Team Picnic PostNL, over the past few weeks, has been swarmed in controversy due to the now close to one hundred reports of a culture of fear within the team. The initial investigation was ran by Thijs Zonneveld, who was accused of conflict of interest by team boss Iwan Spekenbrink, but that hasn't...

Further to last Fridays post, a reader has some charred bicycles:And so I am dispatching one that is in marginally better condition:Thank you very much to all who contributed towards the shipping costs. I have now put in the order with Bikeflights and am just waiting for the shipping label. So far, proceeds have come in a but under the total shipping costs, but making up the difference wont ruin me:I mean youre still free to throw in a few yen if you want, but its actually worth it to me either way since I need the spaceand yes, I have officially reached such an obscene level of decadence that I have so many fine bicycles Im willing to pay to get rid of one. (Oh, and I guess to help somebody whose house burned down, but the best kind of helping is when it helps you too.)Hey, what can I say? Life could be worse. Ive got myself a sumptuous clowder, spanning everything from beautiful lugged bicycles with ample tire clearance and mechanical drivetrains:To beautiful lugged bicycles with ample tire clearance and mechanical drivetrains:And while I may deride the cycling media from time to time, Id like to thank them sincerely for publishing stories like this, since they do more to undermine the primacy of electronic shifting than my incessant and tedious anti-battery screeds ever could:Consider:When theyre working, the performance these systems enable you to achieve is unmatched by mechanical alternatives, but their Achilles heel is once theyve run out of battery power, they are useless. They can even become a hindrance.Okay, before we go any further, lets make one thing abundantly clear:You suck.You may like electronic drivetrains better than mechanical ones, and thats perfectly fine. We all like what we like. For all my religious fervor on the subject, if someone enjoys riding a replica of Tadej Pogaars bike more than the sorts of fop chariots I espouse then I certainly respect that. I had a Tan Tenovo with Di2 and I liked it too! But its important to understand that you are not achieving any performance, unmatched or otherwise, because batteries. Whether a bike is metal or plastic, or mechanical or digital, heres the simple truth: the people buying the bikes suck, the people reviewing the bikes suck, and most of the people designing the bikes suck. You suck, I suck, we all suck. Whether the buttons are electronic or mechanical doesnt make the slightest bit of difference. Dont believe me? Lets take a look at the numbers: Right, so there are around 1,500 professional riders out there versus half a million riders with UCI race licenses. So only .3% of those license holders are good enough to receive some sort of sponsorship or compensation. Not three percent. POINT THREE PERCENT.And of that POINT THREE PERCENT, only the very best riders compete at such a high level that an electronic drivetrain might actually net them some tiny performance advantage in certain very specific situations. (Thats accounting for the fact they also have a full-time support structure behind them including a team of people whose only job it is to keep their bicycles running absolutely perfectly at all times.) Really, of that POINT THREE PERCENT, maybe like 15% are achieving better performance from their electronic equipment.Similarly, there are way more riders out there than those half a million UCI license holders, from local Club Freds with their USA Cycling licenses to the incalculable number people out there with no licenses at all who think they need Dura-Ace to Cat 6 you on the bike path.So you could probably move that decimal point at least a few more places to the left, but what the hell, Im feeling generous.Once you accept this objective truth, you can really enjoy the irony of passages like this one:Once the charge level drops, its prudent to be mindful of gear selection because your battery may give out without further warning. This means not shifting into the lowest or highest gears unless absolutely necessary.If you stay around the middle of the cassette, when your battery dies youll at least be stuck in a fairly ubiquitous gear suitable for the widest range of terrain.So almost no riders are realizing any performance gains from electric drivetrains, but even the lousiest and suckiest among us are certainly netting massive ones from our mechanical drivetrains that allow us to shift as much as we want without ever having to worry about battery life. (Being able to, you know, shift on a climb is a pretty big performance gain.)Then theres this, which absolutely boggles the mind:If youve run out of juice in a key component such as your dropper post or gears while on a ride, make life easy for yourself by taking a breather and working out if you can optimise your return route.Finding a flatter, more direct route back will minimise the need for gear shifting, or dropping your seatpost. This is especially applicable to eMTB riding, because mountain bike trails are typically rough and undulating.Some bike parks and trail centres have access routes for service vehicles, which are not rough or challenging like the trails themselves. These are often signposted, so it can be worth searching around for one of these to travel on if youre in any difficulty.LOL. He used Key component and dropper post in the same sentence! Imagine having to rethink your ride because your electronic telescoping seatpost isnt working. Also, if theres one component even the weeniest of weenies could agree doesnt need to be electronic, youd think it would be that one. A modern drivetrain has, what, 12 or 13 gears now? I get wanting to pew, pew your way up and down a cassette like that, and how it might at least make you feel faster. But a dropper post is either up or its down. What is the point of one that can also run out of batteries?Oh, I guess so you can take the battery out of it when one of your many other batteries runs out:SRAM AXS systems all use the same battery. This includes RockShox Reverb electronic dropper posts, suspension equipped with Flight Attendant and AXS derailleurs.If your Reverb dropper post battery dies while riding, you can swap in the battery from your derailleur each time you want to put it up or down. Its a hassle, but at least you can still raise your saddle before climbs and drop it before descending.If your AXS derailleur battery runs out, you can swap in the battery from your Reverb dropper and continue using the gears, leaving your dropper post in position.Except for the little watch batteries in your shifter pods, in which case youll have to reach down and press a button on the derailleur itself:AXS Pod Controllers use coin-style non-rechargeable batteries that last ages. To check them, you can hold the AXS button on the controller and it will show green (6-24 months life left), red (1-6 months left), or flash red for a critically low battery (less than 1 month life left).If youre unlucky enough to run out of battery power from your AXS controller during a ride, SRAM has built in a clever hack to help you out.If you lose functionality from the remote, AXS products have a button on the body of the product itself so you can activate its functions. This includes derailleurs (front and rear), dropper posts and Flight Attendant suspension.Congratulations! You now have something less convenient than a rod shifter:[From here]Maybe SRAM should start equipping bikes with ultra-light crabon auxiliary rod shifters just in case your batteries die.Im sure Campagnolos patent must have expired by now

Best gravel tyres for winter riding 2027: Fast gravel traction for when grip is scarce

Clia Gery burst onto the scene in 2025 straight out of the junior ranks as she announced herself as one of women's cycling's top prospects. This season, the Frenchwoman proved that the future is now as she took marquee victories and ended up being Demi Vollering's right hand woman at the Tour de Fr...

Marie Schreiber has described the moments after it was revealed that her initial Cyclocross European Championships victory was under review, claiming that the process was 'disrespectful and unfair' as the race jury ultimately relegated her to second place. Lucinda Brand was subsequently awarded the...

Ive just wanted to ride my bike since weve been home. Just not in the rain or the dark. Ill be a fair-weather cyclist for a bit

Once again, Trickstuff adds a small-batch, special edition color option for their sought-after mountain bike brakes, this time tricking out their Maximas with blue anodized calipers adorned with waves. Yes, its an eerily timely update if youve been watching any news in the past week. But theres nothing political here. And Im sure its 100% a coincidence, because Trickstuff sent me a preview of this limited edition three weeks ago. But, I guess you can argue with fate. Or super-powerful brakes, to be honest.Trickstuff Maxima mountain bike brakes in LTD Ocean Blue(Photo by Moritz Ablinger/Trickstuff)Trickstuff kicked off the special limited edition colors in May with green Direttissimas. And they put a wolf on those! Now, its blue and waves for the even more powerful Maxima. Thats it. The same exceptionally powerful, progressive ratio brakes suited for enduro to gravity bikes, but now with blue calipers and a bit of blue on top of the brake lever bodies.Review: Max braking power from Maximas(Photo by Joao Reis/Maxxis)Now, while I would love to see Trickstuff refining their powerful brakes besides just slapping a fresh look on them, I wouldnt really complain. I ride the Maxima on my own personal enduro bike. And they really are pretty amazing. Super powerful, lightweight, excellent modulation, and a unique soft feel at the bite point that all but eliminates arm pump on even the longest, brake bump-riddled downhills. Setup is a tiny bit finicky, and they need regular servicing/fresh seals every couple of years with Trickstuffs own bio mineral oil. But their braking performance is hard to beat.(Photo/Cory Benson)Having ridden the all-black Maximas (not these LTD blue ones) with their long lever and 16/17mm 4-piston calipers for more than two years now, Im still amazed at how easy it is to control the immense power of the Trickstuff brakes. No matter how extremely rough or super long descents get, I never fight arm pump anymore. To me, that means I can ride bike park laps all day without my arms or hands getting tired, or do day-after-day of long rides in the big mountains without hand or arm fatigue. Definitely not something I can say about most other high-power brakes.Maxima Tech DetailsCNC-machined 7075 aluminum construction9mm polymer pump piston and progressive-linkage 4-ball-bearing brake lever4-piston calipers with balanced 16mm & 17mm hollow stainless steel pistonshigh-pressure Kevlar brake hose (Goodridge steel braided hoses available separately)tool-free reach adjustnickel-based organic Power+ brake padsproprietary low-viscosity Bionol vegetable oil brake fluidfully user-serviceable540g total brakeset weight 262g front & 278g rear (claimed)Trickstuff Maxima Ocean Blue Pricing, options & availabilityOnly 200 sets of these shiny blue special edition Maxima brakesets will be sold. Even fewer than the green Direttissimas. Good news; they dont cost more than regular black/silver/gold Maximas. Bad news; that means they are still 1300 for a set, plus extra for the rotors and any mounting hardware and the bleed kit youll need to get them on your bike.The dark blue brakes only come in one configuration (check it out directly here, since Trickstuffs own web links arent always perfect), as opposed to the many hose options you usually get for Maximas. Youll get black levers, pump bodies, and black Kevlar brake hoses, paired to blue calipers and blue pump reservoir covers.Pick up a set while they last directly from Trickstuff or through any of their regular dealer bike shops.Trickstuff.com

According to EFE, the trial of four pro-Palestinian activists who entered the time trial course at the 2025 Vuelta a Espaa in Valladolid begins on Tuesday at the courts in the Castilian city. Prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of up to two years and seven months for the defendants over events...

Team Picnic PostNL, over the past few weeks, has been swarmed in controversy due to the now close to one hundred reports of a culture of fear within the team. The initial investigation was ran by Thijs Zonneveld, who was accused of conflict of interest by team boss Iwan Spekenbrink, but that hasn't...