Bike Innovations you don't need

[topcat1]

1:

A water bottle with a light ffs

I have a bottle cage that lights up my water bottle, I find it amusing at 5am when I cycle to work. And I've 2 bikes with Di2

 

[classic33]

And why not have a water bottle with a light on it.

If you build it, they will come.

I'm on the lookout for a minature Christmas tree (with lights) for my bike if anyone knows where to get one.....

Wilkinsons/Wilco, battery powered.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I think it's the other way round: it's the leisure cyclists who need e-gears and the pro teams should use mechanical. Why? Because pro cyclists have their bikes adjusted for them whereas leisure cyclists need to pay a mechanic. That reminds me, must place an order for one...

A lot of leisure cyclists are perfectly capable of doing their own maintenance, and plenty of people still service their own cars.
Given how weight-obsessed a lot of cyclists are, it seems really bizarre to add the weight and failure risk of a battery, just to avoid doing manual gear changes!. I'd suggest anyone who is unable to master gearchanging on whatever sort of vehicle they ride on or drive in, is not really cut out to be in control of any mechanically-propelled object in the first place.

 

[bpsmith]

So anyone driving an automatic car should be banned from driving then @SkipdiverJohn ?

 

[jefmcg]

I'd suggest anyone who is unable to master gearchanging on whatever sort of vehicle they ride on or drive in, is not really cut out to be in control of any mechanically-propelled object in the first place.

What a mean spirited sentence.

And nonsensical as mechanically propelled means "A motor vehicle driven by petrol, oil, steam, or electricity", so is irrelevant to a discussion of bikes.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I suppose Indexed gearing was designed to be essentially "idiot-proof" - and makes some sense on a mountain bike being used in anger where the rider is mainly concerned with staying on the bike. However, if you've ever noticed the number of cheap road-going MTB's with Shimano Indexed gears that are ridden along clattering and grinding, they are worse than friction shifters if maladjusted. If you don't set up indexed gears properly the changes don't align the chain correctly, whereas a friction shifter is infinitely adjustable to achieve silent operation. Friction changers need mechanically sympathetic riders though, who will actually notice the clattering chain and adjust the lever accordingly!.

 

[Colin_P]

Friction shifters are never worse, they just need to be used correctly to obtain blissful silence or at most a gentle whir of the cogs.

As Swiss Toni once said, "Riding a friction setup, is like being a pilot and also like making love to a beautiful woman; trim the flaps and make sure it all lines up until it purrs along."

I of course have no idea what that actually means.

 

[r04DiE]

Perhaps the wrong word but still an innovation you certainly don’t need.

Well, you can say that about many things. I wanted to change my Garmin Edge 810 (has been working very well with only a couple of hiccups) for a Wahoo ELEMNT. I was discussing this with my wife and she asked "Do you really need it (the ELEMNT)?" I said "No, I don't need it, I want it, just the same way that you want to buy new clothes, or new shoes, new pictures for the walls or a thousand other things that we don't really need."

 

[r04DiE]

Anything Bluetooth, wireless, or with "e" in the title.

Does this include wireless radios, envelopes, elastic and E=mc^2?

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

A mechanical numpty rider who ignores maladjusted Indexed gears and just grinds along in ignorance with the chain misaligned halfway between cogs is no different to a mechanical numpty rider who doesn't use their friction shifters properly and achieves the same result. Both systems require proper adjustment, in one case when the bike is assembled, the other as an ongoing thing by the rider when in motion. Chain clatter on bikes is one of my pet hates though, I couldn't live with that racket everywhere I went. How so many cyclists do put up with it is beyond me. They must be deaf as well as stupid.

 

[jefmcg]

They must be deaf as well as stupid.

What is your problem??????

 

[Deleted member 26715]

a mechanic. That reminds me, must place an order for one...

Where do you buy mechanics?

 

[Cycleops]

Well, you can say that about many things. I wanted to change my Garmin Edge 810 (has been working very well with only a couple of hiccups) for a Wahoo ELEMNT. I was discussing this with my wife and she asked "Do you really need it (the ELEMNT)?" I said "No, I don't need it, I want it, just the same way that you want to buy new clothes, or new shoes, new pictures for the walls or a thousand other things that we don't really need."

Yes, why do we do this, I guess to do with the consumer society we live in. Built in obsolescence, new gadgets coming along all the time. Changing fashions. Garmin was the greatest until Wahoo came along, now it’s decried almost universally.
The only answer may be to embrace minimalism for a simple life.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

What is your problem??????

I'd say stupid is a pretty accurate description of someone that will ride around perpetually on a maladjusted machine! Would you ride around with a flat tyre for a month without fixing it, or keep driving a car with grinding brakes until they fail totally? It's exactly the same thing.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I'd say stupid is a pretty accurate description of someone that will ride around perpetually on a maladjusted machine!

How do you know they are perpetually riding the bike around, do you use a TV, a computer, a smartphone, are you 100% conversant with all the working of those?

Would you ride around with a flat tyre for a month without fixing it, or keep driving a car with grinding brakes until they fail totally? It's exactly the same thing.

I would disagree, it's more like a gearbox grinding wouldn't you agree, maybe one that has lost some oil, it still works not as efficiently & will shorten it's designed life.