daihard 

+1 for disc brakes.

I'm a bit surprised, though, that no-one has mentioned brake-shifter integration (e.g. STI).

Chuck Naill

USB lights

PeteHski

That was more than 20 years ago.

daihard 

Duh! Thank you for the enlightenment. I should've realized that my knowledge about bicycles has a huge hole between 1990 and 2010...

indyfabz

In all seriousness…I was going to say LED lights, but USB rechargeable ones are even better. My headlight is rechargeable. The only reason I use batteries for my rear light is because I tour and am more likely to accidentally leave it on, and I don’t always have electricity, but I do always carry spare AAA batteries for my camping headlamp.

Gresp15C

Hands down. "Important" doesn't mean "what I want on my bike." The impact of e-bikes is huge.

NOLA Sekai 4K 

YouTube. Introduced to the world in 2005, it's not a component, widget, or technology specific to the bicycle. Except it is.

Because of YouTube's access and ubiquity, we have at our fingertips the ability to: fix, maintain, improve and appreciate our beloved stable of bikes; learn riding techniques, experience events and trips worldwide; create and present documentaries, vlogs...well you get the picture...I mean the video!
(Not to mention cars, sewing machines, gardening, removing hornet nests...and safety tips/info.)

Link: Hazards of deep frying your Thanksgiving turkey!
I recently learned how to prepare and rotate Teflon/Paraffin coat chains on my vintage Gitane TdF and Dawes Double Blue.
Haven't had this much fun since M&Ms - no mess!

Ghazmh

Hidden brake hoses.

indyfabz

This thread needs a poll.

Trakhak

Does this thread need a poll?

O Yes
O No

delbiker1 

Important?

3alarmer 

​​​​​​​

Bmach

The E-Bike

veganbikes

Gazelle did their first e-bike back in 1936 with the help of Phillips. So technically that is a bit more than 20 years

Though would agree they have certainly taken off in this time!

drlogik 

Ok, I'll bite. Remember, this is my opinion. I don't really see any revolutionary "break-throughs" in the last 20 years. Yes, we've seen new parts from existing technology (e.g. tubeless tires and disc brakes), a little bit of recycling old technology (e.g. index shifters), but mostly I see a progression of existing technology and mechanical parts.

The only really innovative thing I can remember in the past 20 years, and by "innovative" I mean something revolutionary, a game changer, not seen before, and not thought about or invented before or unique.

What is it? I can't really think of one thing, actually.

• Carbon fiber? No, it's been around for decades in other industries
• Electronic shifting? No, it's been around for decades in automobiles
• Disc brakes? No, they've been around for 50+ years in the auto industry
• Tubeless tires? No, they've been on automobiles for 50+ years
• LED lights? No, they've been around for decades
• Super steels for bike frames? No, that metallurgy (for the most part) has been around for decades in many industries
• Automated fabrication? No, it's been around for decades
• Helmet technology? No, it's been around in Moto GP for years

Anyone have a technology, part, component where it is unique to the bike industry and a new, never seen before technology? Seriously, I'd like to find a few things.


--

indyfabz

Seems like someone didn’t read the thread title. For example…Yes. LED lights have been around IN OTHER INDUSTRIES for a while, but….The first really bright bike headlight I can remember buying was from 1998. I bought it so I could ride a trail at night in the fall/winter in preparation for my cross country tour the following spring. It was powered by a lead battery that you could crush a bison’s skull with. Today, my bright USB rechargeable headlight I take on tour fits in the palm of my hand.

pdlamb

I was also going to disagree with the LED counter-example. LEDs have certainly been around for a while; it's been nearly 50 years since I bought my first calculator with LEDs. But those were dim and gobbled up batteries. High-power LEDs came to market in the mid-20-naughts, IIRC, and they've improved since then. I believe the high-power LEDs first appeared in bike headlights, and only later showed up in flashlights as replacements for halogen bulbs, and later in auto headlights (though I could be wrong about flashlights).

indyfabz

Electronic shifting is also a big improvement in BICYCLES. Carforums.net is down the hall.

GhostRider62

LED tailights were around in the mid 90's and they were dim. I used a Cateye LED on Paris Brest Paris in 1995 and a homemade 10W Lithium Battery system for the halogen headlamp that cost me a bloody fortune.

LED headlamps were not effective until about 2010. Between 2005-2010, they sucked. If you ride at night, LED headlamps are a game changer and very important.

Little blinky LEDs on circuit boards were around in the mid 70's to my knowledge and experience but they could have been used commercially before then. We had some LEDs on the A/D conversion board in a CT data acquisition system that I worked on back as a youngin.

PeteHski

The thread title was about bicycle improvements, not entirely new forms of technology never before used by mankind. This is not space exploration or nuclear physics.

GhostRider62

How about carbon fiber spokes? I doubt they are used in other industries? But they are unimportant.

I do like my clipless pedals but that invention is pretty old now.

I don't think cars use wireless shifting communication like e-Tap and I would say wireless shifting is a big improvement. At least my BMW and Mercedes use wire connections and I doubt wireless shifting is common in cars.

drlogik 

Ok, I'll admit I *may* have gone a bit overboard on "improvements" by citing lack of innovation; however, I do have one improvement and yes, I think it is an original innovation and everyone at the time thought that it was preposterous. But when races started getting won and records broken, the UCI changed the rules.

The innovation I'm thinking about evolved into the technique that all time trialists use today. "The Flying Scotsman's" cycling form/'technique (the funky and unique crouch) that Graeme Obree basically invented, perfected, broke records and then faded into the limelight. In my eyes, that was a huge improvement, innovation and ground-breaking thing.

indyfabz

A bit? Your post “sunkage” was more tragic than the recent sub implosion.

What tubeless BIKE tires were common 20 years ago?

phughes

A lot has changed int he last few weeks. I hear we even have indexed shifting now, and disc brakes.

Chuck M 

Carrying golf clubs is old and busted. We need to know how to carry fishing pole now.

Then we need to know how to carry fish home.