Top Five Worst Cycling Inventions
10-27-15, 11:45 AM
#26
Passista
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If you raced and didn't build up new bikes often, the old Campy post was fine. Yes, it needed that wrench. But far more important was that you could fine tune the saddle adjustment accurately and repeatable and do it just as easily out on the road. Far, far better than the easy to use one-bolt posts that bumped it off the market and dominated the next decade where you last all references when you loosened the bolt to make any change.
The real life advantage? Got a saddle sore and have to keep up your 400 mile/week training. Tip the seat say 2 1/8th turns down and ride. 10 days later go back the 2 1/8ths. Seat is now exactly where you started. And when that sore started all you had to do was put that wrench in your pocket, go out, adjust and track the number of turns. When those posts disappeared, we had to lay long straight edges on the seat and measure down to the handlebars. Not something you could do mid-ride unless you were a pro with a team support car.
I raced with a Zeus post that was a Campy copy. Used the same wrench. My Peter Mooney spent 8 years with a single bolt post set 1/2 between clicks. Perfect, BUT I didn't dare touch that bolt because it took hours to get that position and I could probably never get it again. Yes the SunTour 2 bolt post that replaced it was a much nicer post than the Campy and a lot easier to adjust but I would never put Campy post as a top five worst. No, it was pro level gear that worked very well, never broke and had the adjustment that was so important if your life was riding. (Never broke - well, no, some of those posts went so far they outlasted several bikes and final died.)
Ben
The real life advantage? Got a saddle sore and have to keep up your 400 mile/week training. Tip the seat say 2 1/8th turns down and ride. 10 days later go back the 2 1/8ths. Seat is now exactly where you started. And when that sore started all you had to do was put that wrench in your pocket, go out, adjust and track the number of turns. When those posts disappeared, we had to lay long straight edges on the seat and measure down to the handlebars. Not something you could do mid-ride unless you were a pro with a team support car.
I raced with a Zeus post that was a Campy copy. Used the same wrench. My Peter Mooney spent 8 years with a single bolt post set 1/2 between clicks. Perfect, BUT I didn't dare touch that bolt because it took hours to get that position and I could probably never get it again. Yes the SunTour 2 bolt post that replaced it was a much nicer post than the Campy and a lot easier to adjust but I would never put Campy post as a top five worst. No, it was pro level gear that worked very well, never broke and had the adjustment that was so important if your life was riding. (Never broke - well, no, some of those posts went so far they outlasted several bikes and final died.)
Ben
10-27-15, 12:53 PM
#30
Vain, But Lacking Talent
Just get a Thomson seat post. two bolts for infinite tilt adjustment and they are accessible on the bottom.
10-27-15, 12:54 PM
#31
Vain, But Lacking Talent
I have an all black bike. It goes with everything. 
10-27-15, 02:44 PM
#32
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10-27-15, 02:45 PM
#33
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10-27-15, 03:17 PM
#35
Old fart
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Even a Brooks "Professional" has a couple centimeters of space between the rails and the saddle leather to fit a wrench. Modern plastic-based saddles sit very close to the rails by comparison, and can be difficult for that reason. But even then, a flex-head ratchet often works well:
The advantage of those two-bolt saddles is that they are minutely adjustable, and once you get them set up, they stay put!
10-27-15, 03:21 PM
#36
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10-27-15, 03:23 PM
#37
~>~
10-27-15, 03:25 PM
#38
working on my sandal tan
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Remember these?
Top five worst cycling inventions - Cycling Weekly
Got any you'd like to add to the list?
Top five worst cycling inventions - Cycling Weekly
Got any you'd like to add to the list?
10-27-15, 03:26 PM
#39
Old fart
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After that, it would stay "fixed" in place unless and until it needed to be replaced.
10-27-15, 03:39 PM
#40
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10-27-15, 03:57 PM
#41
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Thanks, now I have a mental image of flocks of aerobars flying around like little Klingon birds of prey, harrying little old ladies
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Genesis 49:16-17
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10-27-15, 04:27 PM
#43
~>~
I nominate the "Italian Threaded Bottom Bracket" a design to make the "fixed" cup not-so-very-fixed at all.
"Che modo le pedivelle?"
"Non importa!"
-Bandera
"Che modo le pedivelle?"
"Non importa!"
-Bandera
10-27-15, 04:40 PM
#44
A treat for the freaks!
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I guess no-one else had a Maillard Helicomatic freewheel? I think I still have the little wrench around somewhere. The only positive thing I can say about those is that the wrench itself worked as a pretty good bottle opener.
10-27-15, 04:49 PM
#45
~>~
"Tubasti" a product that was 50% Ogre-Snot and 50% Rubber Cement Sludge designed to create a minimal bond of tubular tire to rim and a maximum mess.
"Come fare una enorme confusione appiccicosa vile."
-Bandera
"Come fare una enorme confusione appiccicosa vile."
-Bandera
10-27-15, 05:02 PM
#46
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I've got one of those tools, too. Loved the cassette/freewheels which were completely customizable and rebuildable.
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10-27-15, 05:49 PM
#47
Should Be More Popular
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10-27-15, 07:16 PM
#49
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- Mavic R-Sys (see image)
- The solid rubber tire which a new fool re-invents every couple years.
- The solid rubber tire which a new fool re-invents every couple years.
10-27-15, 07:52 PM
#50
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