Greatest cycling invention of the last 25 years?

[PaulSB]

As a touring cycle owner and from what I've seen from long term travelling cyclists a tube is far more practical than tubeless. Road bikes all seem to be about weight and saving it.

I would say you and several others have completely missed the points tubeless users, very ordinary cyclists like me, have repeatedly made about them. As I said it's a marmite thing. What it is absolutely not about for the vast majority of amateurs riders is weight saving................it would be easier and cheaper to drink 2 - 3 pints of beer less a week to reduce weight.

 

[Alex321]

As a touring cycle owner and from what I've seen from long term travelling cyclists a tube is far more practical than tubeless. Road bikes all seem to be about weight and saving it.

You should probably use the word "occasionally" rather than "all" there. Most outside the ones specifically designed for racing aren't that concerned about weight.

And tubeless has nothing to do with weight, it is about reducing punctures and improving comfort (by allowing lower tyre pressures without risking snakebite punctures)

 

[Dogtrousers]

Road bikes all seem to be about weight and saving it.

Get with it man, aero is where it's at these days. Weight is old hat.

 

[Punkawallah]

Get with it man, aero is where it's at these days. Weight is old hat.

Aero? That’s so this morning. ‘Big tyres’ is the way forward, now!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Watched GCN Tech the other night and raised bars may be the next big thing!

 

[Dogtrousers]

Watched GCN Tech the other night and raised bars may be the next big thing!

What, are they all going to be riding Raleigh Choppers?

Actually, the UCI should mandate this.

 

[Punkawallah]

What, are they all going to be riding Raleigh Choppers?

Actually, the UCI should mandate this.

They had Chopper grass-track racing at York cycling festival last year - I could see it catching on.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

According to Cycling Weekly, the next big thing is 32" wheels -

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/produ...when-will-they-arrive-and-does-it-even-matter

 

[rydabent]

Get with it man, aero is where it's at these days. Weight is old hat.

And bikes with disc brakes have rims that are lighter and more aero.

 

[Punkawallah]

And bikes with disc brakes have rims that are lighter and more aero.

While disc brake -rims- might be lighter and more aero, are not rim brake wheels lighter and more aero overall?

 

[Webbo2]

While disc brake -rims- might be lighter and more aero, are not rim brake wheels lighter and more aero overall?

I don’t know about the conparison in regards to weight but disc brake wheels are more aero than rim braked wheels as no one is bothering with rim braked wheels any more and companies are constantly trying to improve their aero disc wheels.

 

[Alex321]

While disc brake -rims- might be lighter and more aero, are not rim brake wheels lighter and more aero overall?

Not always.

The frames for disc brakes are usually heavier though - by about half a kilo.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

A rim brake rim requires parallel sides. That is not optimum for aero gains. Disc rims have no such constraint.

 

[Punkawallah]

I don’t know about the conparison in regards to weight but disc brake wheels are more aero than rim braked wheels as no one is bothering with rim braked wheels any more and companies are constantly trying to improve their aero disc wheels.

Finally worked up enough curiosity to Google it, and find that ‘Superteam Wheels’ would seem to disagree?

https://superteamwheels.com/pages/can-rim-brake-aero-wheels-compete-with-disc-aero-performance

Don’t know how ‘scientific’ their opinion is. If companies are constantly trying to improve their aero disc wheels, does this mean they are not as aero as one might think?

 

[Punkawallah]

A rim brake rim requires parallel sides. That is not optimum for aero gains. Disc rims have no such constraint.

While quite possibly true, I’m suspicious of any aero benefits from having the rotor mount and rotor paddling about in the air stream. Road.cc have a case study on the topic:
https://road.cc/content/feature/83327-disc-brakes-v-rim-brakes-which-are-more-aero