[Closed] Ever been a bit of bike tech released that has been, generally, liked by all?

Rock Shox Pike forks!

Rock Shox Pike forks!

I remember being distinctly unimpressed with the weight and performance, though I did come to them late.

Or do you mean the new murdered-out version?

In the '90's, purple.

Nope. All about the blue ano for me BITD.

In the early 90's purple. In the later 90's blue ano 😆

I was just sooo far ahead of the fashion curve, dahhhhhling! 😉

Or do you mean the new murdered-out version?

No, the old ones. They were pretty good when they were first released in 2005 (i think). They seemed to be a default choice for most

The new pikes are indeed awesome

Sticking a hard bit of metal on the bit of the bar likely to hit you when you come off also strikes me as a bit daft

you mean the bar made out of hard metal?

Avid Rollamajigs.
Mine finally gave up the ghost last weekend.

The bit of the metal bar usually covered in soft rubber?
Yeah, that bit!

you mean the bar made out of hard metal?

I remember almost killing myself several times when I fitted a set of the original XT ones.

I was going to argue with rusty about this but then I remembered the yellowy blotch on my right knee, left over from crashing the other week, pretty sure it was the end of the grip that hit my knee, not the end of the bar, may not have hurt so much with normal grips

less chance of taking a core sample from your thight/groin with a lock on that with a stuck on foam grip as the foam deforms and leaved the end of the bar exposed

How about... LED mountain bike lights. Practical, affordable, durable, effective... Can't think of a single person going oh! If only I still had my HID!

Road lights for that matter, don't see many people using DD-cell Everreadys any more.

How about simple LED cycle lights? Bright, noticeable, effective. Much longer battery run times, no more need for massive expensive cells which last a couple of hours at best.

There was as much argument about disk brakes as there is now about wheel sizes. V brakes certain took without a lot of fuss, but they were an easy evolution - no need for different frames/forks/rims/hubs to make the change. People took to hydration packs quite happily too.

There were very few dissenting voices when cake, jellybabies and hip flasks were all introduced

Oh dear. 😀
Wondered who it was.

ssimon, the foam grips still have plugs.

Old skool Pikes for the win! My hardtail runs a set, as does the missus' Marin and stepson 1's DJ bike.

I bought my first set in 2006 for peanuts (£329 for dual air U-Turn 454s) and even the most cynical Rockshox critic I knew was won over...plenty of travel, stiff, not nearly as heavy as they were reputed to be and any shortcomings in the damping department were easily upgraded away.

Plus a trained Chimpanzee can service them.

Clutch rear mechs?

Maxle style front axles? Solid, secure, makes the fork stiffer and still an easy tool-less operation to remove the wheel. (Then Fox ruined it by introducing the 15mm version 👿 )

Northwind - Member

How about... LED mountain bike lights. Practical, affordable, durable, effective... Can't think of a single person going oh! If only I still had my HID!

Road lights for that matter, don't see many people using [b]DD-cell Everreadys[/b] any more.

Ah the days of being the envy of friends when you had two Everready DD cell lamps on the handlebars madly flapping away.

Shimano DX pedals or DMR V8's or whatever the first platform pedals with pins in were

And before them, pedals.

Wonder Lights FTW!
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Not really!

+1 for old Pikes. I have some newer Sektors and they just dont feel right like the Pikes did.

Aheadsets are a mixed blessing; Strong, simple, light and ideal when changing forks over but having your forks fall out and faffing with spacers when you want to adjust the stem up a wee bitty is a tad annoying.

QR wheel skewers were great on early rigid mtbs due to the frequency of pinch flatting.

Flashing LEDs becoming legal and therefore more widespread has brought significant benefits in battery life and making cyclists instantly recognisable as a group to other road users rather than just another steady light in a sea of vehicles.

Pedals.

The nut that holds the handlebars

Bearings?

The modern bushingless chain?

Onto page 3 and no mention of the original Z1 Bombers? Suspension that actually worked (even if it was a bit heavy)!

Air in tyres....the only time you hear folks whining about air in tyres is when there isnt any

Vee brakes were ok too iirc

Vee brakes were ok too iirc

They were an improvement in stopping but a backward step in terms of mud clearance. I can't recall any time in the 12 years I was running cantilevers that my wheels stopped turning because they were clogged with mud whereas I've had that experience many times with v brakes.

original z1 bomber

Yes - just thinking that! Think it was about 97ish....from elastomer Judy's to the Z1 was literally incredible

I was going to suggest that all the "universally welcomed" innovations happened to come from before the time of internet know-it-alls.

But I have to admit that modern LED lights fit the bill, so that theory's blown.

They were an improvement in stopping but a backward step in terms of mud clearance. I can't recall any time in the 12 years I was running cantilevers that my wheels stopped turning because they were clogged with mud whereas I've had that experience many times with v brakes.

I doubt mud clearance is ever an issue for the 99.99% of people whose bikes have v-bakes though.

Cartridge bearings for me.

A joy relative to the loose bearing numbers. Same for wheel bearings, headsets and anything else that contained the slippery spherical blighters.

unknown - Member

Disc brakes weren't universally liked in the early days. Don't remember anyone having a bad word to say about v brakes though.

Heh, I remember a few choice words being said by Matt who used to work for STW when demonstrating them at Chelmer Cycles when they first come out.

He almost managed a complete front flip, almost.

you can keep your filthy, stinking cartridge bearings.

you fix things with spanners, not hammers.

Cartridge bearings aren't fitted to hubs by choice, the makers of those hubs don't have the capacity to produce cup and cone hubs. Both Shimano and Campag have the choice or either, yet they chose cup and cone.

Not cartridge bearings then. I love 'em. Why spanner if you can use a drift and dead blow hammer?

Indexed gears
Suspension forks
Threadless steerers
Dropper posts?

Crud catcher, please!

I've not heard a bad word about Narrow/Wide Chainrings from anyone who's tried one.

Flapjack
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Some good ones on this thread
I agree with, and add:

V-Brakes
Aheadset
Pikes
Z1 Bombers (although at the time I didn't want the weight)
Narrow/wide chainrings (in fact I haven't heard a bad word said against XX1/X01 apart from cost)
Shimano SIS

Hyperglide cassette
Kona Project 2 forks
Bikepacking bags
DT Competition spokes

Flex-stem? I had one when they came out and it was ace.
Then I took a break from MTB for a few years and when I got back into it in 2000 the guy in the shop in Sydney looked at me quite strangely when asked what I would like on a bike... "Ooh, a flex-stem and some Suntour XC Pro gears" Oh how he laughed...