Velo Podcast

And we’re back, everyone. Mike Levy returns from the wilderness, and Lisa Charlebois and I join him to unpack exactly where he’s been. But before we get to the heartbreak of ultra-endurance racing, the Tour de France is in full swing, and we’ve got a wild first week to discuss. Tour de France Carnage & UCI Rulings We kick things off with the absolute chaos of the opening team time trial. Two crashes in the exact same spot on a manhole cover beg the question: is this the UCI's fault for not securing the course, or the teams' fault for not scouting a public road? Plus, we break down the Wile E. Coyote-style crash from the XDS-Astana rider, and the UCI's controversial decision to ban ice socks in the middle of a historic heatwave. Defending the Tarmac SL9 We also dive back into the Specialized Tarmac SL9 discourse. I respond to a listener who compared the SL9’s iterative updates to the Porsche 911. I’m defending the bike against the "boring" allegations—everyone says they want a refined, incredible-riding bike, so why complain when a brand delivers exactly that? Not every bike needs to be the Factor One. Mike Levy's Tour Divide Reality Check The real heart of the show is Levy detailing his abbreviated Tour Divide attempt. He walks us through the sleep deprivation, the cement mud, the brutal realities of pushing a 55-pound bike for hours, and the catastrophic rock strike that ultimately ended his ride. It’s a raw look at what happens when the physical matches the mental breaking point, the absolute relief of finally stopping, and why he’s already thinking about trying it again next year. Episode Timestamps: 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:04 Tour de France discussion 00:12:04 Listener questions including about the Tarmac SL9 00:32:53 Mike Levy attempts the Tour Divide

This week we are doing something a bit different. Often this podcast is a space for a deep dive into an article that you can read about on the Velo website. This week we are instead going to learn more about contributor Lisa Charlebois. Mike Levy and I sat down to chat with Charlebois about a ride she once did. This wasn’t an ordinary ride, though. Charlebois does a lot of big rides, but this one was even bigger. It is called the Midnight Sun Randonneur, and it is a 1,215-kilometer (755-mile) loop that starts six hours north of Stockholm in Umeå, Sweden, pushes north into the Arctic Circle to the Norwegian Sea, and then loops back. Because the event takes place during the Scandinavian midsummer, there is no real sunset, just a constant daylight that messes with your sense of time. The mass start kicks off at 11:00 PM, and riders navigate to checkpoints roughly every 100 kilometers where they refuel on local items like deep-fried dumplings and moose meat sandwiches. Beyond that framework, it is an unsupported ride with a 90-hour time limit. You carry your own gear and sleep when you can. To put her pacing into perspective, Lisa's first day on the bike covered 470 kilometers (292 miles) with over 15,500 feet of climbing. That initial push took 19 hours of moving time through rolling hills and endless Swedish forests before the landscape drastically shifted. Just in case you thought things weren’t hard enough, the third day is where the weather broke. Lisa and the remaining riders faced roughly 200 kilometers of driving, freezing rain. Of course, like any ultra-endurance event, crossing the finish line was met with no fanfare. Does that sound like your idea of a good time? Maybe not, but that’s the kind of thing Charlebois brings to the table when she shares her perspective about a bike. Listen to the full discussion to hear all the twists and turns and find out if Charlebois would ever consider doing it again. For more information about the event visit the Midnight Sun Randonneur website.

This week on the Velo Podcast, the crew discusses a 13-pound Everesting rig, women's specific bike shoes vs unisex options, and why your next road bike might actually be a gravel setup. I’m back, but Mike Levy is still playing in the woods on a bike. We’ll talk to him about that soon, but for now, Logan Jones-Wilkins, Lisa Charlebois, and I get into women's cycling shoes, 13-pound climbing bikes, and the death of the endurance road bike. Episode Breakdown: Women's Shoe Buyer's Guide: We look at the women’s shoe buyer's guide that Charlebois recently published. We bypass debating the actual shoe choices and focus on why it’s critical to carve out dedicated space for that guide. Charlebois shares her thoughts on the current market mix of women-specific and unisex shoes and whether a unisex approach takes away from the quality of the selection. Everesting Roam on a 13lb Bike: The discussion transitions to the shoes Charlebois chose and the 13-pound bike she used for her recent Everesting Roam adventure—a format with no sleep allowed and no hill repeats, ending only when you hit 29,000 feet of elevation. As someone who prioritizes comfort and normally rides a metal frame, what was the experience actually like on a stiff, ultra-light carbon bike? The Endurance Bike is Dead: Wouldn’t she have been more comfortable on an endurance bike? It’s possible, but maybe no one should be riding a dedicated endurance bike in 2026. Jones-Wilkins reports on a rider who won a stage of Tulsa Tough on a gravel bike. He argues that while some insist the gravel bike is an industry marketing scam, that label really only applies to pure road bikes. We debate if the endurance bike genre should be put to pasture.

This week's episode is all about riding long. Factor's new Sarana ultra-distance race bike made its first appearance at last weekend's Traka gravel race in Girona, Spain, and Velo tech editor Logan Jones-Wilkins answers Levy's questions about how it aims to combine speedy handling and all-day comfort. Its geometry leans more towards speed and agility than outright stability, but it also has room for 2.2" tires and a carbon frame designed for vertical compliance and integrated frame bags, making the Sarana a novel endurance racing option, but did Factor go far enough?  And speaking of all-day (and all-night) adventures, Lisa recounts her recent 600km / 373 mile ride at the Mendocino 600 that saw her on the move for over 20 hours while bagging 5,128 meters (16,824-feet) of climbing. Logan and Levy ask her about the pre-ride planning that goes into an effort like this, how she fueled herself while on the bike, and why she rode a steel frame equipped with some ultra-light carbon wheels and components. They also get into using a power meter to limit yourself, how being a trash panda is a superpower during ultra-distance events, and the deeper meaning of being on your bike for such a long time.  Also, more reader questions answered about 32" wheels and bikes not being too expensive.  Chapters: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:03:07 - Reader questions 00:12:59 - Factor Sarana gravel bike 00:28:22 - Lisa's 600Km ride at the Mendocino Coast 600K

The end of 2025 means that it's time to look back at all of the bikes and gear used by the Velo tech editors and make some difficult decisions. Today's episode sees Josh Ross and Alvin Holbrook explain the Road Bike of the Year nominees, which included the Colnago Y1RS and Lightspeed's Coll dels Reis, and why neither of those fancy machines took the overall win. We also get a bit heated over the Gravel Bike of the Year, Innovation of the Year, and finally, Product of the Year. The second half of today's show sees Levy, Alvin, and Josh list out their personal best-of-2025 product picks, which include everything from "budget" power meters, definitely not budget indoor trainer bikes, 13-speed drivetrains from Italy, 12-speed drivetrains from America, an AI assistant, and a whole load of music recommendations. See prior episodes of the Velo Podcast here. Further reading We Tested Over 40 Bikes in 2025. These Are the 7 Best Road Bikes. The Velo Best Products of 2025: From AI Glasses to $25 Cleats The Fastest Gravel Bike Wasn’t the Best: Aero Testing at the Velo Field Test There’s Now a Cheaper Way to Get Shimano GRX Electronic Shifting