soylentjosh

Hello! I haven't read the forums in a while and I've never really posted much, but I thought it might be nice to start participating more by posing a question:

What kind of bicycle invention or innovation do you think would make the bicycle as we know it better?

For example, I'd like to see somebody come up with a regenerative brake that would store forward momentum in a spring to be released upon demand, giving a push of momentum from a dead start. What do you think?

Oh, also I'd like to see somebody come up with a really good fender design that is lightweight and not so darn flimsy like a lot of aftermarket full fenders available today.

What would you like to see?

JPMacG

I'd like to see a bike transmission that offers as many gears as a derailleur and doesn't require as much maintenance as a derailleur.

TrainerMicDude

How about a cheap and affordable computrainer like product? Oh, hey, wait a minute.......



(I hate being a schill, I feel so.....dirty)

mcgreivey

I guess I don't get this "derailleurs require a lot of maintenance" thing. I haven't had to adjust the derailleurs on either of my bikes in several years, and I ride them a lot (don't crash them, though).

Spring storage: I'm getting an interesting picture of a huge watch spring in the main frame triangle. You could use an old Shimano Front Freewheeling system, and run a chain from the inner sprocket to the axis of the spring.

deraltekluge

Tires/tubes that are as flat-free as car tires.

KrisPistofferson

Gas stations that don't serve motorists, only cyclists. They wouldn't sell gasoline, but inside you would find smoothies, beer, 20-packs of doobies and cocaine that costs as much as powdered sugar.

Hey, you asked.

travelmama

A bike rack that has arms to extend to hold a pizza or two.

Greyryder

Instant tire spikes, just add water. These would be placed at the ends of single track MTB trails, that don't hold up to being ridden in wet conditions. When the ground is dry enough for riding, the spikes would shrink back down to allow safe passage.

It's been a wet couple of months around here, and we have clay based soil. Wet trails tend to rut up easily, holding more water, taking longer to dry out. And, people just won't stay off of them, despite the signs and gates.

spock

Carbon fiber is a sign that there is no more room for innovation in cycling. Don't fix what ain't broke.

Jeff Wills

This is the ultimate bicycle. After this, there's nowhere to go:

https://www.metrofiets.com/profiles/hopworks/
https://bikeportland.org/2009/09/15/i...l-on-one-bike/

silverwolf

So many things... but most aren't so much innovation as using what we already have in better ways.

I would like to see:

1- a lightweight, cheap but stable folding bicycle with heavy-duty plastic rims (like BMX mags), a singlespeed with custom ratios (or, if mass produced, easily swapped sprockets) or perhaps even belt drive, a front disc brake, rigid frame, and sprung seat. Basically, making the bike little-to-no-maintenance, stable, simple to fix with very few components, and lightweight. Oh yes, and cheap. $300 with maybe $50 more for a touring package with a rear rack, lights, and a generator for example.

2- An increase in the popularity and decrease in cost of mass-produced belt driven bikes, singlespeed (not fixed, they have alot of popularity already) bikes, and the return of steel (such as the famous 4130 Chromoly) as the material for heavy-duty frames.

3- More big wheel (700c or 29er) bikes, both road and mountain. To me at least, any non-folding bike does better with larger wheels.

4- More mass-produced, reasonably priced bikes without Huffy-like quality.

5- More innovations in folding bikes. Maybe a "seamless" horizontal fold that doesn't destabilize the frame at all, or at least noticeably, on a below-$500 folder.

Velo Dog

I've given this a solid five minutes of thought, and i can't think of anything that's realistic and would be significant. Of course we'd all like to see a 2-pound folder that could go into a briefcase and ride like a $5000 custom, but that's not going to happen. I've been riding more than 40 years, and my Atlantis and Rambouillet are as good as I want or need my bikes to be. As another post said, i probably don't adjust my derailleurs more than once a year or so, and bearings go thousands of miles. I literally can't think of anything I'd change on either bike.
OK, I'll go for flat-proof tires that feel like good tires instead of carved wooden imitations. Really, though, I take a certain amount of pride in my flat-fixing ability, too. Took me a long time to get that down from 20 minutes to three or four.

Artkansas 

Except up!

Artkansas 

I'd like to see a stong aftermarket for bicycles, like there is for cars. It would be great to go into a bicycle parts store and pick up the proper wheels for my 1980s Hard rock and while I was at it get a chain for a 10 speed.

calamarichris

A magna-lev bicycle seat, so our @$$3$ need never get sore or tired.

A trainer video game you must pedal, that allows you to dogfight other players in old WWI-era biplanes & triplanes; the faster you pedal, the faster your plane can fly & climb.

A power-amplification apparatus that allows us to pass cars while riding on the freeway.

And +1 on the flying bicycle. (That would rule pretty hard.)

itsthewoo

You would lose a ton of braking efficiency with any sort of mechanism that did that, and it would also likely be bulky and complicated.

This I would like to see.

Internally geared hubs. The drawback is that when it does require maintenance, you will be unlikely to do it yourself. Honestly, your best bet is friction shifters.

Extremely difficult. Car tires are both tubeless and also much thicker than bicycle tires.

rumrunn6

summer bike shorts that are thinner and have a thinner lighter liner

travelmama

Rumrunn6- You and your shorts are killing me.

rumrunn6

hahahaha LOL I will persist until their is a sea-change in the industry! :-)

Kimmitt 

I would like to see some more materials science applied to our tires; it seems like the tradeoff between rolling efficiency and flat resistance is more brutal than it needs to be.

I'd also like to see one of the "big boys" pick up the xtracycle pannier system and make good things happen there.

Shimagnolo

A common power bus to run all accessories, similar to any other motor vehicle, as opposed to having separate batteries for:
- computer
- speed/cadence sensor
- heart rate sensor
- headlight
- tail light
- Di2
- Gruber Assist

The bus could be powered by a single battery pack, and/or a generator.

itsthewoo

Ooooh with internal wiring within the tubes!

Shimagnolo

Oh, quit bragging.

LaSarthe

Metric-ize everything. Why are steerer tubes still referred to in inches? Chains as well??

itsthewoo

Also, quick release fenders that are full coverage.