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On the whole technological innovations tend to make bikes better. No-one is ever going to argue that pneumatic tyres or derailleurs haven't improved riding a bike. But there are some things that we're less sure about. On the surface, the six road bike developments listed in this video should be improvements. Why then, do we find them so downright infuriating? Are we right or should we just get on our bikes and try and enjoy them? And what gets your goat about modern bikes?
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00:00Trying to prevent technological advancement in any industry is a bit like swimming against
00:04the tide of schooling salmon. In the case of a cycling industry, occasionally the UCI sticks
00:10its oar in, but good engineering always finds a way around. If we didn't allow technology to
00:15advance we'd probably all still be riding around on the bone shakers of the 1860s,
00:20and we'd probably still think that the rattling experience was as good as it was ever going to get.
00:24En route to refinement some technologies pose more headaches than others to
00:28mechanics, bike testers like myself and also consumers. So which current advancements in
00:35modern bike technology do we wish would hurry up and reach refinement or just get out of the industry
00:41altogether? Number one, proprietary seat posts. In the past bicycle manufacturers would furnish a frame
00:52with a 27.2 millimeter hole and then they'd seek a reliable component brand to finish the picture.
00:58That meant the consumer could swap the seat posts easily at any time they wanted to.
01:03As technology has advanced, bike brands have sought better compliance, better aerodynamics and reduced
01:09weight. And it's no secret that the seat post is a massive part of the compliance story.
01:14Also having CFD and wind tunnel testing in-house means that they can see quite how much difference
01:20smoothing out the lines between the seat post and the rest of the frame makes.
01:24The result? Proprietary seat posts. Rather than seek an external manufacturer to create their seat
01:29posts, they make them themselves or work with a manufacturer to make one that only works with
01:34that frame. So also when we look at proprietary seat post designs, some of them are excellent and
01:40work really well, but there are also some pretty high profile examples where brands clearly haven't got
01:45it right the first time. Now the consumer might get a compliance boost, they might get better aerodynamics
01:51and they might get a better overall weight. However, they're also tied into using the seat post for
01:57the life of the bike. Not only that, but you are also reliant on the brand to continue making seat
02:02posts in that shape and size. You're a bit screwed if you've got a frame and no seat post to actually go
02:06into it. Now brands do have to continue making the seat post for a number of years after they've
02:11stopped producing the bike. When I asked Giant, they told me that they are still holding stock
02:16of a seat post for a frame that they haven't manufactured for about 10 years. However, people
02:21do sometimes hold onto bikes for a very long time, even for a lifetime, so it is something worth considering.
02:31Next up, internal cable routing. The definition of internal cable routing has changed quite dramatically in
02:38the last couple of years. It used to mean cables that ran into the down tube and top tube to reach
02:43their destination, but they were external at the handlebars. This keeps muck out of the cables and
02:49it does cut down on the maintenance when you compare it to fully external cable routing. However,
02:54it was still fairly easy to actually replace the cables when you needed to. Fully internal cable
02:59routing, as we mean in the year 2021, means that the cables are completely hidden from view. Brands have
03:05very many different methods of achieving this, but as a general rule, they'll run into the handlebars
03:10or underneath the handlebars, through the stem and headset, and then alongside the steerer en route to
03:15their destination. Routing cables in this way mimics the very worst of the London Underground network,
03:21and it can present some pretty substantial issues. Firstly, a headset change requires complete re-cabling.
03:28Speaking to local bike shops, they're saying that a job that used to take five minutes is now taking
03:32half a day. When you add in the cost of the hydraulic cables, you've got a pretty big maintenance bill
03:37on your hands. Secondly, these methods of internal cable routing involve new methods of engineering,
03:44and new methods of engineering sometimes go wrong. Case in point, the Specialized SL7. Specialized
03:50recalled that bike because the compression ring, which was acting as a guide for said internal cable
03:56routing, was potentially causing undue stress on the steerer. The US product safety
04:02consumer commission website says that there were only two instances, and there were no major injuries.
04:08However, a steerer failure is pretty significant if it does happen to you, and the brand was
04:13concerned enough to issue a stop ride notice when it issued the recall. Fork recalls aren't nothing new.
04:19Recalls in any industry are certainly nothing new. However, systems that allow for internal cable routing
04:25do seem to be cropping up as a factor fairly often, alongside the search for ever lower weights and
04:31ever better aerodynamics. The next irritant of modern day bicycle design might separate opinion,
04:41but I'm presenting the video and this is my opinion. Next up is aero tubing on climbing and endurance bikes.
04:49Ride quality of a bicycle is impacted by very many factors. The components that you put on the bike,
04:55tyres, wheels, seatposts, handlebars, play a vital role, as does the carbon layup, but also tube shapes.
05:03Round tubes, as a general rule, are responsive, quick to react and generally more compliant. On the flip side,
05:10aerodynamic tubing is often quite boxy and it's not quite so responsive and can become a bit too stiff.
05:16The prevailing voice in bicycle design says that aerodynamics is more important than weight in
05:21the speed equation, even if you're going at below 15 miles an hour or 25k an hour. Therefore, the
05:28direction of travel has been to improve aerodynamics, sometimes at the sacrifice of weight and sometimes
05:34at the sacrifice of ride quality in terms of tube profiles. If, however, you're more interested in how a
05:40bike feels, then the rise of more aerodynamic tubing on bikes that aren't really focused solely on speed
05:47might seem like a little bit of a shame. Sure, you can make the argument that people buying endurance
05:52bikes who sometimes just want that bit more comfort still want to go fast, but do they want to go fast
05:58more than they want to enjoy the ride? Well, it probably depends on their Strava settings.
06:03Not only that, a lightweight, fun, fast climbing bike can sometimes just make you feel faster because
06:09you're really enjoying the ride. I've certainly been out on both the Specialized Athos and Specialized
06:14Tarmac and I've compared my watts with my overall speed and frankly the difference wasn't huge.
06:20Therefore, if your number one goal is just to enjoy the ride, then round tubes often make a lot more sense.
06:27Next up, wheel and tyre incompatibilities. The direction of travel has certainly been towards
06:38tubeless in the last couple of years. We don't have a problem with tubeless tyres. Lower pressures,
06:43wider contact patches certainly improve cornering no end and they also reduce fatigue. Now, some data
06:49suggests that actually narrower tyres are still faster on glass smooth roads, but if you can go out and find me
06:56a local route where over 50% of the terrain is glass smooth magical tarmac of dreams, then I've got a
07:03prize for you somewhere. Once compatibility issues are addressed and sealant is a little bit better at
07:09road type pressures, then we will be away with tubeless technology, but I kind of think there's still
07:15some work to do yet. Roadie technology has changed a lot in the last couple of years and the risk associated
07:21with getting it wrong ranges from giving your club mate a sealant facial on the next chain gang,
07:27to spending your entire evening coating a rim in fairy liquid and using 30 different tyre levers.
07:32And just to be clear there's some artistic license there, please don't do that. To finally finding
07:37yourself stuck in a ditch by the side of the road because you used a hookless rim and a non-hookless
07:42compatible tyre and pumped it to 200% of the maximum, which also you shouldn't do. And you shouldn't have
07:49a problem as long as you do stick to the guidelines, but there's always potential for people not to read
07:54the small print and that's where the concerns lie. The point here is that we're not against tubeless
07:59technology and we're not against hookless technology. What we are in favour of is better standardisation
08:05and both wheel and tyre brands sitting down and having just better communication.
08:09Next up, and I think this is going to be quite a popular one because we get a lot of comments about
08:18this, is price. It's fair to say that the price of top-end bikes has definitely risen in excess of
08:25inflation in the last couple of years. If you want Dura-Ace, 50mm carbon rims, a power metre and a top-end
08:32frame, you're going to be looking at shelling out £10,000 or £11,000, which is a pretty massive outlay.
08:39The cost of production for the brand is without shadow of a doubt less than the addition to the
08:44RRP at the top-end of the scale. Now I do completely disagree with the you can buy a motorbike for that
08:51argument. And the reason for that is quite simple. These £10,000 and £11,000 bicycles are UCI Pro
08:57level bikes. They are the same bikes that the UCI Pros are riding. So yeah, you could buy a Honda CBR 650R
09:04for just over £7,000 and you still have change left over for leathers and a decent helmet,
09:10compared to if you'd gone out and bought that £11,000 bicycle. However, if you wanted to ride
09:15the same motorbike as your MotoGP idols, well then you'd be looking at shelling out the £1-2.5 million.
09:22So, an £11,000 bicycle that's ridden by the UCI Pros on the World Tour stage at £11,000 is absolutely
09:31not the same thing as a Honda CBR at £7,000. So let's just put that argument to bed. And finally,
09:38no one is forcing people to ride those bikes. However, it is completely understandable that
09:43people are annoyed about this price hike because it is substantial and it also affects the rest of the
09:48line. One of the reasons given for this increase in price is that very many brands produce their
09:53frames in Asia and they moved over to Asia many years ago because at the time, production there
09:59was cheaper. The thing is, Asia's actually got really good at producing frames now and they're
10:04now charging a premium for that expertise, which kind of feels fair enough. Secondly, very few brands
10:10actually produce their own carbon. Giant is a really good example of a brand that does produce
10:15its own carbon and you will notice that their prices are a bit cheaper than everyone else's.
10:20Many brands use the manufacturer Torre and Torre has recently introduced M40x carbon. M40x carbon is
10:28significantly stiffer, which means the brands need to use less carbon in order to produce an equally
10:33stiff frame and that means that the frame is lower in weight. Of course, M40x also costs more. So,
10:40there you have rising labour costs as well as rising material costs. Then factor in shipping costs which
10:47have ridden following Covid and in the UK following Brexit and you do have a perfect storm which will
10:53create higher RRPs. However, I think it's fair to say that those higher RRPs also include a pretty
10:59substantial profit. And where does that come from? Well, the fact is that some people are happy to shell out
11:05five figures for a bicycle and as long as people keep buying them, then the prices will stay the same.
11:15Finally, bottom bracket styles. Who would have thought that the component that houses the cranks
11:21and facilitates the movement of those cranks, thus allowing for the forward propulsion of a bicycle,
11:26would require so many different styles. And why is it that there are so many different bottom bracket
11:32styles? Well, the bottom bracket shell is an area that is very, very important in the stiffness
11:37equation. And over the years, brands have sought stiffer platforms for power transfer. And of course,
11:42as is always the case in the bicycle industry, they've also sought lighter overall solutions.
11:48Finally, in more recent years, after the press fit craze, they've also looked for solutions that
11:53eliminate creaks because that's a pretty common complaint. At our last count, there were 21 different
11:59styles of bottom bracket. And we probably missed one. BB wrong, maybe? T47 seems to be a very popular
12:06choice at the moment. Trek has included it on very many of its road frames, and it told us quite recently
12:12that it's going to include it on all of its road frames going forward. It's compatible with a great
12:17many different crank diameters. It also shares the same dimensions as the PF30, but it uses a threaded
12:23interface, which in theory cuts down on creaks and also makes home maintenance a lot easier.
12:29However, the fact that T47 is a really great solution doesn't really help for you if you've got a
12:34Cervelo wearing a BB Wright or a Cannondale with a BB30. Perhaps what's needed is some overall governing
12:41body that could enforce convergence on one specific standard, but they'd probably end up just swimming
12:48against a salmon and may get hit in the face with a wet fish. And finally, disc brakes... no,
12:58disc brakes are really good. I'll give you cable actuator disc brakes, they're really not ideal and
13:04not much faster than rim brakes, but hydraulic disc brakes, I would not go back to the era of the rim brake.
13:10So I hope that you enjoyed this video. I'm sure there's going to be lots of opinions. Please do air
13:16them in the comments. Hit like if you enjoyed this video and do subscribe if you want to see more.
13:22But at this point, at our last count, there were 21 different styles of bottom bracket.
13:28Really? Yeah.
13:30F***ing hell.
13:32Yeah.
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