Technical Progress in Road Bikes

[Sharky]

+1
Tubular certainly had tubes in them, as I remember sitting by the roadside with razor blade, needle and waxed thread repairing one after both of my two spares failed.

 

[GuyBoden]

Technical advances for road bikes are restricted by UCI rules and what will make Pro riders faster.

The majority of road bikes are built like these Pro bikes, but is this what the majority of cyclists need?

https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/8472/thinking-outside-the-box-what-if-there-were-no-uci-rules

 

[cougie uk]

Technical advances for road bikes are restricted by UCI rules and what will make Pro riders faster.

The majority of road bikes are built like these Pro bikes, but is this what the majority of cyclists need?

https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/8472/thinking-outside-the-box-what-if-there-were-no-uci-rules

So we need full chain guards and then the bike is instantly 1mph faster. Love it !

 

[fossyant]

Road bikes aren't much better than they were in the early 90's - just lighter now all round. Shimano have a habbit of changing specs, so 5 year old Di2 may cause issues with spares.

My mates bikes are significntly lighter - 1.5-2.5kg lighter than my 9kg steel vintage road bikes, which isn't in itself heavy. Alot of that comes from the frame. Are the bikes faster/slower - no, it's affected by the rider.

PS tubular tyres arent tubeless, they still have a tube. Its their round profile, rather than a U that gives the performance benefits.

 

[Alex321]

Is tubeless new? I'm sure my friend has a bike in his garage from the 70/80's which has tubeless tyres from new, granted they had to be glued on but still nonetheless tubeless

Tubulars are very different from tubeless, although they certainly didn't have a separate inner tube.

 

[Cycleops]

I didn't think it was that bad. With my 12% off at Wiggle you can pick it up for £1500. Not bad for a wireless 12 speed electronic GS with cassette, chainset etc

What a bargain. Almost half the amount you need to pay for the increase in your household energy bill.

 

[Jameshow]

Road bikes aren't much better than they were in the early 90's - just lighter now all round. Shimano have a habbit of changing specs, so 5 year old Di2 may cause issues with spares.

My mates bikes are significntly lighter - 1.5-2.5kg lighter than my 9kg steel vintage road bikes, which isn't in itself heavy. Alot of that comes from the frame. Are the bikes faster/slower - no, it's affected by the rider.

PS tubular tyres arent tubeless, they still have a tube. Its their round profile, rather than a U that gives the performance benefits.

Bikes are much better

1993 would have down tube shifters clipped pedals quill stem, 32h wheels steel frames

From 2003
We have sti, SPD/look, aheadset, 16/24h aero rims, carbon frames etc.

Chalk and cheese

Still like my retro steel bikes though on a warm summers evening...

 

[wafter]

I didn't think it was that bad. With my 12% off at Wiggle you can pick it up for £1500. Not bad for a wireless 12 speed electronic GS with cassette, chainset etc

A couple of years ago I paid that for my complete 725 gravel bike with R7000 hydro groupset.

Personally I can survive without selling a kidney for the privilege of my bike needing batteries to work or qualified personnel to fix the gears should they develop an issue..

 

[Dogtrousers]

All of this got me thinking whether buying brand new makes sense. I'm wondering if spending say £2500 on a new road bike with mechanical 105 groupset vs a 5 year old one with Ultegra Di2. Condition of a used bike is always a significant factor. But brand new road bikes to me have became overpriced during the pandemic and I don't seem them falling any time soon if at all.

Buying brand new isn't really so much about product features as about post-sales service. If you buy brand new you will have rights as a buyer and maybe extra guarantee as well. You'll have some comeback if it all goes horribly wrong.

Buying second hand you don't have this. If the bike falls to bits or turns out to be nicked, you're on your own.

It depends how much that is worth to you.

If you already have a bike then the cheapest option is of course to ride that and don't buy another one.

 

[presta]

My only comment on Di2 would be don't.... When it fails, it fails badly.

I sometimes think that the primary function of an increasing amount of technology nowadays is to make stuff obsolete and unrepairable sooner.

The majority of road bikes are built like these Pro bikes, but is this what the majority of cyclists need?

I think a lot of the received wisdom about cycling derives from the racing world, and gets followed without any consideration whether it's still applicable for non-racing. Cadence being an obvious example.

 

[Joffey]

@Cycleops @wafter I suppose you don't need to buy it if you don't want / can't afford it. Di2 / eTap isn't for everyone but just because there is a product available that doesn't mean a company should price it so everyone can buy it.

I remember buying my alloy B'twin with 11 speed 105 for £650 a few years ago. Sadly things have gone up.

 

[Cycleops]

@Cycleops @wafter I suppose you don't need to buy it if you don't want / can't afford it. Di2 / eTap isn't for everyone but just because there is a product available that doesn't mean a company should price it so everyone can buy it.

 

[wafter]

@Cycleops @wafter I suppose you don't need to buy it if you don't want / can't afford it. Di2 / eTap isn't for everyone but just because there is a product available that doesn't mean a company should price it so everyone can buy it.

I remember buying my alloy B'twin with 11 speed 105 for £650 a few years ago. Sadly things have gone up.

Indeed, however my concern is that there will eventually be no alternative - its encroachment on the "everyman" 105 groupset being a case in point.

Plus, (immediate) cost isn't my primary issue - it's the compromising of an inherently reliable, easy-to-maintain mechanical item with (IMO) unnecessary electronics and the implication for future viability.

I'm happy to pay for stuff, but not if I think it's going to be fit for the bin in a number of years due to cost of repair / compatability issues / lack of spares..

 

[Dogtrousers]

Indeed, however my concern is that there will eventually be no alternative - its encroachment on the "everyman" 105 groupset being a case in point.

Plus, (immediate) cost isn't my primary issue - it's the compromising of an inherently reliable, easy-to-maintain mechanical item with (IMO) unnecessary electronics and the implication for future viability.

I'm happy to pay for stuff, but not if I think it's going to be fit for the bin in a number of years due to cost of repair / compatability issues / lack of spares..

Will there eventually be no alternative to high end wingdings like electronic shifting. I doubt it.

105 may ultimately be electronic only but that's only a branding thing. Want a cable groupset? - today's Tiagra is probably pretty much yesterterday's 105. If there's demand and money to be made then the product will be made available by someone. Say Shimano say they are going all electronic, no more manual gears at all - then other manufacturers would laugh their socks off and hoover up the lower end of the market.

Sure, eventually, some things will definitely drop out of use - like friction shifters have. But in that case it may have been because demand for them disappeared. But cable actuated gears are going to be here for quite some time because there will be a profit to be made from selling them.

Maybe I'm wrong and being complacent.

 

[Venod]

1993 would have down tube shifters clipped pedals quill stem, 32h wheels steel frames

Can't remember when I first used brifters but I definitely had some Look clipless pedals in the early 80s