GCN Show: Six traditions that should make a return to cycling

Cycling has a rich and varied history, with the great races over 120 years old. In that time the world of cycling has found many traditions along the way. Some of these stand to this day but many others have come and gone. GCN's Dan Lloyd and Conor Dunne don’t necessarily think that this is for the better in some cases and want to see some of the traditions making a return.

Shorter sock length

Now we aren’t advocating ankle socks here, there definitely is still a lower acceptable limit to a good cycling sock. However, today's trend has definitely gone too far. A quick scan of riders in the peloton will reveal almost all of the riders' socks halfway up their shin. In the case of aero socks, this does serve a purpose but it isn't the most sartorial look going.

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Sock length has been on the rise in recent years, but has it gone too far?

With a shorter sock, those bold and striking tan lines can be covered up with regular casual clothing, not something that can be said for the current long socks.

Frame pumps

Whilst aesthetically, frame pumps might not be in keeping with your aero race machine, what they actually are is functional. The mini pump most will be carrying around is a wonderfully packaged solution to re-inflate a tyre, elegant and sophisticated. That is until you have to put it into action.

© GCN

A frame pump offers a far larger volume than a mini pump, making inflating a tyre far more efficient

Mini pumps just don’t offer enough volume to pump up a tyre effectively and can lead to an impromptu gym session mid-way through a ride. What the frame pump lacks in looks, it more than makes up for in functionality, allowing you to get back up and rolling in no time at all.

Smaller sunglasses

Another one for the fashion police here, looking back a few years the cycling glasses we wore were a completely different profile than the ones today. Some might say that those ones were actually designed for the human head but who are we to comment?

© GCN

Plenty of you have been vocal in the comments section about the size of Si's glasses

There definitely has been a trend for glasses to become larger and larger, which is great for offering more coverage but going by the comments under some of our videos that upper limit has been exceeded.

Time trials on road bikes

No one is pretending that cycling isn’t an expensive sport, already the barrier to entry is incredibly high when compared to other sports. For those that are in the lower ranks of racing or for juniors the idea of needing a time trial bike to be competitive in events is an expense that is just too far.

With the current generation of time trial bikes being so advanced and so aerodynamically optimised, if you aren’t on that level with equipment you are at a mighty disadvantage before you even start. Time trials on road bikes would level the field a bit more, allowing a rider's ability to be the decider of a result rather than the equipment.

Maps

This is something that is sure to divide opinion, planning a route with a good old-fashioned paper map is something that is loved or hated. There is no denying that planning a ride with a map instead of a dedicated route planning tool like Komoot is far more time-consuming, but is that a bad thing?

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A paper map can keep some of the unknowns that make a ride adventurous

Planning a route with a paper map kept the element of adventure alive, you knew where you were going - but that was about it. Just how hard a climb would be or what the road surface was like was left a mystery until you arrived there on your ride. Using a paper map is a great way to explore routes whilst still having a plan.

Cycling clubs

Before you shout at us, we know that there are plenty of amazing cycling clubs all over the world that are the hubs for strong cycling communities. What we do think is that more people would benefit from joining or forming a club.

Cycling clubs offer so much to riders, whether that is a newcomer to the sport or a seasoned veteran, there is just something about belonging to a club. The group rides, the social element and all the little bits of advice and knowledge you pick up are what make cycling clubs an amazing pillar of the cycling community.

In other news

Here are some of the other headlines from this week's show.

• Nine-year-old Constantine Gibson completed a half Everesting in Australia
• Cargo bikes have been under fire in recent weeks here in the UK with the Spectator releasing an article about the dangers of cargo bikes
• New York has become the first city to regulate the use of e-bikes and scooters in law after a series of fires that were a result of faulty or incorrectly used e-bike batteries
• MyWhoosh has been named as the new hosting platform for the Esports World Championship in conjunction with the UCI, replacing current platform Zwift until 2026
• Iranian cyclist Mohammad Ganjkhanlou has been granted asylum in the UK after he disappeared following his participation in the world championship time trial

Coming up this week on the channel

• Si’s Handling Drills
• Eight types of cyclist
• Is your saddle at the right angle?
• World's most remote pub
• GCN does the inferno

Head over to the GCN YouTube channel to keep up with the new releases coming out this week.

Out on GCN+ this week

• La Vuelta a España begins on Saturday, August 26
• Tour de l’Avenir
• Deutschland Tour
• Renewi Tour
• Junk Bike Battle: Cargo Chaos

If you head to our Vuelta a España landing page, you will find everything you need to know ahead of the race, including our race preview, the route, start list and individual stage previews. Check it out for all that and more.