CyclingTips Digest: A Guide to Air Compressors, 3D Printed Carbon Shoes, Motor Doping & More

By: DAVE ROME

Look to almost any professional workshop or race mechanic setup and you’ll likely see, or at least hear, an air compressor in use. The job of an air compressor is simple – compress air for pressurised release – and it does so with a motor (or motors) that forces air into a constrained space (a tank).

When it comes to working on bicycles, air compressors are most commonly used for two key tasks. Firstly and perhaps most beneficially, they’re the perfect tool for drying things off after they’ve been washed, or for blowing grit out of tight crevices (such as derailleurs and brakes). I hate being without one for this task.

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By: DAVE ROME

If you’ve landed on this article then you probably have an air compressor already (or are at least considering one) and you’re looking for a dedicated bicycle tyre inflator to suit it.

Don’t have an air compressor? Check out our guide to air compressors for bicycle use.

When it comes to inflating tyres with an air compressor there are plenty of options. This article covers DIY options and dedicated bicycle-specific inflators across a broad price range. All the inflators covered below will work with any air compressor – it’s just a matter of fitting the appropriate couplers (covered in the guide to air compressors).

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By: IAIN TRELOAR

The new Space Race – between billionaires, not Cold War-era superpowers – reached a milestone on Sunday. Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, took off from New Mexico’s Spaceport America as a passenger in his Virgin Galactic Unity VS22 spacecraft. The craft and its crew soared to the limits of space, to a height of 86 km above Earth, and then glided back down having experienced a brief but tantalising few moments of weightlessness.

Was it into space? Nah, not really. That marker is commonly defined as the Kármán Line – 100 km above Earth – but Branson’s flight was a shot across the bows of the other obscenely wealthy men who are done plundering Earth and now want to conquer space.

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By: JAMES HUANG

Enve recently held its third Builder Roundup, a sort of mini handmade show that’s starting to become not-so-mini.

Enve is one of the most prolific suppliers to the handmade community, and while the event is ostensibly designed to be a showcase of the company’s wares, it’s evolved into a reputable event in its own right, with builders from around the world descending upon Ogden, Utah, with their best and brightest.


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By: DAVE ROME

Those who just watched the women’s cross country mountain bike event may have noticed something weird on the down tube of Jolanda Neff’s Trek Supercaliber.

With the women anticipating muddy conditions, the eventual gold medal winner seemingly took a page from the book of fellow Swiss rider Nino Schurter who had used a similar trick at the most recent mudfest of a World Cup round at Les Gets.

Simply, it’s just duct tape (gaffer tape) stuck along the frame in a way that makes a wavy and floppy shape.

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By: DAVE ROME

First teased earlier this year and now open for pre-order, Lore Cycle is a start-up from Silicon Valley looking to shake up the cycling shoe market with a novel design produced with new-age tech. The space-age, sandal-like kicks combine a 3D-printed carbon exterior skeleton with a soft foam liner for a custom road shoe like no other.

And because they’re space-age, you’d better believe they’ve got a price that’s out of this world.

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By: IAIN TRELOAR

As the Tour de France enters its final act after the second rest day, one EF Education-Nippo rider can put his feet up, content with a job well done. That rider – Lachlan Morton – has just completed his Alt Tour, riding the entire Tour de France route, including all transfers, unsupported.

That meant 5,510 km, instead of the Tour route’s 3,383 km. 65,500 metres of vertical gain rather than the Tour’s 42,200 m. 18 days of riding without a day’s rest, versus the peloton’s 21 and two rest days. And all while sleeping under the stars, fixing his own punctures, taking care of his own mechanicals, and keeping himself fed and watered.

The Australian rider, who has approached the sport from his own unique perspective throughout his career, set off from Brittany just after the Tour began and quickly built a lead over the race, cycling longer days and banking distance to give him enough of a buffer over the peloton for the final 700 km+ transfer north to Paris.

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By: IAIN TRELOAR

The 2021 Tour de France has been run and won. Over three weeks, across the breadth of the nation, there have been crashes and controversy, fairytale returns and failures to launch. It has been – as it always is – cycling’s finest spectacle.

For all of those 21 stages – plus a few rest days along the way – husband and wife photographer team Jered and Ashley Gruber have been snapping away, their photography blurring the lines between cycling and art.

We’ve gone through and cherrypicked a few favourites from each stage. Some that tell the story of the race, some that tell the story of what it is to be waiting for the race on the side of a road, and some that tell the story of France.

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By: RONAN MCLAUGHLIN

Given the sport’s troubled past, it is hardly surprising that dominant performances attract more than just raised eyebrows. Doping questions and accusations seem almost par for the course for the modern Tour de France leader.

Tadej Pogačar bulldozed the competition on route to his second Tour title last week. At times the young Slovenian looked like he was on a ride to the shops, while his closest contenders clambered for his back wheel.

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By: DAVE ROME

Revel Bikes recently made a splash in the mountain bike market with carbon rims it claims are stronger, lighter, more cost-effective, and 100% recyclable. The technology used is dubbed “Fusion-Fiber” and it does away with the industry norm of using epoxy to hold together the individual carbon fibers.

Now the mountain bike company has broadened its scope and used the novel technology to produce a gravel-friendly 23 mm-wide rim. The idea of a less brittle, smoother-riding, more cost-effective, and recyclable gravel wheelset sure is appealing.

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By: IAIN TRELOAR

Cycling shoes continue to get increasingly high-tech, sprouting sophisticated dials and directional textiles, sole stiffness that is dialled up to 11 (and then a couple more), and ever-more feathery weight.

But even amongst all of that, there’s still something to be said for a simple, reliable laced closure.

Laces have been undergoing something of a renaissance since Giro (re-)popularised lace-ups back in 2012, and over the years since, most mainstream brands have dipped their toe in.

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By: IAIN TRELOAR

Regardless of the industry, there’s no denying that traditional sales channels are changing. Once-faceless brands are now more directly in touch with their end consumers than ever before and recent world events have only accelerated such change.

When it comes to sales channels within the bicycle industry, Shimano has long stood as one of the more traditional operators. Depending on the region, the Japanese company imports and wholesales goods through a variety of direct subsidiaries and specialist distributors – and in almost all cases the customers are bicycle shops. But that looks to be changing, at least for some of Shimano’s products.

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By: JAMES HUANG

It seems Scott is no longer hedging its bets when it comes to gravel.

Long content to use the same frame for gravel and cyclocross, Scott has finally developed a purpose-built Addict Gravel model with its own dedicated geometry and feature set. The longer and lower design, more generous tire clearance, additional carrying capacity, and more plentiful mounts all point toward a more versatile machine than before, but it also now boasts aero, lightweight, and integration features borrowed from the company’s road racing range for an extra dose of speed.

Combine that all together, and it makes for a pretty enticing-sounding package for gravel riders who want to go faster and farther on rougher terrain.

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