Marginal Gains Cycling Podcast, Presented By Silca

The 2021 Olympics are behind us, and Marginal Gains thinking was  evident in practically every sport. Josh, Hottie, and Fatty take a look at some of the key events and moments during the games — kinesiology tape, anyone? — and how technology has impacted (and will continue to impact) record-breaking achievements by the greatest athletes in the world.

It's a strange time to be a cyclist, a bike shop, or in the bike industry. Pro teams are scrounging for components. New frames are difficult to come by. Bike shops, swamped with extraordinary demand, are closing due to lack of supply. As an innovator in the bike industry to talks to bike shops and pro teams every day, Josh has practical insight into making the best of a problematic pipeline.  We also talk about how Silca goes about greenlighting a new product, marginal gains on gravel, and what Josh really wants marginal gainers to think about when we're on our bikes.

If Josh is obsessed with something, well...you can bet that there's some "there" there. And Josh has been obsessed enough with Titanium printing for long enough that Fatty and Hottie have been badgering him to talk on the podcast about why for months. And now, with the release of Silca's Mensola computer mount, Josh can get into the weeds on why 3D printing is a big deal, the work that's goes into installation, engineering, and production, and what opportunities and constraints this technology brings to the bike industry.

Drivetrains, aero tweaks, and wheels have emerged as the sweet spot for where listeners can achieve marginal gains on their current bike setups, and this episode will really scratch that itch. We do a deep dive into the why, how, and what of Silca's new diamond-polished chains,  how properly-lubed chains affect cog and chainring wear and tear, and whether you really need to replace that quick link after each chain connect/disconnect cycle. We also get to the best ways to locate your hydration on long rides and the question of whether — wheelwise — deeper is always better. 

Here at Marginal Gains, we are NOT big fans of the old saying, "Failure is not an option." As far as we're concerned, failure is not only an option, but a valuable part of development. In this episode, Josh gets into how he changed his mind about failure, why we see failure at the sharp end of the sport, and why mistakes we make as riders can lead to marginal gains.

This may not be the most technical episode of Marginal Gains to date, but it absolutely is one of the most pragmatic and entertaining. Jens Voigt joins Josh to talkk about everything from training wheels to the cold war to Aussies to A/C Sales to bike team finances to the early days of marginal gains...and of course the hour record. Jens is a treasure; enjoy this chat about his amazing career and life.  

Look, we love every listener question we get here at Marginal Gains. But this episode, Max King asked one that got Josh so excited he said he was pretty sure he was going to lose sleep over it. Of course, we saved that one to the end, but you'll want to listen to the whole show anyway because we've got great questions about the super tuck and dropper posts, off-label use of lube (and many more lube-related questions), marginal gains and handlebar bags, FKT updates, and more. As always, it's a can't-miss AJA episode of Marginal Gains.

No Supertuck, no modified TT position? Now what? Velonews Managing Editor Ben Delaney helps us figure out what the pros will now use to keep their speeds high on descents and in breakaways.  Ben has written several articles on what the two, now banned positions are worth when in comes to watts. He also has insight on equipment that could be used to make up for the loss of the Supertuck and "Praying Mantis" position. 

Josh is, apparently, not the only person in the world obsessed with creating a frictionless world (or at least chain). In this conversation, Josh and modern-day chain pioneer Jason Smith — currently with Ceramic Speed and known for his groundbreaking work at Friction Facts — deep dive into what works, what doesn't, and why.

No matter what topic — modeling, bifurcation, the smell of lubrication, chain innovation or even power loss due to new tire nubbies, tube width decisions, or even PFAS chemicals — the Marginal Gains crew can count on insightful questions from our listeners. We put all of these subjects to Josh in this latest "Ask Josh Anything" episode of Marginal Gains.

If you've ever wondered, "How does Josh's mind work?" this is the episode for you. We talk about what models are, why they matter, the model Josh uses for building mental models, and — in addition to a wide-ranging conversation — how it all applies to cycling. 

Josh chats with with Everesting Pioneer George Mallory — grandson of THE climbing icon. And while George has also summited Mt Everest on bikes, he's got more stories to tell about his climbing on bikes...especially his multiple attempts at Everesting by bike. 

We may be at the point where it's time to admit we have a chain & lube obsession, but we're not even going to try to pull back from it. In this Ask Josh Anything episode,  we talk about what chains are preferred and why, where and how often to lube if you're using a wet lube, whether wax lubing needs to be more frequent for off-road riding, and even whether you need to swap cassettes if / when you swap chains that you've set up for different kinds of lube. And that's not even all. We also ask Josh about: Ineos' Giro TT marginal gains whether frame damping is a thing Wrinkled clothing and marginal gains Where to spend your money to get the most gains for your bucks

This interview with Adam Kerin serves as the perfect follow up to our previous episode on chains and lubrication. Adam's Zero Friction cycling is hyper-focused on this key piece of drive train and the ways to make it more efficient and last longer. ZFC is the sole, independent voice of chain and lube testing and a marginal gainer at heart. Josh and Adam go deep on how proper chain care can repay the rider in so many ways. 

If you were to rank the hardest working parts on a bicycle, you’d be hard-pressed to find a component that goes through more than the chain. And keeping that chain working well has become a real obsession for Marginal Gainers. So this episode, we dig into chains, lubes, and who should be using what.

2020 has been a rough year for traditional racing, but has brought a surge in interest in Everests and Fastest Known Time (FKT) efforts on well-known courses. And for these solo, pride-of-place FKT attempts, Marginal Gains matter. In this episode, WorldTour-Pro-Roadie-Turned-Gravel-Privateer Pete Stetina nerds out with Josh, Fatty, & Hottie about his preparation for — and execution of — an FKT around the choppy, sandy, rocky, windy White Rim: a perfect MTB century loop in Canyonlands, Utah. Enjoy this episode, and be sure to catch the video of Pete's attempt at https://youtu.be/WeFkg9nwDE8

Before Open Cycles and the now-famous U.P., Gerard and Josh collaborated in Europe with Test Team Cervelo. Like a lot of guests on this show, Gerard Vroomen is an engineer first. He and Phil White took a school project they started in a basement in Montreal and turned into Cervelo Bikes. Against much bigger companies, their bikes not only revolutionized how we thought about frame design but Cervelo went on to win the Tour, the Olympics and Ironman.  Nowadays, Vroomen and Andy Kessler run Open cycles. And the Open U.P. is a bike that has heavily influenced the modern gravel bike. Enjoy this conversation with an innovative engineer who's passionate about the bikes we ride and how to make them better.  

Nobody enjoyed seeing (or hearing about) Chloé Dygert's recent crash, but it was an extraordinary illustration of one of the effects discussed in our most recent episode on Bifurcation. Josh breaks it down (and we all wish her a fast recovery and speedy return to racing). We also discuss UCI frame rules modifications, and how those open the door for changes (some massive, some marginal) in how bikes perform and look.  And of course we take on a slew of awesome listener questions, including: Could Primož Roglič have won the Tour de France if he'd paid more attention to marginal gains? How to accommodate non-bifurcation segments in a race as well as the moment of bifurcation When is Silca going to come out with a pre-treated chain? Robert Chung's maxim on bicycles   

What do aircraft wings, the Tacoma Narrows bridge and Coronavirus modeling all have in common? As you may have guessed from the title, it's bifurcation — just about the least intuitive (or predictable) behavior known to humankind. In this episode, we talk about bifurcation and its relation to all of these — as well as how understanding bifurcation can affect real-world racing...and how the same effect that can tear the wings off a plane can also make for the terrifying speed wobble you may have experienced on a fast descent on your bike.

This is an Engineer's episode if there ever was one. Josh talks to James Woolcock of Bastion cycles, a maker of custom frames, or as the site puts it, "Bespoke Luxury Performance Bicycles." As you would expect, these bikes come with a significant price tag, but there's a lot of custom engineering based on a customer’s wants and needs going into each of their highly unique, high-performance bikes. Even if you're not in the market for an ultra-high-end bike, however, you'll enjoy the conversation between these two marginal gainers with engineering degrees.