Training is more fun and effective when you’re comfortable and stoked on your gear.
Sure, you could train like Rocky in cotton sweats in the freezing cold of a Philadelphia winter, or stare at the wall of a basement on a trainer like Graeme Obree, but for most of us, having good gear makes a world of difference, whether in clothing or digital measurement and entertainment.
So on this podcast we are talking about gear! We’ve got all the coaches cued up with hot picks, we are talking gear we know and love and recommend, as well as some pieces we do not own but are coveting.
We’re talking about clothing, power meters, heart rate monitors, wearables, outside bikes, inside bikes, smart trainers, tires, software and more.
And, we’re talking about great products from our partners where you get discounts on everything as a subscriber to Optimize - including Castelli, Stages, Ventum, Hammerhead, and Whoop.
Here are some of the products Frank and Ben recommend:
Castelli Clothing
For winter, anything with PolarTec Alpha insulation or Gore-Tex Infinium Windstopper!
Sorpasso RoS tights and Sorpasso RoS Wind bib tights (with Infinium)
Unlimited Puffy Vest (with Alpha)
Estremo WS Skully hat (with Infinium)
Estremo Shoecover (with Infinium)
20% off Castelli for Optimize subscribers!
When you subscribe to Optimize, you gets access to discounts to all our partners.
Tech
Stages power meters for Shimano; Quarq power meters for SRAM
Wahoo Tickr Armband HR (great for Zwift)
20% off Stages, 10% off Hammerhead, and one free month of Whoop for Optimize subscribers!
Indoor Trainers
Bikes
So many choices and variables here... but Giant Revolt and Lauf Seigla Rigid are great-value gravel bikes, and of course our friends at Ventum make excellent machines in the GS1 gravel bike and RS1 road bike.
15% off Ventum Bikes for Optimize subscribers!
Tires
Continental Grand Prix 5000 is Coach Christian's favorite road tire
Schwalbe G-One RS and Specialized Pathfinder Pro are Ben's favorite gravel tires
Frank loves the Panaracer GravelKing SK for gravel and skinny G-One Allround for all-road riding
Software
Zwift / Discord / Spotify / Strava / Optimize
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