Cycling 'innovations' in say the last 20 years?
Discussion
I was having a debate with a my cycling mate, we were discussing how slowly bicycles have developed with hardly any ground breaking changes for decades. Yes cycles have evolved, changes in gearing, changes in materials, but none of these have been huge innovations.
From my MTBing viewpoint...
1 Suspension. My full susser is a joy to ride compared to my 1980's MTB with solid forks.
2 Tubeless Tyres. I've not had a flat for years.
3 Carbon Fibre frames and components etc. More of an evolution than an innovation though so not really ground breaking.
4 ?? Difficult. LED lights!
From my MTBing viewpoint...
1 Suspension. My full susser is a joy to ride compared to my 1980's MTB with solid forks.
2 Tubeless Tyres. I've not had a flat for years.
3 Carbon Fibre frames and components etc. More of an evolution than an innovation though so not really ground breaking.
4 ?? Difficult. LED lights!
Why would you necessarily expect massive changes over the last 20 years? It's not like cars where they're hugely expensive & complex and are having to address ever greater demands for fuel economy or safety (of people in the car as well as outside). The bicycle is essentially a simple mechanism which is already operating at extremely high levels of refinement and efficiency. The only real drivers for change at the moment are occasional changes in race regulations (driving the adoption of disc brakes on drop bar bikes since being allowed in Cyclocross racing, for example) or more cynically the manufacturers' desire to make you buy something new and shiny!
Take gearing in a road bike, for example...
We started off with no gearing. You had one gear, and that was it. If you wanted to change gear, you had to change the wheel. Derailleurs started to come onto the market in the early 20th century, and by the Sixties, we had essentially the same sort of derailleur as we use today.
Since then, they've moved from analogue shifting to indexed gears for much easier, better shifting (at least when working properly!), and moved the shifters from the down tube to the bars. This improves safety - as you don't need to take your hands off the bars to change gears - but is also relevant to racing, as it makes it easier for someone about to mount an attack to change gear without their competitors noticing. Lastly, we get the introduction of electronic shifting for another step up in ease and smoothness of shifting.
None of these changes over the last 70 years have fundamentally changed the way a rear derailleur works, however, for the simple reason that they don't need to! If it's not broken, why try to fix it?
Take gearing in a road bike, for example...
We started off with no gearing. You had one gear, and that was it. If you wanted to change gear, you had to change the wheel. Derailleurs started to come onto the market in the early 20th century, and by the Sixties, we had essentially the same sort of derailleur as we use today.
Since then, they've moved from analogue shifting to indexed gears for much easier, better shifting (at least when working properly!), and moved the shifters from the down tube to the bars. This improves safety - as you don't need to take your hands off the bars to change gears - but is also relevant to racing, as it makes it easier for someone about to mount an attack to change gear without their competitors noticing. Lastly, we get the introduction of electronic shifting for another step up in ease and smoothness of shifting.
None of these changes over the last 70 years have fundamentally changed the way a rear derailleur works, however, for the simple reason that they don't need to! If it's not broken, why try to fix it?
For Mountain Bikes it's Hydraulic disc brakes. These represented the first real point when MTB split from Road Riding and pretty much allow Mountain Biking to be where it is now, without those DH would still be just XC without the climbs and we just wouldn't have the gravity based niches that came from DH or the suspension technology it created.
Pretty much everything else is just tweaking IMHO, Carbon frames are nice, but the gains are marginal, 8,9,10,11 gears might save a Pro 0.5 of a second, but in reality, most riders aren't delicately feeding in a gear at a time whilst maintaining perfect constant cadence, although indexed gears made a huge difference in being able to use the bloody things, and at speed too. Dropper posts make trails more consistent.
Pretty much everything else is just tweaking IMHO, Carbon frames are nice, but the gains are marginal, 8,9,10,11 gears might save a Pro 0.5 of a second, but in reality, most riders aren't delicately feeding in a gear at a time whilst maintaining perfect constant cadence, although indexed gears made a huge difference in being able to use the bloody things, and at speed too. Dropper posts make trails more consistent.
20 years ago was when my first interest in MTB peaked. QR seat clamps were all the rage then and often not fitted from the factory, now bikes come fitted with dropper posts!
I just googled my old bike, a Scott Montana, similar to this...
Threaded headset, square BB, rim brakes, no suspension... in fairness, mine had the first of the two button indexed gear levers, they did break though!
Compare with my current bike, I'll stick where I am!
I just googled my old bike, a Scott Montana, similar to this...
Threaded headset, square BB, rim brakes, no suspension... in fairness, mine had the first of the two button indexed gear levers, they did break though!
Compare with my current bike, I'll stick where I am!
For me, it's more about the accessories. Getting back on a bike regularly after 15 years away from bike ownership, basic puncture repair kits having glueless patches was a welcome development.
Lighting – LEDs and better batteries have gladly made those old massive lantern batteried things I used to have seem like relics of a different era.
As above, It’s off road where the development in braking and suspension has come on in leaps and bounds.
For road bikes, using carbon in construction is the only real difference and even then you could argue that it’s just a different material to make the same 100 year old frame shape.
I do think that carbon has made it possible to create the modern Tri/TT bike though.
Lighting – LEDs and better batteries have gladly made those old massive lantern batteried things I used to have seem like relics of a different era.
As above, It’s off road where the development in braking and suspension has come on in leaps and bounds.
For road bikes, using carbon in construction is the only real difference and even then you could argue that it’s just a different material to make the same 100 year old frame shape.
I do think that carbon has made it possible to create the modern Tri/TT bike though.
This Lotus bike always seemed to be a technical masterpiece. Nearly 20 years old now though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjJ60Kx2j8I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjJ60Kx2j8I
I'm going to go with a couple from the first couple of posts, as these were the things I noticed immediately upon upgrading...
Suspension - I've still got a fully rigid, to sit alongside my FS, and the difference is astounding
Hydraulic brakes - wouldn't be without them for consistency and power, a bit like ABS on cars
I think materials, and the use of carbon, are evolutionary, and whilst there have been a few attempts to better the derailleur (Rohloff (sp?), for example) none have yet surpassed. Even the recent fads of different sized wheels on MTBs will need significant time to decide their success as there are many millions of bikes out there with 26" rims.
Suspension - I've still got a fully rigid, to sit alongside my FS, and the difference is astounding
Hydraulic brakes - wouldn't be without them for consistency and power, a bit like ABS on cars
I think materials, and the use of carbon, are evolutionary, and whilst there have been a few attempts to better the derailleur (Rohloff (sp?), for example) none have yet surpassed. Even the recent fads of different sized wheels on MTBs will need significant time to decide their success as there are many millions of bikes out there with 26" rims.
Dr Imran T said:
This Lotus bike always seemed to be a technical masterpiece. Nearly 20 years old now though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjJ60Kx2j8I
UCI rules did for the Lotus bike, and it's 'non standard' monocoque brethren, with all effort from mainstream manufacturers now going toward improvements in the 'traditional' shaped (UCI compliant) designs. The rules of the game are what is effectively holding back any significant change in frame design.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjJ60Kx2j8I
I think suspension and disk brakes have made a huge difference in mountainbiking.
If you try even the tamest trial center on a wet day on an early 90s full rigid bike you'd really notice a difference.
Whilst essentially they look the same as they did 20 years ago. The changes are on a par with cars i'd say. If you get what I mean.
If you try even the tamest trial center on a wet day on an early 90s full rigid bike you'd really notice a difference.
Whilst essentially they look the same as they did 20 years ago. The changes are on a par with cars i'd say. If you get what I mean.
yellowjack said:
Dr Imran T said:
This Lotus bike always seemed to be a technical masterpiece. Nearly 20 years old now though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjJ60Kx2j8I
UCI rules did for the Lotus bike, and it's 'non standard' monocoque brethren, with all effort from mainstream manufacturers now going toward improvements in the 'traditional' shaped (UCI compliant) designs. The rules of the game are what is effectively holding back any significant change in frame design.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjJ60Kx2j8I
Also, surprised no one has mentioned the huge advancements in aero. Modern TT bikes are super sleek and hugely stiff.
Despite all the advancements there will always be 1 limiting factor and that is the person turning the pedals
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