OldCoot

I've been riding a long time, as I suspect most of you have. I love old bikes, but I also love some of the new stuff. For me I was really surprised at how much I liked brifters. The rest of the advancements I could do without ( but often don't), cassettes, aero wheels and stuff, more than 8 speeds, disc brakes, thru axles, shaped tubing , outboard bottom brackets etc). On my current Bob Jackson build I am using Campy brifters and dual pivot brakes, and cassette hubs as my main concessions ( oh sacrilege!).

So what new tech ( new defined as post 1975) are you willing to have on your bike? Where do you draw the line, if you have a line?
I

SJX426 

My line is electronics and more than 10 speed cassette.
Like you, I was resistant to anything other than DT shifters. That is what I knew and was comfortable with.
I bought a 97 Rockhopper with index shifting. OK that worked and I could see using it on trails where you don't want to take your hand off the bar.

Then the bite of Italian bikes after the purchase of the Colnago hit me hard resulting i a purchase of a Pinarello Montello with all 740x DA, still DT shifting. Loved it despite my preference for Campagnolo. Put several thousand miles on it.

That led to the curiosity of brifters. I just couldn't justify the cost for simply moving the functionality of DT shifters to the brake lever. Kept a look out for a pair at a tolerable $ amount. Never found them. Didn't like the cable coming out the side either, ugly.

The next temptation was to strip the DA parts and make the bike more Italian with Campagnolo components. Finally found a set of Chorus Ergos (8v) for about $100. Did the conversion and was sold. Rebuildable, easy use with multiple sprocket changes in one motion, and of course Campagnolo.

A De Rosa was on the bucket list and one was found, frame set only. It is built with 10v Record, which is more than enough.

With the lack of riding, my ability to climb hills deteriorated. Gearing was a problem with racing like cassettes. The Pin was morphed to a triple and has a 9v rear in teh wings with replacement Ergos.

Oh and there is only one bike with cages and straps, the rest are now Look Keo's.

That is my limit!
Well I do use a Wahoo Roam and sensors.

This is as modern as I need to get.
P1050285 on Flickr

droppedandlost 

I don't use electronics or disc brakes, but I'm fine with anyone else using them. I would much rather see an old frame on the road rather than waiting for a part that hasn't been made in 60 years.

merziac

All in, sort of.

Garmin for tracking, Cycliq camera/lights front and rear 9-11 speed w/brifters,some dual pivot brakes, some carbon components and big(er) tires, 32's at lower pressure, more of a modern trend.

Then as much older aesthetics as I can muster, chrome, Brooks, Campy HS, SP and pedals, clips and straps.

merziac

Amen to that, also this far down the line I'm going to do whatever it takes to get/keep me on the bike and am fine with whatever others deem necessary for that.

If a bike doesn't inspire you to ride it, you won't.

Dfrost 

Dual pivot calipers, although the brazed-post centerpull thanks to Gugificazione works very nicely, too.
Ergo brifters, but I’m happy with 8 speeds. I invested heavily in the Sachs New Success version decades ago and haven’t found a reason for more since…
Cassettes, specifically 8-speeds because they can be custom arranged to suite my varying pedaling preferences, unlike higher counts that depend on grouped cogs. The corresponding hubs are much stronger thanks to the farther outboard DS bearings.
Fatter and more supple tires are both modern and old tech. I’m a long way away from going tubeless!

“Aero” anything doesn’t do anything for me. Even when I was anything like “fast”, it was below the threshold where it would make a noticeable difference. And my bikes have always seemed to coast downhill faster than others around me. Maybe because my skinny torso is more aerodynamically efficient?

My wife loves her hydraulic disc brakes, in great part because they work so well with her arthritic hands. But I haven’t been particularly impressed with how much more maintenance intensive they are. She tried Di2 but liked the mechanical shifts better. She also is quite happy with her 2x11 setup, but mostly uses it as 1x11, staying on the inner ring. I was surprised that the cassette wore out faster than her chain.

squirtdad

this is for me and am ok with people using what they choose

Dual pivot brakes are the best of the best of new tech for me, they work so much better.

I really like 11speed, compact crank and brifters, the function is fantastic, course I would like better if it was silver

I don't plan on moving to disk or electronic, don't hate just no need, disc could change if I were in a wetter steeper area in the future

Not moving from steel frames

hate fugly threadless stems and severly sloping top tubes.....aesthetics based hate

Can't see ever going tubeless, ever. Tubies or clincher with tubes for me

OldCoot

I am so much in agreement with your story. I too sort of wandered into index shifting through MTB's, and also couldn't bear the idea of super expensive upgrade to get index shifting on the bars. My first was 8 speed Ultegra bar cons on my Bike Friday Pocket rocket (bought for a month long cycling vacation through France). My 1st go at Brifters came on Peugeot Athena (SLX tubing) that some one had bastardized to a fixie.... I put on Campy Veloce 10spd . My goodness, I was impressed! Still think Campy is the best version of Brifters (no swinging brake lever, no double tap mess up), plus they can be had in silver ( I dislike all the 'paint it black' stuff).

I totally forgot about pedals! I ride clips and straps on my commute bike, as they are work shoe friendly. I do remember my first pair of cleated shoes for clips and straps were Puma's with a laminated wooden sole that you nailed the cleat onto (Yep I am that old). The issue for me was that didn't allow any rotation during the pedal revolution and caused knee issues. When Look came out with the red cleats that could 'float' through abut 30 degrees, I was sold hook line and sinker. I still like cycling specific shoes for the stiffness, but only if they can rotate a bit. Non cleated shoes for use with clips and straps work, but there are few good ones made for cycling. So I guess I have conceded there as well, for the sake of my knees.

BTW , your bike looks beautiful!

merziac

Great minds, all of the above.

Especially the threadless part, just one of the disposable, cartridge, throwaway, cookie cutter, profit at all costs crap that insures nobody will be able to work on C+V in a shop setting, we're almost there now.

Really wish the quill to threadless guy would come up with the reverse version of that, threadless to quill.

His deal is slick, looks great for what it is and could really make many of the threadless frames look much more classic.

Dfrost 

Another modern piece, so simple but effective, is a Wolf Tooth Roadlink to extend the large cog range of modern derailleurs. I don’t use one on my bike, but the sample on my wife’s works amazing well to shift across an 11-40T cassette with a long cage Ultegra RD. I love my triple cranks, but she is so thrilled with the simple shifting of her 2x11 setup.

non-fixie 

I have a few bikes with brifters, although my interest is limited to early Ergo's. Because of their looks, lack of "clotheslines" and their ability to work with the old 5 and 6 speed rear clusters. This is one I built for my girl:



My favorite new tech, however, is my smartphone. I tracks my rides (as long as don't forget to turn it on), enables me to easily take lots of pictures along the way, it gets me home when I get lost, and best of all: it doesn't uglify my bike, as I can just keep it in my jersey pocket.

SwimmerMike 

For C&V, I will use Speedplay Pedals and modern lights. I do use a Garmin, but for the older bikes, I use my Fenix Watch as opposed to handlebar mounted.

For my three modern bikes the rules are different. I have a Cyclocross bike with Disc Brakes. They are great, for descending after any of the climbs around here (Road or dirt), they are much better than the dual pivot calipers I have on my CF road bike. If I race triathlons again, I will upgrade to electronic shifting, just for the convenience of being able to shift from the bull horns or the aero-bars. Other than that application, I see no need for electronic shifting. I also see no need for tubeless. My Cross bike is tubeless compatible, but I have no desire to convert. I've had enough cuts on my tires that required a boot and a tube replacement (or a tubular replacement) that I don't see the risk-reward tradeoff making sense to me.

ctak

Almost everything? This isn't really c&v (nor is it mine), but this is where my 80s Impulse is headed..

SurferRosa

Consumables (rubber, chain) and hopefully someone will keep advancing the freewheel.

SJX426 

I used Ride with GPS on the cell phone for a couple of years. Remembering to turn it on was an issue too. Last year my youngest daughter gifted me the Roam. I can read it better than the phone app and it sits there reminding me to turn it on. It is aero and easy to read. It transfers the data to Ride with GPS automatically so I get all the good features of both. Purchased additional speed sensors for the different rides so I don't have to transfer the sensor. With standardizing the pedals, one pair of shoes with a cadence sensor does it all. Each sensor knows the wheels size. I like to monitor my cadence so it is useful that the phone in the jersey doesn't provide.
If I forget the phone, no problem. It is self contained.

merziac

Again, this far down the line anything can be on the table IMO, what ever it takes for comfort, fit, hills, ascent, descent, desire to get on the bike, stay in the saddle longer, etc.

So long as the foundation is steel you're golden or carbon or Cr-Mo or.........

droppedandlost 

Opposite ends of my spectrum:

mstateglfr 

Every bike, frame, and component I have owned is post '75, so I guess I am good with everything Ive owned.
Indexed, STI, cables under tape, cushioned tape, disc brakes, carbon fork, cassette- good with all this.

I dont have an interest in electronic shifting. Just no interest, partly because it would require a new frame and partly because I enjoy the tactile feel and audible click of shifting.
I dont have an interest in fully hidden cable routing. Not interested in any way at all. The pain of correctly sizing cables and hoses is just not something that I find appealing. I really dont mind cables showing between the bar and downtube.

BFisher

Oh, just the cartridge, threadless (adapter), clipless, Ergo/Brifter, lower spoke count, cassette, etc. sort of stuff. Big fan, too.

seypat

Good thing that's not my bike or the decals would spell "S N A I L."

P!N20

I use modern air in my tyres, it's just so much better than the vintage stuff.

fabiofarelli

I guess you know the Dutch word 'snel' means fast ...

seypat

I did not. But everyone knows what a snail is. It also describes my cycling ability, especially if hills are involved.

tkamd73 

IPhone holder, asymmetric rims, padded tape, that’s about it.
Tim

bikemig 

I think aero brake levers look swell on old bikes. Plus they brake good and give you a nifty 2d quick release so you can get a wheel with a fat 700 x 35c tire on and off without deflating it.