Marginal Gains Cycling Podcast, Presented by Silca

It's funny how tubeless freed is from tubes and years later some of us turned to putting something else in the space between rim and tire. Namely inserts. Most of them are foam and a real struggle to install. Then there's OPTIS: The Odyssey Tire Pneumatic Insert System. Cool acronym that basically means "inflatable insert." The people at Odyssey will be quick to say OPTIS is not a tube. While it does press up against the sidewall when inflated, it's job is just like a foam insert: to prevent pinch flights. OPTIS weights significantly less than a foam insert and it's behavior is adjustable. We spoke with Jacob Hinton from Odyssey on this unique product that recently gained notoriety during a spring classic. 
Up next is a look at radial tires for bikes. 32 inch wheels have garnered most of the buzz in 2026 but radial tires are also making waves. Two big tire makers have jumped into the space and made claims of enhanced grip for gravity style riding. A third company, Delium, has also been developing radial tires. We hear from this lesser known maker about how tech works and its potential in the bike space.

Our 50th Ask Josh Anything! That's a lot of questions and answers and "It Depends." Thanks for hanging with us to the mid century mark.

On the Q&A agenda this episode:
The perfect padding for aero armrests. 
Tire inserst for Unbound
Breaking in tires for best CRR
The right gears for an Everesting
Narrow flat bars for Leadville
Gravel wheels on a road bike and the rule of 105

Our first episode that covered the topic of 32 inch wheels focused on the bigger wheels being used on mountain bikes. Daniel Yang of Neuhaus Metalworks put us on a prototype rigid mountain bike and took us for a ride. It was eye opening. But it also raised questions. 
At Sea Otter we saw a shift by some builders and manufacturers as to where they thought the big wheels might perform best. Drop Bar bikes supported by 32 inch wheels were just as common as Flat Bars at this year's show. Straight line speed and all day comfort was the reason given for developing a 32er gravel bike over a mountain bike.
Like a lot of bike media, we set out to get some answers on the future of this "Big Idea." Daniel Yang is back with his report card on the trend. We also hear from two companies that were showing Gravel bikes that attempt to answer the question: Is bigger, better?

We're not afraid to share an opinion on this show. At no time was that more apparent then when Josh let his thoughts known about hookless road wheels. It caused a bit of a reaction in the industry to say the least. And while we have some firm beliefs on certain technologies, we also believe in fairness. Which is why at Sea Otter we gave some wheel brands a platform to explain what has become a somewhat divisive topic. 
Our guests work for three brands: ENVE, CADEX and Mavic. Two of them stand behind road hookless as a high performance and safe feature. The third has stuck with hooked rims. All three bring a unique perspective on what it takes to secure a tire to a wheel.

We also talk to these wheel makers about their brands as a whole: what's driving innovation, how pro peloton success turns into sales and for one of them, what it takes to revive a heritage brand.

It feels like now more than ever it is important to find sources of information and reporting that are trustworthy. It used to be fairly easy: subscribe to a credible outlet and trust that said newspaper or magazine would have guardrails in place to get it right and to exercise fairness. As the internet and social media became the predominant sources we rely on, a lot of those guardrails were knocked down. It could be argued that the system in place now is more democratic. More wide open. More voices. But along the way the trust factor has taken a blow. 
That's why we wanted to talk to Ben Delaney. Ben came from the old school ways of cycling reporting. He got a degree in journalism. He got a job at a magazine. He did the work and made his way up. Like a lot of his colleagues, he also took his lumps as traditional outlets succumbed to the pressures of lower ad revenues and tighter budgets. After being let go more than once by Velo, Ben decided to go solo. 
These days you can find Ben making videos for his gravel focused "The Ride" YouTube channel. It's one of Josh's favorites, so much so that Silca supports the channel. "The Ride" is a great place to check the latest in dropbar, offroad tech and trends. But this interview is less about gear and much more about the landscape of cycling media. How it got to where it is and what it needs to keep its credibility.