Fork me, it’s the ring of death

The “Ring of Death’ may sound like something involving motorcycles at a circus, but for the geeks of this podcast, it refers to a potentially dangerous wear ring that can appear on the steerer tube of a fork through riding a bike with a loose headset. It’s something the geeks have discussed plenty in the past, but this week you’ll hear from carbon fibre safety and repair expert Raoul Luescher on whether it’s possible to repair the ring of death (in carbon steerer forks) and what the most common cause of it is.

Of course this week’s episode of Geek Warning also offers coverage of new bikes, including the Orbea Avant endurance road, Lapierre Xelius DRS road, Festka Spectre gravel, and Rocky Mountain Element XC. Dave and Suvi also share what’s on their minds and they (try to) pick their favourite water bottles.

Enjoy!

Time stamps:

2:45 - Corrections corner
4:55 - Festka’s new Spectre “race ready” gravel bike
7:00 - Lapierre’s merges its two race bikes into the Xelius DRS
12:35 - Orbea’s new Avant alloy endurance road bike and our thoughts on integrated storage
23:20 - Picking one water bottle
31:00 - Ask a Wrench: repair of carbon steerers with ring of death
46:00 - Ask a Wrench: finding a worn headset
48:50 - Ask a Wrench: feeling for a loose headset in a Trek Domane
53:00 - Rocky Mountain updates its Element cross-country bike
55:00 - Vista Outdoor sells Revelyst
56:45 - Chris King launches seat post collars