Best and Worst Inventions for Bikes
03-18-20, 01:19 PM
#26
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I just think it's funny that you have it bemoaned in one place two feet away from a place no one ever thinks about it.
I mean, single piece cranksets are press-fit if you want to get nerdy about it. I sometimes wonder why cheap bikes like Walmart bikes even have ball bearing headsets when it seems like they could get by fine for their normal design life with a nylon bushing.
I mean, single piece cranksets are press-fit if you want to get nerdy about it. I sometimes wonder why cheap bikes like Walmart bikes even have ball bearing headsets when it seems like they could get by fine for their normal design life with a nylon bushing.
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03-18-20, 03:45 PM
#27
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Not sure what you're saying. Are you suggesting FFS should be included or why was it invented? I didn't include it because it's a refinement of the ratchet drive in general, only repositioning it away from the driven wheel. It was a pretty smart attempt to make gear changing easier for those who don't understand der shifting. The rider can coast and shift gears, or even get off and walk the bike to shift. IMO a cool idea but in the application it failed in the market place. Some have said that this was one of Shimano's mistakes, introducing a new idea at the low end of the market where buyers don't care as much for the technical details and where production cost limitations (to meet price points) resulted in less then better performance. (And that it wanted a special freewheel didn't help it's acceptance in the LBS).
Actually much like Shimano's Positron rear shifting. Positron was an early indexed shifting attempt brought out, like FFS, in the recreational end of the market. It never really caught on until it was "reinvented" as Dura Ace AX and thus became what many, mistakenly, call the first indexed shifting system. Now that an indexed system was found on the high end/racing bikes the idea took off. Andy
Actually much like Shimano's Positron rear shifting. Positron was an early indexed shifting attempt brought out, like FFS, in the recreational end of the market. It never really caught on until it was "reinvented" as Dura Ace AX and thus became what many, mistakenly, call the first indexed shifting system. Now that an indexed system was found on the high end/racing bikes the idea took off. Andy
Back in the day we had a pair of 80s Schwinns with the FFS system. I thought it was a pretty slick system that let you coast and shift and would sometimes make life a bit easier when you had to slow suddenly and then were caught in a high gear. I was good for my wife as she would often to forget to downshift. We had those bikes for 25 years and put a lot of trouble-free miles on them.
A few years ago I found a mint pair of the same bikes and did a complete refurb/restore on them before I resold them. The women's had the Positron system. I had heard that they were nasty to set up and touchy, but after reassembling the bike I had no problems with it at all. Maybe I got lucky, but I thought it was a slick idea - my wife would have loved it because she never completely mastered the non-indexed shifting.
03-18-20, 05:21 PM
#28
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I think carbon fiber wheels have to be at least an honorable mention, or maybe an honorable mention to the honorable mention list. They've allowed rim designs that wouldn't be feasible with aluminum extrusions that have really advanced the state of the art, and even more so when purpose-built to be used with disk brakes.
03-18-20, 09:00 PM
#29
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Going back to the beginnings of the bicycle: wheels made with separate hub, rim, and tensioned spokes have an amazing strength to weight ratio. (Recalling that the first "draisine" bicycle had wooden wheels with spokes held in compression.)
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03-18-20, 11:58 PM
#30
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"League of American Bicyclists"? In a list of bicycle inventions? In a list of best bicycle inventions? Seriously? Facepalm...
Aside from this single entry, the first part of the list is passable, although one can easily come up with ten (or twenty) more "inventions" of equal or greater importance. The "Honorable Mentions" part looks completely random. The "Worst" part looks like it's been compiled by a simpleton or an internet troll.
Aside from this single entry, the first part of the list is passable, although one can easily come up with ten (or twenty) more "inventions" of equal or greater importance. The "Honorable Mentions" part looks completely random. The "Worst" part looks like it's been compiled by a simpleton or an internet troll.
Last edited by AndreyT; 03-19-20 at 12:05 AM.
03-19-20, 02:55 AM
#31
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Enclosed chaincase, which makes chain drive truly practical in most climates. Look how much people here fuss over lubricants as confirmation.
03-19-20, 07:52 AM
#32
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"League of American Bicyclists"? In a list of bicycle inventions? In a list of best bicycle inventions? Seriously? Facepalm...
Aside from this single entry, the first part of the list is passable, although one can easily come up with ten (or twenty) more "inventions" of equal or greater importance. The "Honorable Mentions" part looks completely random. The "Worst" part looks like it's been compiled by a simpleton or an internet troll.
Aside from this single entry, the first part of the list is passable, although one can easily come up with ten (or twenty) more "inventions" of equal or greater importance. The "Honorable Mentions" part looks completely random. The "Worst" part looks like it's been compiled by a simpleton or an internet troll.
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03-19-20, 09:06 AM
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"League of American Bicyclists"? In a list of bicycle inventions? In a list of best bicycle inventions? Seriously? Facepalm...
Aside from this single entry, the first part of the list is passable, although one can easily come up with ten (or twenty) more "inventions" of equal or greater importance. The "Honorable Mentions" part looks completely random. The "Worst" part looks like it's been compiled by a simpleton or an internet troll.
Aside from this single entry, the first part of the list is passable, although one can easily come up with ten (or twenty) more "inventions" of equal or greater importance. The "Honorable Mentions" part looks completely random. The "Worst" part looks like it's been compiled by a simpleton or an internet troll.
As to the LAW/LAB being an invention, no, not not in a mechanical sense but as a benefit to the early growth and acceptance of bicycles, it played a huge role.
03-19-20, 02:10 PM
#34
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To drift from the thread's intent- A major reason the current breed of press fit BB are so problematic is the lack of needed dimensioning control. Carbon is a poor material to machine. So many frames use a mold insert to produce the sizing for a bearing top slide into. So the needed slight interference fit is easily not quite right.
To get back on topic not sure if anyone has mentioned "powercranks". These are cranks with freewheels in them that supposedly train a smooth pedalling style or something.
The strangest invention I've seen was a bike with no seat tube, intended to solve the problem well-known to mountain bikers of the seat tube getting muddy. A few inches of seat tube were left at the top and bottom where fairly large gussets had been added. There was also a short middle section remaining, connected to the downtube with a little outrigger, whose purpose was just to have somewhere to attach the front mech. These days you'd probably just run a 1x setup. I saw this at a bike show in the 80s but for some reason never since.
03-19-20, 02:16 PM
#35
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The tandem bike would be on my best list. For efficiency, fun and relationship acceleration.
03-19-20, 03:49 PM
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03-19-20, 08:25 PM
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Pneumatic tires!
Also liked the idea of those hand grips that you could play like a flute.
Rapid rise RDs for the fail.
Also liked the idea of those hand grips that you could play like a flute.
Rapid rise RDs for the fail.
03-19-20, 08:31 PM
#38
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03-19-20, 10:31 PM
#40
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If Shimano had wanted to make a workable system with shifters that moved in the same direction, they should have concentrated on the front. If they had made a high normal front derailer, they would have had a clear winner and everyone would have been singing their praises. Of course they would have figured out someway to screw that up since Shimano doesn’t make a good front derailer, especially not their expensive ones.
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03-20-20, 12:06 AM
#42
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We used to talk about this pretty often in the engineering office. That's a good list.
Mentioned once above, I think LED lighting is by far the best related invention in my lifetime. Though, like helmets, it's an accessory.
I also agree with the safety bicycle geometry.
How about chrome steel wheels with rim brakes for the worst?
Mentioned once above, I think LED lighting is by far the best related invention in my lifetime. Though, like helmets, it's an accessory.
I also agree with the safety bicycle geometry.
How about chrome steel wheels with rim brakes for the worst?
As my first multispeed bike had steel chromed Rigida Rims, complete with serrations (with Mafac Racer brakes), I have to agree. The brakes are still good after all those years, and the rims were strong (but heavy), and if bent could be bent back (but heavy and if they stopped they would not be bent), but the smallest amount of moisture was a real eye-opener (both from the howl of rhte serrations and as in eyes wide with terror as the brakes did next to nothing). Upgrading that bike to alloy rims was the best bang for the bucks upgrade EVER.
03-20-20, 06:53 AM
#43
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This is a bit of thread drift but I also think LEDs are a major improvement for all types of lighting. They came along just in time to replace power inefficient incandescents and the interim and problematic compact florescent bulbs for household and commercial lights. For bike lights and other portable battery lights they have been a huge improvement.
I have a couple of flashlights the size of lipsticks and run by one AAA battery that put out hundreds of times the light with better battery life that my older 2D cell incandescent lights ever did. I replaced nearly all of the lightbulbs at home with LED bulbs and have better lighting, far better bulb longevity and a noticeable reduction in my electric bill.
I have a couple of flashlights the size of lipsticks and run by one AAA battery that put out hundreds of times the light with better battery life that my older 2D cell incandescent lights ever did. I replaced nearly all of the lightbulbs at home with LED bulbs and have better lighting, far better bulb longevity and a noticeable reduction in my electric bill.
03-20-20, 07:13 AM
#44
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Worst:
Suspension seat posts
Suspensions on cheap box store bikes: When they put a suspension on a $75 it is just too freakin cheap to be reliable.
Best:
Open Cage RDs
Suspension seat posts
Suspensions on cheap box store bikes: When they put a suspension on a $75 it is just too freakin cheap to be reliable.
Best:
Open Cage RDs
03-20-20, 07:47 AM
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My favorite bikes would not have seemed out of place a century ago. However, almost every component of the bike, while retaining its basic form, has been improved greatly thanks to newer materials. So I'm going to start with:
High quality steel
Aluminum alloys
Stainless steel
Synthetic rubber
Those things have improved bikes across all price levels. Some of my other favorites:
Sturmey Archer
Puncture resistant tires
Ashtabula crank
As an old timer who has worked on a lot of old bikes, my pet peeves are largely due to the proliferation of standards. Many of the new ideas are OK in isolation, but add to the difficulty of finding spares and salvaging bikes later on. You might wonder about the Ashtabula crank. It was a great idea for its time, and easier for a DIY'er to maintain than a cottered crank. It tolerated relatively low precision parts. The main difference now is that modern cranks have aluminum arms and higher precision bearings.
High quality steel
Aluminum alloys
Stainless steel
Synthetic rubber
Those things have improved bikes across all price levels. Some of my other favorites:
Sturmey Archer
Puncture resistant tires
Ashtabula crank
As an old timer who has worked on a lot of old bikes, my pet peeves are largely due to the proliferation of standards. Many of the new ideas are OK in isolation, but add to the difficulty of finding spares and salvaging bikes later on. You might wonder about the Ashtabula crank. It was a great idea for its time, and easier for a DIY'er to maintain than a cottered crank. It tolerated relatively low precision parts. The main difference now is that modern cranks have aluminum arms and higher precision bearings.
03-20-20, 09:37 AM
#46
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Never heard that term before. Does my Simplex 543 qualify? Lever forward for the largest rear cog, lowest ratio. Pull back for taller gears.
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03-20-20, 11:09 AM
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Worst inventions for bikes?
Automobiles
Cell phones
Automobiles
Cell phones
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03-20-20, 03:17 PM
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I made this list in my head over a few decades and in the late 1990s put it to paper for an upcoming local Cleveland bike club winter meeting. It shows my bias and view from behind the service counter, from being the boss for nearly 15 years at that point, from being a rider who was a fast wanabe and from my frame building experiences. I'm sure many will add their best or worst.
The criteria I tried to follow were base level stuff and not tweaks to already existing designs. (Like der gear trains met the top 10 and indexed shifting barely made the honorable mentions, as without multiple gears indexing is a moot point).
As much as the best 10 are what many will focus on as a lifer in the LBS it's the 10 worst that really hits home for me. Often it's what to avoid that's more important then what to pick. Andy
The criteria I tried to follow were base level stuff and not tweaks to already existing designs. (Like der gear trains met the top 10 and indexed shifting barely made the honorable mentions, as without multiple gears indexing is a moot point).
As much as the best 10 are what many will focus on as a lifer in the LBS it's the 10 worst that really hits home for me. Often it's what to avoid that's more important then what to pick. Andy
03-21-20, 09:42 AM
#50
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Worst: Maillard Heliocomatic hubs. Arghhhhhhhhhh...............................
