So are bicycles improving... really?

[fritz katzenjammer]

Yesterday I assembled a lovely new gravel bike down at the shop. Really nice, really expensive. Set the derailleurs up just right and thought... These these are really rough,

Not as good as my old Cyclones.

While I do like indexing and all the modern equipment we have lost a lot of really nice stuff in the rush to the future. Like the feel of really nice friction derailleurs.

I took the bike over and handed it to the other old guy, the one who has been working in the industry for thirty plus years and asked him to do the quality check prior to releasing the bike to the customer. The bike checked out fine (damn right) and the customer was called to be told his new toy was ready. I asked the senior tech what he though of my driveline setup he said it was fine, they’re all rough like that. I made a few pithy remarks about Suntour and he just smiled in agreement.

I think I’ll take the Centurion out for a rip this afternoon. Then maybe some old Italian stuff this evening.

 

[DogmaStu]

I had SunTour on my first road racing bike in the mid-1980's and it was fine as I recall. This was followed by Campagnolo C Record in the late 1980's and Shimano Dura Ace in the 1990's and remember them being superb groupsets.

On my various bikes now, I have:
2019 Sram Red etap - great, no roughness, raced. (Wilier Zero6 road bike).
2019 Shimano XTR - great, no roughness, raced. (KTM Scarp Sonic 29er MTB).
2021 Shimano Ultegra mechanical - great, no roughness. (Trek Madone SLR road bike).
2023 Sram Force etap - good, no problems. (Specialized Diverge Pro gravel bike).
2023 Shimano Dura Ace Di2 9270 - smooth as butter, perfect. (Pinarello Dogma F road bike).

I find the electronic derailleur's today have great accuracy and are very easy to fine-tune with no tools required; simply press a button on the levers.

If I was buying purely on aesthetics, then I'd say the C Record derailleurs on my 1988 Alan would be my favourite, indeed, that entire groupset components were objects of beauty and I was fortunate to own a set brand new as part of a sponsorship.

So to answer your question: yes, bicycles are improving in terms of performance from a materials and tech perspective, in my opinion, but I'd suggest none look as good as the groupsets from Campagnolo in the 80's/90's. That said, the current Dura Ace 9270 is a beautiful groupset too.

 

[Tomm Williams]

What I consider to be a “beautiful” bike usually means an older bike. While I enjoy riding newer bikes, I don’t find the look to be as appealing.
These are the wife and mine 1988 Schwinn Paramounts built into reproductions of the Team Schwinn Wheaties from that same era. We however avoided the correct downtube shifters and went with Shimano 7100 which (imo) is one of the most attractive looking brifter groupset ever made. Sorry for the lousy photo 😕

 

[fossyant]

I don't think modern mechs etc are as well finished as the older stuff, e.g. polished alloy, super smooth anodising

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I run friction shifters on my bike. I like the simplicity, reliability, and easy maintenance if a cable does break. Easy to replace cable at side of the road etc.

 

[presta]

Since my 1980 Raleigh Record, I rate the transmission developments quite highly.

My 2007 Deore kit has:

Indexing
Bar end shifters
Small barbs riveted on the inside of the chainring to help lift the chain on
The axis on the rear derailleur movement angled to move across the face of the sprocket, and a pivot allowing the chain tension to pull the mech up against the sprocket
Bevels on the sprocket teeth and chain plates to allow the chain to slip on easily
Impressions pressed into the sprockets allowing the chain to wrap without disengaging during changes
Splined crank fitting
Tips of selected chainring teeth rounded to allow easy mounting/dismounting of the chain

All of these subtle refinements amount to a huge improvement.

LED lamps, cycle computers and tubular section rims are worth having too.

As for aero brake levers, canti brakes, disc brakes, hydraulic brakes, threadless headsets, frame fit hoseless pumps, 'external' BBs, electronic gears, through axles, STI, suspension & clipless pedals, you can keep them.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

tubular section rims are worth having

Why use old technology, mostly used in racing for everyday? Do you carry a spare sewn tub with you.

 

[cougie uk]

I run friction shifters on my bike. I like the simplicity, reliability, and easy maintenance if a cable does break. Easy to replace cable at side of the road etc.

I've never snapped a cable in 40 years. A chain or two yes.

I'd have the convenience of STI or whatever over down tube shifters any day.

 

[ColinJ]

I've never snapped a cable in 40 years. A chain or two yes.

I have snapped 1 cable (and 2 or 3 chains) in 34 years. Still not something that I would worry about!

I'd have the convenience of STI or whatever over down tube shifters any day.

Me too.

I had a 20 year break from cycling. When I eventually bought another bike it still had down tube shifters, but they had indexing, which I thought was a great innovation. Subsequent bikes had integrated shifter/brake controls which I thought was even greater.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I've never snapped a cable in 40 years

Shimano STI would regularly trash my gear cables.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I'd have the convenience of STI

I’ve found fiction bar ends far more convenient with better shifting and easier lever throw, and ability to shift far more gears at once than STI etc.

 

[fossyant]

I've never snapped a cable in 40 years. A chain or two yes.

I'd have the convenience of STI or whatever over down tube shifters any day.

I have both, but DT shifters are high end Indexed and they just work. Happy with both.

 

[DogmaStu]

I run friction shifters on my bike. I like the simplicity, reliability, and easy maintenance if a cable does break. Easy to replace cable at side of the road etc.

Wireless doesn't have cables to be worry about so a tech improvement to me.

I've snapped cables - doing 20000km+ a year tends to either break or stretch them with very frequent use but on my wireless bikes I obviously don't have that problem.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Wireless doesn't have cables to be worry about so a tech improvement to me.

I've snapped cables - doing 20000km+ a year tends to either break or stretch them with very frequent use but on my wireless bikes I obviously don't have that problem.

No they have other issues

 

[fossyant]

No they have other issues

Quite, like bloody charging (not so green is it ?). I have the original gear cables on my best bike - Dura Ace 7400 series - they were much better made, and still perfect after over 30 years.

Cables have never been an issue for me. Electronic is massively expensive, especially in a crash, or ripping a mech off whilst MTB'ing.