Interesting observations on cycling UA-camrs. Whilst the Ali-Express element of Trace Velo's content will become less of an attraction, the guy behind it (Luke) is likeable and straightforward and I think he'll do fine, even if he pivots his content. Also, there's always room for new channels because viewer loyalty is fickle and, as you point out, some of the seemingly untouchable behemoths like GCN are losing traction now, making space for more authentic voices.
I perhaps wasn't very clear in my video. I think it will be difficult for "one man" UA-camrs to get into the show because it's financially unviable. You need a certain number of viewers to get to be able to review stuff and you need a particular niche. For Trace Velo - it's cheap Ali Express parts. For Peak Torque, it's engineering. For me and Peak Torque, it's not a job so we could just walk away without any recourse. For others, they can't do that.
@@KerenWang I think Katie Kookaburra, Trace Velo, Dave Arthur, Ben Delaney, Francis Cade. Some other people will be better placed to answer this than me.
That GCN video defending the bike prices vs motorcycles was so hard to watch. There is no way the current bike prices are defendable in any way. Certainly when taking into account all the tollerance and hidden quality issues with carbon frames.
The biggest issue I had with that video is that many of these bike companies are publicly traded, so their share price and profit is information available to the public. It's been clear that the increase in price has matched an increase in profit.
@@Kevin_Aus yea, I definitely think the video would have been better with better analysis. The video on MTB and motorcycles by fortnine I think makes some more interesting points. As more of an MTB rider, it would be interesting to look more into the price changes and profit margins on components here as well.
@@Kevin_Auswhich bike companies are publicly listed? Giant is one, but a lot of bike brands such as Trek, Specialized, and Cannondale are privately owned.
So many of the industry are on relatively crap money and rely on the manufacturers to fund their free holidays to sunny places to 'test' new bikes, or fund their riding with lots of free kit to borrow or keep. When I was at a bit of a crossroads with what to do with life when I stopped racing and was doing a job I hated, I wondered about pushing to write full time as I was already doing a lot with PB at the time and had been doing various bits in the media for about ten years. I'm glad I didn't because while at the time I was quite independently minded still, and I can see that if I stayed around in the industry with it being my only way to earn money, it wouldn't have been a fit for my ethics, nor would I have been able to be fully true to my own opinions. Paul Aston is another ex-PBer but he has stayed in the industry and is now buying his own stuff to review. I know Hambini is road and I'm MTB but it's all the same industry bollocks.
10:50 I think Hambini is completely right that the increased cost of bicycles means that quality control must tighten accordingly. If you sell a pedal bike for the price of a motorcycle, the buyers are going to expect essentially perfection, and this applies to commuter ebikes as well.
@charlesmansplaining when I first heard about plastic resin impregnated fibre frames I thought here we go again. Do you remember the hype surrounding grp when it arrived on the scene? Then came osmosis, gel coat cracking and delamination to mention just a few. Metal has well understood properties and behaves in a predictable manner. It's worth the extra weight by a mile.
The prices increase because there are million of people who want expensive bikes, so the companies accelerate their production, and you get quality control issues. You can find plenty of cheap e-bikes and bikes at cheaper prices, many are excellent bikes, nobody NEEDS more than those.
As a small-ish UA-camr: I find it amazing how strongly the algorithm aggressively pushes content related to anything that can be monetized (on the YT end.) Product reviews always get so much more organic reach than anything else, at least for me. UA-cam exists to sell ads, and they are slanted towards things that advertisers buy against. Also, people love buying new things. I've found my comfortable place by simply having a day job that means I can give an honest opinion and not give a care towards future manufactuerer relationships or affiliate income.
Luke (TraceVelo) is fantastic, I think he will do fantastically even if he moves away from the whole aliexpress thing. I've enjoyed watching him champion the cheaper end of cycling and I reckon that's what he'll continue to do.
He has the patience of a saint. Every time he reviews something Chinese, my conclusion is "just buy Shimano". Chinese frame & wheels + Shimano (Deore/105 whatever) components, job done.
Agreed. His content is far more relatable than a lot of other cycling content on UA-cam, but he's also just a likeable person, so would probably still watch his channel if he did move away from the AliExpress content
@@andycreese85He absolutely grates on me, but I watch him anyway as he's putting out well thought out content in a niche very few are exploring... And I'm a tight b@st*rd 😂
Went with sensah empire pro on a Chinese build. I'm pretty impressed for the price. You're probably right with Chinese brands becoming mainstream, hopefully it won't ruin Trace Velo's channel. I like his builds
In 2016 I had a Wilier carbon frame crack on me at the rear chain stay and sending me to hospital with a broken collar bone. Wilier blamed me for an incorrect install of either the cassette, hangar or the skewers. The bike companies have been pretty lackadaisical to this point in taking responsibility for quality issues. Shimano is the most current case-in-point.
They can't have done any proper analysis of the failure if they say "cassette, hangar or skewers". I had a Trek frame basically snap underneath me a few years ago (also a chainstay). They wouldn't even replace it under warranty (because I wasn't the original owner). I do think the increased cost of bikes will be leaving the manufacturers more exposed. A $1K bike failing after 4.000km might be considered reasonable. A $15K bike not so much.
I predict that the services of expert witnesses, such as, to pluck an example from thin air, Hambini, will increase dramatically as they are seen to help to extract massive payouts from negligent bike manufacturers and service shops.
@@chriswright9096 Why would you have an expectation of Trek covering your frame that you purchased second hand? I insure all my bikes despite any warranty and the great thing about bicycle insurance is there is no depreciation.
@@chriswright9096 It is a wonderful feeling to have absolute confidence in the indestructibility of my 50yr old steel frame (Carlton, made in Worksop) which still gets near-daily 3 season use. And the price of this confidence was £25 (second-hand) in 1975.
Gone are the days when you go and buy ZIPP or Reynalds wheels the go to wheels for value and speed are either Farsports or Winspace the price is unbeatable! As for the goods to be of merchandisable quality you are spot on.I am a car dealer i sell second hand cars from £4k to 20k and believe you me if there is anything wrong with a car its slung back at me and think of how many moving parts on a car there are ....A brand new bike SHOULD be within the tolerances stated if not its not of merchandisable quality and you have the right to reject!
@@IsaiahsBabyDaddy Winspace etc are still well below half the price of mainstream brands and a lot better built to be honest.I dont think they will ever increase in price to that degree....
@@davemellor4697 I agree, but western labeled brands have been lowering prices so there is a little balancing act going on. The industry will just wiggle around to find another money grab. I have been rocking popular Chinese brands for a decade and when fitted with known good hubs, I have never looked back.
@@IsaiahsBabyDaddy I think you'll get to a point where the consumer forgets about the origin of the product. Many years ago, stuff from Japan was considered inferior - eg cars. Now they are priced similarly to the western brands and the consumer doesn't care. They don't associate Toyota with poor build quality, they just perceive them as reliably boring. Or you could get a Fiat and then test the roadisde recovery on a regular basis.
@@Hambini- The Japanese domestic market is very demanding, which helps explain why Japanese products tend to perform so well. I don’t know about the bicycling industry, but I know Honda, Yamaha, etc. spent years fiercely squaring off against competitors at home during the post-war motorcycle boom. So by the time it was time to expand to other markets, they already had a bulletproof, refined lineup of products to sell. China tends to be more price-focused, it’ll be interesting to see if their products develop a reputation for long term quality.
GCN has pursued quantity over quality in its UA-cam content. Reviews of products, behind-the-scenes reporting, and similar programming are great, drawing me to the channel. But they have increased BS content to maintain a steady flow of episodes. ''Elite pro vs. man who hasn't ridden a bike in 40 years - WHO WILL WIN?'. 'Former Pro Tour rider vs. 70-year-old woman'. '2023 superbike vs. 1982 Sears & Roebuck 10-speed'. Ok, I did exaggerate a bit, but not by much. I prefer 4 episodes a week of quality content over a daily barrage of nonsense.
Broadly speaking, anything that has Oli in it is worth looking at in my opinion. He is by far their best presenter for technical knowledge and personality. Their "test" or vs videos are always naff, just a case of whether you like the personalities enough to bother having it as background viewing. I assume they are mostly on freelance work, there is no way they are going to be able to retain all of them, and the variation in quality between some of the presenters is pretty stark
To me it's a matter of weeding through which videos are worth viewing or not. However, the degree of sponsorship bias on their part has grown to ridiculous proportions in the last year. Their objectivity has taken a massive hit in my opinion. They still put out worthwhile content but at some point people have to take a step back and realize that Muc-off isn't the second coming of Jesus for bikers, just a company with a massive marketing budget.
You haven't seen the BB-Double Max JIS threaded, sandwich fit ultra torque evo oversize 8052 bearings and 71.5mm shell specific with 26.5 or 32.3mm new maxdrive spindle standard?
Trace Velo is pretty much the only channel that seriously reviews chinese-brand stuff, and show the defects of the parts too. I only buy branded drivetrain and brake parts, the rest are chinese components. So his channel is a good resource for me. There are millions of people that are the same as me.
Average age of my fleet is close to 30 years old. I predict that won't change drastically at any point in the future. I also predict Shimano won't be getting any money from me in the years ahead and that all my wheels will remain custom built, ride magnificently and last decades. They don't build things like they used to, not a problem I face. As for GCN, its become a bit like top gear on bicycles.
Totally agree GCN is Top Gear. I cringe when they buy cheap used bikes and make fun of them by not using them as intended. They are basically making fun of poor people who can't afford $10,000 bikes.
@@newttella1043 indeed, Simon "Jeremy" Richardson, Hank "Richard" Lowsley-Williams, Connor "James" Dunne. Shame about GCN+, the epic rides were quite something, but I suspect their love of megabikes has gapped them from reality. The cycling universe is so much more than a bike that costs stupid money. But then there are plenty of excellent channels there to fill the reality void. GCN has peaked I think.
@@Rover200Powerevery now and then they may buy a 100 pound bike to ride 100 miles or we buy a clunker and try and make a superbike - something ridiculous like that. Its a good premise for content but it all goes sideways somehow in a blokey, jokey kind of way rather than being informational about whats really possible for those on a budget. To be fair they have done some good vintage bike stories, but since these guys mostly never grew up on what is now considered vintage machines they have no idea how to ride them. They did a story on the neo Wilier which was great but of course that's a high end machine requiring a deep pocket. But I thought they did a fair job actually of what it is and how it goes vs a new carbon Wilier. eBikes, I see a toe in the water there with cargo bikes and such but then how they think they are being used is not relatable. And so on. Its more making stuff up than any sort of journalism in that sense. The epic rides series, always good viewing. A big tick from me. Doco/advertorial type content, we visit a sponsors factory to tell you how they get stuff done, mostly pretty good and sometimes very good. And yet there is a whole world of content opportunities outside their sponsors. Obviously there are other channels doing some of these things much better. GCN need to take a look at their audience and make the necessary corrections if they want to stay relevant and continue to grow.
The average age of my fleet is roughly 60 years old, my main commuter bike is from the 1930s, over the years i collected a lot of NOS and good used stuff for these vintage domestic bikes, the rear is a Sachs mod 515 3 speed Torpedo, pretty much indestructible, i love thee old Sachs hubs, for the front there is a drum brake which is great, ultra reliable and closed off from the elements.
gravel used to make no sense for me when they started coming out. with the state of the roads we now have, i barely go on my road bike because ive become tired of competing with cars for the non potholed strips of road we have left.
Honestly, I'd love to see the harmonisation of bearing standards, namely headsets and bottom brackets. All this soup of external cups, zero stack and integrated types of headsets (and that's just one side of head tube) were driving me mad when I was building my bespoke bike. And that was before you figure out what diameter is the steerer; I particularly blame Canyon for outrageous use of 1-1/4 on the top. Crank axle standards are mad too: GXP, 24 mm, 28,99 mm, 30 mm. Why not 36 mm (stiffness galore!) and BB shell the size of a fire hose?!
I recently built a 26” 90s mtb as a gravel build, for long distance and commuting. It’s a game changer in terms of comfort. The condition of the roads in London, especially East London are tragic. They’re so bad e-scooters can’t ride on them. Even the sidewalks are cooked
Glad to see people here supporting luke of trace velo… i like his work and has kept watching his videos for almost 2 years now and its quite entertaining
I predict that the old steel bikes made in years past which have provided transportation and exercise will continue to function in 2024 and be one of the veiled yet most influential parts of bicycle culture.
My oldest commuter is from the 1930s, Norwegian made, no complaints, you hop on and pedal like any other bike, i don't really ride anything post 1990s, with the exception of my Surly Pugsley which is a great bike but sadly not sold anymore.
@@HansensUniverseT-A What can you say about an old Norwegian bike? Uff da, maybe? Your frugality is its own reward. Good for you and maybe a bit good for the entire planet. Happy New Year!
The bicycle manufacturing industry has got lost up its own backside somewhere over the last 3-5 years. £6,000 is barely mid range in terms of price bracket for some manufacturers which is unsustainable and I don't see how they can arrest the slide. 105 being so expensive for example leaves such like wiggle room, pardon the pun
GCN ? We absolutely need even more marketing bike influencers on UA-cam. It s not enough yet. We need content that tells us what is the latest, most expensive, best, hottest for us. How can we only ride a bike without UA-cam?!
Some excellent thoughts. Will be interesting to see how they play out next year. GCN is an interesting one. They must have very high production costs and whether they can continue to push out new interesting content will, i think, be challenging.
But thanks to GCN everyone knows how to wash their bike. In fact if I see a clean bike I know that they watch GCN stuff. I also know that if I see an e-bike on a gravel track, they are merely seeing if the e-bike is faster.
Interesting take on the world of cycling this days. I have noticed a decline in the UA-cam world, when it comes to storytelling. There is a generalization of the UA-cam format, which doesn‘t tell stories anymore but much more „10 things, I wish I knew“ kind of videos. I miss the days of storytellers.
I think all those court cases and settlements will at some point help cycling industry to improve and be accountable for the presented quality of their products. It definitely a thing to strive for and demand by the consumer…
I think Trace Velo will do fine. Many people outside the western world cannot afford brand name bikes and parts but have access to the same UA-cam videos as us. Heck, even westerners are curious about finding good priced products and brands that don't pay sponsorship fees to be "reviewed" by the bike big channels.
I would suspect that the poor quality of modern bicycles might make people look at the second hand market as a bike that has been used as a commuter for the last 10 years is far less likely to go wrong
I just bought my sons a 15 yr old Cervelo alloy bike with Shimano wheels and ultegra groupset. Cost me $250 au . Paint is still like new and it had a set of Shimano road pedals that were only a couple of years old.I think it's the best bike I ever bought for the price. Should get 5 years out of it before it's too small for the youngest.
I have a 20 year old hybrid which is waiting for a complete overhaul. All the issues with the cf frames I’ve seen, I’m not willing to pay 1600€ for a used gravel bike. That is like twice my complete overhaul budget.
I have a number of vintage steel bikes that will still be safe to ride 100 years from now and even though I have a carbon frame bike that I bought new I would never buy a used carbon frame, they are extremely strong in some ways but still frighteningly delicate in others. People who pay thousands for carbon are probably going to look after them but as these bikes age and pass from owner to owner they're going to become death traps.
I wish there were more bike channels where they share more about their rides or bike vacations. I used to be a big backpacker and there were a lot of similar gear related channels, but there are also channels who are focused on travel, hiking, and camping.
Would be curious to hear what are your thoughts about the future of Campy? 2024 will be the first season in ~70 years that they don't have a single Pro Tour team using their stuff.
I think so many people are POd with the crazy bike prices that quality issues that were accepted 5 years ago are now leading people to sue. It feels like the dramatic increase in prices has not been matched with an increase in quality (prob opposite)
For the bike claim. I have first hand experience, it really really depend on your local distributor. For an example, if the distributor is contributing a whole lot of bike sales to the manufacturer, and the distributor actually want to help you to claim the warranty, it has a way better chance to get it done within a very short lead time. On the other hand, if the distributor or the bike shop doesn't really want to help you to talk to the manufacturer for the claim, all I can say is good luck to you.
second hand market is just overflooded with bikes it feels total dumbassery to buy new these days. Especially for the prices they're asking for these days. MTB wise i still prefer the older 2x11 setup, and the shimano xtr group i scavenged together was 500 in total. wich is about the price of their current entry level groupset (minus the fact that it doesn't fail spectacularly).
now thats a hello! mmm, very interesting last point, I'll be in the lookout for reports like that in my neck of the world (SF), too bad i don't ride as much anymore. . Thanks for all you do. Appreciate the continued content.
I don't have any experience with LTWOO, but I do have quite a bit with Sensah, and unfortunately it's not great. I had Sensah SRX Pro on my gravel/commuter bike for about 18 months, and when it worked, it worked pretty well - shifts were smooth and generally precise, and I did actually like the double tap shifting action. But quality just isn't there. I had to replace the derailleur twice - once for a barrel adjuster that just snapped off, and once for one of the pins that holds the parallelogram on to the derailleur falling out. And then the return spring in the shifter broke, making the shifting action far poorer. The hood rubber was also pretty poor quality, and never really wanted to stay exactly in place. While I did do about 10,000km overall on the groupset in the 18 months I used it (considerably more than an average rider would) I felt that the quality just doesn't match up to Shimano's offerings (I just replaced my Sensah with Ultegra R8000 shifters and a GRX800 rear derailleur), so it really is a mater of getting what you pay for. If my experience is anything to go by (and I know, maybe it's not, anecdotes just being anecdotes and all that) I think they've got work top do if they want to get widespread acceptance in the west.
IMO WheelTop are the ones to watch at the higher end (namely electronic). A bunch of Chinese brands are going to be using them on fairly high end stock builds next year. None have committed to electronic LTWOO or Sensah, which speaks volumes.
Ya, it's a false economy to buy cheaper gear if it's continually breaking and you've got the cost, labor, and downtime of dealing with replacements. As expensive as Shimano gear is, people generally can't fault its durability (ultegra cranks excepted 😅)
My take-away from L-Twoo was that they were releasing hardware with a Live Service software mentality. There were so many versions in the wild, that looking for a warranty or accurate review was impossible.
Nero cycling - Chris and Jesse have really evolved as UA-camrs. Their no frills podcast is really entertaining. I’ve been watching them for years, so I might be a bit subconsciously biased, but, in my opinion they are the best podcast. The key, like your channel, is they are absolutely themselves, with no bluff no disguised shill, just very good, well informed and totally honest content, chat and banter :)
I don’t really watch GCN on you tube, but GCN plus was really good. The documentary side of it was like a nice extra but the racing coverage was really good. I also really like the new Francis Cade format. I personally prefer it over the others. I also bumped into him a few times, and he is one real nice guy who just loves anything bike related.
Scooters are banned in many countries for a reason, they're hella dangerous. A friend of mine is in a hospital with a vertebrae fracture 'cause a douchebag was riding it on the sidewalk like a bat out of hell. As a bikerider I just hate them, because it comes with a lot a shitty behaviors.
@@roadcyclist1 prices are going down tho because they don't sell. Also I would like to correct you. I would never want to spend that amount of money on a bike, if I have the money or not.
Interesting. Have to disagree on Chinese wheels fitted as OEM. Purely on a branding basis. You might see a Farsports wheel on a canyon, but it would be branded Canyon.
I think that will be commercially driven as much as branding. The western bike companies are in such dire straits, they'll fit a decent wheel without the price tag because customers are more accepting of particular brands . But like you say, we'll see if it happens, it could be a really poor prediction.
Tend to agree, either a pure Canyon wheel set at a good spec with an affordable price tag that can however not be compared one to one due to minor differences or a heigh profile brand for the bike blink. Why would Canyon get themselves connected to a direct Chinese brand that customers would rather avoid? Let's not forget that many here in the UA-cam bubble would not get a Canyon because you can get a better value directly from China plus all the fun of selecting the most appealing goods... Direct to consumer items are still a niche and I don't see why any major would affiliate themselves with that image, potential quality concerns and last but not least, not even Chinese fbike vendors spec Ltwoo or the like. B2B prices of SRAM and Shimano are actually more competitive than the direct customer groupset price.
@@thomasschragen4446 When I made the video I was struggling to think of a brand that would be a good example. Having thought about it a bit more, I think someone like Dolan, Rose or Ribble would be prime candidates.
I predict I will continue to ride. I will continue to have interest in cycling be it the industry, culture, racing, legal, etc. I predict I will click on more Hambini videos. At the risk of revealing my ignorance, I'm not an engineer, but is balancing bike wheels really a thing? I worked in the auto tire and service industry for 25 years and have balanced many tires, my understanding is bicycles do not operate at speeds where wheel balancing is necessary. An auto tire imbalance problem usually doesn't show up below 45mph. Weird. On the topic of litigation, negligence and such, I work at a bike shop in the US and our owner recently went shopping for insurance as the current policy cost was set to increase by 40%!!! In the past we have done "shop rides", not a single race or event but a weekly ride put on by the store. It is looking like we may have to discontinue this practice because of liability. Someone gets hurt on "your" ride, through no fault of yours other than you put the ride on, and they can sue you. It has been very difficult to find insurance companies willing to cover bike shops. Even the classic test ride of a new bicycle may have to change drastically to avoid being sued in the case of an incident. Heaven forbid you encounter some risk in your life!!
@sambotts7939 I agree 100% with the irony in your last sentence. Unfortunately it is the natural conclusion of two trends (both started in America and then aped everywhere else): 1) to prioritise self (me, Me, ME) over society; and 2) towards litigation for every negative experience in life. After a couple of generations of these trends running, the world is FULL of children whose parents don't understand the value of co-operation and society, and so who have NO CHANCE of being taught it by them. These mumbling malajusts, whose parents were so busy self-actualising that they neglected to teach them articulate English, an absolute moral code or the capacity to see things from others' perspectives, will inherit a fading, burning, decadent world. And will be equipped with so few problem-solving strategies that when upset by someone at school the only response in their repertoire will be to return later with a rifle and 500 rounds. The same children (some now in adult bodies) will be equipped with such poor analytical skills that they will see Trump as saviour, not Satan. That's my gloomy prediction for 2024.
Curiously there are almost no updates on the erx groupset apart from the german youtuber klein concepts, who had no problem with a later iteration. Either nobody bought the groupset or people have been riding them without major hassles ever since the design changes. Something which bugs me about "review" channels is that they rarely follow up on anything.
We used to call gravel bikes your winter bike, though mudguards were mandatory, I rode 42 x 17 fixed with a dynamo for lights. No gears to worry about. GCN are crap agreed.
Great vid as always :) 2024: I will sell my only plastic, press-fit BB road bike. I will continue to derive pleasure and utility from my old steel 3x9 threaded-BB tourer while chuckling heartily from the sidelines as the entirely dysfunctional industry continues to inevitably eat itself; the main attraction in the ridiculous soap opera it's created.
Рік тому
Here in Finland, snowed under from Nov to April, the youth is riding escooters thru snow & sleet
I think the novelty of AliExpress products might slowly close the gap between mainstream products, however the cost might always be a winner in my opinion. The one downside I see is the resale market of Chinese components/frames for now. Great recap Hambini and always good to see the pen is working 😂
I just take my gravel bike everywhere. 42c tubebless give me so much comfort. What's the point of 28c road tires if only 25% (Or less) of the ride is on pristine asphalt? I wish I had sold my road bike for lots of $$$ during COVID.
GCN has become extremely commercial. Almost every show is a blatant commercial for something. They were sponsored by Muc-Off. Lots of bike cleaning videos. Now they are sponsored by Silca. Lots of chain waxing. They don't have a bicycle sponsor, but they keep pushing specific brands. Their Canyon versus Canyon show was an absolute bust. Why not ask the question "Why two and not one" when looking at their gravel offerings. Why push the Dogma when 90% of people riding them would be just as well riding a Prince at half the price? I smell money and lots of it.
@@irfuel Sponsors are one thing. Blatant commercial advertising is quite the other. You wouldn't know there are other companies who produce chain wax if you watched GCN only. Same with bicycle cleaning products. One of my local shops was a Muc-Off shop. Not anymore. They stock several brands of wax and cleaners.
@@sportbootjo I'll agree that Emma Pooly was a great presenter. Don't know Jon or Matt to be able to make a call. Some of today's presenters appear extremely fake or out of their area of expertise and it shows.
I wonder how much audience and topics to discuss and therefore revenue in videos and podcasts etc will be lost with the shutting down of GCN+. Pretty sure the general cycling public won't go out of their way to find alternative sources of watching bike races if they even are going to be broadcasted anymore to the same extent. Following the cycling "influencers" riding around and doing the same stuff is also getting pretty old quick. Hard times ahead I fear.
@@HambiniShe’s only made it this far because she’s a woman. Her channel is boring and her presentation is so dull but at the time she was one of the only woman cycling vlogs. Julie’s Elliot is the same, she just talks louder but the same boring stuff on repeat. As a new comer Amy cycling adventures has it nailed, that lady’s channel is worth a watch she just talks about her life and it’s pretty interesting. Also noticed Francis Cade has moved away from vloging and gone my pod cast and info type stuff. Actually really enjoying it.
GCN+ made World Tour races with decent commentary available in countries such as Australia, where the only choice we've had before, was SBS with commentators droning. In the past many people had to resort to torrenting each race the day after. That's what people are going to go back to, I am afraid.
Happy New Year Sir. Interesting predictions. Am a little surprised there was no prediction regarding classified hub success/failure. Nero is a good show. Cade media is also a fine show. Will try and remember to validate your predictions a year from now. Still don't understand the turmoil over BB30. My lefty's BB30 has performed spectacularly for 11 years. Quiet as a church mouse. You have a great product and a decent show.
Gravel bikes work indeed very well if you want a fun flexible bike, that's also reasonably practical. I put some light Conti touring tires and a Redshift stem on my 2018 Rose Backround CF. It's a fun do anything bike. It's only marginally slower than a road bike on smooth overland roads. While I wouldn't take it to a bike park, trails work just fine. I don't have to worry much about flats, my shoulders don't hurt anymore thanks to the light shock absorption and lower tire pressure. It's essentially a sporty touring bike and it's a ton of fun.
In my opinion, the more mainstream Aliexpress becomes, the more important Tracevelo's channel becomes. I know from experience that the quality of a lot of the bicycle components from Aliexpress is pretty bad, so having someone who does real world testing of aliexpress components is super valuable and will become more valuable in the future.
Shimano microspline hubs also have a potential problem of locking the freehub to the hub, creating a directdrive upon failure. Could be super dangerous. Happened to me with a shimano xt microspline hub, fortunately was on rolly terrain at the time and not bombing down a hill. shimano is quick with the warranty though. Be interesting a hambini video on the engineering or parts failure of the shimsno microspline hub.
The GCN issue is largely related to the issues with Warner Bros, who are trying to squeeze $3B in savings from their merger. That's not to say that GCN is doing well, I don't know, and their content does seem a bit stale, but it's so bad at Warner that they didn't send their vidro encoding team to NAB in 2023.
its similar across that industry. loads at my company used to go on jollies to NAB or IBC each year. absolute skeleton team this year...and loads of layoffs
Hello Hambini, Happy New Year! Here's my 5 cent prediction on e-scooters and wheel-set rotation balance system(s). A. E-scooter manufacturers need to come up with an easy method/split rim to fix a simple flat. Currently it is extremely hard to fix a simple flat on scooters as it often takes more than 2 ~ 3 hours of sweat and hard labor. It has gotten to the point where I and other shops in Seattle no longer want to work on those tiny rims with rock hard tiny tires. Some owners have offered me $200 usd cash and I turn them down. Why? Because I know for a fact, I will automatically lose half a day's work. The manufacturers think the solution is solid tires, but they too wear out quickly and are practically impossible to fix or replace. B. I'm going to launch my own carbon wheel-set brand called Rotation Crafters that will feature Dynamic Speed Balance which will be the world's first easy to use Rotational Wheel Balance System. BOTTOM LINE: A. If e-scooters don't come up with an easy fix tire system or they will disappear off the map by the end of 2024. B. Late 2024 I'm launching Rotation Crafters wheel-sets with DSB balance system technology. These wheel-sets will set a new world standard in High-End wheel performance. They will be the Next Generation of the Modern Wheel. as they will allow all new tech never seen on wheels, like wireless wheel weight changing technology and much more. Everything else will become obsolete practically overnight.
IF (and it's a big one, hence the CAPS) bike frames exercise quality control over their tolerances, pressfit will rally. If tolerances are sloppy, then threaded is the answer. Canyon thinks they can control tolerances and are going to stick with press fit. I believe fundamentally press fit is much better than threaded.
I've had Chinese LightCarbon wheels for 7 years. They were 25% of the price, and are still straight and faster than any of the established brands. Going to do a full build soon.
Gravel propably is the one size fits all. Especially if you have two sets of wheels. My friend has flat bar gravel bike and I was beating him on straight line asphalt with 20 year old hybrid, but the minute we got to the dirt road I realised that semislicks and 7 bars of pressure wasn’t really cutting it.
I think many avid cyclists will shift to a N=2 format with a "gravel bike" being their main bike and a "specific bike" for the itch they want to scratch. I am seeing it already with nearly zero gravel bikes in the used channel but everything else in "volumes". Sorta refreshing being able to find a a couple year old TT bike for non-stupid prices.
1:36 But how many customers buy a bicycle just for the BB, or even caring for what BB is installed. If it "works" any issues they could've been aware of are past the decision point. A better data would be, BBs bought by those about to assemble a custom bike. As it stands, it's OEMs' preferences amplified. Which could be due to reasons like easier workflow (especially no retooling). If OEMs chose the best exclusively, we'd have exclusively integrated cables, NTN/SKF bearings, and far fewer bonded Shimano cranksets.
I like Trace Velo but not for the appeal of Chinese brands and cheap parts, but I like his mechanical experimentation. He isn't a shill, he will tell you if a part is broken, not that great, or scaring him. I wouldn't put the parts he buys on my bike, but I love knowing someone else is willing to do it.
completely agree with you about the Nero Show and Cade. I think Chris and Jesse would have more subs if they weren't Australia-centric for most of the time. UA-cam is still skewed towards USA in my estimation, and Yanks aren't too keen on non-American accents.
The most interesting UA-camrs to me are those that do for a sideline to their everyday jobs. Shimano are tarnished but a tarnish isn't structural rot so they'll recover. I think you're right about the small wheel manufacturing comps getting onto big brand builds. Have you seen the English electricians podcast Hambini? It's a good laugh if youyre interested in the electrical workd.
I watch efixx and there is a guy called Allen hart who does plumbing. I like listening to tradespeople, they are real people not this media infiltrated snowflake mentality.
Dylan Johnson put drop bars on an XC bike. I think this will be the next big move in gravel. A bike that you can ride decent XC fast as well as gravel.
trace velo will do just fine. even if the market for cheap Chinese cycling parts is declining, his videos are entertaining and engaging. he could easily pivot given his production value and personality, but I don't he has to as reviewing cheap Chinese stuff still has its audience for a long time to come (as long as it's cheaper than major manufacturers).
The under qualified grease monkeys who work in bike shops and torture bikes is astounding .. Injury is a high price to pay when things go wrong after the UA-cam mechanic is repairing a bike .. Having said that, consumers moan about the cost to service/repair bikes by the skilled tech.. knowledge, skill & experience cost , be prepared to find that tech and pay accordingly
For most people, I think an endurance frame with disk brakes would be pretty much do everything. I don't see the reason to have a gravel bike with supper wide tires. If you want to ride very ruff and muddy trails, maybe a trail or a xc bike would be a better choice. The So called gravel bike is more capable road off bike then the early mountain bikes.
Balancing wheels, that's crazy. Is that a ploy to take it to a dealer? Logic would tell me that my valve would drop to the bottom when on the bike stand, but I haven't noticed that on any of my bikes.
I'm mostly interested to see if chinese groupsets become more common in the west. I think their products can have quite good value for the price, but they kinda treat customers as beta testers, fixing bugs along the way, which is unusual way of business for western audience. They also lack retailers, and most people still reluctant of aliexpress. I'm hoping eventually Microshift will come out with a hydraulic groupset, as I have been using their groupsets on two of my previous bikes, and had good experience. Their older models have been featured on Decathlon's bikes, but on the mid-range bikes they still go with cable actuated hydraulic brakes which are really meh, having a fully hydro option would make sense there. I don't really expect them to appear on the high end models tho, even for Deacthlon, for that price people expect to see the big name brands.
"they kinda treat customers as beta testers, fixing bugs along the way, which is unusual way of business for western audience" - Tell that to anyone who bought a Tesla...
i watch the Nero show as well.....Cris and Jesse have a back and forth that Francis does not seem to have. i have trouble getting through an hour of Francis and Joe(?)
Francis and friends feel like trying to be on your best behaviour around an elderly relative - they're a little too nicey nicey, whereas Chris and Jesse are like chatting with your mates, a little more unfiltered.
I also wonder whether we will see a rise in the move towards bespoke bikes? I hate being a sheep amongst identikit carbon so have moved to steel and titanium bespoke bikes measured to fit me and do the kind of riding I love to do. They are certainly no more expensive than top end bikes from the mainstream manufactures, but are certainly much better built and I love choosing my paint scheme. As for Chinese kit etc, I'm sure many on here will remember how people looked down at Skoda, Hyundai and Kia. Now look at them and also the rise of high quality Chinese EVs. The mainstream manufactures and associated suppliers have been complacent for too long and need a kick up the arse to wake them up. This is what the Chinese manufacturers will do and it will benefit us, the consumer.
I have rebuilt my now much former and weighing much less than, 2019 "SuperlightM6LXBrompton" with a lot of Titanium and Carbon parts from A.E. to at present weighing 8.5 kilo and with some more work I expect to reach below 8 kilo? About the same or less than an Original "Brompton T-line", for a double price and still with "mudguards" as mine of course! Titanium bolts, nuts and discs and also carbon parts are easily bought from A E, also from firms in Korea, Taiwan and China, producing similar type bikes as the original Folding Bike. It is a horrible "bike" but for its purpose it is second to none, though some obvious details, after that many years of production, could have been made much better - preventing scratches during the fold!! And also to be prevented with new parts from China. 😄 Finn. Denmark
Interesting observations on cycling UA-camrs. Whilst the Ali-Express element of Trace Velo's content will become less of an attraction, the guy behind it (Luke) is likeable and straightforward and I think he'll do fine, even if he pivots his content. Also, there's always room for new channels because viewer loyalty is fickle and, as you point out, some of the seemingly untouchable behemoths like GCN are losing traction now, making space for more authentic voices.
Luke’s a very likeable, quirky presenter 👍
I perhaps wasn't very clear in my video. I think it will be difficult for "one man" UA-camrs to get into the show because it's financially unviable. You need a certain number of viewers to get to be able to review stuff and you need a particular niche. For Trace Velo - it's cheap Ali Express parts. For Peak Torque, it's engineering. For me and Peak Torque, it's not a job so we could just walk away without any recourse. For others, they can't do that.
@@Hambini Are any of the Cycling UA-camrs besides Cade Media fulltime? Even Remco is just a part time UA-camrs 😅
@@Hambini Ah, OK, I understand your point now. Thanks for clarifying.
@@KerenWang I think Katie Kookaburra, Trace Velo, Dave Arthur, Ben Delaney, Francis Cade. Some other people will be better placed to answer this than me.
That GCN video defending the bike prices vs motorcycles was so hard to watch. There is no way the current bike prices are defendable in any way. Certainly when taking into account all the tollerance and hidden quality issues with carbon frames.
The biggest issue I had with that video is that many of these bike companies are publicly traded, so their share price and profit is information available to the public. It's been clear that the increase in price has matched an increase in profit.
@@Kevin_Aus yea, I definitely think the video would have been better with better analysis. The video on MTB and motorcycles by fortnine I think makes some more interesting points. As more of an MTB rider, it would be interesting to look more into the price changes and profit margins on components here as well.
@@Kevin_Auswhich bike companies are publicly listed? Giant is one, but a lot of bike brands such as Trek, Specialized, and Cannondale are privately owned.
So many of the industry are on relatively crap money and rely on the manufacturers to fund their free holidays to sunny places to 'test' new bikes, or fund their riding with lots of free kit to borrow or keep. When I was at a bit of a crossroads with what to do with life when I stopped racing and was doing a job I hated, I wondered about pushing to write full time as I was already doing a lot with PB at the time and had been doing various bits in the media for about ten years. I'm glad I didn't because while at the time I was quite independently minded still, and I can see that if I stayed around in the industry with it being my only way to earn money, it wouldn't have been a fit for my ethics, nor would I have been able to be fully true to my own opinions. Paul Aston is another ex-PBer but he has stayed in the industry and is now buying his own stuff to review. I know Hambini is road and I'm MTB but it's all the same industry bollocks.
I've unsubsidized All GCN they're a complete joke
10:50 I think Hambini is completely right that the increased cost of bicycles means that quality control must tighten accordingly. If you sell a pedal bike for the price of a motorcycle, the buyers are going to expect essentially perfection, and this applies to commuter ebikes as well.
@charlesmansplaining when I first heard about plastic resin impregnated fibre frames I thought here we go again.
Do you remember the hype surrounding grp when it arrived on the scene?
Then came osmosis, gel coat cracking and delamination to mention just a few.
Metal has well understood properties and behaves in a predictable manner. It's worth the extra weight by a mile.
The prices increase because there are million of people who want expensive bikes, so the companies accelerate their production, and you get quality control issues.
You can find plenty of cheap e-bikes and bikes at cheaper prices, many are excellent bikes, nobody NEEDS more than those.
clearly the only way to turn around the slump in sales is to release even more 3k-12k models of bikes for 17 year old Olympic racers.
As a small-ish UA-camr: I find it amazing how strongly the algorithm aggressively pushes content related to anything that can be monetized (on the YT end.) Product reviews always get so much more organic reach than anything else, at least for me. UA-cam exists to sell ads, and they are slanted towards things that advertisers buy against. Also, people love buying new things. I've found my comfortable place by simply having a day job that means I can give an honest opinion and not give a care towards future manufactuerer relationships or affiliate income.
Luke (TraceVelo) is fantastic, I think he will do fantastically even if he moves away from the whole aliexpress thing. I've enjoyed watching him champion the cheaper end of cycling and I reckon that's what he'll continue to do.
He has the patience of a saint. Every time he reviews something Chinese, my conclusion is "just buy Shimano". Chinese frame & wheels + Shimano (Deore/105 whatever) components, job done.
It's a great way to have new content all the time..
More cheap crap from China...who cares? The guy is a cartoon character, I just don't know which one.
Agreed. His content is far more relatable than a lot of other cycling content on UA-cam, but he's also just a likeable person, so would probably still watch his channel if he did move away from the AliExpress content
@@andycreese85He absolutely grates on me, but I watch him anyway as he's putting out well thought out content in a niche very few are exploring... And I'm a tight b@st*rd 😂
Went with sensah empire pro on a Chinese build. I'm pretty impressed for the price. You're probably right with Chinese brands becoming mainstream, hopefully it won't ruin Trace Velo's channel. I like his builds
Imagine an entire industry being held to account for their anti-consumer behaviour over the last decade.
Wow! Who wooda thought!
In 2016 I had a Wilier carbon frame crack on me at the rear chain stay and sending me to hospital with a broken collar bone. Wilier blamed me for an incorrect install of either the cassette, hangar or the skewers. The bike companies have been pretty lackadaisical to this point in taking responsibility for quality issues. Shimano is the most current case-in-point.
I think that has changed considerably in recent times. E.g. Giant are getting rifted in the courts currently.
They can't have done any proper analysis of the failure if they say "cassette, hangar or skewers". I had a Trek frame basically snap underneath me a few years ago (also a chainstay). They wouldn't even replace it under warranty (because I wasn't the original owner). I do think the increased cost of bikes will be leaving the manufacturers more exposed. A $1K bike failing after 4.000km might be considered reasonable. A $15K bike not so much.
I predict that the services of expert witnesses, such as, to pluck an example from thin air, Hambini, will increase dramatically as they are seen to help to extract massive payouts from negligent bike manufacturers and service shops.
@@chriswright9096 Why would you have an expectation of Trek covering your frame that you purchased second hand? I insure all my bikes despite any warranty and the great thing about bicycle insurance is there is no depreciation.
@@chriswright9096 It is a wonderful feeling to have absolute confidence in the indestructibility of my 50yr old steel frame (Carlton, made in Worksop) which still gets near-daily 3 season use. And the price of this confidence was £25 (second-hand) in 1975.
Gone are the days when you go and buy ZIPP or Reynalds wheels the go to wheels for value and speed are either Farsports or Winspace the price is unbeatable! As for the goods to be of merchandisable quality you are spot on.I am a car dealer i sell second hand cars from £4k to 20k and believe you me if there is anything wrong with a car its slung back at me and think of how many moving parts on a car there are ....A brand new bike SHOULD be within the tolerances stated if not its not of merchandisable quality and you have the right to reject!
But what happens when the Chinese brands become as expensive as the major brands. I definitely have seen a significant price increase.
@@IsaiahsBabyDaddy Winspace etc are still well below half the price of mainstream brands and a lot better built to be honest.I dont think they will ever increase in price to that degree....
@@davemellor4697 I agree, but western labeled brands have been lowering prices so there is a little balancing act going on. The industry will just wiggle around to find another money grab. I have been rocking popular Chinese brands for a decade and when fitted with known good hubs, I have never looked back.
@@IsaiahsBabyDaddy I think you'll get to a point where the consumer forgets about the origin of the product. Many years ago, stuff from Japan was considered inferior - eg cars. Now they are priced similarly to the western brands and the consumer doesn't care. They don't associate Toyota with poor build quality, they just perceive them as reliably boring. Or you could get a Fiat and then test the roadisde recovery on a regular basis.
@@Hambini- The Japanese domestic market is very demanding, which helps explain why Japanese products tend to perform so well. I don’t know about the bicycling industry, but I know Honda, Yamaha, etc. spent years fiercely squaring off against competitors at home during the post-war motorcycle boom. So by the time it was time to expand to other markets, they already had a bulletproof, refined lineup of products to sell. China tends to be more price-focused, it’ll be interesting to see if their products develop a reputation for long term quality.
GCN has pursued quantity over quality in its UA-cam content. Reviews of products, behind-the-scenes reporting, and similar programming are great, drawing me to the channel. But they have increased BS content to maintain a steady flow of episodes.
''Elite pro vs. man who hasn't ridden a bike in 40 years - WHO WILL WIN?'.
'Former Pro Tour rider vs. 70-year-old woman'.
'2023 superbike vs. 1982 Sears & Roebuck 10-speed'.
Ok, I did exaggerate a bit, but not by much. I prefer 4 episodes a week of quality content over a daily barrage of nonsense.
Broadly speaking, anything that has Oli in it is worth looking at in my opinion. He is by far their best presenter for technical knowledge and personality. Their "test" or vs videos are always naff, just a case of whether you like the personalities enough to bother having it as background viewing.
I assume they are mostly on freelance work, there is no way they are going to be able to retain all of them, and the variation in quality between some of the presenters is pretty stark
To me it's a matter of weeding through which videos are worth viewing or not. However, the degree of sponsorship bias on their part has grown to ridiculous proportions in the last year. Their objectivity has taken a massive hit in my opinion. They still put out worthwhile content but at some point people have to take a step back and realize that Muc-off isn't the second coming of Jesus for bikers, just a company with a massive marketing budget.
There hasn't been a genuine review on GCN for years - its all just sponsored rubbish.
The old series with matt was gold and so interesting to watch, 😆🤟
I predict 2024 could be the first year without a new BB standard for all time. There, I said it.
You haven't seen the BB-Double Max JIS threaded, sandwich fit ultra torque evo oversize 8052 bearings and 71.5mm shell specific with 26.5 or 32.3mm new maxdrive spindle standard?
You jinxed it…
I hope our engineer age 5 will present us this superior bb standard in a next video, including some design drawings etc. etc.
Trace Velo is pretty much the only channel that seriously reviews chinese-brand stuff, and show the defects of the parts too. I only buy branded drivetrain and brake parts, the rest are chinese components. So his channel is a good resource for me.
There are millions of people that are the same as me.
Average age of my fleet is close to 30 years old. I predict that won't change drastically at any point in the future. I also predict Shimano won't be getting any money from me in the years ahead and that all my wheels will remain custom built, ride magnificently and last decades. They don't build things like they used to, not a problem I face. As for GCN, its become a bit like top gear on bicycles.
Totally agree GCN is Top Gear. I cringe when they buy cheap used bikes and make fun of them by not using them as intended. They are basically making fun of poor people who can't afford $10,000 bikes.
@@newttella1043 indeed, Simon "Jeremy" Richardson, Hank "Richard" Lowsley-Williams, Connor "James" Dunne.
Shame about GCN+, the epic rides were quite something, but I suspect their love of megabikes has gapped them from reality.
The cycling universe is so much more than a bike that costs stupid money. But then there are plenty of excellent channels there to fill the reality void.
GCN has peaked I think.
@newttella1043 how cheap are the bikes that they are buying?
@@Rover200Powerevery now and then they may buy a 100 pound bike to ride 100 miles or we buy a clunker and try and make a superbike - something ridiculous like that. Its a good premise for content but it all goes sideways somehow in a blokey, jokey kind of way rather than being informational about whats really possible for those on a budget.
To be fair they have done some good vintage bike stories, but since these guys mostly never grew up on what is now considered vintage machines they have no idea how to ride them.
They did a story on the neo Wilier which was great but of course that's a high end machine requiring a deep pocket. But I thought they did a fair job actually of what it is and how it goes vs a new carbon Wilier.
eBikes, I see a toe in the water there with cargo bikes and such but then how they think they are being used is not relatable. And so on. Its more making stuff up than any sort of journalism in that sense.
The epic rides series, always good viewing. A big tick from me.
Doco/advertorial type content, we visit a sponsors factory to tell you how they get stuff done, mostly pretty good and sometimes very good.
And yet there is a whole world of content opportunities outside their sponsors.
Obviously there are other channels doing some of these things much better. GCN need to take a look at their audience and make the necessary corrections if they want to stay relevant and continue to grow.
The average age of my fleet is roughly 60 years old, my main commuter bike is from the 1930s, over the years i collected a lot of NOS and good used stuff for these vintage domestic bikes, the rear is a Sachs mod 515 3 speed Torpedo, pretty much indestructible, i love thee old Sachs hubs, for the front there is a drum brake which is great, ultra reliable and closed off from the elements.
gravel used to make no sense for me when they started coming out. with the state of the roads we now have, i barely go on my road bike because ive become tired of competing with cars for the non potholed strips of road we have left.
Gravel is a joke
@Tarmaccyclocross , totally agree!
If the councils were smart they would fill all the pot holes with gravel so the gravel bike owners could ride on the roads.
@@Stevehatesgravelpossibly, ive not bought a gravel bike yet. what do you suggest?
@@Stevehatesgravelwhy is gravel a joke?
Honestly, I'd love to see the harmonisation of bearing standards, namely headsets and bottom brackets. All this soup of external cups, zero stack and integrated types of headsets (and that's just one side of head tube) were driving me mad when I was building my bespoke bike. And that was before you figure out what diameter is the steerer; I particularly blame Canyon for outrageous use of 1-1/4 on the top.
Crank axle standards are mad too: GXP, 24 mm, 28,99 mm, 30 mm. Why not 36 mm (stiffness galore!) and BB shell the size of a fire hose?!
I recently built a 26” 90s mtb as a gravel build, for long distance and commuting. It’s a game changer in terms of comfort. The condition of the roads in London, especially East London are tragic. They’re so bad e-scooters can’t ride on them. Even the sidewalks are cooked
90s mtbs are a sleeper hit. Save a lot of money for a very versatile bike.
90s steel frame MTB is an allrounder as long as the frame is ok.
Picked up a 93' GT Karakoram for a hundred dead lizzy's. Triple butted cro-mo frame, really nice to ride with 1.9" tires and wide handle bars
@@guiliamo1 It’s always easy to spot GT frame from a distance. My home town has two that I can always spot parked at bus stops.
triple triangle for the win
Glad to see people here supporting luke of trace velo… i like his work and has kept watching his videos for almost 2 years now and its quite entertaining
I predict that the old steel bikes made in years past which have provided transportation and exercise will continue to function in 2024 and be one of the veiled yet most influential parts of bicycle culture.
My oldest commuter is from the 1930s, Norwegian made, no complaints, you hop on and pedal like any other bike, i don't really ride anything post 1990s, with the exception of my Surly Pugsley which is a great bike but sadly not sold anymore.
@@HansensUniverseT-A What can you say about an old Norwegian bike? Uff da, maybe? Your frugality is its own reward. Good for you and maybe a bit good for the entire planet. Happy New Year!
The bicycle manufacturing industry has got lost up its own backside somewhere over the last 3-5 years. £6,000 is barely mid range in terms of price bracket for some manufacturers which is unsustainable and I don't see how they can arrest the slide. 105 being so expensive for example leaves such like wiggle room, pardon the pun
My prediction , Hambini will still be 5 years old next December
Problem is bike prices they have gone totally bonkers...
GCN ? We absolutely need even more marketing bike influencers on UA-cam. It s not enough yet. We need content that tells us what is the latest, most expensive, best, hottest for us.
How can we only ride a bike without UA-cam?!
Some excellent thoughts. Will be interesting to see how they play out next year. GCN is an interesting one. They must have very high production costs and whether they can continue to push out new interesting content will, i think, be challenging.
But thanks to GCN everyone knows how to wash their bike. In fact if I see a clean bike I know that they watch GCN stuff. I also know that if I see an e-bike on a gravel track, they are merely seeing if the e-bike is faster.
Interesting take on the world of cycling this days. I have noticed a decline in the UA-cam world, when it comes to storytelling. There is a generalization of the UA-cam format, which doesn‘t tell stories anymore but much more „10 things, I wish I knew“ kind of videos. I miss the days of storytellers.
I think all those court cases and settlements will at some point help cycling industry to improve and be accountable for the presented quality of their products. It definitely a thing to strive for and demand by the consumer…
Wishful thinking. The lawsuits don’t mean anything once it has been “settled out of court”
Wishful thinking. The lawsuits don’t mean anything once it has been “settled out of court”
Wishful thinking. The lawsuits don’t mean anything once it has been “settled out of court”
Wishful thinking. The lawsuits don’t mean anything once it has been “settled out of court”
@@B_COOPER one can hope… Hope dies last.
love that eardrum breaking intro! 😂😂😂
headphone users 😭
I think Trace Velo will do fine. Many people outside the western world cannot afford brand name bikes and parts but have access to the same UA-cam videos as us. Heck, even westerners are curious about finding good priced products and brands that don't pay sponsorship fees to be "reviewed" by the bike big channels.
I would suspect that the poor quality of modern bicycles might make people look at the second hand market as a bike that has been used as a commuter for the last 10 years is far less likely to go wrong
Unless that bike belonged to Hambini.
I just bought my sons a 15 yr old Cervelo alloy bike with Shimano wheels and ultegra groupset. Cost me $250 au . Paint is still like new and it had a set of Shimano road pedals that were only a couple of years old.I think it's the best bike I ever bought for the price. Should get 5 years out of it before it's too small for the youngest.
I have a 20 year old hybrid which is waiting for a complete overhaul. All the issues with the cf frames I’ve seen, I’m not willing to pay 1600€ for a used gravel bike. That is like twice my complete overhaul budget.
I have a number of vintage steel bikes that will still be safe to ride 100 years from now and even though I have a carbon frame bike that I bought new I would never buy a used carbon frame, they are extremely strong in some ways but still frighteningly delicate in others. People who pay thousands for carbon are probably going to look after them but as these bikes age and pass from owner to owner they're going to become death traps.
I wish there were more bike channels where they share more about their rides or bike vacations. I used to be a big backpacker and there were a lot of similar gear related channels, but there are also channels who are focused on travel, hiking, and camping.
Would be curious to hear what are your thoughts about the future of Campy? 2024 will be the first season in ~70 years that they don't have a single Pro Tour team using their stuff.
I also am curious about this. I can envision Campy becoming irrelevant and even fading away entirely. Combination cost and poor distribution.
I think so many people are POd with the crazy bike prices that quality issues that were accepted 5 years ago are now leading people to sue. It feels like the dramatic increase in prices has not been matched with an increase in quality (prob opposite)
For the bike claim. I have first hand experience, it really really depend on your local distributor. For an example, if the distributor is contributing a whole lot of bike sales to the manufacturer, and the distributor actually want to help you to claim the warranty, it has a way better chance to get it done within a very short lead time. On the other hand, if the distributor or the bike shop doesn't really want to help you to talk to the manufacturer for the claim, all I can say is good luck to you.
second hand market is just overflooded with bikes it feels total dumbassery to buy new these days. Especially for the prices they're asking for these days.
MTB wise i still prefer the older 2x11 setup, and the shimano xtr group i scavenged together was 500 in total. wich is about the price of their current entry level groupset (minus the fact that it doesn't fail spectacularly).
now thats a hello! mmm, very interesting last point, I'll be in the lookout for reports like that in my neck of the world (SF), too bad i don't ride as much anymore. . Thanks for all you do. Appreciate the continued content.
Nice video and presentation.
Agreed, Bambini knows best.
My next build is a gravel.
I don't have any experience with LTWOO, but I do have quite a bit with Sensah, and unfortunately it's not great. I had Sensah SRX Pro on my gravel/commuter bike for about 18 months, and when it worked, it worked pretty well - shifts were smooth and generally precise, and I did actually like the double tap shifting action. But quality just isn't there. I had to replace the derailleur twice - once for a barrel adjuster that just snapped off, and once for one of the pins that holds the parallelogram on to the derailleur falling out. And then the return spring in the shifter broke, making the shifting action far poorer. The hood rubber was also pretty poor quality, and never really wanted to stay exactly in place. While I did do about 10,000km overall on the groupset in the 18 months I used it (considerably more than an average rider would) I felt that the quality just doesn't match up to Shimano's offerings (I just replaced my Sensah with Ultegra R8000 shifters and a GRX800 rear derailleur), so it really is a mater of getting what you pay for. If my experience is anything to go by (and I know, maybe it's not, anecdotes just being anecdotes and all that) I think they've got work top do if they want to get widespread acceptance in the west.
IMO WheelTop are the ones to watch at the higher end (namely electronic). A bunch of Chinese brands are going to be using them on fairly high end stock builds next year. None have committed to electronic LTWOO or Sensah, which speaks volumes.
Ya, it's a false economy to buy cheaper gear if it's continually breaking and you've got the cost, labor, and downtime of dealing with replacements. As expensive as Shimano gear is, people generally can't fault its durability (ultegra cranks excepted 😅)
My take-away from L-Twoo was that they were releasing hardware with a Live Service software mentality.
There were so many versions in the wild, that looking for a warranty or accurate review was impossible.
I used Sensah for one summer then switched to GRX when it was back in stock. The rubber hoods are the worst!
I have to disagree, my experience with Sensah has been very good.
Happy 2024🎉
Nero cycling - Chris and Jesse have really evolved as UA-camrs. Their no frills podcast is really entertaining. I’ve been watching them for years, so I might be a bit subconsciously biased, but, in my opinion they are the best podcast. The key, like your channel, is they are absolutely themselves, with no bluff no disguised shill, just very good, well informed and totally honest content, chat and banter :)
I gotta agree with your statements. I find myself clicking on their podcast and listening to the whole thing, quite entertained.
I don’t really watch GCN on you tube, but GCN plus was really good. The documentary side of it was like a nice extra but the racing coverage was really good.
I also really like the new Francis Cade format. I personally prefer it over the others. I also bumped into him a few times, and he is one real nice guy who just loves anything bike related.
Scooters are banned in many countries for a reason, they're hella dangerous. A friend of mine is in a hospital with a vertebrae fracture 'cause a douchebag was riding it on the sidewalk like a bat out of hell. As a bikerider I just hate them, because it comes with a lot a shitty behaviors.
Personal prediction 2024: I ride my old bikes more and certainly won't buy a new one
I'll add another prediction onto that: you can't afford one.
Bidenomics.
@@roadcyclist1 prices are going down tho because they don't sell. Also I would like to correct you. I would never want to spend that amount of money on a bike, if I have the money or not.
@yspegel that's what they all say...until they suddenly come into enough money to spend on one.
Looking forward to the party video for your 6th birthday complete with jelly and ice-cream.
I always look forward to original and edgy GCN content such as bmx vs TT bike or how to wax a chain. 😂
Interesting. Have to disagree on Chinese wheels fitted as OEM. Purely on a branding basis. You might see a Farsports wheel on a canyon, but it would be branded Canyon.
I think that will be commercially driven as much as branding. The western bike companies are in such dire straits, they'll fit a decent wheel without the price tag because customers are more accepting of particular brands . But like you say, we'll see if it happens, it could be a really poor prediction.
A smart move would be a halfway house 'hybrid branding' of a 'Canyon xxx by Winspace' styling.
@@Hambini Mapdec has some videos you can roast!
Tend to agree, either a pure Canyon wheel set at a good spec with an affordable price tag that can however not be compared one to one due to minor differences or a heigh profile brand for the bike blink. Why would Canyon get themselves connected to a direct Chinese brand that customers would rather avoid? Let's not forget that many here in the UA-cam bubble would not get a Canyon because you can get a better value directly from China plus all the fun of selecting the most appealing goods...
Direct to consumer items are still a niche and I don't see why any major would affiliate themselves with that image, potential quality concerns and last but not least, not even Chinese fbike vendors spec Ltwoo or the like. B2B prices of SRAM and Shimano are actually more competitive than the direct customer groupset price.
@@thomasschragen4446 When I made the video I was struggling to think of a brand that would be a good example. Having thought about it a bit more, I think someone like Dolan, Rose or Ribble would be prime candidates.
I predict I will continue to ride. I will continue to have interest in cycling be it the industry, culture, racing, legal, etc. I predict I will click on more Hambini videos. At the risk of revealing my ignorance, I'm not an engineer, but is balancing bike wheels really a thing? I worked in the auto tire and service industry for 25 years and have balanced many tires, my understanding is bicycles do not operate at speeds where wheel balancing is necessary. An auto tire imbalance problem usually doesn't show up below 45mph. Weird.
On the topic of litigation, negligence and such, I work at a bike shop in the US and our owner recently went shopping for insurance as the current policy cost was set to increase by 40%!!! In the past we have done "shop rides", not a single race or event but a weekly ride put on by the store. It is looking like we may have to discontinue this practice because of liability. Someone gets hurt on "your" ride, through no fault of yours other than you put the ride on, and they can sue you. It has been very difficult to find insurance companies willing to cover bike shops. Even the classic test ride of a new bicycle may have to change drastically to avoid being sued in the case of an incident. Heaven forbid you encounter some risk in your life!!
@sambotts7939 I agree 100% with the irony in your last sentence. Unfortunately it is the natural conclusion of two trends (both started in America and then aped everywhere else): 1) to prioritise self (me, Me, ME) over society; and 2) towards litigation for every negative experience in life. After a couple of generations of these trends running, the world is FULL of children whose parents don't understand the value of co-operation and society, and so who have NO CHANCE of being taught it by them.
These mumbling malajusts, whose parents were so busy self-actualising that they neglected to teach them articulate English, an absolute moral code or the capacity to see things from others' perspectives, will inherit a fading, burning, decadent world. And will be equipped with so few problem-solving strategies that when upset by someone at school the only response in their repertoire will be to return later with a rifle and 500 rounds. The same children (some now in adult bodies) will be equipped with such poor analytical skills that they will see Trump as saviour, not Satan. That's my gloomy prediction for 2024.
Yes, but the tour de france was won the last 2 years on BBright, and rim brakes are coming back :)
10:10 Chris Miller & Jesse (apologies if I spelled that wrong) are a good combo.
Francis Cade and ‘that Geordie guy’ not so much.
I prefer the cade channel, they come across as a lot less ignorant
@@ianbradshaw1661 ignorant of what?
Curiously there are almost no updates on the erx groupset apart from the german youtuber klein concepts, who had no problem with a later iteration. Either nobody bought the groupset or people have been riding them without major hassles ever since the design changes. Something which bugs me about "review" channels is that they rarely follow up on anything.
The Nero Show is like watching grass grow
Agreed not sure what hes on about with that point
I agree that the Nero Show is better than the Cade one.
We used to call gravel bikes your winter bike, though mudguards were mandatory, I rode 42 x 17 fixed with a dynamo for lights. No gears to worry about. GCN are crap agreed.
Great vid as always :)
2024: I will sell my only plastic, press-fit BB road bike.
I will continue to derive pleasure and utility from my old steel 3x9 threaded-BB tourer while chuckling heartily from the sidelines as the entirely dysfunctional industry continues to inevitably eat itself; the main attraction in the ridiculous soap opera it's created.
Here in Finland, snowed under from Nov to April, the youth is riding escooters thru snow & sleet
I think the novelty of AliExpress products might slowly close the gap between mainstream products, however the cost might always be a winner in my opinion. The one downside I see is the resale market of Chinese components/frames for now. Great recap Hambini and always good to see the pen is working 😂
Excellent perspective, thank you
I just take my gravel bike everywhere. 42c tubebless give me so much comfort. What's the point of 28c road tires if only 25% (Or less) of the ride is on pristine asphalt?
I wish I had sold my road bike for lots of $$$ during COVID.
Aero seems silly if your goal as a company is to get the wider market share. Most can’t ride that fast to gain benefits.
Exactly; the industry/ media is far too obsessed with performance cycling; the majority of cyclists aren't racers......
GCN have went very corporate, the Jon Cannings videos of 5 years ago is why we tuned in. And whats with forever sending their presenters abroad.
GCN has become extremely commercial. Almost every show is a blatant commercial for something. They were sponsored by Muc-Off. Lots of bike cleaning videos. Now they are sponsored by Silca. Lots of chain waxing. They don't have a bicycle sponsor, but they keep pushing specific brands. Their Canyon versus Canyon show was an absolute bust. Why not ask the question "Why two and not one" when looking at their gravel offerings. Why push the Dogma when 90% of people riding them would be just as well riding a Prince at half the price? I smell money and lots of it.
Ofc they are corporate, they are owned by warner bros
@@irfuel Sponsors are one thing. Blatant commercial advertising is quite the other. You wouldn't know there are other companies who produce chain wax if you watched GCN only. Same with bicycle cleaning products. One of my local shops was a Muc-Off shop. Not anymore. They stock several brands of wax and cleaners.
I still miss Jon, Matt and Emma .. We probably experienced the best GCN back then
@@sportbootjo I'll agree that Emma Pooly was a great presenter. Don't know Jon or Matt to be able to make a call. Some of today's presenters appear extremely fake or out of their area of expertise and it shows.
The Nero show is brilliant.
They have the perfect attitude to bikes. The whole do I need this expensive bike? No but it's all about the froth
I wonder how much audience and topics to discuss and therefore revenue in videos and podcasts etc will be lost with the shutting down of GCN+. Pretty sure the general cycling public won't go out of their way to find alternative sources of watching bike races if they even are going to be broadcasted anymore to the same extent. Following the cycling "influencers" riding around and doing the same stuff is also getting pretty old quick. Hard times ahead I fear.
I'd agree. I think the likes of Katie kookaburra etc are going to have a problem in the year to come.
@@HambiniShe’s only made it this far because she’s a woman. Her channel is boring and her presentation is so dull but at the time she was one of the only woman cycling vlogs. Julie’s Elliot is the same, she just talks louder but the same boring stuff on repeat. As a new comer Amy cycling adventures has it nailed, that lady’s channel is worth a watch she just talks about her life and it’s pretty interesting. Also noticed Francis Cade has moved away from vloging and gone my pod cast and info type stuff. Actually really enjoying it.
Very true on the Francis Cade stuff tbf
GCN+ made World Tour races with decent commentary available in countries such as Australia, where the only choice we've had before, was SBS with commentators droning.
In the past many people had to resort to torrenting each race the day after. That's what people are going to go back to, I am afraid.
I predict in 2024… steel will still be real.
Happy New Year Sir. Interesting predictions. Am a little surprised there was no prediction regarding classified hub success/failure. Nero is a good show. Cade media is also a fine show. Will try and remember to validate your predictions a year from now. Still don't understand the turmoil over BB30. My lefty's BB30 has performed spectacularly for 11 years. Quiet as a church mouse. You have a great product and a decent show.
GCN has made some questionable videos and subjects recently. They’ve kinda lost their integrity recently which is a real shame.
Gravel bikes work indeed very well if you want a fun flexible bike, that's also reasonably practical.
I put some light Conti touring tires and a Redshift stem on my 2018 Rose Backround CF. It's a fun do anything bike. It's only marginally slower than a road bike on smooth overland roads. While I wouldn't take it to a bike park, trails work just fine. I don't have to worry much about flats, my shoulders don't hurt anymore thanks to the light shock absorption and lower tire pressure. It's essentially a sporty touring bike and it's a ton of fun.
In my opinion, the more mainstream Aliexpress becomes, the more important Tracevelo's channel becomes.
I know from experience that the quality of a lot of the bicycle components from Aliexpress is pretty bad, so having someone who does real world testing of aliexpress components is super valuable and will become more valuable in the future.
Shimano microspline hubs also have a potential problem of locking the freehub to the hub, creating a directdrive upon failure. Could be super dangerous. Happened to me with a shimano xt microspline hub, fortunately was on rolly terrain at the time and not bombing down a hill. shimano is quick with the warranty though. Be interesting a hambini video on the engineering or parts failure of the shimsno microspline hub.
Francais and Jimmy’s podcast is very entertaining
always check if the pen is working
Fascinating video!
The GCN issue is largely related to the issues with Warner Bros, who are trying to squeeze $3B in savings from their merger. That's not to say that GCN is doing well, I don't know, and their content does seem a bit stale, but it's so bad at Warner that they didn't send their vidro encoding team to NAB in 2023.
its similar across that industry. loads at my company used to go on jollies to NAB or IBC each year. absolute skeleton team this year...and loads of layoffs
Hmmm, seems pretty ominous from an economic standpoint. Why is Warner in so much financial trouble?
@@thedownunderverse The merger with HBO is predicated on saving $3B.
@@rg807 ahhh, i see. Thanks
Hello Hambini, Happy New Year!
Here's my 5 cent prediction on e-scooters and wheel-set rotation balance system(s).
A. E-scooter manufacturers need to come up with an easy method/split rim to fix a simple flat. Currently it is extremely hard to fix a simple flat on scooters as it often takes more than 2 ~ 3 hours of sweat and hard labor. It has gotten to the point where I and other shops in Seattle no longer want to work on those tiny rims with rock hard tiny tires. Some owners have offered me $200 usd cash and I turn them down. Why? Because I know for a fact, I will automatically lose half a day's work. The manufacturers think the solution is solid tires, but they too wear out quickly and are practically impossible to fix or replace.
B. I'm going to launch my own carbon wheel-set brand called Rotation Crafters that will feature Dynamic Speed Balance which will be the world's first easy to use Rotational Wheel Balance System.
BOTTOM LINE:
A. If e-scooters don't come up with an easy fix tire system or they will disappear off the map by the end of 2024.
B. Late 2024 I'm launching Rotation Crafters wheel-sets with DSB balance system technology. These wheel-sets will set a new world standard in High-End wheel performance. They will be the Next Generation of the Modern Wheel. as they will allow all new tech never seen on wheels, like wireless wheel weight changing technology and much more. Everything else will become obsolete practically overnight.
IF (and it's a big one, hence the CAPS) bike frames exercise quality control over their tolerances, pressfit will rally. If tolerances are sloppy, then threaded is the answer. Canyon thinks they can control tolerances and are going to stick with press fit. I believe fundamentally press fit is much better than threaded.
I've had Chinese LightCarbon wheels for 7 years. They were 25% of the price, and are still straight and faster than any of the established brands. Going to do a full build soon.
Gravel propably is the one size fits all. Especially if you have two sets of wheels. My friend has flat bar gravel bike and I was beating him on straight line asphalt with 20 year old hybrid, but the minute we got to the dirt road I realised that semislicks and 7 bars of pressure wasn’t really cutting it.
I think many avid cyclists will shift to a N=2 format with a "gravel bike" being their main bike and a "specific bike" for the itch they want to scratch. I am seeing it already with nearly zero gravel bikes in the used channel but everything else in "volumes". Sorta refreshing being able to find a a couple year old TT bike for non-stupid prices.
1:36 But how many customers buy a bicycle just for the BB, or even caring for what BB is installed. If it "works" any issues they could've been aware of are past the decision point. A better data would be, BBs bought by those about to assemble a custom bike. As it stands, it's OEMs' preferences amplified. Which could be due to reasons like easier workflow (especially no retooling). If OEMs chose the best exclusively, we'd have exclusively integrated cables, NTN/SKF bearings, and far fewer bonded Shimano cranksets.
I like Trace Velo but not for the appeal of Chinese brands and cheap parts, but I like his mechanical experimentation. He isn't a shill, he will tell you if a part is broken, not that great, or scaring him. I wouldn't put the parts he buys on my bike, but I love knowing someone else is willing to do it.
The Francis Cade show is boring because of Jimmy. I said this at the start and I stand by it.
I quite like Jimmy but I’m not going to spend much of my life listening to these guys.
completely agree with you about the Nero Show and Cade. I think Chris and Jesse would have more subs if they weren't Australia-centric for most of the time. UA-cam is still skewed towards USA in my estimation, and Yanks aren't too keen on non-American accents.
As I'm a MTBer I've not followed what's going on with GCN. But there was never much interesting stuff there for me.
The most interesting UA-camrs to me are those that do for a sideline to their everyday jobs. Shimano are tarnished but a tarnish isn't structural rot so they'll recover. I think you're right about the small wheel manufacturing comps getting onto big brand builds. Have you seen the English electricians podcast Hambini? It's a good laugh if youyre interested in the electrical workd.
I watch efixx and there is a guy called Allen hart who does plumbing. I like listening to tradespeople, they are real people not this media infiltrated snowflake mentality.
I was waiting for Hambini’s Absolute Black prediction for 2024. 😂
Dylan Johnson put drop bars on an XC bike. I think this will be the next big move in gravel. A bike that you can ride decent XC fast as well as gravel.
Agree, but drop bar extensions have been available for flat bars since the 90s lol
Chris Hall also done it and he rides ultra endurance off road events on it.
Great one!
trace velo will do just fine. even if the market for cheap Chinese cycling parts is declining, his videos are entertaining and engaging. he could easily pivot given his production value and personality, but I don't he has to as reviewing cheap Chinese stuff still has its audience for a long time to come (as long as it's cheaper than major manufacturers).
The bike industry has been on a backslide for years due to its own mismanagement. It has priced itself out of the market for most people.
Ive give my son my de rosa with all the bells and whistles..constant aggro..im sticking with my 40 year old colnago master.
The under qualified grease monkeys who work in bike shops and torture bikes is astounding .. Injury is a high price to pay when things go wrong after the UA-cam mechanic is repairing a bike .. Having said that, consumers moan about the cost to service/repair bikes by the skilled tech..
knowledge, skill & experience cost , be prepared to find that tech and pay accordingly
For most people, I think an endurance frame with disk brakes would be pretty much do everything. I don't see the reason to have a gravel bike with supper wide tires. If you want to ride very ruff and muddy trails, maybe a trail or a xc bike would be a better choice. The So called gravel bike is more capable road off bike then the early mountain bikes.
R.I.P Hambini Headphone using fans.
Balancing wheels, that's crazy. Is that a ploy to take it to a dealer? Logic would tell me that my valve would drop to the bottom when on the bike stand, but I haven't noticed that on any of my bikes.
One man UA-camr channel here!
Yeah but you aren't full time! It or are you
@@Hambini I will never ever go full time haha. For the same reasons as Peak Torque and yourself!
@@PatrickLino So we can have a 3 way rimming action between us!
I'm mostly interested to see if chinese groupsets become more common in the west. I think their products can have quite good value for the price, but they kinda treat customers as beta testers, fixing bugs along the way, which is unusual way of business for western audience. They also lack retailers, and most people still reluctant of aliexpress.
I'm hoping eventually Microshift will come out with a hydraulic groupset, as I have been using their groupsets on two of my previous bikes, and had good experience. Their older models have been featured on Decathlon's bikes, but on the mid-range bikes they still go with cable actuated hydraulic brakes which are really meh, having a fully hydro option would make sense there. I don't really expect them to appear on the high end models tho, even for Deacthlon, for that price people expect to see the big name brands.
"they kinda treat customers as beta testers, fixing bugs along the way, which is unusual way of business for western audience" - Tell that to anyone who bought a Tesla...
Microshift are being specced on Specialized (fitness, city etc) and Kona (touring) bikes.
Hambini time!!!
The re introduction of Rodney the rimmer brakes. Oh yeah under the guise of bringing down costs without losing face.
i watch the Nero show as well.....Cris and Jesse have a back and forth that Francis does not seem to have. i have trouble getting through an hour of Francis and Joe(?)
Francis and friends feel like trying to be on your best behaviour around an elderly relative - they're a little too nicey nicey, whereas Chris and Jesse are like chatting with your mates, a little more unfiltered.
I also wonder whether we will see a rise in the move towards bespoke bikes? I hate being a sheep amongst identikit carbon so have moved to steel and titanium bespoke bikes measured to fit me and do the kind of riding I love to do. They are certainly no more expensive than top end bikes from the mainstream manufactures, but are certainly much better built and I love choosing my paint scheme.
As for Chinese kit etc, I'm sure many on here will remember how people looked down at Skoda, Hyundai and Kia. Now look at them and also the rise of high quality Chinese EVs.
The mainstream manufactures and associated suppliers have been complacent for too long and need a kick up the arse to wake them up. This is what the Chinese manufacturers will do and it will benefit us, the consumer.
@@irfuel But we all know that they will get there…..
Love the Nero show
Who needs Nostradamus when we have Hambini
I have rebuilt my now much former and weighing much less than, 2019 "SuperlightM6LXBrompton" with a lot of Titanium and Carbon parts from A.E. to at present weighing 8.5 kilo and with some more work I expect to reach below 8 kilo?
About the same or less than an Original "Brompton T-line", for a double price and still with "mudguards" as mine of course!
Titanium bolts, nuts and discs and also carbon parts are easily bought from A E, also from firms in Korea, Taiwan and China, producing similar type bikes as the original Folding Bike.
It is a horrible "bike" but for its purpose it is second to none, though some obvious details, after that many years of production, could have been made much better - preventing scratches during the fold!! And also to be prevented with new parts from China. 😄 Finn. Denmark