@@nerocoaching I think the craze about the Tarmac Sl7 it's because it's consistently one of the lightest frames (check all the people on weightweenies that have real scale shots) but it's still up there slightly below full aero bikes on the Tour magazine wind tunnel test. Aeroad 204w older S5 205w Dogma F 208w Sl7 210w I've also tested the sl7 in the wind tunnel against the new v4rs for Colnago and the specy was faster but wheels definitely make a bigger difference and those rovals are very very fast. Also the UAE Enves are extremely aero
I also expected more info or at least some controversy. The way Jesse just gives his opinion even if disagreeing is really nice, and quite rare on cycling RU-vid. Keep it up Man!
Thank you, these videos are always very polarising, and hard to make because of the negative feedback. Nice to hear you enjoyed it, these are also personally some of my favourite videos to watch on RU-vid, I wish there was more of it in the cycling side.
I have a Specialized Tarmac... genuinely my old Giant TCR was faster... geo/stiffness/compliance etc. But I love the look of the Tarmac, so it's my current bike. :) Just my thoughts.
I’ve ridden both the SL7 Sworks and the BMC SLR01 and by feel none feels faster than the other. (Same groupset and wheels). On the other hand the BMC is very very stable, it tracks really well but is less comfortable as it’s super stiff. The SL7 is more twitchy and flexes way more when sprinting. The BMC has an integrated bar and stem and is a bit too flexible, the only thing that flexes on it 😅
In my group there is a rider riding the SLR01 and swap to SL8. He still hiding behind...no pulling, dare not ride alone. Worst part hide behind a female rider!!!
I think the fact that he can't really describe why one thing is better than the other is because there are no tangible differences aside from build quality. It is absolutely hilarious that apparently pros are no better at distinguishing between bikes than the random dentist in the bunch ride.
I had very high expectations for Alex’ video but it turned out to be more of a list of what exists. “There’s this brand, that brand,…” and apparently everything is quite good. Bit disappointed…
For aero, Tour Magazin does aero testing, but they are german and they don't publish the results in an easily accesible format, because they need subscribtion money. There is a thread on Weightweenies for it though, so if you comb through there or ask, you'll find a lot of data. For example the SL7 and dogma F test very well, current venge a bit better than SL7 and Venge Vias a bit better than that. Last gen S5 was about the fastest pro bike, aeroad close, new foil a bit slower and propel close to that. Simplon Pride II fastest there is.
Had to go check, Bianchi was the Jumbo-Visma (when it was Belkin and Jumbo-Lotto NL) bike from 2014 to 2020. Personally I thought it was less than that. If Alex wanted to use an example of a team moving from Bianchi quickly, Jayco as Team Bike Exchange 2021 and 22 before going to Giant.
Kinda funny that both the Specialized and Colnago are both essentially a TCR. It's why I don't buy the 'aero-frame' BS - I just think it's all marketing spin to sell / create more categories of bikes.
Sometimes, you just need content to fill the schedule. I think that’s all this was. The value in his channel is in the lifestyle vlogs and how to race rather than on tech info
Perfectly said Jesse. Agree with everything you said. Most bikes are similar. BMC are market leaders. First for dropping seat stays. First for hiding cables. Also I think he meant Nimbl not Bont have never sponsored a rider. Heard a podcast a while back with the founders that explained this.
Fluff, no more. Recently seen him riding an (gifted?) Aethos. His other half does a bit of media work for Specialized. Fantastic to see Colnago back in the loop. Cervelo S5 is an Aeroad with a creaky ironing board strapped to the the front. Keep up the good work Jesse. The Nero Show is 5*.
As someone else says, of course he speaks from the perspective of someone who’s lived and breathed the pro peleton for the time he has, like, he’s not going to speak from the perspective of a Norwegian fisherman. 1. There’re several points he makes e.g. the sram flat top chain, the 10T cog, the lens quality of oakley that one can find supported by other sources, without trying particularly hard, but to be honest I’m struggling to find reviewers or sources contradicting those assertions. 2. He does qualify what he says, serially, as being just his opinion and based on his experience and the views he’s heard personally from other riders. Similarly, he does repeatedly invite being happy to be proven wrong. So it is a bit hypocritical to dismiss substantially the bulk of the take presented with… equally zero data or is that being unfair?
I could believe how stupid it made it seem. Basically Specialized is deemed the best bike in the pro ranks because of.... MARKETING! Merida own half of and make Specialized bikes... Does anyone remember how shit the Vias Venge was? They literally threatened to pull all advertising from Magazines that published negatives reviews of the bike. Pinarellos are SHIT, I know of some ex-Sky riders that constantly complained about them to their mechanics. Alex seems to be the biggest victim of bicycle marketing!
Spot on, Jesse! I had just watched Alex's video and was frankly disappointed by the lack of insights. I thought he would provide more insider information and not just report whether pros are supposedly "happy" with their bikes. I mean, what does "happy" mean, happy about what? It lacked facts and evidence.
Cervelo were laughed at by the pro peloton up until a few years a go. The frames and quality control was awful with so many other issues. They have pumped serious money into their brand to shake off that image and Jumbo on their bikes was the final step to getting on a stage with the best.
Thank you for doing this video. Watched this last night and honestly, by the end, I was wondering if I'd had a stroke. Was hoping Hambini or Peak Torque would chime in from an actual engineering perspective, as this all smacks of pros making excuses for why they're not winning. If Tarmacs were noticeably better, why have Soudal Quick Step had such a terrible spring by their standards? Why aren't Bora winning more races? TDE are still very average. Pog is winning for fun on a 'second-tier' bike? He's got so sucked in by the bike industry testing standards, which are very VERY questionable. Then he says "That's just my opinion"! Well, it's either science or it's an opinion!
Alex does point out that there's really nothing between the bikes in terms of speed, they all win races. I have a Canyon Aeroad and the biggest difference comes from what tires I put on it. It never gets slow, I handle that part, it just gets better planted and more or less comfortable depending on tires and pressure.
I must say, it is also quite superficial to say that bikes are all the same because they have similar side profiles and drop seatstays, i.e. the "BMC looks the same as a SL7". Well, some brands have clearly maxed out the new UCI regulations with massive headtubes and bottom bracket areas, so that's a bit oversimplified. However, in most aero tests I've seen, the good bikes are usually within a few watts even at high speeds like 40 or 45 kph, so I don't know, does the bike really matter that much, given the fact that most riders sit in the bunch for all of the race, anyway?
Met makes a good helmet I think. Light and pretty aero. That cut out on the sl7 seat tube is so far away from the tyre that I can't imagine it'd be of much benefit. Closer the better regarding aero. It looks cool though. Maybe a closer to tyre, wider seat tube like on the new Propel is just as good or better? Would love data on it.
Today's bike is all about being aero (and them as light as possible that people like to ride them). In that regard, cannondale did a great move moving the di2 battery to the bottom of the bike. That allowed very very skinny seatpost and seattube. You put that bike against all others and it wins. Period. The thing is: what happens when you have a rider there?? Legs spinning, cranks spinning. Watter bottles. Then what? Does it still matters?
And we don't ride indoor either. The air itself is often already disturbed, before the rider disturbs it even further. I personally think the aero differences between the high end bikes matter fuck all.
At the beginning of the video, Alex says he will be announcing his new bike sponsor soon. My money is on Specialized, who sponsored his partner Chanel for her IM.
I agree that actually backing up his "analysis" with actual data would be great and more insightful, but could the companies enforce gags on riders disclosing the data when they test?
Good critique of Alex’s comments especially around Bianchi. I’m 58, still ride competitively and previously raced up to Cat 1 in North America. I’ve been privileged with owning top bikes from the best brands all my life and now have a few top road bikes, one of them my 2019 Bianchi Specialissima Pantani edition, and it is one of the best frame-sets in have ever ridden to this day, simply stunning ride. Alex’s comment is dismissive, irresponsible, clumsy and ignorant.
There's one massive difference that makes some of the bikes more desirable to me but probably wouldn't do much of a difference for a pro : Specialized, Trek, Colnago, they all have in common a threaded T47 bottom bracket. It's a shame bikes are sold those insane prices and start having a creaking bottom bracket after a few years of use, assuming you maintain them regularly. But if you wanted to get in to those kind of details you'd watch hambini (who probably would disagree with me on that 😂). I hope the era of pressfit bottom brackets will be gone for good, I hope the new Look Cofidis uses comes with one of those and at a decent price (cause the V4RS is way too expensive)
The radius of the headtube of the BMC is massive, for me a bike you cant race. Headtube is the most important tube of the bike. But no one seem to use the aero bike. Might be because it is a frence team and they live in 1990s...
Yeah, cause the head tube thickness is what wins you a race🤦. Bud, get of the couch and ride some bikes, then speak. AG2R are French, but BMC are a Swiss brand, based in Grenchen, a German speaking canton.
And I supposed not mentioning how big Merida is isn’t great when comparing sl7, given the ownership that Merida has over specialised and maybe even technical knowledge
Interesting that Alex suggests pro riders would rather be on a Specialized over some other brands, then mentioning Merida as one of those brand. Merida makes Specialized bikes! thats why you don't see them in the US.
14:00 the problem with the BMC is the tire clearance in the rear. 28mm tires dont fit at all, and even 25mm tires wear through the seat stays. I`ve had to fit 23mm tires to a 2021 bike.
From the pictures I’ve seen they ride 30mm. The latest model goes up to 28mm officially but you can fit more with the larger frames. 32mm would be a stretch though.
Jesse, do you have any info about what share of your viewers are not native English speakers? For me, not a native English speaker, Alex on 2x speed is incomprehensible. Maybe there is so few of us that it does not matter to you... just mentioning it in case you have not considered this.
Majority of views are from US and UK, then AUS, Germany and Canada. But yes, my mistake, I should have turned him back to normal speed so everyone has better chance of understanding!
@@nerocoaching Thank you, you are very considerate. BTW, any trip to Europe planned for this year? Those videos from Dutch races last summer were great.
I think this video was more insightful in terms of how pros are maybe not the best people to give advice on bike tech - at least for performance. So much of it would be driven by who is winning. I’d put more weight on their view for things like comfort and feel given they’re on the saddle so much. Pity he didn’t get into that at all.
Specialized is definitely fast and deserves a bit of the spotlight. But trek? No. Worse bike I’ve ever owned was a 2017 trek Emonda. Never went back to trek after that. Giant TCR is twice the bike. It’s a dream to ride. The propel looks good. And if you want bikes leading the peloton. That’s cervelo and colnago.
How much do you think Alex tests😳 To test all the 15-20 different bike brands in the pro peloton, never mind different models per brand, is impossible. Don’t get me wrong, Alex was mostly just waffling about pro peloton gossip, but to expect him to pull up a spreadsheet telling us the difference between every single bike in the world and the difference they make, isn’t realistic. Alex would only really have data on equipment he had access to as a pro and it would also mostly be TT tech.
I didn't expect him to pull up a spreadsheet telling us the difference between every single bike in the world and the difference they make. But I did expect at least a some deeper level of critique, given the title was "Guide to the Best Kit Right Now", which he didn't provide IMO. E.g. he said the BMC is outdated, but didn't give a single detail about what is outdated. Tube shapes? Tyre clearance? Stiffness? Weight?
Yeah agree. I normally don’t watch his stuff but was interested in this one for some insider goss but it was a complete dud of a video - just click bait essentially
Spot on JC, but defending Alex he does only have a pro peloton view which he sort of said. It’s like asking an F1 driver, who gets his brands best sports version car to drive everyday, what’s the best value $30,000- $40,000 car out there!!
i think giant, scott and cannondale are as fast as any bike. Specialized are fast but their tires suck, guarantee Quick Step will have lots of bike changes during roubaix.
I think a lot of his thoughts on bikes were heavily biased by the tt bikes, not the road bikes. Road bikes are all very close. TT has a lot more variability. But odd video from him nonetheless.
I see a lot of cycling channels are changing their focus and planning to do better things on RU-vid, well my boy here is heading his channel toward the reviewing and criticize others content😮😅😂... maybe you should schedule a discussion with Alex and have a better understanding about what both of y'all are saying. You did it once with GC performance and the other guy maybe try that.
I think Alex know his stuff and is obviously a marginal gains guy , but a lot of his video is just retoric , i mean is the spec Sl7 really faster than the Merida Scultura , come on Merida owns 50 % of specialized they may have different designers but i bet the carbon engineering is exactly the same and they probably use the same windtunnel and made in the same factory s in China 😅
Alex's video shows the emphasis Pro riders place on their intuition over facts. Ie does the bike win? Psychology matters. Also, has the L&D dept recently invested in this development? Ie is it new shiny and possible better? It's fair enough that Jesse is pressing the crux query, which is "yeah but is it quicker?" Or just because its new is is it better? These are Critical points. We presume Mike Sinyard didnt pay Alex. The power of the Specialized marketing machine is just that good! Pros think Specialized and Trek are a bit better... there's secret sauce in thise CAAD designs. Pros are human. Branding gets the best performers. It's may be intangible until you get to the bike price. Yes, those companies pretty much top the market price wise. Quick query following your point Jesse, that an SL7 / VRS 4 look very similar aerodynamically. Is the SL 7 frame lighter? Does Pog still need to change equipment in the high passes to hit 6.8kg? Or is he on a different carbon lay up? Fascinating UAE are yhe majority stakeholders in Colnago. If Alex's video is entitled what the pros think... or something representative of Pros then it's harder to challenge his conclusions. I doubt Alex even as a pro reliant on aerodynamic focus for his most crucial acheivements has actually wind tunnel tested the breadth necessary to give a 1-10 ranking. In fact, unsure anyone has. Personally I'd not expect comparative data on 7-8 brands but maybe three or even four. Eg if Factor are in the pack you'd not want to ride one if your attempting the world hour record and it's going to be very tight. You'd do a Bigham! Jesse, you rate Bianchi as yhe best race bike you rode... what are your comparators? My take aways from your provocations Jesse.... has anyone an advance on a Giant Propel/ Cannondale LAB 71 frame run with Roval wheels/Conti Tyres and Shimano Dura Ace, Quarq PM... and a Specialized Helmet and no pinz kit as the fastest package on rolling terrain? (Proviso the wheels fit the frame!) Any takers? If Pogi/Vin rode the slighted BMC Team Machine attracting a degree of Pro derision (and undoubtedly was sold as the peak of precision Swiss Engineering in 2018) to the 2023 T de F victory what then? If both started the 2023 T de F on thst bike are we saying the Peleton think they're going to struggle? Bollox. Cheers. Good Vid.
Gotta say watching the 1.5x speed video is not pleasant. If you want to save time just quote him. If you’re going to play the video let it run. Liked the vid otherwise. There’s not enough people displaying critical thinking these days. I’m definitely a believer of the stopwatch not “that felt fast”. That being said, you definitely try a bit harder when you’re convinced you’ve got a shot at winning.
I like these videos. Alex is making these video for some content. He probably is going to 'burn' any bridges now he has to make a living away from WT racing.
I just saw a self titled guy criticizing a pro rider who has been testing whatever he was talking about for years. You mentioned show data, what data have you been shown in any of your self titled videos. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I show data in my own videos all the time. And if Alex doesn’t have data, he could at least give some possible explanations or reasons behind the things he said, e.g. BMC being outdated, in what ways is the SLR01 outdated?
Your comments were spot on. Alex's video was rubbish. It promised lots of really good unique insights, but in reality it was just a bunch of waffle. Regretted wasting 20mins of my time. Alex's videos and other social media are just full of endless promo for the brands he works with....nothing else of interest.
All bs 😂😂😂😂 best bike is which ever the best team is at the grand tours with the strongest gc rider that ends up winning. Then look how fast pods bike was at flanders 😂😂😂😂
Only to those who know this stuff and can question things, such as Jesse, but not to your average UK MAMIL with a fat wallet keen to spend on bike gear who get instantly wet when a British pro rider says anything. The UK is full of such types.
@@nerocoaching Fair because he does waffle on. But you are correct to do a bit of a takedown video on this. Alex does have knowledge but this video was just like coffee shop banter.
He's an adult, who's been a professional athlete, I think he can take RU-vid critiquing on the chin no problems. I don't know it all, but I can critically think, and have years experience racing bikes. I gave him kudos throughout the video on the unique insights he had and called him out when he made big calls without any detail.
@@nerocoaching 100% you don't know it all because I've seen your horrible takes on the Nero show. The amount of stuff you have no idea about bikes is mind blowing but I am confident you can race the shit out of a bike. Alex is WOLRD TOUR level so he actually speaks to other world tour riders and is friends with many of them. Instead of critiquing his video like a discount Wayne Fotos, why not actually make content. Make a video about what guys in Sydney are riding their thoughts and your thoughts.
