GhostRider62

Disc brakes

I have 10+ rim braked bikes and lots of expensive rim braked wheels. My newest Farsports Ventoux rim wheels stop shockingly well in the rain. So, discs (other than on my Mt bike which I have) are too far

indyfabz

I still use PGS when out riding in unfamiliar areas.

Anyone else remember PGS? Kids these days take out everything. Sonar, radar, electric toothbrushes.

livedarklions

There's plenty of bike tech that's heavy, the issue with the sealed drive train has nothing to do with weight. Seriously, if you were right about this, how would a weight monster like fat bikes have ever caught on? There's been multiple attempts to create and market sealed drive trains, no one wants to buy them. So far, there's nothing anywhere near as efficient than the chain drive, and if you seal it, it just gets impossibly difficult to maintain. Sealed or not, that chain and those gears are going to wear, no one wants a drive train that has to be replaced in its entirety every time a part wears out.

Also, I think the idea that sealing the drive train is suddenly going to make a lot more people want to ride in bad weather is just beyond absurd.

You're mixing cause and effect--the reason there's a lot of light-weight tech is because there's demand for light-weight tech, the reason there's basically little or no supply of sealed drive train bikes is that there's little or no demand for sealed drive trains. The two things have absolutely nothing to do with each other. If you want to make the case that well-informed consumers should learn to demand sealed drive trains, then do so, but why would you assign yourself the task of telling people they shouldn't want what they already want?

GhostRider62

A belt driven Rohloff is nearly maintenance free. Don't see too many of them.

Chain and gears are light and very, very efficient. There is no problem needing solving there.

livedarklions

That's a terrible guess as to why they give it up. Whenever I go into a LBS when they have stock, the lightweight bikes are a small portion of the stock. There's way more gravel, mountain and e-bikes than the "weight weenie" road bikes. And I'm pretty sure all of the sealed options are going to be way more expensive as well as more difficult to service.

They give it up because people who ride in weather already know how to deal with the exposed drive train which, basically, is a very simple system and people who aren't riding in the weather are not doing so for other reasons than the drive train. Sealing the drive train is scratching something that just isn't itching.

LarrySellerz

lucky, two of the bikes I ride have disc brakes (cheap mechanical ones) and they are hellish. Ive given up on avoiding wheel rub, which is one of my biggest pet peeves.

GhostRider62

When I commuted by bike, it wasn't my fancy one. It was my touring bike with fenders. The drive train would only get messing in really bad conditions and the only special action was application of WD-40 to clean road sand and debris. This took maybe 60 seconds when I got home. Most rain never impacted the drivetrain.

A Rohloff and belt drive would be the ultimate commuter setup but not for me. I am sold on chains and gears.

Harhir

I admit: I am a technology lagger. For me a bike has always and will always be a utility vehicle. Nothing more and nothing less. I don't care about racing, carbon, tubeless, electronic shifting, extreme light weight frames, Strava, watts and so on.
I commute by bike, run many errands by bike and try to live car free as much as possible. I have never owned a BMX bike, never a road bike and only one mountain bike which I sold some years ago. Most of my bikes are at last 20 years old and I always buy used. I prefer simple reliable technology which I can easily fix myself. Some of my bikes even have internal gear hubs. Heck yes I actually prefer internal gear hubs over derailleurs. If the Rohloff hub would not be that expensive I would have converted some of my bikes already. And I prefer steel frames over aluminum and carbon.
I just got my first bike with disc brakes and it is still too early to say if I like them or not.
The only major switch I made so far: I went from upright bikes to recumbent bikes because of back problems. And the only major mods I will be doing in the next months: I want to add electric assist to two of my bikes. One of them being a cargo bike.
Short: I am happy with the old technology bikes I have. They get me from point A to point B with a smile on my face.

GhostRider62

What is wheel rub? Do you mean your wheel is not true? What is rubbing what?

LarrySellerz

The disk brake is rubbing, they can be annoying to align, I can't do it.

GhostRider62

You mean it isn't easy to get another disc wheel from support vehicle during a race? Sounds like a PITA

Ironfish653

I'm aware of Grant Petersen. My go-to everyday bike is a pre-Grant Bridgestone with swept bars and 32mm tires. It's pretty useful and versatile, but I don't always ride the same ride every day, so sometimes one of my other bikes may be a better tool for the job.
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Sometimes I'm riding to achieve a specific goal, sometimes the ride itself is the goal.

Modern high-performance bikes, both road and MTB have become highly specialized, but they're not only bikes in the shop, as it were; you can find almost any combination of drivetrain, tire size and handlebar shape pretty much "off the rack"

MarcusT

Distance, altitude gain and time. Then I take out my abacus and do the calculations

Kapusta

Good luck on that one

Kapusta

For my recreational / fitness riding (road/gravel rides and MTB) I don’t want electric/powered anything as part of the core functions of my bike (shifting, pedaling, braking, suspension, dropper post).

Accessories like lights and a phone/gps is a little different.

I am more open to all of that (including a motor) for a utility/commuter bike.

freeranger

Not opposed to any more modern features. But I can do with older tech. I read lots more posts regarding replacing cables with internal routing, hydraulic brakes, does this scratch on my carbon (bike, wheel, etc) look dangerous to ride, how do I fix my electronic shifting, than I do with "older" tech. Give me what works, is fairly trouble free, and that I can work on. If you want the "latest and greatest" that's fine. I just want to ride, and if something needs adjusting or replacing, to be able to do it. Yeah, I"m a senior who grew up with "old tech". It works for me, when/if I buy a new bike with the tech that's forced on me, I'll learn to deal with it. It's not too much, but I can ride without it.

Rolla

Your dissatisfaction with current drivetrains is duly noted, but regardless of the culprit, your ongoing complaint about the lack of enclosed drivetrains seems off topic.

The question wasn't what technology would you like to see? but rather, which new technologies do you embrace, and which do you reject?

livedarklions

I think he had a point, but Petersen's book is nearing its 10th anniversary, and there's been all sorts of non-racer trends in the industry since then. He was also a bit incoherent in message in that his bikes are definitely way too expensive for mass appeal.

livedarklions

I'm a cheap bastard who finds riding '90s era brifter bikes fun.

qwaalodge

There has been quite few attempts by big manufacturers they just gave up on it.

I'm aware of belt drive + IGH drivetrain. I do LIKE that tech. The belt doesn't need lubricating and the IGH only needs to be topped or with very long intervals between oil changes in all weather conditions.

It's way better than chain + derailleur drivetrains in terms of ruggedness and maintenance but even belt drive can still experience accelerated wear because it's still exposed and mud and road grit can still get to it in wet rides. At least you eliminate the need to re-lube after a wet run but you still need to clean it.

mstateglfr 

If he just stopped there, I bet he would have a lot more support and interest. Instead, he then puts up videos of people swordfighting with a steel and carbon fork to show which is stronger, as if that actually has any bearing in reality. And then he pushes tweed and bars that are 4" above the saddle even if that isnt a comfortable position, and 54cm chainstays and the disconnect grows even wider.

Rolla

Great. Maybe start your own thread about it, since the topic seems more important to you than the one this thread is about.

70sSanO

I can't say I reject any modern technology. I'm in the marginal gain doesn't outweigh the cost camp.

I started to really ride in the 80's when I was in my 30's. After our twin boys discovered my old surfboards on the rafters, I spent most of my 50's in the water with them. My riding time was way down. Then they started to mountain bike, so I spent the first half of my 60's getting beat up on trails. Then they both moved out of state. After I retired I mixed my time between all three, and other hobbies.

Currently all of our bikes are 7/8/9 speed, all with index shifting. I recently turned 70 and I don't see a need for newer technology until I have extinguished my gearing options. Where we live nothing is flat and I foresee adding a little assist in the coming years. At that point I will probably go to a wide range 1x, hopefully with a weight in the low 20's. Now that Shimano has GRX wide range road compatibility, it makes things easier. No stupid RoadLink or capacity issues.

I've built my own bikes up from the frame and done a lot of mods, hopefully I'll learn hydraulic discs (can't be tougher than disc brakes on a car), electric shifting might be nice. Never got a lot of flats, but may go tubeless. By the time I go in that direction, all of the first generation issues will hopefully be ironed out.

John

livedarklions

We had a thread a few years ago where I learned I wasn't the only one who felt this way, but all of us who did admitted it was completely irrational. I wouldn't want electronic shifting because I don't want any part of the drive train to be powered by anything other than my muscle (and maybe gravity, but that's unavoidable). And yes, I do use GPS, but that's not part of the drive train.

qwaalodge

While a car's gearbox is way more difficult to service indeed (as reference), in my 20 years of driving, 100,000 miles at most in one car, I never broke one. The only work ever done was change or top up the oil.

The cost have less to do with development cost and complexity but more to do with the configuration's share of the market and the weight. If the tech can be made mainstream with high volume production and if using inexpensive materials like unforged steel and aluminum, it can be made cheap. It will be heavy but remember, the tech is catered towards utility, commuters who cares a lot less about speed than maintenance.