Interview: Director Dominic Wade on ‘Steel is Real… But Carbon is Quicker’

In his latest podcast/interview, host Stuart Wright talk to director Dominic Wade about his cycling documentary Steel is Real… But Carbon is Quicker; which screens on Saturday 23rd November at CUBE CINEMA, Bristol (see cubecinema.com for details)

Thirty years ago the idea of a Briton winning the Tour De France would have been unthinkable. But now the UK is a cycling tour de force, with sporting giants like Chris Froome, Laura Trott and Mark Cavendish winning golds and topping podiums across the globe.None of this success happened overnight. For decades the British cycling scene was one typified by hard graft and little reward. You did it for the love of the sport.

Steel Is Real But Carbon Is Quicker looks at the grass-roots from which the vibrant and fast-growing British cycling scene has sprung. It celebrates the heroes who took to the road and proved that it was paved with British grit. People like Colin Sturgess, the individual professional pursuit champion at the world championships in 1989. Or Sean Yates, winner of a Tour De France time-trial stage in 1988 and one of the early architects of Team Sky. Or Phil and Grant Bayton, a father and son cycling dynasty.

Steel Is Real But Carbon Is Quicker also looks at the men and women who support the scene, not for glory but out of the sheer joy of the sport. Ace mechanic and bike collector Chris Weston, whose Isle Of Wight home is a paradise for bike junkies. Cycling photographer John Pierce and writer William Fotheringham give their insight into a rapidly changing scene.

For more about the film see https://madebywade.co.uk/films/steel-is-real-but-carbon-is-quicker/ and check out the “short” version of this feature-length doc below: