Marginal Gains Cycling Podcast, Presented by Silca
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About
The Marginal Gains Podcast, presented by Silca is the show that makes a big deal about the little things, and how those little things...can be a big deal. Josh Poertner of Silca, along with Hottie and Fatty, talk about all aspects of cycling — design, manufacturing, marketing, riding, racing, management and more, all from a thoughtful perspective. It's a podcast for the thinking cyclist.
Episodes
- AJA #50 Inserts-Optimal gears-Narrow Bars
Our 50th Ask Josh Anything! That's a lot of questions and answers and "It Depends." Thanks for hanging with us to the mid century mark. On the Q&A agenda this episode: The perfect padding for aero armrests. Tire inserst for Unbound Breakin…
- Sea Otter Pt. 2 - Big Wheels Keep on Rollin'
Our first episode that covered the topic of 32 inch wheels focused on the bigger wheels being used on mountain bikes. Daniel Yang of Neuhaus Metalworks put us on a prototype rigid mountain bike and took us for a ride. It was eye opening. B…
- Sea Otter Pt. 1 - Hooked on Road Wheels
We're not afraid to share an opinion on this show. At no time was that more apparent then when Josh let his thoughts known about hookless road wheels. It caused a bit of a reaction in the industry to say the least. And while we have some f…
- From Bike Magazines to YouTube with Ben Delaney
It feels like now more than ever it is important to find sources of information and reporting that are trustworthy. It used to be fairly easy: subscribe to a credible outlet and trust that said newspaper or magazine would have guardrails i…
- Building Zipp with Andy Ording and Josh
Josh has spoken on many occasions about his time with Zipp. The engineering. The R&D. The wins. The fails. Josh was part of a team that changed the scene, both for pro and amateur racers. At the head of that team was Andy Ording. Andy took…
- AJA #49: Helping Fatty Everest (A Marginal Gains Intervention)
Fatty drops a bombshell: he's turning 60 and attempting an Everesting challenge this June — and he needs Josh and Hottie to marginal-gain every aspect of the ride. From course selection and bike setup to tire choice, chain wax strategy, pa…
- Rethinking Bidons with Bivo and Carina Hamel
Most of us hardly give those water bottles in our cages a second thought. It's plastic. It's there. It's got what we need. But in the late 20-teens, Carina Hamel and her partner started giving those bidons and second thought. And a third.…
- AJA #48: Travel Kits, Drop Bar Drama, and Rants About Beeps and Boops
Josh answers listener questions about essential race-day gear, from what to pack for Cape Epic to whether digital torque wrenches are worth the beeping. We into Lifetime's controversial drop bar ban at Leadville, exploring whether safety c…
- Getting AiRO with Ingmar Jungnickel
For most of us getting into a wind tunnel is but a dream. Tunnels are hard to find and harder to afford. As an alternative Josh has recommended the Chung Method. It's proven yet it does take some expertise to get right. What if there were…
- AJA #47: Aluminum Velodromes, Forever Chemicals, Big-Wheel Aesthetics, and valve stem nerdery
This Ask Josh Anything grab-bag starts with Tucson's new aluminum velodrome, evolves (devolves?) into altitude hacks for hour records, "no-rules" speed dreams, and holiday gift picks. From buying a kid's first bike (and why chain waxing mi…
- Melisa Rollins: From Hand-Me-Downs to Leadville Champ
Fatty sits down with 2024 Leadville champion (and his daughter) Melisa Rollins to discuss her meteoric rise from riding borrowed bikes to the professional peloton. Joined by fitter Barry Anderson, they dig into the biomechanical challenges…
- AJA #46: Safety Pins, TPU Wins & Indoor Suffering
Josh tackles why we're still pinning race numbers instead of printing them on jerseys, then dives into the tech story behind Silca's translucent TPU tubes. We talk about real-world marginal gains for everyday riders, and Fatty's recommenda…
- 32er Test Ride with Daniel Yang
We rarely chase trends or product announcements on the Marginal Gains Podcast. The news of the day we mostly leave to other shows. So allow us while we make an exception to our normal behavior and take a stab at the 32 inch wheel. The whee…
- AJA #45: Pump Accuracy & Cheap Carbon Parts
Hear why that "psst" when you pull the chuck is just hose air (not lost PSI), how to set smarter pressures for tandems and "big-butt" weight splits using a bathroom scale, and what tread actually grips on loose-over-hard. Josh also demysti…
- Best Bike Split Founder Ryan Cooper
Marginal Gainers are familiar with Best Bike Split -- the website where using rider data you can forecast a finish time on a specific course. It has been a great tool for years for amateurs and pros alike. Josh has frequently referenced BB…
- AJA #44: Hookless Controversy, Tire Myths, and Aero Hacks
Josh tackles the fallout from his viral "hookless is a scam" comment, clarifies the real risks and physics behind hookless rims, and dives deep into tire pressures, gauges at altitude, and disc wheel aerodynamics.
- Brendan Johnston: Racing, Resilience, and Results
Australian cycling champ and Grand Prix contender Brendan Johnston shares the races that shaped him, the setbacks that tested him, and an upcoming project that may become his ultimate proving ground.
- 3X Natl Champ Lauren Stephens
Lauren Stephens has been easy to spot in both Road and Gravel events; just look for the stars and stripes. She has won three US titles: two gravel and one road. Oh, but there's so much more to her career. How about more than 30 UCI road ra…
- AJA #43: CRR/CDA and Hookless plus The Magnus Effect
We take a look at what has become a dilemma for some Marginal Gains seekers and that is optimizing aero, rolling resistance on a tubeless, hookless rim. Josh has an admittedly unpopular take on the subject. We also get into the aerodymanic…
- AJA #42: Pipe Cleaners and Crack Baggies
We know, the title sounds like we're doing an episode about drug paraphernalia, but trust us, it's the (very good) answer to one of many great questions posed to Josh in this latest listener-driven Q&A episode. We get into using the right…
- The Marginal — and maximal — gains of a great bike fit
Behind every great cyclist is a great bike fit, which means a great bike fitter. Honestly, we're not sure it's possible to overstate the gains — or losses— a bike fit can bring. And a startling number of top pros we've had on this show tru…
- From Running to Riding to RED-S and Beyond with Cécile Lejeune
Cécile Lejeune is a rising star in women's pro cycling, but this Frenchwoman (and now Arizonian) is no stranger to speed. With roots in Tri and a number of impressive running records in her native country, Cécile has been challenging herse…
- AJA #41: Hard water, hard jobs, and hard to get
Fatty is obsessed with mini compressors and so jumps the line in this episode of Ask Josh Anything with several questions he has about Silca's new Elettrico series, Silca's innovative, just-released electric mini pump that is available eve…
- Sea Otter Special
We are on the ground at Sea Otter chasing Marginal Gains. A top theme at this year's show is something we have been discussing in our episodes: the wider tire revolution. Older XC tires have found new life on gravel race bikes and tire mak…
- Levi Leipheimer & Melisa Rollins: The Growler from Pro and RD perspectives
We've done plenty of interview episodes before, but this one's a little different. The twist here is we have pro cyclist Melisa Rollins joining as co-host in hopes of improving her chances at Levi Leipheimer's The Growler, a race that boas…
- AJA 40: How will new tariffs affect Silca, bike retailers, and customers?
We had a whole suite of super nerdy and fun questions ready to ask Josh...and we will still ask them, next time. But we also wanted to know Josh's thoughts about how the newly-announced tariffs might affect Silca, the businesses it buys fr…
- The Meteoric Rise of 2024 Unbound Champ Rosa Klöser
2024 Unbound Champion Rosa Klöser's trajectory to the top step started with a stolen townie, and has kept surprising —and impressing — ever since. You're going to love this conversation with this analytical, detailed, smart, and fast fello…
- Ask Josh Anything: Josh's FAQs
This is a little different from most Ask-Josh-Anything episodes. Here, we ask Josh to answer the questions he gets most often. What we got was an insightful hour of experiences, career advice, and thoughts on the culture within pro cycling…
- TrainerRoad's Jonathan Lee puts the "smart" in smart trainers
Jonathan Lee is Communications Director and one of the OG's at TrainerRoad, one of our favorite tools for marginal-gaining our bodies. TrainerRoad is all business (or at best, Type 2 fun) about making you the strongest, fastest version of…
- AJA #39: Short cranks, bar tape and tandems
Short cranks are all the rage right now, and it just wouldn't be right to let this cycling trend go by without asking Josh to weigh in on its actual merits from aero, weight and engineering perspective. We've also got practical answers for…
- Sofia Gomez Villafane: Making a Statement & Backing It Up
We could have talked with Sofia Gomez Villafane for hours about nothing but her head-spinning palmares: Olympian, winner of Lifetime Grand Prix Series in 2023 and 2024, Leadville, twice at Unbound and Sea Otter, Belgian Waffle rides, and s…
- AJA #38: Waxing Long, Waxing Cold, and Avoiding Speed Wobbles, and Taping to be Aero
The Marginal Gains crew thought we'd throw a real curveball this episode and make every single question about cycling...and relevant, even. Wacky, huh? We talk about how the Silca Endurance chip might affect your lube schedule, the challen…
- Tinker & Test: Chase Wark Brings Innovation (and hugs and hotdish) to Pro Cycling
Chase Wark shares his unique journey in the cycling world, from his unconventional bike setups to his passion for community-building through cycling events, Chase's story is one of creativity, resilience, and a deep love for the sport. Jos…
- AJA #37: Oval Chainrings, Squeaky Wheels, and Everesting Hypotheticals
If the premise of these Q&A episodes is that you can Ask Josh Anything, and we continue asking questions forever, shouldn't we really change the name of this series to "Ask Josh Everything?" The answer to that question is, of course, "it d…
- Marginal Gains Scorecard with Dylan Johnson
Dylan Johnson is back with a follow up to the testing he and Josh did in the spring. The race season started with the two of them in the wind tunnel looking for Marginal Gains that could be used in the Lifetime Grand Prix and the other off…
- AJA #36: Pre-wax prep, traction problems, and aero for the flexibility-challenged
Is it a coincidence that Fatty picked all the questions for this episode, and that all the questions in this episode are topics Fatty finds either interesting or personally relevant? Probably not! But if you're wondering if chain waxing ma…
- Zwift & Marginal Gains, with Zwift Product VP Mark Cote
Zwift VP of Product Mark Cote joins the Marginal Gains crew, picking up where we left off in our last conversation: the wind tunnel. This time, his time in the tunnel is all about future-looking features for Zwift, and this peek at what's…
- Paralympic Track Racer Bryan Larsen: Excelling after Injury
Bryan Larsen tells us his only real talent is that he's too dumb to quit. We strongly disagree, but take his point: Bryan is no quitter. In this episode, Bryan talks us through how he took the constraints given to him through birth and acc…
- AJA 35: Hookless rims & PSI limits, tire pressure on worn tires, Ti quicklinks, CRR on wet roads
We're so excited to kick this 35th episode of our "Ask Josh Anything" series with a discussion of the announcement of Silca's partnership with Visma Lease-A-Bike. Fatty does his level best to pitch having Hottie in the team car, hot-waxing…
- Amy Charity and SBT GRVL
Gravel Racing is moving face and Amy Charity is one of the movers. Amy is the founder of SBT GRVL in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The race started on the back of a napkin in 2018 and has quickly become one of the premiere off-road events i…
- AJA 34: Wind tunnels, cargo bibs, ti printing, and axle handles
At this point we've lost track on how many episodes we've dedicated to wind tunnels, but this is at least partially one of them. We've also got great questions about Fatty's new Firefly and the Ti-printed parts Silca created for it, a clas…
- Erwin Vervecken and the UCI Global Gravel Series
Gravel Racing has gone global, and governing bodies have gotten involved. The UCI is now in its third year of putting on its Gravel World Series. It has more than two dozen races on four continents. Instead of running the series itself, th…
- Time's Tony Karklins and Josh Talk Bike Shops and Carbon Manufacturing
Tony Karklins is the founder of Allied Cycle, is currently the founder of Time, and has deep knowledge of all aspects of the cycling industry, all the way back to when as a teenager he owned a bike shop. He's the perfect match for a conver…
- John Cobb-Wind Tunnel Pioneer
John Cobb may be best known for his bike saddles, but his experience and innovation go much deeper. John may be the first person to take a bike to the wind tunnel, and is likely the only person to crank up the tunnel to 70mph...with a ride…
- Kimo Seymour and the Life Time Grand Prix
Life Time puts on what is arguably the biggest and most important pro bike racing series in the US: The Life Time Grand Prix. And one man is in chage of it all: Kimo Seymour. Fatty and Hottie talk with Kimo changes in the race, the "Call o…
- AJA #33: Wind Tunnels and Wax
Our recent wind tunnel episodes have triggered a LOT of aero questions from our listeners, and Josh -- with hand hovering over the "It Depends" button -- takes them on. From IRL Burrito Powerups (IYKYK) to the StripChip and the Chain Waxin…
- Ask Josh Some More About Wind Tunnels (Wind Tunnels Series Part 3)
Josh answers more of Fatty & Hottie's pressing questions about the surprises people are in for when visiting a wind tunnel for the first time, what happens when key learnings from a wind tunnel session are ignored, how often follow-up ques…
- Marginal Gains And Windtunnels, Part 2: An Interview with Mark Cote
An argument can be made that Mark Cote is the father of the Specialized Wind Tunnel. During his tenure at the Big S, he convinced the powers that be that the Big S needed its own wind tunnel — an amazing story Mark shares with Josh. Enjoy…
- Ask Josh Anything...About Wind Tunnels (Part 1)
Josh's experiences in wind tunnels have come up in dozens of episodes of Marginal Gains, and we always find ourselves with more questions. In this episode, we're finally giving ourselves permission to ask them, from the essentials of using…
- Darren Murphy: Developing and tuning high-end suspension products
When it comes to bikes, Josh is usually the smartest person in the room. But Josh will tell you, when the topic turns to mountain bikes and suspension, Josh turns to Darren Murphy of Push Industries. Josh and Darren talk about Darren's jou…