Has road bike geometry changed much over the years? It seems mountain bikes are always changing/evolving and road bikes are all settled in terms of geometry.

Or is it road bikes have been around for longer so designers have been unable to alter it without improving it at all?

The basic premise of a road bike is basically the same whatever decade you live in. It is fashion oriented though so the position changes over the years, and specifics related to the actual use – ie road racing, time trialling, touring, club riding … many fashionable modern bikes are closely related now to French road bikes from the 1950s…

MTB continues to evolve so many disciplines/forms that there are a good many different styles of bike under that umbrella, while road (presume you mean regulation road racing bikes?) has mostly one.

But if you look at the old ‘path racers’ they were long and slack, so fashions have changed the geometry at times. Seems to have distilled into current form for some time now.

If you literally mean ‘road bike’ (ie not racing specific) then there are many types from the old-school Flying Pigeons and Pashley Guvnors to 20″ wheeled compact, from Moulton Spaceframe to many types of recumbent racers and tourers. You probably won’t see any of these in the TDF tho* 😉

*regulation innit.

It seems mountain bikes are always changing/evolving and road bikes are all settled in terms of geometry.

Partly evolution in the types of riding done on mtb as bikes become more specialised for a proliferation of niches.

It’s no different with road bikes at the moment. With CX, gravel, endurance, race, adventure, touring, etc.

MTBing is changing a lot. There are more challenges, more diversity, and hence more innovation.

Roads don’t change a lot, so neither do road bikes at least in shape terms.

Road bikes have rigid forks. Mtb forks have been getting longer and longer travel forks for years so much of the geo changes have been to handle that.

Plus, as you’ve mentioned, road bikes have been around a long time and have got pretty settled on the right angles.

dont you worry now they have thru axles and discs the long low slack thing will be coming especially for g r a vel bikes