What old cycling technology etc would you like to see return?

[tyred]

As I sit looking out the window at grey skies and drizzle I have fond memories of the endless bright, warm summers of my childhood when it never rained when I went out on my bike.

They don't make weather like they used to.

 

[Chris S]

I want my Kellogg's Corn Flakes spoke reflectors

What about Smartie tops ?

Or a card stuck in the spokes to make a motorbike sound.

 

[Drago]

Anyone remember 'Bike Riders Aids' free in most LBS

Of course, modern retroviral drugs mean those afflicted can still live a long life.

 

[battered]

- Then use your rear as little as possible.(I assume you have mudguards)
- Hmmm, I would expect to use quite a lot of brakes, not none! But wearing through blocks? No.
- Your body IS a parachute. That's part of the trick.

Don't drag-brake; do all your braking in a big hit, almost to a standstill. Then let the bike get up some speed and use your god-given air-brake If you're lucky you can time the dead-stops with the corners (harder in mist, obviously).

You need a little extra nerve to build up a decent speed in those crappy conditions, but I'm not talking about 40mph for a mile - in fact I haven't looked at my speedo in those situations so I can't say what speed I'd do, but it's a lot more than 10mph. I love descending in the dry, but I'm basically a coward and do NOT like wet descents. Trust me, I take due care.

This will turn into a silly dong-waving contest soon, but I'll just say that despite not being a super-experienced alpine rider, I've descended off hills taller than Ventoux, and a few long ones in the pi55ing rain. Plus plenty of really nasty UK descents.
Brake wear issues? Never. I suppose it's possible you had some dodgy materials involved (some mainstream blocks are really rubbish).

I'm sure this a pointless noone-back-down type discussion now, but I think this technique might be useful advice to someone reading CChat. (I learned it from that nice engineering cycling and physics expert at the CTC - thankyou Chris!)

Yep, I did all this. The conditions were grim, and trust me, nobody would have been doing much better than 10mph unless they had a deathwish. You just couldn't see where the road went. I sailed past the Tommy Simpson memorial without even seeing it. There's no body parachute at that speed, and I was sitting up on a flat bar bike. Bear in mind that both of us needed new brakes at the bottom, and the tale is told. Anyone who thinks that they can do better, he my guest.

 

[battered]

The Brough Superior SS100 (Super Sports) had a 980cc V twin engine with a 3 speed gearbox.

The SS100 superseded the Brough Superior SS80 which was built from 1920.

Every Brough Superior was hand built and the purchaser was encouraged to provide input into the build. It was said no two Brough Superiors were the same.

Each Brough Superior SS100 came with a certificate guaranteeing it had achieved a speed above 100mph over a quarter mile sprint. The SS80 was guaranteed to reach 80mph, hence the names.

The Brough Superior, a standard machine? You must be joking. They were the Ferrari of the day, and every one built to order, by hand, to a specific customer specification. Standard machine, my eye. They now fetch £500k upwards. One of TE Lawrence's machines cost £150, which at that time was more than a house. Suggesting this is representative of any normal motorcycle is farcical. Most bikes of the time would do 40-50.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The Brough Superior, a standard machine? You must be joking. They were the Ferrari of the day, and every one built to order, by hand, to a specific customer specification. Standard machine, my eye. They now fetch £500k upwards. One of TE Lawrence's machines cost £150, which at that time was more than a house. Suggesting this is representative of any normal motorcycle is farcical. Most bikes of the time would do 40-50.

Most would do 70 and were mostly the preserve of the rich

 

[matticus]

Yep, I did all this. The conditions were grim, and trust me, nobody would have been doing much better than 10mph unless they had a deathwish. You just couldn't see where the road went. I sailed past the Tommy Simpson memorial without even seeing it. There's no body parachute at that speed, and I was sitting up on a flat bar bike. Bear in mind that both of us needed new brakes at the bottom, and the tale is told. Anyone who thinks that they can do better, he my guest.

Well maybe I do have a deathwish! But the fact is I would have no concern about getting down a wet (Euro) mountain on either of my good rim-braked bikes. That is based on my experience thus far. I might be bloody miserable* , but I would have faith in my brakes. I've read quite a few accounts of folks who have drag-braked down big hills and regretted it in hindsight - I'm probably just lucky that I acquired the right knowledge before I needed to use it.

And as I said, I've seen a number of people (on UK rides) in need of new disc-brake pads. I cannot speak for how they came to be in that state, just saying what I've seen.

*(especially if I didn't have the right clothes, a mistake I admit to making in the past...)

 

[Paulus]

Horizontal top tubes
Quill stems

Don't you mean crossbars?

 

[Paulus]

Wheel nuts.

Wing nuts.

 

[battered]

Most would do 70 and were mostly the preserve of the rich

70 mph? Most wouldn't, you know, pre war. The biggest machines of the inter war period might get to 70, eventually, but the vast majority of bikes were 250-350cc, and 70 was a dream. I chatted to someone recently with a 1930s Royal Enfield, 225c.f. 2 stroke, he said it would do 35 fairly comfortably, 40 at a stretch. Similarly the Ariel D, a 350 single, might see 60 with a following wind and plenty of road, but 50 was less likely to result in the thing exploding. We all know about the poster children of the time, the Broughs and Vincents, but these really were the preserve of the rich.

 

[Drago]

False neutrals between SA gears, jsut as you're standing on the pedals.

Dipped enamel paintwork.

Hand painted gold coachlining.

 

[Ian H]

These modern sloping top-tubes are awful.

 

[houblon]

False neutrals between SA gears, jsut as you're standing on the pedals.

Dipped enamel paintwork.

Hand painted gold coachlining.

"You all right Drago? You look like you've just taken a boot in the orchestras!"
"Not so good mate, I just Sturmeyed my Archers"

 

[battered]

Well maybe I do have a deathwish! But the fact is I would have no concern about getting down a wet (Euro) mountain on either of my good rim-braked bikes. That is based on my experience thus far. I might be bloody miserable* , but I would have faith in my brakes. I've read quite a few accounts of folks who have drag-braked down big hills and regretted it in hindsight - I'm probably just lucky that I acquired the right knowledge before I needed to use it.

And as I said, I've seen a number of people (on UK rides) in need of new disc-brake pads. I cannot speak for how they came to be in that state, just saying what I've seen.

*(especially if I didn't have the right clothes, a mistake I admit to making in the past...)

It's nothing to do with concern for getting down, and everything to do with not being able to see where the road goes. I do know how to avoid drag braking, what I don't know is where the road goes at 25-30 mph when I can't see 10 yards. You can acquire all the knowledge you want, but unless you can do switchbacks at 25mph blind or slow down a bike by telepathy, you're not getting down that bill in those conditions without taking out most of a set of brake blocks.

 

[Hover Fly]

None, new technology means improvement on the old.

W-cut chainwheels, 10 mm pitch chains, dyna-drive pedals, delta brakes, just a few items of “new“ technology from the last 30 or so years you might have difficulty getting now.