Wow, what a week for those who love cycling tech! If four new dropbar groupsets from SRAM weren’t enough, then Shimano certainly fills that glass with its sudden release of XT and Deore Di2. Join Escape’s Dave Rome, Suvi Loponen and Alex Hunt as they discuss what’s new and some things to be aware of. Meanwhile, the UCI released some upcoming rule changes that have many riders and cycling businesses upset. The geeks discuss why some of these rulings have been blown out of proportion, and why one of them is arguably just wrong. Of course, there are a couple of new bikes (Cervelo and Orbea) to discuss, and CeramicSpeed has released its first do-it-yourself hot melt wax which promises a whole lot of distance. As always, members of Escape Collective have access to the Ask a Wrench segment at the end of the episode. Here, Dave Rome is joined by pro race mechanic Brad Copeland to answer a number of geeky questions, including a trick for keeping valve nuts in place without over-tightening them, our thoughts on the best cone wrenches, mixing-and-matching chainring sizes on SRAM, a rear shock that’s fussy to inflate, and a Shimano front derailleur that’s hard to shift. Enjoy! Time Stamps: 2:15 - Explaining the UCI’s Handlebar width ruling and specifically where it’s wrong 17:00 - SRAM’s new Force and Rival AXS 27:30 - Shimano’s new XT and Deore wireless shifting 36:30 - Cervelo’s new Aspero 5 43:45 - Orbea’s Terra gravel bike gets overhauled 47:00 - CeramicSpeed’s new long-lasting hot melt wax 52:00 - Ask a Wrench (Member-only!) 55:00 - A tip for tubeless valve nuts in place 58:30 - A deep dive and our top suggestions for good cone wrenches 1:10:00 - Mixing-and-matching chainring sizes with SRAM AXS 1:15:00 - Rear shock inflation woes and shock pumps 1:21:00 - Fixing Shimano Ultegra front derailleur that’s hard to shift
