An Irish road cyclist walks into the R&D department of an international bike brand and rides a prototype mountain bike. That’s the joke.

In this episode, Dave and Ronan discuss 32-inch-wheeled mountain bikes and whether Ronan is now a mountain biker.

There’s a detailed chat about the torque required when working with UDH hangers or SRAM Full Mount derailleurs, along with some buying advice for an appropriate torque wrench.

There are new road bikes from Pinarello and Scott worth talking about, while Shimano’s new cleats are equally worthy of discussion.

The free-version of the episode wraps with a quick chat about Dave’s recent counterfeit chain article, while the Member-only version offers some more detailed answers on this matter. Then it’s time for Ask a Wrench, where Dave is joined by mechanic Zach Edwards in answering a handful of member-submitted technical questions.

Happy geeking!

As requested by a few members, we're now offering episode chapters – hope it works as expected! And a language warning for around the 9-minute mark, as Ronan is a potty mouth.

Time stamps:

1:23 - Corrections Corner for another podcast
3:55 - Ronan is now a mountain biker?
20:00 - PSA - Torque that UDH and Full Mount, plus a tangent on torque wrench choice
33:28 - Shimano's new cleats
42:26 - Explaining Pinarello's Dogma F-Series
50:12 - Scott's interesting new Addict endurance road bike
58:42 - Counterfeit versus Fake Chains
1:14:18 - Ask a Wrench: Chain waxing in hot conditions (member only)
1:20:50 - Ask a Wrench: Wheels with creaking spokes (member only)
1:28:00 - Ask a Wrench: Setting up a kids bike for better shifting (member only)

The Portland-based Made show has wrapped up for another year, and our website has been buzzing with coverage from the handmade bike event.

This week’s Geek Warning is a bit different from the usual format, with the conversation focused mainly on what was seen at Made. Here, Dave Rome chats with Escape’s US tech editor Josh Weinberg along with famed framebuilder (and Escape contributor!) Rob English.

Within you’ll hear about emerging trends from the custom bike world, why Rob believes there are no new ideas left for bicycles, and some of Rob and Josh’s top picks.

As usual, the episode wraps with our regular Ask a Wrench segment, where Zach Edwards (Boulder Groupetto) and Dave Rome answer technical questions from Escape members. You’ll need to be on the Escape member podcast feed to listen to this section.

See all the coverage from Made 2025 here.

Time stamps:

2:40 - Explaining Made and industry vibes
10:00 - Trends in the handmade scene
18:30 - Josh and Rob’s favourite bikes of Made
31:30 - Rob’s absolute favourite - a bike from 1979
36:00 - A little Aero bike
38:30 - Favourite small parts of Made
55:45 - Ask a Wrench (Members only)
57:00 - A corrections corner related to impact wrenches
58:40 - Bottom bracket torque settings
1:03:15 - Solving a worn dropout
1:09:00 - Sticky cables, sticky drink mix

It’s a shorter episode this week as Escape’s Suvi Loponen and Dave Rome catch up to discuss the spares they carry and how to ensure they work when you need them most.

On the news front, they discuss the latest developments regarding the ongoing Shimano crank recall and an unexpected (and hopefully short-lived) issue affecting older Wahoo Bolt and Roam head units.

Finally, Zach Edwards of the Boulder Grupetto returns to Ask a Wrench to answer a number of member-submitted questions.

Time stamps:

2:00 - Shimano crank recall update
11:20 - Older Wahoo devices living in 2006
15:00 - a PSA to check your spares
20:00 - The specific spares we carry
35:00 - Made is coming up!
37:45 - Ask a Wrench (Member Only)
39:25 - Impact wrenches around e-bikes
45:20 - Sprockets versus Cogs
48:00 - Slipping SPD cleats on carbon shoes
53:00 - Hanging up modern bikes