An idle moment looking at old bikes found a photo of LeMond with his bonkers Scott DropIn bar set up. Even the one with the little thumb rest linking the lowers and supporting struts, here;

That got me to thinking of evolutionary dead ends that I’ve had over the years, and the one that sprang to mind first was my pair of Profile Durango XC bars. They can’t have been all that awful, as Captain Ned used them!

So, MTB evolutionary dead ends, if you please! (A slap for the first person to mention wheel size!)

Flexstems

plenty of dead ends,

I’m sorry mrmo – I agree that the rear wheel, brakes and huge chainrings might be a dead end, but those bars are the future!

My Girvin Flexstem & to a lesser extent Girvin Vector forks.

oliverracing, drops for downhill racing???

oliverracing, drops for downhill racing???

Why not! 😆

drops for downhill racing???

Cooler than a penguin’s pantry.

Probably still faster than any of us, too! 🙂

Probably still faster than any of us, too!

probably but it was the era when riders cared about aerodynamics rather than racing in pyjamas

29″ wheels….

Browning chainset.

Never ridden one but I like the ide of Girvin and Whyye style forks.

I heard the Browning fork guy took his own life 🙁

Scott AT4 bars
Elevated chainstays
1.25″ headsets/stems.
1.5″ seat tube (manitou)
Mountain tamer quad chain ring
SAFE hydraulic shifter adaptors.
Shimano airlines
Dual control
Oversized down hill specific saddles
CNC rear mechs
Metal matrix composite frames

Elevated chainstays

They’re back.

Ironically, the Fisher Evolution sized headset.

Anything at all with the word “standard” in it, especially when used in conjunction with “International”.

IS disc mount
ISIS
…

Invariably means “will be obsolete within 2 years”

I had a flexstem. It was rubbish even when it worked, and as soon as the elastomer wore- which happened pretty much instantly- I had bars connected to the bike with a rattly hinge. Genius.

OTOH, about 15 years on I chopped it up and turned it into a camera mount to attach my original gopro to the motorbike, it was fantastic for that. Just an idea before its time.

Elastomers to control cleat tension?

Who knew that they might not work that well in cold weather?

Oversized down hill specific saddles

Still got one of these, the old Tioga one!

Elastomers in forks, similar problems

front mech.

Those Yeti C 26 frames are worth a fortune.

IS disc mount

Dead end? I build loads of bikes with IS mounts 😉

Things which link the front and rear suspension. I had a Saracen which did that, Muddy Fox did one too.

is brake mount is a far better solution that using adaptors with slotted mounts! Post mount is all about production ease not engineering excellence.

soft tail frames?

Profile Durango XC bars

Nearly did that. Mine was the AMP F3 XC fork.

soft tail frames?

Ritchey made a gorgeous one that I loved!

tjagain – Member

is brake mount is a far better solution that using adaptors with slotted mounts! Post mount is all about production ease not engineering excellence.

I actually liked IS-to-post-mount, that had the tolerancing advantages of PM, without putting critical threads into the frame/forks. And you could unbolt the adaptor and refit it without having to realign the caliper. Inelegant but it worked.

soft tail frames?

I really liked mine – if it was a little longer in the top-tube I’d probably still have it.

Spot the other evolutionary dead-end in the photo….

ajantom – Member

Spot the other evolutionary dead-end in the photo….

Panaracer tyres!

Ok, there might be a few!

In fact the same frame with drop bars on it…

Rapid rise (low normal) derailleurs, rim brakes, quill stems

I loved my Scott AT4 bar upgrade. They doubled the value of my bike.

Gripshift?

And very swept bars almost went mainstream and then receded.

Bar-ends generally, and XTR Rapidfire Remote bar-end shifters especially.

🙂

Bio pace rings – though ‘oval’ seems to have made a comeback. Did people not learn the first time?? 😯

rapid rise rear mechs

More a case of another sepecies (brake flappy shifters) causing ecosystem collapse. Awesome things.

Semislick rear tyres with large edge knobs.

Headshocks (sadly).
I-beam saddles and posts.

Dropper posts with a hole/pin arrangement rather than hydraulic.

My Gravity Dropper was great, but the new hydraulic one from CRC is half the price and twice as good.

I don’t think you can even buy Gravity Droppers anymore.

Headshocks (sadly). Not in MTB but they are making a comeback with the new Spesh Roubaix.