BEST of PEZ’24: The TOP 10 Reads of the Year

The Most Read PEZ Articles of 2024: As we ring in the New Year, it’s time to look back at what resonated most with PEZ readers in 2024. From cutting-edge gear reviews to insightful features on cycling health and performance, the past year brought a wealth of captivating stories. Whether it was the latest Pinarello Dogma F, a deep dive into riding with A-Fib, or the truth behind Phil Liggett’s rumored retirement, these top articles showcase the diversity and passion of the PEZCycling community. Join us as we revisit the highlights of 2024 and gear up for another exciting year of cycling content in 2025.

Crunching our readership data always reveals a few surprises – which only proves that you PEZ-Fans are a group with varied and unpredictable tastes, sometimes swayed by pop culture or trending news bites, other times simply responding to what resonates with you as individuals.

This year’s Top stories revealed a healthy mix of what we all like reading about – our weekly news round-up in Eurotrash always shows well, tech features and gear reviews are popular – but the most expensive gear doesn’t always make it the most popular – so while our first look at Pinarello’s freshly updated Dogma F (price tag: $15,000US) pulled a lot of reads, so did our look at previously unknown brand Cycplus’ electric mini-pump priced at $89.

Then there are the Features – stories we think are cool to write, because there’s an idea the writer wants to explore and share.  And of course – as athletes, we’re all concerned about our physical performance, and as mature cyclists, we’re also concerned about how strenuous activity can impact our day to day health.

All of these and more are covered in our list – so let’s dive in…

There is also:

• Best Of PEZ’24: Couture, Kerstperiode ‘Cross, & Kilts: 50 Big Pics
• Best Of PEZ’24 Review: Selle Italia SLR Boost 3D TI 316 Superflow Saddle
• Best Of PEZ’24: The 1912 Olympic Time Trial Revisited
• Best Of PEZ’24: Mental Health Issues In Elite Cycling
• Best Of PEZ’24 Review: Shimano 105 Di2 Build

Phil Liggett Retires? WTF!!

The truth behind the fake news

When an Australian tv channel sensationally dropped a story that Phil Liggett was retiring from cycling commentating… I figured I’d best investigate. Here’s the truth about Phil Liggett’s retirement plans.

Read the full article HERE.

Click Play to watch my interview with Phil Liggett, and see more video at the PEZ Youtube channel:

Cycling: Is It The “Anti-Luxury Brand?”

“Luxury” is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “Possession & use of all appliances for gratifying the senses, a thing that one enjoys, a desirable thing that can be done without, luxurious surroundings.” When we think of luxury consumer brands, we think of couturier clothing, perfume, vintage Champagne, and Rolls-Royce. The ultimate example of this might be the LVMH conglomerate, the first European company to be valued at over US$500 billion, and which operates some 60 subsidiaries, including Tiffany & Co., Christian Dior, Princess Yachts, Louis Vuitton, and cognac producer Hennessey. Luxury goods with high name recognition, all desirable things that can be done without, but which have profitability that has made LVMH’s CEO the richest man in the world.

• Read the full article HERE.

Pinarello – Ivan Glasenberg owned:

Riding With AFib – Atrial Fibrillation

You may be in great shape. You may be in great health. You may not have any heart-related issues or exhibit any symptoms of heart problems. But you could still have AFib (atrial fibrillation) that is an abnormal heartbeat that could cause a stroke. PEZ’s Chuck Peña takes you through his personal journey with AFib.

• Read the full article HERE.

Pinarello DOGMA F 2024: First Look

Lighter and Faster

While actual bikes are still hard to come by, and media samples even harder, the new uber-bike Pinarello Dogma F they does exist in the real world, and I found one right here in Vancouver at Veloholic Cycles – a shop specializing in high end European and custom road builds. Here’s a first look at this high-end dream machine.

• Read the full article HERE.

See a short look at the Pinarello master painters finishing framesets in Treviso, Italy:

Cycplus AS2 PRO Mini Bike Pump Review

I’ve been using the Cycplus AS2 PRO mini tire inflator on my bike tires for a few weeks now, and found it’s compact size, portability, and ease of use make it worth having along on my rides, and a nice improvement over the old manually operated mini-pump I used to carry. Here’s a closer look.

• The full article HERE.

Click Play to see my video review of the Cycplus AS2 Pro Mini Tire Pump:

LOOK 795 Blade RS Review: Dead Sexy

There are some bikes that just have “the look.” No pun intended, but the LOOK 795 Blade RS Proteam White is one of those bikes. It draws admiring stares and elicits “oohs” and “aahs” — even from non-cyclists at coffee stops. As bikes go, it’s a head turner. The term that comes to mind is: dead sexy.

• Read the full article HERE.

OLYMPICS’24 Men’s Road Race PREVIEW: Can Van Der Poel Beat The Belgians?

Who will take road Gold?

2024 Olympic Games Men’s Road Race: Arguably no race in 2024 had as much pre-race anticipation as the the Men’s Road Race at the Olympic Games in Paris.  The road race is much more important in the cycling world than it used to be and now many top riders have made it a major goal of the season. World champion Mathieu van der Poel, World and Olympic TT champion Remco Evenepoel and his countryman Wout van Aert will be on the start line in Paris on Saturday along with a top line-up. Here is the PEZ rundown on the course and the favourites for Gold.

• The full article HERE.
• The race report is HERE.

Richard Carapaz won solo in Tokyo in 2021:

Toolbox: W’ And Anaerobic Capacity

This past weekend the Cyclo-cross World Cup kicked off in Valkenburg with a commanding win by Lars Van der Haar, after a typically audacious start for the young gun. The ability to sprint for the hole shot by LVdH and another young star like Mathieu Van der Poel are impressive and, surely, taxing, but how taxing are they?

• Read the full article HERE.

The Aero Evolution: Pushing The Limits To Cheat The Wind

Aerodynamics have been in the news again this week with Visma | Lease a Bike’s new time trial helmet, the Giro Aerohead 2.0. It caused quite a stir on Monday when the rider’s of the Dutch team used it in Tirreno-Adriatico’s stage 1 time trial. This gives us the opportunity to look back at Ed Hood’s take on the aerodynamic question a few years ago.

• Read the full article HERE.

Jonas Vingegaard giving the Giro Aerohead 2.0 its first airing:

WORLDS’24 Men’s Road Race PREVIEW: Pogačar, Evenepoel, Van Der Poel Or…?

The Rainbow Battle

2024 World Championships Road Race Preview: Sunday’s World Championship elite men’s road race should see a big battle between three of the top riders of this generation over a tough route in Zurich. Tadej Pogačar has been touted at the favourite, but Remco Evenepoel is hardly a slouch at the moment; double Olympic and World time trial champion. Then there is reigning World champion, Mathieu van der Poel wants to keep his rainbow jersey for another year. Here’s the ‘PEZ Worlds Preview’.

• The full article HERE.
• The race report is HERE.

Mathieu van der Poel was unstoppable in 2023:

*** We all hope you have enjoyed reading PEZ through the year, stay tuned for more of the best writing and photos in 2025. ***

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