PANDAmonium on the climbs – Phil Gaimon x Panda Podium 2026
Last year we sponsored a junior, this year we're sponsoring a senior!
Jokes aside though, we take the riders that we choose to work with very seriously and work hard to bring them the best gear. We aim to work with riders who we believe can achieve great things with a little support from us and also riders that can properly demonstrate the peak level of performance that our gear offers.
Phil is an ex-pro cyclist who left the world tour at the end of 2016 to pursue what he dubs as the “worst retirement ever.” The idea was to take his world tour fitness and use it setting other than pro racing. Hunting KOM’s and challenges on the bike are Phil’s bread and butter.
Although Phil may be the worst at retiring, he is still pretty damn good at going uphill. This makes him the perfect guy for the job this year to rip around on our ARCARIS 8848 pure climber’s wheelset and some other rad gear that we swear by here at Panda Podium. (more on that below.)
So what exactly is the plan?
Well… The same old really, Phil is set for another year obliterating KOM’s (he’s already nabbed a couple on the new setup), eating cookies and entertaining us with his quest to be the absolute worst at retiring.
We can’t give away too much yet but there are some epic challenges in the pipeline and Phil is on the war path for more KOM’s, he has already racked up over 1500 of the world’s most prestigious KOM’s and has no plan of slowing down yet.
Originally Phil wanted to try and take as many KOM’s from dopers who had nabbed them during pro races. Phil has always taken a hard line against doping in pro cycling and this is one of the main driving forces in all of his escapades.
Nowadays Phil is just hell bent on trying to entertain us while abusing himself on his youtube channel and we love him for it.
The Gear
We’ll be supplying Phil with a range of our top gear like the CRW HB-01, the OVERFAST thru-axels and probably most suited to Phil, our brand new ARCARIS 8848 wheelset. The OVERFAST carbon thru axles from a mere 30g per pair and the CRW HB-01 from just 280g are also ideal for getting Phil’s 2026 setup down to a weight that he’s happy with.
Phil is undoubtedly a phenomenal climber and we reckon he’s the dude for the job when it comes to further showcasing what our new ARCARIS 8848 wheelset is capable of. These wheels have already won a National British Hill Climb title in the hands of a very capable Harry Hudson but we’re certain that Phil put them to extremely good use this year.
We are also going to work closely with Phil when developing and testing upcoming models to ensure that these wheels keep performing at the highest level while still continuing to shave grams. We’re confident that Phil’s riding is going to demand the highest performance from our gear and help us to identify any areas for possible improvement.
ARCARIS 8848 Wheelset
-
Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageWheels Tires & Tubes, WheelsetsArcaris 8848 Climbers Wheelset
Price range: $1,599.00 through $2,499.00
CRW HB-01 Handlebar
-
Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
OVERFAST THRU-AXLES
-
Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Usually teams are proud to welcome their new young guns, but here at Panda Podium we are very proud to have our new retiree on the case.
Phil’s dedication and grit has been pushing the limits of bike riding for quite some time now and his riding speaks for itself.
We are buzzing to see the shenanigans that Phil get’s into over on his youtube channel and keen to support him with whatever whacky projects he comes up with this year,
Welcome to the team Phil! 🍪
📷 Photography by: @the_orange_helmet_guy
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.