Dogtrousers
Lefty tighty. Get it righty.
I had a steel rimmed wheel in my garage and accidentally ran over it with the car a few years ago. I wasn't sad about it.
Greatest cycling invention of the last 25 years?
- Thread starter Jameshow
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Widnes
As far as gear chage is concerned - I had a MTB in the 1990s which was great
except that it had indexed gears that were always just not quite right
I found there was an adjusted and if you undid it enough the indexing disengaged
and it became an old fashioned smooth movement as you got to the gear you wanted by feel and experience
Personally I would rather have that - it wasn;t hard when you got used to it!
except that it had indexed gears that were always just not quite right
I found there was an adjusted and if you undid it enough the indexing disengaged
and it became an old fashioned smooth movement as you got to the gear you wanted by feel and experience
Personally I would rather have that - it wasn;t hard when you got used to it!
a.twiddler
Veteran
Not being a "roadie" I would question a lot of the things on the original list. From a purely personal view:-
Cable brakes.
LED lights for their effect on battery longevity and brightness. Not so impressed with rechargeable -everything. Easily replaceable batteries for me. Choice is getting restricted now.
Modern hub dynamos, especially with LED lights.
Puncture resistant tyres.
Alloy rims for better braking and lighter weight.
Disc Brakes. My experiences have been mostly good though didn't like the Novellas on a Marin I had.
Indexed shifting. A definite bonus for newcomers, but introduce another level of maintenance. I recently had a bike with non indexed shifters and appreciated the simplicity. When indexing is good, it's good. When it's cheap it can be horrid.
If you have large hands, Brifters are OK. Since I don't, gave me sore hands. Shimano Sora, with mouse ear buttons, I liked, though I believe that feature has now been discontinued.
Chromoplastic mudguards.
Modern bike computers.
Cable ties.
Cable brakes.
LED lights for their effect on battery longevity and brightness. Not so impressed with rechargeable -everything. Easily replaceable batteries for me. Choice is getting restricted now.
Modern hub dynamos, especially with LED lights.
Puncture resistant tyres.
Alloy rims for better braking and lighter weight.
Disc Brakes. My experiences have been mostly good though didn't like the Novellas on a Marin I had.
Indexed shifting. A definite bonus for newcomers, but introduce another level of maintenance. I recently had a bike with non indexed shifters and appreciated the simplicity. When indexing is good, it's good. When it's cheap it can be horrid.
If you have large hands, Brifters are OK. Since I don't, gave me sore hands. Shimano Sora, with mouse ear buttons, I liked, though I believe that feature has now been discontinued.
Chromoplastic mudguards.
Modern bike computers.
Cable ties.
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
Most of those are more than 25 years old.
I was certainly wearing a helmet, using clipless pedals and road bikes had STI shifters in the last century.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Alloy rims have been around since time immemorial. There are plenty of modern bikes with frankly shockingly poor disc brakes.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Cable ties late 50's, Chromoplasts#ic mudguards early eighties with similar items a decade prior, Mavic did the whole alloy rim thing some years before WWII.
N0bodyOfTheGoat
Über Member
- Location
- Hampshire, UK
For me, the biggest advancements of the last 25 years would include...
Ebikes, game changer after sudden health decline
GPS, for navigation and logging of rides
Power meters for measuring rider output
Hydraulic disc brakes for drop bar bikes
Aero drag reduction, bike bits and clothing
Wider tyres, especially for drop bar bikes
Alternative frame materials for the masses
Wider range and number of gears
Smart turbo trainers
Tyres performance
Ebikes, game changer after sudden health decline
GPS, for navigation and logging of rides
Power meters for measuring rider output
Hydraulic disc brakes for drop bar bikes
Aero drag reduction, bike bits and clothing
Wider tyres, especially for drop bar bikes
Alternative frame materials for the masses
Wider range and number of gears
Smart turbo trainers
Tyres performance
AndyRM
XOXO
- Location
- North Shields
"Accidentally"...
Dogtrousers
Lefty tighty. Get it righty.
I wasn't kidding when I said Cyclechat. Or more generally, the internet.
In the 70s & 80s I had Richard Ballantyne's Bicycle Book. That was it. It was my only way to find stuff out. It was pretty good, and the world hadn't exploded into hundreds of different standards for this and that and so on so it was quite comprehensive.
Now if I want to do something to my bike I just have to post on Cyclechat and I can get pages and and pages of conflicting opinions and random arguments. And I still won't know how to do it.
In the 70s & 80s I had Richard Ballantyne's Bicycle Book. That was it. It was my only way to find stuff out. It was pretty good, and the world hadn't exploded into hundreds of different standards for this and that and so on so it was quite comprehensive.
Now if I want to do something to my bike I just have to post on Cyclechat and I can get pages and and pages of conflicting opinions and random arguments. And I still won't know how to do it.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
was gonna say... the Cree LED.
I don't find GPS exciting, resent the ingress of transient tech into the mechanical purity of cycling and tbh am growing increasingly irritated with my bike computer setup, however can't deny the benefit it's brought to my cycling.
It's enabled me to accurate keep distance records, track previous rides and explore areas I otherwise might not have without the luxury of a map / clear way home.
It's enabled me to accurate keep distance records, track previous rides and explore areas I otherwise might not have without the luxury of a map / clear way home.
matticus
Guru
Bikepacking.
LED lights and lithium batteries have made lighting cheap, reliable and pocketable. After the 1970s Never Ready, the 1980/90s bottle battery systems, LEDs finally gave us what we need.
The other revolutionary technology was kevlar tyre protection. The less said the better.
Shackle locks such as Kryptonite upped the security game significantly.
None of these are 21C.
The only 21C tech I can see is wireless, battery powered derailleurs, one piece carbon bar/stem, the wide variety of different internal headset and extetnal bottom bracket standards. None of these tick the box marked "better"
The other revolutionary technology was kevlar tyre protection. The less said the better.
Shackle locks such as Kryptonite upped the security game significantly.
None of these are 21C.
The only 21C tech I can see is wireless, battery powered derailleurs, one piece carbon bar/stem, the wide variety of different internal headset and extetnal bottom bracket standards. None of these tick the box marked "better"
Last edited:
matticus
Guru
Isaac del Toro
Cat Ferguson
Cat Ferguson
