Squeezebox

Several posts in the Ultimate thread mentioned bikepacking and bicycle technology.
So I think it would be an interesting thread to discuss what we see as the future of bicycling touring, 10, 20, 50 yrs from now. Frame material? components? component material? bikepacking/ panniers? IGH? What else?
Some say we've hit the pinnacle. Others say a big surge in technology is about to happen.
What's your opinion?

fietsbob

mean when you actually go somewhere and write about those places rather than starting more fantasy equipment threads?

shipwreck

In the future all cycle touring will be virtual, with more expensive gear actually having a stationary exercise style bike hooked to the VR equipment, and lesser, more sneered at kit just having a set of pedals that go in front of the armchair. This will include everything from Solo round the world adventures, to large group rides like Ragbrai thanks to multi player systems.
Smaller phone app cycle touring will be available, but real tourists will invest heavily in the lightest and best goggles and rain/cold/wind simulation gear.
Levels of pedaling difficulty will be set by the amount of gear you buy, and how much real money you are willing to spend on virtual, non real, gear.
There will of course be problems with hacking and cheating, with "cheat codes" being used. For example, there will be a cheat code for virtual electric assist, bus and train rides, and so forth.

Problems will arise from differing views on what constitutes "real" virtual touring, with proponents of the latest Hi Def 360 view gear vrs. luddites who will insist that a 60"flat screen is what they have been using for the last twenty years, and its good enough.

There will of course be those who insist that "analog" touring, with actual route finding, sleeping in the out of the doors, dealing with idiot self driving cars is superior. And of course there will be some of them that insist that their resin bonded recycled drier lint frames are far more resilient and eco friendly than the cheaper outdated carbon fiber. Antique steel frames will of course be used, but as a curiosity, much like riding a Penny Farthing is today.

skookum

I think you said it all right there. No more discussion necessary.

350htrr

E-Assisted bikes will dominate and spread like wildfire throughout the land, nay, the world...

alan s 

Many of the top tourers will become embroiled in doping scandals.

robow

Shipwreck,
Ray Bradbury has nothing on you !

jamawani 

I predict free Swedish massages for touring cyclists at the top of all mountain passes.
I predict a wind redirectionalator that turns headwinds into tailwinds.
I predict drivers who actually give you enough room when passing.

antokelly

i reckon the bikes won't change much but the camping gear most certainly will,someone somewhere will design a super tent and everything to go with it like all the cloths u need for every occasion , cooking gear that weights grams basically everything you need that will pack into one bag .

FBOATSB

here you go...

saddlesores

The Oracle has prophesied the return of Surly, otherwise known as the “Real One,” a designer destined to lead the insurrection of gravel-grinder-enslaved touring cyclists against the carbon-titanium-hearted bean-counting gruppo-spewing mega-corporate overlords.

The coming of the Real One shall hail the destruction of the carbon fiber matrix, and bring chromoly to the people.

So this will be your choice. After this, there is will be no turning back. You take the 700C LHT - the adventure begins, you wake up in your tent and follow the endless highway. You take the 26” LHT - you pack up your bivy and discover just what lies beyond the darkest jungle.

Happy Feet

It's been done 7 times before already. What the marketing matrix discovered but hates is that there needs to be the perceived inferiority of steel within the program to drive the masses towards the idea of the perfection of carbon. Without it everything stops. What always happens though is it turns out steel is real and the feeling of being duped by the architect takes over.

Zion always turns out to be Portland.

mstateglfr 

My opinion is that if more people talk of touring without ever touring, the segment will disappear. Do your part to ensure that doesn't happen.

BigAura

All frames are auto-custom made from data including

• body-scanner
• fitness assessor
• tour goals
• tour conditions

3-D printed using carbon-nano-tubes

As far as the tour is concerned YOU still have to get on the bicycle and pedal somewhere.

indyfabz

What if I told you that people will look back at all the Kale recipes---and the Trek 920--as foolishness?

****

Rowan

Nice post.

Thank goodness that there are some of us who have actually experienced bicycling touring and all the reality that brings. Maybe there's a job somewhere there consulting with the virtual tour developers on their packages.

MassiveD

Two things are going to happen, autonomous cars will take over the roads, and since the number of cars will no longer be connected to the number of people, the swell on the roads will get crazy. Kardashians will cover the roads with cars, some as decoys so they can't be robbed, and others will be shopping for them at thousands of stores. The world for bikes will get a lot more congested.

People who want to tour will be able to do it in autonomous cars which will range in size from compact to motor home size. For the first time people will be able to move around the vehicles engaging with each other, devices and the scenery, without having to worry about driving or crashing. They will even be able to use exercise machines to stay fit in different modes of exercise. Sounds out there, but it is already happening. It will be more engaging to have this freedom of travel than to ride a bike with nose to the grindstone. The big advantage to the bike is the slow rate of travel, this remains to be worked out with autonomous cars, but they should probably be significantly restricted in speed, once the technology matures to the point where drivers are not required the speed can go down with huge savings in energy and injuries, but time will not be lost as one can do what one wants in the car. Included in that is enjoying the scenery.

Solar is the added benefit, but not practical on land:

Miele Man

Even back in the 1970s and the 1980s I think there was a bunch of dead tree published books that were written by armchair tourists who might not even have had a touring bike. You really do need to be careful and check your sources to be sure that they have actually toured and that they toured in the manner they say they did/do. Riding a loaded touring bike around a parking lot isn't touring with it.

I wouldn't be surprised to see more people doing credit card touring in the future.

One thing about credit card touring or even very light touring is that it's quite easy to be allowed to put your bicycle inside the stowage area of a bus if there isn't a lot of stuff there already. Then you can takethe bus a considerable distance to another locale you've decided on the spur of the moment to explore.

Cheers

Doug64

I believe there is an underlying assumption that permeates this thread and many of your other threads; that bike touring is all about the gear and bike technology. It also follows that you seem to believe the "big surge in technology" will have profound changes (my words) on the future of bike touring. For this post I'm defining bike touring as using a non-assisted pedal bike, and I'm assuming the "big surge in technology" is in that type of machine. There may be factors affecting the future of bike touring, but I don't believe that technological changes to the bicycle and gear will be a driving factor in those changes. Cycling infrastructure at all levels, long-distance connected bike routes, the need for healthy outdoor exercise, and bicycle friendly public transportation will probably play a larger role in the future of bike touring than high tech bikes.

I've gone through the 5,6,7,8,9,10,and 11 speed evolution; the steel, aluminum, and carbon evolution; and the evolution to lighter bags and gear. During all this change the reasons people tour have pretty much remained the same. All the technology changes in the last 40 years did not change the primary reasons people tour on a bicycle; and I suspect the basic reasons will not change all that much in the next 40 years.

I can only speak from my experience and the people that I know. In the 4 decades that I toured, I have ridden on steel, aluminum, and used carbon components (forks); ridden several bikes with different speed drivetrains; ride with light to moderate weights; but my primary reasons for touring or the approach that I use did not change.

Sometimes these threads seem to be similar to some folks' approach to photography: It is all about the equipment not about the photograph.

fietsbob

I found in Co Kerry Ireland, one of the Bus designs Put the engine, mid drive, in the center under the floor
so in the back there was a big luggage hold

Took my bike and a lot of back packs, too..

The Future in the Northern Hemisphere is called the Spring Of 2017, when there will be less posting on the forum
and More actual Touring done...

In the Southern Hemisphere, No Waiting Spring is Now.




'/,

NWGuy99

Since everything is circular, touring bikes will soon revert back to "French" idiosyncrasies.

Live the dream....

boomhauer

How about advancements in not getting hit by a car?

I've never felt so inadequate in all my touring life until I joined this site. All they talk about it equipment.

In the previous 8 or 9 tours I've had before joining this site I've had exactly zero mechanical failures on a $400 bike.

Talk about the act of touring once in awhile.....jeez.

Rowan

The real beauty of bicycle touring is that you can do it on just about any bicycle there is. From a Walmart cheapie through fixed gear and specific-design units to the most expensive and exotic bike in the world.

You can do it at any time, and almost anywhere... even out your own back door.

And people's experiences and memories will continue to vary from ecstacy right down to sheer hatred.

I don't see that changing in the least in my lifetime and likely the lifetimes of younger people.

Having said that, there have been significant changes in some areas. LED and associated batteries for example. Lighter weight and more weather or efficient resistant materials for tents and clothing and panniers. And either more restrictions on access, or crowding by more mobile non-bike populations can make bicycle touring a little less pleasant at certain times of the year than it might have been 20, 50 or 70 years ago.

robow

This is already occurring as many of the baby boomers have moved into their mid 50's and into their 60's and prefer the convenience and comfort of a hotel or B&B vs. camping. Check with many of the organized state rides here in the midwest and their limited number of hotel slots are filling up faster each year and less want to camp.

alan s 

Some things that won't change are gravity, wind resistance and rolling resistance. While there may be small improvements in bicycle design, forces of nature will always be there.