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What is the future of bike technology and design? Diminishing returns?

13K views 79 replies 35 participants last post by  Fajita Dave 
#1 ·
Just thinking about recent advances in bike technology, design and materials in perhaps the past twenty years. If you look at bikes from 1998, they look pretty old from a technological standpoint. With more people opting for bicycles for transportation and recreation, it seems like there have been numerous, rapid advances in bike design.

Are we getting to a point where designs are nearing their limits in performance gains - much like prop-driven aircraft and the internal combustion engine?

What will be the industry focus in the near future? Aerodynamics, weight, comfort, safety, mechanical reliability, electronic everything? Will the beautiful simplicity of the bike disappear?
 
#67 ·
Marketing

Bike manufacturers always like the new thing to get riders to upgrade.

There's a limit on how much lighter the bikes can be. But aero "styling" can help with sales, even if the differences are very tiny. It just has to look aero.


I think it's the same way with disk brakes on road bikes. New riders all want them, even if they don't ride in the rain or do long, steep downhills.
 
#69 ·
I would welcome several tech changes. Automatic shifting is *not* one of them....


  • Automatic fine tuning of shift indexing on electronic shift bikes.
  • Getting rid of chains and derailleurs as they exist today. Whether that be internal gearing or some other direct drive type of system
  • Improve range on Electric commuter bikes to last a week of commuting and still have enough power to get me up the steep hills on my way to work
  • Electric commuter bikes that don't weigh 30-50lb
  • Cold Weather clothing/shoe tech to improve so that I don't have to dress like an Eskimo to be able to commute to the office on a cold wet winter morning and still be warm and dry.
  • Helmets that don't suck
  • Tires that don't flat (but are still light, supple, and have good grip)
  • Wheels that stay in true (and spokes that don't break)
 
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