Best value ways to boost your indoor cycling set-up - GCN Tech Show

In the first tech show of 2024, Alex Paton and Ollie Bridgewood go through just what you need to know in order to get started with indoor cycling.

For those of us in the grasp of winter, motivation to burn off some of the Christmas indulgence might be high, but one peek outside will have your motivation crashing back down. Fortunately, we live in an era where a lack of desire to head outside doesn’t have to mean that you forego your training, with indoor riding a booming sector of the cycling industry.

• Read more: Wheel-on, direct-drive or rollers? How to choose the right turbo trainer for you

The duo break down exactly what you need and how much it is going to cost you to get started with an indoor training set-up that is not only functional but engaging as well. It is easy to get overwhelmed by all the different types of indoor trainers, what other accessories you need and what training software you should be using. Luckily for you, we have a whole section dedicated to indoor training on the GCN website where you can find out even more on the topic.

Hot and spicy tech

With the 2024 season upon us, there have been plenty of new bits of kit spotted out and about at pro team training camps, where the best riders get to test out unreleased kit before the season gets underway. Here is the latest tech news and sightings from the last seven days.

Unreleased Kask helmet

Some of the Ineos Grenadiers have been wearing a new Kask aero helmet that looks to be an update to the Utopia. The new helmet that first broke cover on Filippo Ganna’s Instagram features lower profile sides that extend down to cover the top of the rider's ear. It appears that the new helmet blends the comfort and cooling of a more traditional aero road helmet with the aerodynamic optimisation of a time trial helmet. Regardless of the benefits, the design of the helmet is sure to divide opinion.

New team kits continue to be unveiled

Although some team kits did get released at the end of last year, more of the teams have now released their 2024 livery. Some notable changes are the departure of the iconic brown shorts for Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale as well as Bora-Hansgrohe adding a touch of yellow to their green kit. For the full list of 2024 kits make sure to check out our page on just this topic and get revised so you can spot each team when the racing kicks off in a few weeks' time.

Your comments this week

We always take the time to read through your comments underneath our articles and videos and one of the ones that stuck out this week came from the second part of Alex’s ultimate crit bike build. A viewer pointed out that although there is something special about building a bike up from scratch, the harsh reality is that most of the time it is not that practical when it comes to the cost when compared to buying a complete bike.

If you can find a bike that matches your needs that comes as prebuilt it is most likely to be cheaper than building a bike yourself. However, if you are wanting specific components or have parts laying around, it can be a cost effective and fun way to get yourself a new bike.

Bike Vault

Over in the Bike Vault this week we have a rather fetching Trek Emonda SLR that undoubtedly deserves a 'super nice', however the caption that accompanied the entry left the boys a little confused as this fully top spec race bike was labeled as a winter bike. What do you think?

• Read more: GCN Tech Show: The best bikes from the Bike Vault

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This Trek Emonda SLR is fresh from a clean after riding through December. Nice or Super Nice?

There's also a Fara F/Gravel bike, a Ridely Kanzo A, Pinarello Dogma F, Kreissage RS, Colnago V4RS and Boardman adv 8.9 all up for the vote. You can see them below but if you wanted to know how the guys voted then check out the video above.

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This F/Gravel is from Norwegian brand Fara and features SRAM Rival eTap AXS and Zipp303 wheels

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This 2022 Ridley Kanzo A belongs to Under15 rider Jens after they became interested in gravel riding. Pretty neat.

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This Pinarello Dogma F looking pretty tasty on Italian flavoured wall mount

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This neat looking Kreissage RS has a black widow colourway and Elite Wheels. What will the verdict be?

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Peter Joseph's Colnago V4RS - will it get more than just a 'Nice' from Alex and Ollie?

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Owner Joss stripped this Boardman and resprayed it together with a groupset upgrade and tyre changes.

If you have a bike that you would like to submit to the GCN bike vault then make sure to use the dedicated uploader. For all the latest tech news in the cycling world, make sure to head over to our tech news section.