Escape Collective

Emergency Vuelta Pod: Order is restored

Jonny Long, Abby Mickey, and Dane Cash join Caley Fretz in the immediate aftermath of stage 18 of the Vuelta a España, where Jumbo-Visma seemed to decide to back Sepp Kuss in red after several days of drama.

Geek Warning: Specialized and Giant have very different takes on what makes the ideal endurance road bike

Specialized announced its latest Roubaix and Giant launched its fifth-generation Defy Advanced this week, but while they’re both “endurance road bikes”, they could hardly be more different.
We’ve also got a new aero all-rounder from Ridley, fancy 3D-printed titanium derailleur hangers, new indoor developments from Wahoo and Zwift, a whole day of hour records, thoughts on the UCI’s minimum weight limit, and a word of caution to maybe not trust that little map on your GPS computer *too* much.
Timestamps:
6:55 - A Specialized Roubaix, but no Cable Cobbler (yet)21:45 - More endurance road bikes and Giant’s new Defy fills a gap.32:20 – Silca has derailleur hangers with holes in them38:45 - News from Wahoo with special guest, GPLama (https://gplama.com/)!52:22 - A quick mention of Zwift things54:50 - Ridley replaces the Helium SLX1:01:30 - A new testing facility at MIPS1:03:43 - There’s a day of Hour Records and Ronan is very excited1:05:50 - The UCI weight limit is on Ronan’s mind1:11:14 - A PSA that James and Dave hadn’t considered.

Emergency Vuelta Pod: Jumbo on the Angliru

Emergency pod! Stage 17 of the Vuelta a Espana was a banger, but not because of any of the performances. No, it was the intra-squad squabbling of Jumbo-Visma that caught our eye. Let's discuss.
Warning, if you haven't seen the stage this pod is ONE BIG SPOILER. 

Placeholders: Mystery bottles, podium watches, and Jumbo’s Vuelta

Jonny Long, Ronan Mc Laughlin, and Kit Nicholson join Caley Fretz on this week's Placeholders to discuss those bottles we see at the finish line, watches on the podium, Jumbo-Visma's approach to the Vuelta, GCN being for sale, and much more.

Wheel Talk: A different type of athlete

This week, Abby, Matt, Loren and Gracie talk about the Simac Ladies Tour and the career and legacy of Annemiek van Vleuten.

Pretty Serious Bike Racing: Into the last week of the season’s final Grand Tour

Abby Mickey joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano amid a busy slate of September racing. The crew talks Vuelta, SIMAC Ladies Tour, and Canadian GPs, which means plenty of discussion of Evenepoel and Kuss, SD Worx and sprints, and uphill surges in North America.

Placeholders: Can Kuss do it? Does the Tour of Britain need fixing?

The Placeholders crew debates Sepp Kuss's chances at the Vuelta a España and discusses the route of the Tour of Britain. Plus, the first ever Weekly Pain with three contenders battling for points.

Geek Warning: Trek’s new Domane AL goes all-road, Bontrager goes thermoplastic, and a deep dive into Columbus Trittico

Trek has just announced its fourth-generation Domane AL, and it’s even more of a budget-friendly workhorse than before. Over on the Bontrager side, its new ProV all-road/gravel models are the latest to switch to thermoplastic construction (courtesy of CSS Composites).
Also, want to know more about Columbus’s new Trittico component family for internal routing? We’ve got the scoop.
Timestamps:
3:22 – The skinny on Trek’s new (and very versatile) Domane AL entry-level “road” bike13:50 – Bontrager’s latest road wheels signal a possible widespread shift to thermoplastic carbon fiber rims25:35 – What the heck is a Reaver?28:58 – Supacaz is getting into eyewear37:59 – Columbus has a new turnkey internal routing system for small builders48:18 – Dave exercises a remarkable level of restraint at Harbor Freight55:25 – A dream comes true for James1:00:06 – It turns out torque wrenches need time to warm up, too

Wheel Talk: Plouay, Tour de l’Avenir Femmes, and Simac Ladies Tour

Lots of bike racing for Abby, Matt, and Gracie to chat about this week! The one-day GP de Plouay on Saturday, where aggressive tactics led to a reduced bunch sprint with a surprising winner, the young guns got to show off at the first-ever Tour de l’Avenir Femmes, and we’ve got six stages of racing in the Netherlands and Belgium coming up this week, the final race for Annemiek van Vleuten.

Pretty Serious Bike Racing: The Vuelta always keeps it interesting

Jonny Long joins Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano after nine days of racing at the Vuelta a España. The crew discusses the battle between Remco Evenepoel and Jumbo-Visma, smart moves and questionable decisions, and what's next. Also, the podcast looks at two different approaches to a sprint in Plouay.