Punch line: I scratched after about 13 hours of racing, in 8th position, 2.5 hours ahead of schedule despite a 45-minute trailside attempt at repairing my front brake, which I had been finicky with since about mile 20. Six other riders had stopped at a motel in town, but I was planning to swallow the next 40–80 miles of paved road through the night. I knew my Donkey and big gears had a more than unfair advantage then.
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Our first podcast of 2026 was in fact a favorite gear of 2025 recap between our host Logan, as well as guests Drew, Cullen, and Stephen. The assignment was simple: Each person picked a favorite peice of gear from 2025 in four different categories, and then we pushed the record button.
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When Tyler told us that he wanted to create a pure road bike out of a TD4.2, we were instantly interested, but also paused. Could a Donkey really run with the race horses? Tyler’s vision for the project was unmatched, and the results amazed us.
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We were proud to host the in-person premeiere for this film at Rodeo HQ back in September, and we’re even more excited that the film wll be online for all to see, starting Thursday, December 18 @ 8:00am MST!
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It is finally time to talk big tires.
The subject is all the rage these days, but we’ve been here for a while – riding our thick mountain bike tires on rigid drop bar bikes for years. Nevertheless, we are intrigued by a lot of what is coming to the discourse, especially some of the quantitative testing we are seeing from certain corners of the internet. Most notably, John Karrasch, a.k.a @flexfitbyjohn on Instagram.
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It has been six months since I participated in Pinyons and Pines, a 350 mile bikepacking race through the arid mountains of Arizona. Time heals all wounds, but the fingertips of my right hands are still ever so slightly numb from the experience. Perhaps time heals only some wounds.
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When Dave Pryor started UnPAved of the Susquehanna in 2018, gravel cycling was crystallizing into a discipline in cycling. It was reserved for the real hipsters, early movers, and the dreamers. Since then, gravel has changed, as has UnPAved. Now, the race is part of Pryor’s full-time job, an institution in Pennsylvania cycling, and also unique in the landscape of gravel cycling.
In our most recent mini-episode on our Rodeo riders, we spoke to Pryor to learn more about a few things. Mostly, we chatted about the power of Pennsylvania’s vast gravel goods, the strange place gravel racing holds on the East Coast, and what gravel means to him and his Flaanimal.
Enjoy!
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The Rodeo Labs Podcast is back in a big way with a new season of the podcast this fall. We are three episodes in, with three very different types of conversations, to explore a wide range of topics. It’s all been taking place in a very exciting time in the cycling world and for Rodeo. You can tell in these conversations that things are changing, and deciphering what all this means for the everyday cyclist has become a passion point for the podcast.
We’ve linked all of the podcasts below, starting from the most recent episode on suspension on gravel, Rodeo travel, and then our summer news round-up. Thanks for listening, expect more to come, and let us know what you want us to examine in the future.
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Exhaustion in the primary sensation that stands out as I sit here, on Delta flight 0239, en route from Venice, Italy to New York’s JFK airport. I’m continuing on from there to Denver, Colorado, and am returning from the first ever Rodeo Labs Summer Camp, which we hosted with a tremendous group of people, in the Dolomite mountains of Italy. My body feels the exhaustion, and my mind feels something else, more accurately an intense mixture of things, but I can’t quite decide what that something else is.
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If there is one thing that you should know about Rodeo, it is that you get to make it your way. Nick from Wove took that to heart and cooked up a bike that really pushed the limits of what is possible. The build was launched and was written up on Escape Collective with contributions from Nick, Steve the Intern and the rest of the bike companies that contributed to the build.
You can read that story here.
Nevertheless, this particular bike was worth much more than a few thousand words, so we took the discussion to the podcast! Between Logan, Stephen, and Nick, all the big questions were asked, answered, and deliberated. You won’t want to miss it!
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