'There are no new ideas left in cycling'

The Portland-based Made show has wrapped up for another year, and our website has been buzzing with coverage from the handmade bike event.

This week’s Geek Warning is a bit different from the usual format, with the conversation focused mainly on what was seen at Made. Here, Dave Rome chats with Escape’s US tech editor Josh Weinberg along with famed framebuilder (and Escape contributor!) Rob English.

Within you’ll hear about emerging trends from the custom bike world, why Rob believes there are no new ideas left for bicycles, and some of Rob and Josh’s top picks.

As usual, the episode wraps with our regular Ask a Wrench segment, where Zach Edwards (Boulder Groupetto) and Dave Rome answer technical questions from Escape members. You’ll need to be on the Escape member podcast feed to listen to this section.

See all the coverage from Made 2025 here.

Time stamps:

2:40 - Explaining Made and industry vibes
10:00 - Trends in the handmade scene
18:30 - Josh and Rob’s favourite bikes of Made
31:30 - Rob’s absolute favourite - a bike from 1979
36:00 - A little Aero bike
38:30 - Favourite small parts of Made
55:45 - Ask a Wrench (Members only)
57:00 - A corrections corner related to impact wrenches
58:40 - Bottom bracket torque settings
1:03:15 - Solving a worn dropout
1:09:00 - Sticky cables, sticky drink mix