I was just reading in the current issue of Cycling Weekly about Adrian Timmis and how he recovered and restored the Peugeot he rode in the 1987 TdF.
Amazingly - and I realise, of course, that my own first road bike was exactly like this - it was a steel-framed bike with non-indexed gearing and toe-clips.
That we have gone from that... in my cycling lifetime... to a breath-taking array of quality transmissions, clipless pedals, and even types of bar tape, is astounding. Only his old brakes look relatively similar to what I am looking at on my Trek as I type this.
Why and how did bikes take such a technological leap forward, and how is it that, after many decades of only slight developments, just a couple of years can mean the difference in braking systems, frame materials, and even suspension?
I can't think of many industries, other than the tech world itself, in which such rapid developments take place. And while it is pretty amazing, I am not sure how I feel about it...
Why and how did bikes take such a technological leap forward, and how is it that, after many decades of only slight developments, just a couple of years can mean the difference in braking systems, frame materials, and even suspension?
Road bikes? The uci held back lots of the house and changes until recently.
Mountain finally making a leap from following Road stuff and going out on their own way.
Road bikes? The uci held back lots of the house and changes until recently.
Yeah, I was thinking specifically about road bikes. Interestingly, the debate around wheel size developments in mountain biking seem to signal people's exasperation with constant, purposeless change, while developments in other areas like suspension, braking, and frame materials seem to have slowed a bit. But I don't tend to keep up with them, so I am sure someone will be along to point out where I am wrong on that front!
I don't think they have changed much from their first incarnations.
most bikes are still designed around the double triangle design.
it is still the most common design and has been since pre 1900 😀
Its happened in a lot of sports but I suspect you only notice in the ones you take an interest in. Tennis rackets have moved on a huge amount over the same time frame and they have no moving parts. Same for golf clubs. And skis. Even sledges at the winter olympics. Much more money than there ever was, I suspect also a lot more research going on at universities and the like
personally I think bicycles piggy backed off motorbikes and agree with nick
motorcycles - drum/heavy/twinshock/limited travel - disc/lighter/mono more travel (and lots more)
windsurfing - heavy/rope/floppy sail - carbon/batten/lightweight/clamp
surfing - I can now carry a 9ft longboard with one hand....
camping, kites.....etc etc etc massive changes
I don't think they have changed much from their first incarnations.
most bikes are still designed around the double triangle design.it is still the most common design and has been since pre 1900
precisely BECAUSE any further development on this design is being stifled by the uci, not because it's the optimised design (especially with the mainstream adoption of composites).
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Technological leaps forward?
Chain drive
Pneumatic tyres
multiple gearing
carbon fibre construction (possibly?)
Most of the other things, while obvious improvements, are just tinkering with the basic design.
Dude... god only knows what bikes they must've rode in the Saxon era, but it must've been pretty gnarly - and certainly very heavy. I hear that bikes had scabbards for swords back then? You will surely have seen a lot of change in your lifetime.
The great thing about the bike is it's lack of evolution IMO - the original design was so spot on that there's only really been evolution with materials and accessories rather than the basic design.
I went to the cycling exhibition at the design museum in London before Xmas, they had a Rover Safety from the late 19th century and Wiggo's hour bike in there - one of the oldest bikes and the most advanced modern bike and they were essentially the same thing - diamond frame with fixed wheel chain drive, hub and spoke wheels and bearing at the bars and bb.
Great stuff 🙂
The great thing about the bike is it's lack of evolution IMO - the original design was so spot on that there's only really been evolution with materials and accessories rather than the basic design.
When the uci regs change, It wont stop the industry "reinventing the wheel" and screwing up basic bike design !