Author Ollie Smith
Ollie Smith

Ollie Smith

Road and gravel presenter

Ollie Smith is BikeRadar’s road & gravel presenter. Since getting a job as a tea boy in his local bike shop aged 15, Ollie's lived and breathed cycling and has worked his way up through the ranks from bike shops to some of the biggest media companies in the industry – most recently working behind the scenes on the documentaries team at GCN+, followed by a year and a half freelancing as a scriptwriter, director, and producer working with teams like Lotto, UAE Emirates, and FDJ Suez, as well as producing Mitch Docker's 'Life In The Peloton' podcast. Ollie's tried his hand at most types of bike racing throughout his life with varying degrees of success. but his one true love will always be road racing. Outside of work, Ollie can be found tearing up whatever road or trail lies in front of him – from weeknight crits and grassroots road races to UCI gravel races in Europe and beyond, his ability is dwarfed by his enthusiasm and going as fast as possible.

  • Height: 175cm
  • Bike size: 52/54cm

Recent articles by Ollie Smith

If you want to go faster, stop slamming your bike stem – my testing shows why

Race bikes typically have short head tubes, but this doesn't necessarily mean more speed
more

These are the gravel bike tyres we would buy with our own cash – and nobody went narrower than 45mm

The all-round gravel tyres BikeRadar's expert testers would pick for their own bikes
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I’m a UCI-level gravel racer and this is the big advantage of MTB tyres that nobody is talking about 

Comfort and speed are important, but there’s another huge benefit to fat tyres on gravel bikes you’ve probably overlooked
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Aero vs lightweight: Why do the men’s and women’s pelotons choose different bikes?

The men’s Tour de France was dominated by aero bikes, but the women’s race saw riders opt for climbing bikes. We delve into why the two pelotons opt for different bikes, and whether the UCI needs to change its stance on bike weight
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Gravel's hottest trend? 4 gravel bikes that fit super-wide MTB tyres

A quartet of top gravel bikes with 2.2in tyre clearance, plus one option that’s been hiding in plain sight…
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What killed the climbing bike? Simply the sheer speed of racing 

The real reason why aero bikes are king in the pro peloton
more