CI.N Podcast: Mike Burrows talks career and modern bicycle design

Legendary bike designer and frame builder Mike Burrows is the guest of CyclingIndustry.News’ first podcast of 2022, now presented by Cycle Systems Online‘ co-founder Sean Lally.

Mike is an icon of the design world, having notably come up concept behind the Lotus-built 1992 Olympics 4,000 metre track pursuit winning bike, as ridden by Chris Boardman. That’s far from all and Mike’s career has been decorated with pioneering ideas – from the recumbent Windcheetah trike to the Ratcatcher and Ratracer builds.

So, what’s Mike’s take on modern bicycle design, industry standards and usage of modern materials and technologies?

On one such material capturing headlines, but not necessarily making the inroads some anticipated it would, Mike questions whether graphene can ever achieve its theoretical potential. This subject was also explored in CI.N’s latest print magazine, which you can read here. 

The podcast moves on to discuss the future of bike shops and workshops as we progress through a digital age. Having spent a lifetime on the tools, Mike advocates for finely tuning a workshop’s skillset to the point where the business becomes an essential service to the community.

When asked whether bicycle design is moving forwards, Burrows says the industry still hasn’t cracked some old problems, such as galvanic erosion sticking seat posts and so for the time being his sentiment settles on perfecting the basics.

For a very entertaining 45 minutes with Mike Burrows tune in right here.

If you’re after a bit more podcast content to see out the week in the workshop, CyclingIndustry.News’ editor Mark Sutton appeared as a guest on Sean’s Cycle Systems podcast last week. Tune in here for nearly an hour of bicycle business discussion, plus a bit on Mark’s background in the trade.