are crap and it’s not the brakes it’s the braking surface of the wheels y back when I used to do loads of training in Winter on rim breake bikes because

That’s what we had in 2010 we always had alloy braking surfaces and that just makes the world of difference yeah as soon as you put carbon wheel it’s crap the Rob the carbon guy carbon repair man is stands by that braking surfaces shouldn’t be made of carbon fiber I I I had forgotten

How bad they were they just don’t St there’s a lag even in the dry and they just take a second to kick in and if you’ve been spoiled by disc brakes then it’s kind of like oh but me and Jimmy did a bike packing trip

Into Wales Jimmy had a tail fin on the back that was carrying about 20 kgrs of stuff it was so much stuff it was full of like film we did like sit down documentary style video at at the place we stayed on the bike packing trip with

AJ and Chris Hall so I had like two cameras tripods mult three tripods a laptop like it was it was like it so bottom heavy it was Unreal but that bike was it was like an LA Sprint race bike with with Rim brakes and carbon wheels

And we were going down these Hills in whale whale whale in whales and you could smell the fire coming from those break pods it was insane wasn’t it I quite like that smoke it remind me of bunch racing back at that sort of time as well you just go down a descent it’s

Like who that stinks yeah that was fun to be fair the rims were fine but let me carave out all of that by saying alloy Rim brakes stop incredibly well so are Rim brakes still a good option yeah yeah I think they are it it keeps bikes cheap

And if you just want to bike for Poland around it might be harder to upgrade but maybe not there’s a lot of secondhand stuff around next next we have there are a lot of terribl SL dangerous car drivers out there but there are in Brackets nearly as many terrible

Dangerous road cyclists agree or disagree that is an unpopular opinion there are nearly as many terrible what there are nowhere near as many terrible dangerous road cyclists I think cars are inherently way more dangerous well there’s just way more of them just statistically there’s far more car

Drivers yeah and because of that there are far more dangerous drivers on top of that if a dangerous a dangerous terrible cyclist doesn’t kill people a car driver does well cyclists do kill people but the number is very very low yes very very low the I guess I guess it depends

What you define as dangerous as well isn’t it like if you’re on a bicycle swinging around all over the road you’re not likely to cause significant damage to everything if you’re in a car at even equivalent speed swinging around all over the road if you did have an incident with something you’re more

Likely to cause significant damage yeah cars are just cars are more abundant and inherently way more dangerous five five people a day are killed on British roads by Motor Vehicles killed killed five a day really yeah we did this in our road safety week didn’t we that’s wild yeah

On average five people a day killed on RADS we did where whereas by cyclist it’s it’s one over the last five years or something or two good statistics guys and thank you for checking it Emily checking everything to day on I do sometimes make stuff up Ries won’t

Acknowledge any other cyclist if they’re not in Lyra that’s not true disagree I think it’s more about the person some people don’t acknowledge people whether they’re in Lyra or not and some people acknowledge lots of people I even wave at cars I wave at everyone when I’m out

Riding I if I see a dog I’ll I’ll stop and give him a little tickle I’m not in a rush I’m I say hello to everybody yeah I’m usually dressed as a roadie so maybe that’s why I get people Ro’s wave back because I’m dressed as a roie but maybe

They wouldn’t if I wasn’t dressed as a roie I don’t know I’m I’m bias we also live in a very very friendly part of the world there is and I think that in America it’s the opposite I think the south is more friendly and the north is

Less correct me if I’m wrong American people but in the UK the north is known as being more friendly than the South and we both have experience of living in both places if especially off-road if you were walking if you were cycling someone comes in the other direction you

Say hello if you go to London that does not happen but you walk past a lot more people why yeah you just you get in a mind think that but I in America new New York they’re known for not being friendly but it’s still significantly more friendly than London like people

Still get have start chatting to you randomly and that happens La loads but it is more chilled that is not as uh densely populated for sure so you go I go for a run or a ride and I nearly say hello to every single person I sort of

See um unless it’s like a real busy hot spot like a little High Street or something I don’t know I just think some people have their own stuff going on inside their own head and if they don’t say hello to you it’s not necessarily a reflection on them or you just I agree

That you shouldn’t have to no yeah yeah if if someone doesn’t wave back that doesn’t mean they’re a horrible person maybe they’re having a like just thinking about something right uh so no one cares about your bike except you in nearly all cases I agree with it the

Only exception is if you happen to have a absolutely Bonkers unique amazing bike in which case some people do care about it like a tool bike or a penny faing Yeah well yeah if you had a penny F then people going go what what’s that like to

Ride horrible seen Jeremy Vine rides one around London does he like a full-size Penny F yeah he gets a lot of hate from the taxi drivers and stuff on Twitter excluding the anomalies I agree no one cares about your bike uh you need to strength train I disagree you don’t need to do

Anything you don’t you don’t need to do it you may benefit from it you’ll benefit more from Mobility training which everyone probably should do but you don’t need strength training but you probably should do it probably do we have our own unpopular opinions that we can add to this go on

Then I do uh Road cycling is dead that’s unpopular oh Road cycling will always have a special place in my heart yeah untrue and will never be true well I I what so where are so this isn’t actually my opinion this is my this is

My analysis of what I am seeing in the industry as you mentioned earlier there’s at least one bike brand which are saying they’re selling more gravel bikes a lot of the new products which are coming out are looking like they’re more geared towards the gravel space the

Venture space uh I think what that means is over time we are going to see less pro bikes or they will represent a bike rather than a whole drop down and then you’re going to get an Allroad bike which is actually a gravel bike but can

Also be a road bike so that is why I think road is dead I don’t think people are going to stop riding on roads and I don’t think people are going to stop riding on slick tires cuz I’m going to do that forever cuz that’s enjoyable uh

But I think Road as a term or a classification or category of bike I think might be dead for for the audio only listeners Jimmy is putting Road oh sorry dead in inverted commas every time he says it yeah uh so you’re both you both disagree

With that I think you have to just because you’ve gone to a Shore and you’ve seen lots of Gravel Products you have to work out that that’s just showing the new stuff so what that is showing is that the gravel uh placement in their offering is expanding does it outweigh Road stuff I

Imagine the answer is still no I imagine they’ve still got a thousand different Road products available so they’re expanding their gravel stuff is it outweighing their Road stuff I would say at this point probably not but I don’t why are you doing a little smiley face I

Know’s what you want to say you got got some wi comeback no no I just my I you know I’m very good at absorbing Trends yes you are and I am really confident in the next five years these brands are not going to making Road products they’re going to be making

Gravel and Adventure products that can be used on a road it’s interesting though isn’t it because we’ve talked about this before as in trickle down from Pros doesn’t make sense most people are not Racers they don’t need the fast performan type stuff and it’s way more uncomfortable bikes for

Normal people in in commas is much more it makes much more sense doesn’t it so I guess that makes sense why it would be an expanded Market an example if you look at a road bike on a display stand from a brand these days it will probably

Have 32 mil tires on it yeah which Pros are not using yeah yeah and if you look at what tire sizes manufacturers are now making nearly everything is 30 to 50 m tires what’s the end game are we all going to end up on mountain bikes no no

I don’t think we are I think we’re going I think we’ll end up on relaxed geometry bikes with massive Tire clearance and that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have Massive Tires on it and they are going to be disc brakes versatile I’ve got one yep base layers are a lie you you sold to

You by a big Bas layer you hate Bas layers so much I hate B layers so I I in some respects I agree they do make you warmer cuz it’s an extra layer of fabric no matter what people say about wicking and all of this kind of stuff it’s it’s

An extra it’s it’s going to make you a bit warmer it just is um something you won’t appreciate as someone which has never been other than lean is what the reason I like a Bas layer is it just makes me feel more confident and better about wearing Lyra having a bass layer

On just makes me feel a bit more like held in and Tighter and and that is something which makes me feel better when I ride a bike that is a fair reason but I do know it makes me also a little bit warmer the reason I never like

Wearing one is because to take it off if you get too hot to take it off it’s a pava you got to take your jersey off and then take it whereas if you wear a gill you just take it off like layers on top of a jersey you just remove last one FTP

Is overrated as a metric that is an unpopular cycling opinion elaborate well everyone uses FTP CU it’s an easy thing to measure and easy easy thing to test we are well I am guilty of using it because it’s easy to use for videos so like we did the Garmin 30-day

Challenge and the test was FTP at the start FTP at the end but in terms of how good you are at cycling how fast you are at cycling there are plenty of riders James jobber for example he’s Cony Rider he has pretty low FTP compared to a lot of

No compared to a lot of bike races at his level he has a low FTP but he has an incredible lactate recovery so he can do five minute effort there three minutes five minute efforts and recover in between which makes him an extremely good bike racer much better than I ever

Was despite my FTP whats per kilo wise being significantly better than his if it was all just based on FTP and what a lot of people have that you know like their zift FTP is what category you get put in in the races isn’t it um but in

Real life racing it’s just not the case yeah I I agree is it’s but it’s easy to test well I I kind of think of it it’s like weighing yourself and the act the important thing with weighing yourself is that you do it on the same scales because every scales are different so

For example the 30-day video that you did you did the same FTP test at the beginning as the end and therefore it’s it’s just a benchmark for that isolated thing has my performance improved yes because I’ve done the same test twice but if you’re using that FTP test as The

Benchmark for everything that you do and uh as a marker of how fit you are it just isn’t appropriate in my opinion yep tell us some of your unpopular opinions stick them in the comments on YouTube or email us at Wilds podcast atad media. co.uk