151. UCI rules, design evolution, and why bikes are so expensive, with Pieter Potters

This week's guest is Pieter Potters, R&D manager at Belgian Cycling Factory, the group that owns Eddy Merckx Cycles and Ridley Bikes. For nearly six years Pieter has been at the centre of designing cutting edge road and gravel bikes, including the recent Ridley Noah Fast 3.0, which features a new kind of geometry that many see poised to change the game - think steep seat tubes, short cranks and aggressive forward positioning of the rider (don't worry, Pieter explains it better).Pieter is also in charge designing Eddy Merckx bikes, so here he discusses plans to rejuvenate that once great marque, along with answering questions around how much input pro-riders really have into the bikes they ride, how to design bikes for the modern age, how to negotiate potentially ruinous UCI rule changes, and that perennial question, just why are bikes so expensive?Interview begins atThis episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout)------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorAnd it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.