Broadcast as a one-hour live show at 7pm Central Time on Tuesday nights, Bicycle Radio has slick production in a fun format held together by host Sean Mellor. I believe it was originally some sort of ESPN show, but don’t know how the show is funded now. I certainly don’t hear any advertising/infomercials although there is an emerging product shop on the associated website that they are calling Bicycle Radio 3.0.

The biggest plus point of this show is the live format, which gives it a vibrant, fast-paced feel, and the anchor host, Sean Mellor who is very professional while retaining a relaxed style. It rattles along, keeping things to an hour long, and providing plenty of light hearted banter along the way.

It does try to cover a lot of bases, and Larry, one of the show’s hosts makes a joke of the slight bias toward pro news and road cycling. Efraim Rojas’ ‘Weekly dose of pro’ is informed and incisive though, but unsurprisingly it does focus on American interest. No problem with that though. However do I find the pro news from other podcasts- Velocast, Real Peloton and cyclingnews – dig a bit deeper into the issues.

Something I’m not so keen on is the over-use of trails, sound effects, background music and other gimmickry. The catchphrases and names for the various slots are particularly unnecessary for me- “the Cat. 5 Tattoo studios”, “Bicycle Radio escapees” and “news from the bike begone trail”. What’s that all about?

Background music has been used in a humorous way, and sometimes it is funny but sometimes I feel like it’s just not needed. I think this bugged a lot of listeners too, and they have cut down on it in recent weeks.

The show interacts well with the listeners on twitter and even takes live calls. Most weeks there are interesting interviews, normally with people in pro bike racing or the bike industry, but unsurprisingly these are US-centric rather than providing much international interest.

Another very interesting aspect is the view from novice female racer Jerri Manley. She shares her experiences, from training, fitness and nutrition, to racecraft, which can demystify them for other riders starting out. It’s all done in a fun way too- not too serious or geeky.

Overall verdict? It’s good but not quite compelling listening for me. I’m still subscribed but it’s not on my not-to-be-missed list. The style is a very big factor in whether you’ll like it. The humour and banter is pretty entertaining but sometimes there are too many voices in the studio. The production is pretty much the best amongst cycling podcasts.

Links
Bicycle radio website
Subscribe on itunes
Bicycle radio twitter
Jerri Manley twitter
Efraim Rojas twitter