nuke_diver

I love new technology but I'm often a very very late adopter. And not because I cannot afford it but because I am fundamentally cheap and I don't generally like to replace something that still serve the purpose well. As a result I have a 7 year PC (built myself) which I am considering replacing but more for the fun factor of building a new one since the current works well and does everything I need it to do. I have a 16 year old car (97 Acura integra GSR) which also works well and does everything I need it to do and is still quick and agile enough for me. Finally I have a 32 year old steel bike which is also in general good enough for me but I am looking at getting a new bike because the current one is in need of significant upgrades to make some of the riding around here a bit easier on my old knees

I do have an iphone 5 but that's only because work pays for the plan...otherwise I'd only have a cheap phone for emergencies cause that's all I need it for...but I do like the ipad especially when we travel

big john

If I thought I could jump on a Super Six (or anything else) and it would fit and feel perfect, I wouldn't mind the price so much. It's just the only way I have been able to spend a lot of time on a bike is to buy that bike, except the time I was able to demo a Rize 120.

Mobile 155

That has been a godsend to me. Some of the riders in my club are real early adopters. If I see they are looking at moving to a 11 speed I start talking to them about buying their old, like maybe a year, red derailleur or cranks and save them till someone has a frame for sale. I got my Aero bars that way.

John E

True. I would take your advice a step further and note that every other Microsoft OS is fraught with problems, which are fixed in the next one. Win98 was good. ME was junk, but XP was very stable. Vista was incompatible with almost everything, then Win7 came along and finally proved to be everything Vista should have been, but wasn't. The jury is still out on Win8, but I hope to avoid it entirely and buy my next computer after Win9 has been out for awhile.

John E

My feeling exactly. I just spent $1500 fixing up my 1996 Audi A4 instead of buying a new car, and I have no plans to replace either my 1981 Bianchi or my 1998 Schwinn. I don't part with money very easily -- copper wire was invented by two Scots fighting over a penny.

Mobile 155

I just got a picture, from this post it would seem as if you might believe the Dickens gave Scrooge a bad rap in Christmas Carol? In this sub forum it would seem as if Jack Benny might be some people's idol, or at least his character.

Zinger

No cell phone. No CO2. No clipless.

Bah Humbug !

John E

No, I do have a cell phone, but yes, I also have a full size pump on every bicycle, as well as toeclips with straps. I prefer the pump, which never runs out of pressure. I want at least one bicycle set up for street shoes, which means toeclips with straps, and I do not trust myself with a mixed fleet.

As others have mentioned, such personal preferences aside, the primary reason many of us are not early adopters is the high cost of joining that club. Ebenezer Scrooge got it only 2/3 right and missed the most important 1/3 -- John Wesley said, "Earn all you can; Save all you can." However, he also said, "Give all you can."

Zinger

Well I'm Scots too and that's probably a good part of my problem, lol.

Actually I've bought CO2 stuff but don't have the room for it in my current seatpack. On a new winter build I might hafta practice with it and carry it along with a mini backup pump.

That won't leave room for a cellphone so I guess I'll hafta spring for some dogtags with blood type and next of kin etched on them.

The clipless will hafta wait until my relatively NOS 15 year old "Performance" touring shoes wear out in about another 15 years or so.

And yeah I might have to get into the "Box o Crap" game over in C&V just to give away some of the perfectly good stuff that I've got that I'll never use.....As thanks to the Gods for setting me up with a very appreciated frame set to build up.

I'm OK with being Scots as long as Ken Buchanan doesn't wear those plaid boxing trunks into the ring with Roberto Duran anymore.

Mobile 155

There is another saying I like, "its your money spend it as you like." J. G. Wentworth. And one I like even better, There are no trailers on a Hurst.

But in effect what should be said be said is we can justify spending money on equipment either by having lots of it or getting one we really want.

Dudelsack 

Interesting that I just got back from walking my dog and was listening to a very unFredly Fredcast in which they were discussing Boardman bikes. Hiding the front brakes in the fork gives tangible power advantages.

Great stuff. If I were competitive and didn't have a backside larger the LaGuardia airport, I'd buy the stuff if I could afford it.

As it stands, maybe with a new aero bike I could get my average speed over 14 MPH. I'd probably pass out if I went that fast.

Mobile 155

Now that right there was funny I don't care who you are. But what makes this thread more interesting is the honesty. It is easier to accept the reasoning behind people's choices related to cost verses wants and needs. Most of the other threads related to frame material have some romantic notion of the bike being alive or some black magic about artisans imparting soul to the machine. his is simple, people buy what they are willing to spend money on.

DX-MAN

I'm definitely not a early adopter of tech; still not on carbon, only 6 years on 9-speed, 10 on clipless....

As a MTB'er, I really appreciate a lot of what is going on now; the tapered headset is a real boon to the rider, so much stronger. SRAM's "Zero Loss Travel" shifting was a major leap forward for 9-speed, and while I don't KNOW, I'm guessing the 10- and 11-speed equipment is equally sharp.

It's just too bad that some quality innovations have fallen by the wayside.

JanMM

I've three recumbents plus a hybrid; all with 9-speed drivetrains. I bought the Novara hybrid ten years ago - I'm guessing that it's been a long time since 9-speed was cutting edge. Nope, not an early adopter.
Got my first smartphone this past July: An iPhone 4. Nope, not an early adopter, generally.

Dudelsack 

I've been thinking of trying on of these, but I'm waiting until they make a full carbon version of it.

Mobile 155

What a hoot they are. But they are the original fixie, and stopping at a light can be your own Chinese fire drill.

gcottay

Thank you for your service. Beta and immediate post beta testers help make the world a better place.

billydonn

Love new technology but, like Jppe, I'm usually not in the first wave. My engine still kind of limits the usefulness of cutting edge bike stuff for me.

CF, GPS, clipless Sidis, good lights, electronic shifting, powermeter all = YES.
new women's skinsuit technology = DEfinitely BIG YES

I'm still sulking a bit about eleven speed though, to be honest. It ruins everything.

Thanks for a good interesting thread Hermes.

Dan Burkhart 

Not sure I want to see you in a women's skin suit. If anyone says post pictures, please pass.

Hermes

Your welcome.

Biker395 

You know, that's a good point. I think there are fewer technological evolutionary dead ends with cycling equipment than other technologies, particularly sport-related (to me, the rear-entry ski boot is a classic example). All I could come up with was Shimano's "Biopace" cranks. Maybe it reflects an industry further along in it's evolution. Always thought this would be a good read:

https://www.cyclepublishing.com/cyclingbooks/dc.html

No worries on the skin regeneration, BTW ... I use this!

nuke_diver

Well I just did adopt some new tech...a Cannondale CAAD10-3. ops: Not going to replace my old steel bike but I did a shakedown ride on it yesterday and it sure seems faster and definitely was easier (more gears easier to change than tube shifters). But I do plan for this one to be around 20 years from now when all the bikes are made out of adamatium

berner

After all these years, long after I've stopped riding a motor cycle, I'm finally reading "Zen And the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". I am only about a third of the way through the book but it is clear it's not about maintaining a motor cycle but about peoples attitudes about taking care of equipment. Even more, about finding language between people of different views to discuss what they might mean, whether discussing equipment or anything else. In this respect, it is an important book. Think how the rancorous stalemate currently underway Washington might proceed if the parties with different views actually knew what the other side was really talking about. In any case, I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the book. Maybe there is a meta meta theme involved.

Dan Burkhart 

It was 23 years ago that I read that book. I can pin down the year because a friend brought it to me when I was on my back in the hospital with a bad case of pneumonia. It was a good read. Might be time to pick it up again.

Zinger

I used to ride with a guy who tried those weird looking chain rings and he kept losing chains when shifting to the big ring after cresting climbs. He couldn't give them away after that.


That looks like an interesting read and I did mention Suntours slant parallelogram derailleur not entirely in jest. I didn't get around to using one until a Superbe model in the early '80s but I definitely grew an addiction to using them on narrow ultra 7 freewheels. In 1984 their patent ran out and Shimano began using the slant parallelogram in their 600 EX and Dura Ace. Took awhile for Campy to come around.