Marginal Gains Cycling Podcast, Presented by Silca

Latest Episodes:

AJA #38: Waxing Long, Waxing Cold, and Avoiding Speed Wobbles, and Taping to be Aero Jan 13, 2025

Show notes

The Marginal Gains crew thought we'd throw a real curveball this episode and make every single question about cycling...and relevant, even. Wacky, huh? We talk about how the Silca Endurance chip might affect your lube schedule, the challenges of riding with a waxed chain in very cold weather, strategies you can use to reduce / remove speed wobbles on your bike, how a racer in the Leadville 100 MTB might make his artificial knee more aero, and much more. Enjoy the show, and send us your own questions by texting or calling 317-343-4506.

Tinker & Test: Chase Wark Brings Innovation (and hugs and hotdish) to Pro Cycling Dec 30, 2024

Show notes

Chase Wark shares his unique journey in the cycling world, from his unconventional bike setups to his passion for community-building through cycling events, Chase's story is one of creativity, resilience, and a deep love for the sport. Josh Poertner and Chase Wark discuss innovative bike setups, aerodynamics, and the importance of tinkering with equipment to gain performance advantages. Enjoy this distinctly midwestern conversation, equal parts innovation, iteration, and post-race hugs and hotdish.

AJA #37: Oval Chainrings, Squeaky Wheels, and Everesting Hypotheticals Dec 09, 2024

Show notes

If the premise of these Q&A episodes is that you can Ask Josh Anything, and we continue asking questions forever, shouldn't we really change the name of this series to "Ask Josh Everything?"

The answer to that question is, of course, "it depends."

In this installment, Josh addresses the surprisingly contentious oval chainring, speculates on why a squeaky wheel is squeaking, talks about the present and future of TPU tube recyling...but not before Fatty line-jumps with his current fascination: how, with an unlimited budget, you could build the perfect Everesting route and bike.

This is a fun — and as always, sneakily educational — episode. Enjoy!

Marginal Gains Scorecard with Dylan Johnson Nov 23, 2024

Show notes

Dylan Johnson is back with a follow up to the testing he and Josh did in the spring. The race season started with the two of them in the wind tunnel looking for Marginal Gains that could be used in the Lifetime Grand Prix and the other off-road races Dylan had on his calendar. Dylan reports back with his "on-course" experience and a look at how other racers are adopting some of the advantages he and Josh first discovered. Dylan also has questions for Josh on how some of the new "finds" and Silca products can be used at the pointy end of off-road racing. This is two Marginal Gainers sharing notes on another season of discovery and execution.

AJA #36: Pre-wax prep, traction problems, and aero for the flexibility-challenged Nov 12, 2024

Show notes

Is it a coincidence that Fatty picked all the questions for this episode, and that all the questions in this episode are topics Fatty finds either interesting or personally relevant? Probably not! But if you're wondering if chain waxing makes sense for dusty trail conditions, are curious how much (if any) the outside temperature should affect your tire pressure, or are wondering how inflexible cyclists should set their bikes to be as aero as possible, you'll find Josh's answers as intriguing as Fatty did. Enjoy the show!

Zwift & Marginal Gains, with Zwift Product VP Mark Cote Oct 28, 2024

Show notes

Zwift VP of Product Mark Cote joins the Marginal Gains crew, picking up where we left off in our last conversation: the wind tunnel. This time, his time in the tunnel is all about future-looking features for Zwift, and this peek at what's to come is not to be missed.

From there we talk about everything in the present and future state of Zwift and Marginal Gains, from the extremely practical (tips and warnings for your own Zwift setup) to the philosophical (is Zwift for racing, training, or fun?) with everything in between.

Whether you ride a smart trainer or not, you will not want to miss this episode!

Paralympic Track Racer Bryan Larsen: Excelling after Injury Sep 24, 2024

Show notes

Bryan Larsen tells us his only real talent is that he's too dumb to quit. We strongly disagree, but take his point: Bryan is no quitter. In this episode, Bryan talks us through how he took the constraints given to him through birth and accident, and used passion, perseverence, and a love of marginal gains to reinvent his racing career.

AJA 35: Hookless rims & PSI limits, tire pressure on worn tires, Ti quicklinks, CRR on wet roads Aug 05, 2024

Show notes

We're so excited to kick this 35th episode of our "Ask Josh Anything" series with a discussion of the announcement of Silca's partnership with Visma Lease-A-Bike. Fatty does his level best to pitch having Hottie in the team car, hot-waxing on the move. We move from there to the challenges of high pressure with hookless rims, and how it has put Josh in the position of being the PSI bartender and cutting pressure-thirsty riders off. And that's just for starters. We also get into group ride marginal gains, changing pressure prescriptions for worn tires, whether 3D-printed Ti quicklinks should be a thing, the likely aero effects of Tadej's six-figure watch, and more. Enjoy this packed episode of Marginal Gains!

Amy Charity and SBT GRVL Jul 05, 2024

Show notes

Gravel Racing is moving face and Amy Charity is one of the movers. Amy is the founder of SBT GRVL in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The race started on the back of a napkin in 2018 and has quickly become one of the premiere off-road events in the U.S. After a few short years of success, Amy expanded SBT to Europe and Australia. But before the dirt roads, Amy raced on tarmac. She was a pro roadie with a short but successful career. And before road racing, Amy was in high finance. Josh and Hottie talk to Amy about her days in the pro peloton, how her business education informs her work as a race promoter, and Josh and Amy have a college reunion of sorts.

AJA 34: Wind tunnels, cargo bibs, ti printing, and axle handles Jun 03, 2024

Show notes

At this point we've lost track on how many episodes we've dedicated to wind tunnels, but this is at least partially one of them. We've also got great questions about Fatty's new Firefly and the Ti-printed parts Silca created for it, a classic question on the best body position for riding in a strong tailwind, axle handle alignment, and a remarkably well-considered question on calculating tire pressure for full-suspension bikes.

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