Benji dons possibly rose-tinted spectacles and brings us the technology that he thinks has fallen undeservedly out of fashion.
Inverted forks
Kicking things off with a real doozy. What are upside-down forks? Basically, the stanchion is at the bottom and the sliders are at the top. Inverted forks like these simply work better at doing the jobs that are important. Hugely more supple, because all the lube oil stays in the area where it’s needed, i.e. the seals. Massively stiffer fore-aft than a single-crown normal fork and thus no oddball jittering or binding under heavy braking. Much better sprung-to-unsprung mass ratio, which means the wheel goes up and down nicerer. And they look super rad. Why don’t we have inverted forks? Because folk can’t get over them being less rotationally stiff than a regular fork. As if a) it matters, and b) it may actually be a good thing. I’d kill for a triple-clamp Lefty with 150mm travel. Or at least inflict a wound.
Flexstems
I appreciate that the suspension stem still exists – Redshift does the ShockStop. And I suspect we’ll start to see a lot more brands coming out with them for the gravel market over the forthcoming months. I am also aware that Fasst produces what amounts to a Flex handlebar (which I do concede to be a very good product albeit one with a shape/sweep that I don’t get along with). But I don’t want to go down either of these avenues. I want a 35mm long Flexstem with a very firm elastomer in its ‘mouth’. Something that can take the edge off that doesn’t have the ker-twannng surprise of a flexy alloy handlebar.
Single pivots
This is another item that technically still exists. Sorry. You can still get single pivots – flipping amazing ones at that – from companies such as Starling and Orange Bikes. I just wish there were more out there to choose from. I’m not talking about theoretical single pivots either where the chainstay is one uninterrupted beam from main pivot to rear axle. There are plenty of those around. And they all have some sort of rocker linkage thing interfering with… stuff. We got rid of front mechs about a decade ago. Why can’t we have our single pivots back now? Nothing rides as sweetly as a well-executed single pivot.
Insane bikes
The yang to the single pivot’s yin. Where are the bonkers bikes with multiple chains and links that go this way and rods that go the other? Think Cannondale Fulcrum. Brooklyn Machine Works. Kona and their noughties Magic Link bikes that were essentially adjusted with a wingnut and bit of spring. Heck, even Polygon’s Nailed React to mention something a bit more recent. Even some sort of Nicolai (they’ve gone a bit straight-laced of late haven’t they?) There are some promising signs of insania from the design teams at Specialized and Scott but will they see the light of day and/or last beyond a single cycle of a carbon mould?
URTs
I totally think the Unified Rear Triangle concept needs to be brought back for off-road. Specifically for off-road where you don’t really ever stand up. Or, if and when you do stand up, it’s just to check that you can still move after being sat in the same position for the past hour or so. Or, you’re standing up because you’re dying on your arse and just want this interminable fire road climb to end right now, please. Bikes that are rigid when you’re out of the saddle but soak up the washboard when you’re seated? That’s essentially the whole of gravel riding, isn’t it? Someone be brave enough to produce the ideal bike for gravel; you can find it back in the ’90s, right alongside where you’re currently digging up all your other ‘new’ gravel concepts.
Schrader valves
Why. The. Feck. Are we mountain bikers using Presta valves? You can reel off as many ‘because yadda, yadda’ reasonings as you want but I know that the genuine low-down dirty truth is that we fell for the roadies’ lie. I can’t actually remember at this stage what the lie was exactly. There have been so many. Something about narrow rims being better, maybe? Presta valves are fragile. Presta valves clog with sealant. Presta valve lockrings are too small and fiddly to ever undo once you’ve tightened them to the rim adequately. Imagine running Presta valves on your car. Oh my god, Presta valves are awful. BMXers aren’t as stupid as us, are they?
Push-on grips
Yeah, me banging on about push-on grips again. Stay with me here though. Push-on grips are as minimal hassle as they’re going to get. Why? Pretty much every control on your handlebars is either a two-piece clamp or else fully hinged. Which means you don’t have to remove your grips to mess with your shifters, brakes, dropper post and so on. The ease of use of lock-on grips is arguably a total red herring in this day and age. What’s better about push-on grips anyway? There’s simply more actual rubber between your hand and the handlebar. This is good for folk who like skinny grips, folk who like to ride gloveless, folks who are not fans of carpal tunnel syndrome and so on.
Bar ends
Now then. Not all these hark-back hits are things that I personally would find useful or indeed relevant. Take bar ends for example. I have literally felt no need for them er, ever. Even when I had them. But there’s a small but growing murmuring out there in – yep, them again – gravel circles that suggest if we were ‘allowed’ to put bar ends on the handlebars of our cross-country bikes we simply wouldn’t have gravel as a thing. I can’t say I fully understand the argument but who among you is going to be bold enough to break out the bar ends?
Pump-mounts on frames
You can take this two ways. First off, you can take it super literally and we bring back the pump pegs on frames (usually under the top tube). Or you can take things a bit more creatively and imagine that the bike industry had somehow come up with a mini-pump clip standard. Maybe something with the same working circumference as a CO2 cartridge? Of course, we now have ‘accessory mounts’ appearing on the underside of top tubes. Not to mention downtube storage cupboards. But I can’t help but think it’d be nice just to have a mini-pump Lego-person’s-hand on my bike somewhere.
Chain pips
While I’m on about old skool braze-ons, Who remembers chain pips? What was all that about? . Well, these were simple little ridged nubs positioned on the inside of the driveside seatstay that you could hook/dangle your chain from during the times that your rear wheel was out of the bike (puncture, transport, etc). They stopped your chain tying itself in knots and – more significantly for us in 2024 – they made it so much easier when reinserting your rear wheel. This sort of thing feels ripe for rebirth in the era of 3D printing. Hop to it!
Crud Claw
For those who aren’t aware, the Crud Claw was a stiff plastic ‘hand’ of fingers that lay in between cassette sprockets, keeping things clear of mud and general debris. They weren’t perfect; they usually drifted out of position during a ride and ended up scrape-scrape-scraping the cassette as you pedalled. But again, there was plenty of potential there. In my opinion, even if the cassette-clearing version didn’t make a return, I still think a jockey wheel-clearing version could and should exist. Some sort of cleverly shaped finger-scoop mounted on the cage that prevents your jockeys from getting overloaded with gunk.
Quill stems
What’s good about the Aheadset system from a rider’s point of view? Not having to thread steerers anymore sounds like it makes life easier (and cheaper) for fork manufacturers. And doing away with the inserting quill part of a stem saves a bit of weight. So I ask again, what’s good about the Aheadset system from a rider’s point of view? I’d much rather carry 100g and have the functionality of quill stems back, please. Maybe not in their exact ’80s/’90s guise but a refined, modernised design that affords you the ability to raise/lower your handlebar. You know, like we should be able to.
Normal clothing
There comes a point when having the right tool for the job can end up getting in the way of things. Now then, don’t get me wrong. I would definitely say that no ride is going to be improved by not wearing decent cycling shoes and a helmet. It’s just that of late, on occasion, I’ve found myself unintentionally going for a ride with Normal Clothes on. This has usually happened when I’ve been setting up a new test bike and have gotten carried away. I’ll be honest, some of the time it’s not been a great move. Usually when it has been wet out. But on the other hand, sometimes it’s been entirely, fabulously great. It reminded me of why I started riding in the first place.
Truvativ HammerSchmidt
A 2-ratio planetary gear drive that is mounted onto ISCG chain guide tabs AKA a two-speed single-ring chainset. Change under load. Change while coasting. Loads of ground clearance. More unsprung drivetrain mass in the middle of the bike. Sure, the HammerSchmidt totally fouled up dual link floating pivot bike designs (ah well, see: Single pivots above). And the ‘overdrive’ ratio had so much drag on the system that it felt like someone had tipped a load of sharp sand into your gearbox. BUT, once again, the potential was there. This is all something of a moot point as the modern world inexorably draws us towards gearboxed e-bikes. But goshdarn it! We could have been riding around on fab little 2 x 5-speed HammerSchmidlet bikes in the meantime.
Using damping
Instead of linkages. AKA the Emperor’s New Pandora’s Box of anti-squat and anti-rise. I think I’m going to be all bold and thrilling and just come out and state that I don’t think that anti-rise (rear suspension extending during braking) is a real phenomenon on mountain bikes. Anti-squat (rear suspension compressing under pedal force) is a real thing, however over-egged it is. I suppose the point I’m trying to make here really is that we, as mountain bikers, tend to like the idea of linkages and drivetrain forces and stuff. When the real stuff we should like – and know as much as possible about – is suspension damping. A well-set-up damper is going to outperform a lesser-dialled one, regardless of frame pivot placements.
Jank
Sounds like a swear word. Is usually used a bit like a swear word too. I am drawn to the jank. Time was, all we had was jank. WTF is jank? It’s hard to say, partly because the term gets used far too much. But essentially jank means awkward. Modern mountain bikers don’t seem to like anything awkward. They want groomed booters and hold-me-close, kiss-me-quick berms escorting them down the hillsides. Jank is anti-flow. Jank is interruption. Jank is having to concentrate. Jank is having to make stuff up on the spot, unsighted. Jank is terrain that isn’t there for the explicit riding of bikes upon. Jank is da freaking bomb and if you don’t want it, I do. I am a total janker.
Problems
AKA having to rebuild your bike every weekend. This is almost certainly a pathetic rose-tinted view of how things used to be but… here goes. When you had to spend a bit (or a lot) of time attending to your mountain bike at the end of a weekend’s riding, resetting/replacing all of the things that had drifted out of their happy place, I think this was when a great deal of bonding with your bike took place. You’d both been through the mill and you both needed some time together. You and your bike became great pals. These days, through a combination of the bike never going wrong, all the while you yourself are going wrong with greater and greater frequency and amplitude, and the fact that when your bike does eventually go wrong, it costs a million quid to sort out, you and your bike are not in a great relationship with other. So yeah, bring back the problems. Just don’t make them expensive.
Home › Forums › Issue 154: Tech That Should Have Stuck Around
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Spread the word:
Spread the word: