[Closed] Whats going to be the next greatest thing for mountainbikes ?

Even using big trailbike tyres, 2.4s and 2.5s, there are already some real drawbacks... More uncontrolled/undamped movement being the big one, you spend a fortune on well damped forks and suspension then ride around on a bouncy airbed. And width makes it harder to make forks and frames have adequate mud clearance, and isn't always positive in itself in terms of cutting mud. (also I can think of half a dozen places from last weekend's riding where a fat tyre wouldn't ride the one good line on the trail as it was, funnily enough, ridden in by normal tyres)

I don't find tyres uncontrolled or undamped in the 2.5 to 3.0 range. I find they just get on with the job if you get the pressure right. I don't spend a fortune on suspension, I don't actually own any. Partly because it's not needed in my neighbourhood, and large tyres are all you need round here.

Agree with you on cutting mud. But the larger footprint allows you to power through the mud, put more power down. This was well illustrated at SSUK at the mud fest that was pippingford woods. A pugsley with me and beer inboard hung at the front of the race for a few km. I had been lapped, and stopped for a beer, but I span along behind the fast guys for some time. They were having traction issues where I did not.

Width does not make it harder to design a bike, you just design it round the tyres. Cramming fatter tyres into tight spacers designed around 2.2 tyres is not ideal, but still can work well in the summer.

I'm lucky enough to have access to the newer surly bikes before many others, and we made the most of it. In a bunch of fairly unscientific, but reassuringly conclusive head to heads and rolling experiments we found that these tyres really are an advantage. The most dramatic being when two 29er full sus bikes with gears, could not catch two single speeds, a krampus and pugsley on a technical trails known as "franks tank". And again when a salsa horse thief could not drop a 5" moonlander at Ashton court. (I know it ain't science but both times everything else was evenly matched, riding with familiar friends of damned near equal ability and fitness)

Link all the existing stuff together. Electronic shifting,cadence sensor and power meter.

What you could have then is auto gears[b]. When pedal resistance gets less and your cadence goes up it upshifts. Then like wise if your cadence drops and resistance goes up climbing it down shifts.

It would be really trick if you could pre set you average cadence and max power output?

What do you reckon Dragons are you in? 😆

auto gears .. It would be really trick if you could pre set you average cadence and max power output?

Proper skills compensation. E.g. push button boost for a lazy manual or bounce for a bunny hop (maybe worked into the forks and shock to pop the bike up.) Maybe some sort of gyro for in flight stability when wheels are off the ground.

The problem with minimalism is that it only appeals to the cognoscienti.
See HiFi, photography etc.

Engineering simplicity just does not fit in with the mass market companies intended demographic.

The simplest and most elegant solutions are often sadly the most expensive;
Small batch runs and the almost mystical ability for niche designs to separate seemingly rational people from large amounts of money see to that. 😀

What bothers me about the cycling market is that the well made, everyday, do it all bicycle is now considered somehow unusual and priced accordingly.

Seriously. The very next big thing will be wider tyres.

Surly have 3.0 and 2.75" tyres, so not as big as a fat bike tyre, a nice sensible middle ground.

Why? The larger tyre has a tiny weight penalty for a significant increase in traction. So you can climb harder, brake harder, and most importantly corner faster. This is a serious advantage, and a lot of fun.

Why this has not happened before is a mystery. Why are surly (a fairly oddball outfit) dictating the next big thing? (They were on the 29 scene very early) Maybe it's because most bike companies would rather sell you expensive shit that breaks, shocks and electrics, and remote this and that gizmos.

Let me see....hmmmm....

1) Increased rotating weight, 2.5's can add a pound of it over 2.3s.

2) Increased rolling resistance, why would I need more grip if I don't need it? A set of 2.5 minions is the most I'll ever need.

3) Increased lateral instability or tyre roll. Why would I want that when I can have softer compounds on the cornering part of the tyre?

4) Poorer mud performance for downhill applications, thinner tyres cut through and grip the bedrock beneath mud more efficiently. Larger tyres do not.

I'm with CtBM on this, bigger tyres are better

and for the conspiracy people amongst us. of we cant fit wider tyres in our current frames we'll need to buy new frames...

I want the goldilocks wheel size. Something between 26" and 27.5" that will give me the best of both worlds allowing me to have the benefits of reduced rolling resistance but without the penalty of reduced acceleration and maneuverability.

Actually, I'm quite interested in larger tyres but I'd like to see larger tyres on smaller rims. I'm currently experimenting with a 24" rear wheel with a 3" tyre on my Nomad. It's paired with a 2.7" tyre on a 26" rim up front.

One of the main reasons I want to see smaller wheels is because it will free up space and allow designers to play with geometry more. For the last few years there seems to have been a trend to slacken the head angle and reduce the chainstay length. A smaller rear tyre would allow that to be taken to further which might or might not work. It would be interesting anyway

You are all wrong, it'll be this if it doesn't stop raining..

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Not so much dropper stems but maybe lever controlled angelsets… push a button to slacken for descents and another to steepen it up for climbs. Other brands have done this by messing with suspension travel front and rear (Bionicon and Cannondale) but the adjustable angleset is probably what most really want from adjustable geometry and arguably less complicated/messy leaving the suspension to what it's actually for.

28" wheels

Traction control integrated into a freehub - but which somehow retains pedalling effort so you avoid a TT/knackers interface when the back wheel spins out on a climb.

A dropper post which adjusts the angle of the saddle as well as the height. So when fully extended the saddle is about flat for highest xc peddling performance; and when fully reclined the back end of the saddle drops a few degrees for optimum downhill performance.

electronically adjustableon thefly gears and suspension , little motors to get you up the hill.corporate events for managers instead of golf.

Tom_W1987 - Member

2) Increased rolling resistance, why would I need more grip if I don't need it? A set of 2.5 minions is the most I'll ever need.

I remember people saying that about 2.1" tyres.

charlie the bikemonger - Member
Oh I have just invented something.

The amazing stem that points forward 100% accurately. Simply put, splined steerer and stem, so that you no longer have to live with the nagging doubt that your bars are not 100% right.

Sorry Charlie, [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/why-dont-steerer-tubes-have-a-groovespline-to-line-up-the-stem ]beat you to it a month ago[/url] - and got rubbished for suggesting it 🙂

Power steering & auto braking based on GPS linked to google maps. Electric assist for uphill so no need to pedal. Radar crash avoidance technology. Gyroscpic balance assist.
All you need to do is take your bike to the trail centre and send it on its way. You can then hang around in the shop/cafe drinking Machalattochinos until it comes back before proudly displaying it on the roof of the Audi for the drive home.

Zak Tempest starting a company called One-On?

Just about the only thing I can think of that hasn't made a recent comeback is linkage based suspension at the front end. Girvin forks and Flexstems, anyone?

This thread is interesting...quite a few posts for new fangled improvements and some for more simple but fun things. I'm definitely in the "less is more" camp. I've recently gone to a fully rigid 29er and loving it. It's shaken me to bits down some rocky desacent already and I've no doubt it was slower than my full sus. It was loads of fun though. It's light, simple and cheap to maintain. So hopefully in a few years it will be possible to get some fun to ride but very simple bikes off the big manufacturers.

The gearbox! This just has to be sorted once and for all. Its a no brainer and will happen, then all you need to do is strap it into a fatbike and we're all sorted. The Ultimate off-road bike!!
I thankyou...I'll get my coat.

The gearbox! This just has to be sorted once and for all

Belt driven CVT with cadence/torque/incline sensors included, please.

to answer the original question, it seems to me that there are broadly two types of answer:

1) what is the industry going to push to get us all to keep spending more money?
2) what would actually improve riding?

The answer to (1) is bound to involve electronics - whether to help people up hills, change gear, adjust suspension, or all that and more

To my mind the answer to (2) is about reliability. Bikes already work well, and have done for some time. My 10 year old Heckler is great (partly thanks to a 5 year old PUSHed shock). It's much better than a 20 year old MTB, but the difference between it and a new one is much less. The marginal gains in performance are reducing, and some of them (such as more gears) have been at the expense of robustness and reliability. People on here are extreme outliers in the bike world, happy to bleed brakes and adjust suspension, but most people (including many on here as well) just want something simple that works. I reckon decent, lightweight hub (or other sealed) gears and belt drives that really work in mud would be a big improvement.

Captain - wouldn't you want a warning light to tell you when the variable service interval is up too, just like in your Audi? 😉

This thread is interesting...quite a few posts for new fangled improvements and some for more simple but fun things. I'm definitely in the "less is more" camp. I've recently gone to a fully rigid 29er and loving it. It's shaken me to bits down some rocky desacent already and I've no doubt it was slower than my full sus. It was loads of fun though. It's light, simple and cheap to maintain. So hopefully in a few years it will be possible to get some fun to ride but very simple bikes off the big manufacturers.

I hear you. I've got a 1997 fully rigid singlespeed Orange P7 that I ride to the shops. I sometimes take it out on the trails for a bit of fun.

The only thing I find myself wishing it had was disc brakes. I think that if there was one piece of technology I could have it would be hydraulic disc brakes. That and a bike with the right geometry would do me nicely.

😆

(As it happens, the service light on my Volvo came on yesterday. Need to book it in. 🙂 )

I think along with 3D printed parts, electronics are going to be big for drivetrain and suspension. 3D printers are going to be everywhere in a couple of years and there are so many applications in the cycle industry that I can see the majority of parts being 3D printed within the next 5 years.

4 pages and no-one has suggested electric motors? W're all getting older, fatter, lazier and even the young'uns of the playstation generation want everything for nothing (apparently), so let's have a battery pack and a motor to get up the hills and get are thrills for free on the way down!

(Version 2 with regen braking)

BruceWee - Member

The only thing I find myself wishing it had was disc brakes. I think that if there was one piece of technology I could have it would be hydraulic disc brakes. That and a bike with the right geometry would do me nicely.

I totally agree. I've said before that if I was only allowed one piece of modern tech I'd forget suspension and take disc brakes.

V8_shin_print - Member
4 pages [b]which I clearly haven't read, otherwise I would have seen that people[/b] [s]and no-one has[/s] [b]have[/b] suggested electric motors[s]?[/s]

FTFY.

Probably already been said, but a decent bottom bracket standard that screws in, is HT2 axle compatible but internal with decent size bearings.

Essentially what they were trying to do with ISIS, but without the size constraint and with a lifespan longer than a week.

charlie the bikemonger - Member
Oh I have just invented something.

The amazing stem that points forward 100% accurately. Simply put, splined steerer and stem, so that you no longer have to live with the nagging doubt that your bars are not 100% right.

Sorry Charlie, beat you to it a month ago - and got rubbished for suggesting it

They've been around for years....

Buy a dual crown fork (not all of them are DH monsters) with a direct mount stem. [/problem]

29++

End of thread.

Some massive lawsuit taken out by hoi-polio, against the ENTIRE bike industry for bring pricks about wheel sizes.

Gearboxes (Pinion, Effigear) and ERW airless wheels/tires. (both are already here on deck in 2014)

We simply MUST shake loose from the 100 yr old grip of an exposed drivetrain and flat tires.

Pimpmaster Jazz - Member

...a decent bottom bracket...that screws in, is HT2 axle compatible...and with a lifespan longer than a week.

my gusset ext24 is coming up on 5000km's, it's been used in all conditions, it cost £25, it's still running beautifully.

Over time, surely there'll be a trend for lighter, stronger, stiffer frames and forks that use less materials for the benefit of the environment.

If you could combine that with lighter, stronger, stiffer wheels that accelerated better and required less rubber for tyres of a given profile surely you'd be onto marketing gold.

If you combined the bigger tyre theory with my futuristic proposals, my godless, you'd be raking it in.

(Has sudden eureka moment and rushes to patent office at thought of large volume tyres designed to convert 26ers to 27.5)

Oh and maybe a resurfacing of the mystery magic behind the Millyard bike with it's enclosed drivetrain and special tank shock.

Like Tomd I'm getting my jollies being fat and rigid this year..

Gearbox drive solutions must be a good way forward but thats a BB area frame redesign...

All the lectrical shift and suspension ideas are a little too far out there for me... as someone said above, a warning light for variable servicing and what laptop for bike set up ?

ahwiles - Member

my gusset ext24 is coming up on 5000km's, it's been used in all conditions, it cost £25, it's still running beautifully.

...and when it finally dies, you can fit the standard bearings of your choice, available everywhere, in about 2 minutes. Top kit.

I still think there's room for suspension setup to be made idiot-proof. I'm not afraid of tweaking things but it has really surprised me the difference a few PSI in shock pressures can make to the ride quality, not to mention the fact I've been messing around with spacers too. Happy as larry with my bike set up at the moment, but it's take a lot of fettling and faffing to get here and I'm sure a lot of bike buyers don't go to that trouble.

Spesh have their "auto-sag" which i suppose is a start, but can still only work within the confines of their shock tune.

"Siri, please stop my bike blowing through its travel on big hits without spoiling the otherwise excellent small-bump compliance"

The problem with minimalism is that it only appeals to the cognoscienti.
See HiFi, photography etc.

Engineering simplicity just does not fit in with the mass market companies intended demographic.

The simplest and most elegant solutions are often sadly the most expensive;
Small batch runs and the almost mystical ability for niche designs to separate seemingly rational people from large amounts of money see to that.

What bothers me about the cycling market is that the well made, everyday, do it all bicycle is now considered somehow unusual and priced accordingly.

I think it's about how much value is placed on small details of design or aspects of ride feel, that and how much you feel is acceptable to spend on things you value. Like bikes, nice Scotch or a holiday.

32" wheels obv!

my gusset ext24 is coming up on 5000km's, it's been used in all conditions, it cost £25, it's still running beautifully.

Have a gold star. 😀

I'm just a little jaded as I seem to kill HT2 BBs after every Dyfi, and have just killed a Hope BB bearing in six rides. OK, it's been biblical, but still... Hope? Six rides?

It is a shame as otherwise I think the HT2 system is utterly brilliant.

priced accordingly, as in £500+ or £3000+? I have a rigid SS that cost more than my last car, but I could find something almost as good that I'd be happy on for £500-800. Some parts just may not last as long.

I think it's about how much value is placed on small details of design or aspects of ride feel, that and how much you feel is acceptable to spend on things you value. Like bikes, nice Scotch or a holiday.

Priced realistially, as opposed to aspirationally.
I can buy a carbon framed, Tiagra equiped 'wannabee racer' road bike for less than the price of a basic cro-mo allrounder with lesser, outdated equipment and bar end shifters.

Why can't I have a nice, quality steel framed road bike with the same equipment as the carbon one at a similar price?

Edit - seems I can if I buy an On One.
If I want a Surly it will be £500 more for a very similar bike (Kaff v Pacer/LHT/Cross Check.

An other vote for "half-fat" tyres around 3.0 with xc-thread. Simply because between A and B there must be a point C that is halfway there. between xc and AM (or what you want to call it) lies "trail". Between AM and downhill lies enduro/freeride. Therefore a step between fully rigid 29er and fatbike makes perfect sense.

wouldn't mind having one either...

I also wouldn't mind having a short travel AM bike that was suggested in the beginning of the thread. Makes perfect sense for the riding where i live which is rocky and rooty but quite flat. Ragley did a prototype like that some years ago called the 10-4. Commencal hip-hop looks like an overbuilt version of that.

my money's on Electric/electronic derralieur gearing. already all but ubiquitous in pro cyclocross, it can only be a matter of time before we see a DI2-XTR setup

.... swiftly followed by frame mounted gearboxes .... once they sort out the weight a bit, which is taking longer than I thought possible