The 'perfect bike' thread made me think about great bike designs. Not bikes that you like the most personally or enjoy from a riding perspective, but groundbreaking, influential or timeless designs that were genre-builders, significant or inventive steps forward in engineering, or changed the direction of future designs.
So if there was to be a list, what would you put forward and why?
A few that spring to mind -
The 1885 Rover and Swift safety bicycles - the first 'conventional' bikes.
The 'unknown Klunker' - since there were many, ie a Schwinn or similar with motorbike bars and coaster brake. The spiritual birth of MTB from the late 70s.
The Pace RC100 - The first MTB of the 'second wave' to have so many ideas in pursuit of refining off-road riding. The headset / steerer / forks, the looks, the frame.. maybe not an all-time great but certainly a stand-out bike from a high point of MTBs boom-years.
The Cervelo Soloist - great design thinking based on real research and escaping the weight-weenieness of road bikes. From the frame shape to the geometry / fit theories, Cervelo showed real design aptitude with this bike.
The Colnago Master X lite - Brand heritage, design detail, different geometry to most road bikes (albeit only slightly, but enough) and stunning looks - 'the' classic road bike in my mind.
The Jones Ti Spaceframe - Design for purpose against all prior thinking and fashion / dogma. A bike that has more range than, and improved ergonomics and ride feel over most bikes. Not easy to do when a design has been evolving for 100yrs plus, especially when some of the ideas in the bike are almost that old, simply applied and adjusted for a different use.
The first Willits Nanoraptor-equipped '28"' bike - He was too far ahead of his time but he was open minded and eccentric enough to apply the big-wheel benefits to a particular type of bike before most.
Geoff Apps's experiments in the early 80s - Aesthetics and commercial success may have side-stepped most of his designs, but like the Jones, it's an example of unique thinking and single-minded design for purpose. Perhaps just a purpose that less people related to, but still a worthy inclusion. The Highpath Cleland looks more important now than it did then, but even back then it looked interesting.
The Honda RN-01 - Simply for being the only motorsport-in-cycling project I can recall that worked. A stunning looking and inspiring bike.
The Planet X Compo - the first experiment in long travel hardtails that showed the way forward, an oddball that had a good idea behind it when many struggled with designing for sus forks of any kind. Whether you like long forks on a hardtail or not, they've added a lot of fun to a lot of rides. Maybe not an all-time great, but worth remembering.
The Moulton - A simply brilliant chassis design.. A space frame and small wheels for stiffness and efficiency, simple suspension to cope with the only real drawback of the small wheels. Different for good reason and a real design classic.
The DMR Trailstar - A steel jump / play bike for ragging round the woods that changed how many of us rode in the late 90s. BMX Trails came to meet MTB trails head-on. Simple, strong and cheap, and highly influential I think.
Of all the bikes listed above, I think maybe only 2 or 3 would make a credible all-time greats list. Others are just examples of what counts as a great bike to me.
Interested in what else gets posted up..
