Whats going to be the next greatest thing for mountainbikes ?

We’ve had 29’ers, 27.5’ers, oversize handlebars/seatposts/headtubes/forktubes/bottom brackets to name but a few. What will be the next best thing thrust on us ?
Personally I think traction control. Tyres that inflate/deflate depending on the terrain you’re riding….. 😉

Discuss.

Bikes coated with that magic paint so the mud just slides off. Forget the name, sure someone will remember it in a mo.

A day where it didn’t rain would really revolutionary at the moment.

Purple anodizing is back; we’re entering a retro era of 1 inch quill stems , little straight bars and 1.5 inch tyres

Mud shedding paint’s been done. Muddyfox did it, the decals fell off 🙂

26 inch wheels

Tyres that inflate/deflate depending on the terrain you’re riding…..

already been done…

Tyres that inflate/deflate depending on the terrain you’re riding.

Oh yes, rotating pneumatic coupling, compressor, terrain sensors. Should be out this year.

Hydrophobic coating of some sort.

24″ wheels.

Well I want electronic gearing that is wireless….why isn’t stuff like di2 on road bikes wireless? I’ve read an equivalent version is on the way for mtb (wired not wireless). Weight saving on cables, cleaner looking bikes. No faff with internal cabling, probably more aero, you could build the small shifter buttons into the bars or grips. Maybe the power draw means batteries need to be too big or heavy

ABS brakes, would stop me crashing so much .

Triple chainsets and 26″ wheels 😉

Bar ends and Bula hats.

ABS brakes, would stop me crashing so much .

Bindun.

Drop bar 29ers

3D printed bike parts.
Electronic gears
Electronic suspension and automatic lockout with some sort of GPS integration.

Bottom Bracket gearboxes. There are a couple out there now, they’ll be improved on and prices will (hopefully) slowly drop. Sealed against muck, low CoG and in the middle of the wheels, what’s not to like 8)

Oversized seat tubes with integrated droppers.

Whatever the manufacturers decide.

If they told people they’d go faster by rubbing horseshit into their helmet there’d be a queue at the stable door a mile long.

*****Heads to stables*****

Pasty holders!

First we had suspension stems, then suspension seatposts and then dropper seatposts. I reckon it’s only time before someone does a dropper stem.

Shaft drive instead of chain, hooked up to internal hub gearing. All made from composite to keep weight low.

A rejection of unnecessary technology and a focus on the ride not the speed, and the user/owner experience. Affordable, realistic tech can only go so far on bikes that are simply tools to be used and abused in the dirt. Less down time and more acceptance that riding at higher speeds across really rough ground leads us into a futile arms race in the end, for 95% of us our skills are outpaced by the bikes already. Technical challenges are related to the bike choice as well as the trail.
(edit to add, accepted that ‘unnecessary’ is open to debate – my point is what is considered necessary may change)

And pasty holders, that would be good. An insulated feed bag to keep garage snacks warm.

Electronics

I think when they get the Google glasses technology sorted out & affordable for all that’ll be excellent. Consider you’re descending at speed to the end of the track, on a route you’ve never ridden before, which way which way, a little green arrow appears in your periphery vision and you carry straight on left. As opposed to now where it’s stop, get out phone, get out map, faff for a bit, discuss route with mate, faff some more, set off right, realise you were wrong after half a mile, turn round head back then go left.

And pasty holders, that would be good. An insulated feed bag to keep garage snacks warm.

5 years time, after we’ve all replaced 26 with 27.5, we’ll be told 27.5 is no longer supported and actually, 25.5 was the right thing all along..

‘Oversized seattube’

What about an ovalised, oversized seattube with an angled shim (maybe 1 degree)? Kind of like an angleset headset for seats. If the actual seattube angle was 74, you could use the shim to give either 73 or 75 degrees. Not something i would use but there are plenty of geofreaks who love that shit.

jameso – Member

A rejection of unnecessary technology and a focus on the ride not the speed, and the user/owner experience. Affordable, realistic tech can only go so far on bikes that are simply tools to be used and abused in the dirt. Less down time and more acceptance that riding at higher speeds across really rough ground leads us into a futile arms race in the end, for 95% of us our skills are outpaced by the bikes already. Technical challenges are related to the bike choice as well as the trail.

It would be nice to think that progress would be helped in this direction by the increasing number of new cyclists.
Would be interesting to see if the proportion of serious hobbyist/kit obsessives vs practical types changes much with the new intake.

I’d like to see a return to the all rounder – light, xc’ish geometry, wide range hub gears, quality steel frame, tubeless that works.
And a fully enclosed chain & built in security would be nice.

I’d buy one of those.

Air bags anyone ?

The industry likes new standards that offer some benefit, but are a small enough change not to scare the horses and require you to buy a new bike. So, a new system for mounting the brakes maybe? Certainly nothing that could be retrofitted to your existing bike.

All mountain soft tails

I’ve been thinking about setting up a firm making these, but haven’t got the capital/resources or the ability to drop my income and take a risk… so there’s a free idea here for any firm wanting to build this

Frames that are light with about 3-4″ of travel at the rear, pedal well (like an xc race full sus) but they have a geometry set up for a slack 6″ forked front end.

(Kind of like the harcore hardtails that are about but with a bit of give at the rear)…

Next bandwagon to jump on… it’s one of the few gaps in the market that I can see in what frames are available that could be marketed as new.

Prob best in 650b flavour too.

P.S. If anyone takes this idea and makes some money off it, send me a medium frame please 🙂

the future is in less but bigger wheels

hahahaha

Hydraulic bike frame tubes that adjust to the riders height.

Whatever the manufacturers decide.

If they told people they’d go faster by rubbing horseshit into their helmet there’d be a queue at the stable door a mile long.

Erm….which helmet…… 😯

Super long lasting internal bottom brackets with a triangular taper.

New chainset all round!

Whatever the manufacturers decide.

If they told people they’d go faster by rubbing horseshit into their helmet there’d be a queue at the stable door a mile long.

Mine smells that bad anyway. New pads required.

actually riding my bike offroad again would be a start 🙂 🙁