The 32-Inch Wheel Debate, $6,500 Wheels, and the Wildest Tech at Sea Otter
The Sea Otter Classic showcased a surge of wheel and frame innovations, highlighted by the contentious 32‑inch wheel debate and ultra‑light carbon wheelsets from Partington and Hunt. New 32‑inch lugged carbon bikes such as Faction’s Salsa Fargo and an upcoming Ventum mountain model were unveiled alongside gravel offerings like the Look G85 and SEKA with integrated Fidlock bottles. High‑performance frames also stole the show, including a 650‑gram Tavelo aero road bike priced roughly half its rivals and the 3D‑printed titanium No. 22 bike that could surpass the price of a Colnago C72. The event capped with a $25,000 Bugatti‑inspired concept bike, underscoring the premium direction of cycling tech.
Trek’s New CheckOUT Blurs the Line Between Gravel and MTB
Trek unveiled the CheckOUT, a full‑suspension bike that blends gravel‑bike geometry with mountain‑bike capability. It features 29‑inch wheels, 150 mm of rear travel and an integrated frame‑bag system that can haul up to 30 L of gear. The bike excels on aggressive...
Watch: Pray for Speed – The Dolomites
The newest installment of *Pray for Speed* showcases the Italian Dolomites, delivering a visually striking descent‑focused documentary by cyclist‑filmmaker Safa Brian. Eschewing traditional race coverage, the film adopts a ‘video‑part’ style that blends surf and skate culture aesthetics with pure...
Specialized Bikes Is Leaving Team Quick-Step – Here’s Why It Matters
Specialized and Soudal Quick‑Step will end their 17‑year partnership after the 2026 season, with the Belgian squad set to ride Merida bikes from 2027. The split follows the departure of star rider Remco Evenepoel and a leadership change at Quick‑Step,...
Stream the 2026 USA CRITS Series Live on Velo
Velo will broadcast all eight races of the 2026 USA CRITS series live, beginning with the Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, Alabama on April 11. The six‑week Southeast circuit runs through May 23, concluding at the Winston‑Salem Cycling Classic. Five women’s D1...
Van Rysel’s 500-Gram Wearable Airbag Wants to Make Season-Ending Crashes History
Van Rysel unveiled Project AIRBAG, a fully integrated air‑bag skinsuit aimed at WorldTour cyclists. The garment weighs 500 g for the airbag and 700 g total, inflates in under 60 ms, and relies on crash‑detection algorithms trained on more than 450 million kilometres of data....
New Bike Tech: Flaanimals, Bikepacking The Life Time Grand Prix, and More MAAP
PeopleForBikes secured a policy win as the Trump administration dropped bicycles, e‑bikes and frames from the 50% Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs, ending a year‑and‑a‑half of tariff uncertainty. The advocacy group rallied manufacturers, retailers and riders, generating 1,300 public comments...
5 Pounds of Raw Muscle: How Pogačar Bulks for the Cobbles and Cuts for the Climbs
Tadej Pogačar deliberately adds about two kilograms of muscle each winter, swapping his lean climber frame for a more powerful build that excels on the cobbled classics. The shift, driven by a new coaching team led by physiologist Javier Sola, emphasizes strength...
Easton Ups the Ante With an Uber-Strong, Uber-Light Gravel Crankset
Easton has launched the EC90 ALX, a 419‑gram gravel crankset that claims to be the market’s most durable, outperforming its nearest rival, SRAM Red XPLR, by 27 percent in strength tests. The crankset endured a peak force of 5,974 N before failure and features...
The Wildest Taipei Cycle Show Tech and a Broken Factor One
The Taipei Cycle Show unveiled a $31,000 3D‑printed titanium road bike, the industry’s first 32‑inch suspension fork, and a new Chinese gravel model priced at roughly half of comparable Western offerings. Reporters also examined budget power‑meter pedals and Pirelli’s claim...
7 Months Too Long: Kristen Faulkner Returns (Finally) at the Tour of Flanders
U.S. double Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner returns to WorldTour racing after a seven‑month hiatus, debuting with EF Education‑Oatly at the Tour of Flanders. The break followed a torn labrum, shoulder surgery and a burnout‑laden 2025 season that ended prematurely at...
How ‘The Pogačar Effect’ Rewrote the Rules of High-Carb Fueling for the Cobbled Classics
High‑carb fueling has become a cornerstone of the cobbled classics, with riders now ingesting roughly 120 g of carbohydrate per hour from the start of races like the Tour of Flanders and Paris‑Roubaix. The so‑called “Pogačar Effect,” driven by Tadej Pogačar and...
Why a Former Tour De France Pro Recommends Gaining Weight
Former Tour de France pro Svein Tuft joins Mike Levy’s podcast to recount wild career anecdotes, from train‑hopping across North America to a UFO sighting in British Columbia. He argues that ultra‑endurance athletes should deliberately gain weight rather than arrive...
Calculate Your VO2 Max at Home in Just 5 Minutes, No Complex Lab Tests Needed
A 2021 study introduced a simple equation that estimates a cyclist’s VO2 Max from a five‑minute maximal power output expressed in watts per kilogram. The formula (VO2 Max = 16.6 + 8.87 × relative power) demonstrated an adjusted R² of 0.988 when compared with traditional graded exercise tests....
New Bike Tech: $120 Musette Bags, Colorful Headsets, and A New Aero Cargo Base Layer
MAAP unveiled its ALUULA Tech Bag Collection, featuring recyclable Graflyte fabric in tote, pouch and $120 musette formats aimed at everyday cyclists. Wolf Tooth introduced semi‑integrated IS52 and EC44 headsets that route cables through the headset, while Muc‑Off launched a four‑year‑developed...