⚙️ Stage 108: Gear shifting changed forever

where to spend your cash and an AI for bikes

This week we have a new groupset from SRAM, the aero tech from Milan-San Remo and the best aero tech you can buy. There’s also Tom Pidcock’s training bike and a podcast with the Queen of Gravel.

Hello,

Welcome to another edition of the N+1 Newsletter.

I’m enjoying my first full day in Girona in what feels like forever. After a couple of weeks out in Rhodes racing, it’s good to be back. Rhodes Tour was good, in fact, it was great.

It’s always strange coming into your first race of the year. You don’t know if you’re going to be great, or awful. Was the whole winter of training productive or pointless? I’m happy to say that I was going quite well, and always in the front group!

I’ve got a few weeks at home before I go racing again. Next time it’ll be in Galway, Ireland.

Happy Pedalling,

Joe

Feel free to email me at joe@nplus1.cc if you have any questions, or feel I’ve missed something that is worth putting in the Newsletter.

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N+Read 🗞

SRAM launch a new groupset

SRAM XX SL Eagle, their new MTB groupset that is perhaps going to change gear shifting as we know it forever.

SRAM have revolutionised the rear derailleur with their latest release not needing a hanger. A very simple, but very clever design and one I predict you’ll see on your bike soon…

⏱ 10-minute read

Aero tech of Milan-San Remo

Milan-San Remo is the longest race on the male road race calendar. Touching 300 km long from the outskirts of Milan to the coastline of San Remo. For 275 km, it’s one of the more boring road races, for the last 25 km it’s the best on the calendar.

With a daring descent down the Poggio to the finish line, aero tech is what matters. Here is the tech of the race.

⏱ 3-minute read

An AI-controlled bicycle

This single-speed bike has built-in AI technology for “effortless riding”. It learns the rider’s pedalling power, riding conditions and preferred level of assistance, and adapts to these habits to create a personalised experience.

It is also equipped with collision detection sensors to alert the riders of oncoming traffic or other objects. AI for bikes… I’m not so sure.

⏱ 6-minute read

Channelling your inner gravel pro

A placebo is a well-known medical effect where the benefit is entirely psychological. Can this occur with bikes too?

Does a new bike make you faster? Does a new bike make you a little more Van Der Poel? Take a look at this article.

⏱ 5-minute read

The best-value aero upgrades

Aerodynamics is free speed. Choosing equipment that is more aero will categorically make you faster for the same effort. But, what is the best bang for your buck when it comes to aerodynamics?

This article takes you through where to spend your cash. Will it be wheels or tyres? Click to find more.

⏱ 4-minute read

The easiest way to get faster

Sleep: the easiest and cheapest way to make you faster. Most of us know that sleep is one of the biggest “marginal gains” you can cash in on, but what does a lack of sleep actually do to you?

This article examines what sleep does to your performance, and how you can improve it.

⏱ 4-minute read

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N+Tweet 🎲

GCN Racing @GcnRacing

After a crash on the Passo del Turchino, @alafpolak1 had his work cut out to catch back up. Lucky that he's one of the most skilled descenders out there! You can watch the #Milansanremo highlights over on GCN+ 👉 gcn.eu/racetv

Watching a confident descender at work is a thing of beauty.

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N+Listen 🎧

Lauren De Crescenzo is one of the biggest names in the world of gravel. Her story of winning Unbound and having one of the most successful years the sport of gravel has ever seen is as impressive as it is improbable.

Over about a half dozen years, she went from being a professional road cyclist to a (very) traumatic brain injury to an intense recovery period to earning a Masters in Public Health to next pivot to a career as a professional cyclist once again.

⏱ 60-minute listen

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N+Watch 👀

A pro’s winter training bike… it’s basically a race bike.