- 7 weeks ago
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 altogether?
00:46Number one, proprietary seat posts. In the past bicycle manufacturers would furnish a frame with
00:52a 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,
01:08and reduced weight. 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
01:18quite how much difference smoothing out the lines between the seat post and the rest of the frame makes.
01:23The 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 that
01:34frame. So also when we look at proprietary seat post designs, some of them are excellent and work
01:40really well, but there are also some pretty high profile examples where brands clearly haven't got it
01:45right 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
02:06actually go
02:06into it. Now brands do have to continue making the seat post for a number of years after they've stopped
02:12producing the bike. When I asked Giant, they told me that they are still holding stock of a seat post
02:17for a frame that they haven't manufactured for about 10 years. However, people do sometimes hold
02:22onto 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
02:37dramatically in the last couple of years. It used to mean cables that ran into the down tube and top
02:42tube to reach their destination, but they were external at the handlebars. This keeps muck out of
02:48the cables and it does cut down on the maintenance when you compare it to fully external cable routing.
02:53However, it was still fairly easy to actually replace the cables when you needed to.
02:58Fully internal cable routing, as we mean in the year 2021,
03:02means that the cables are completely hidden from view. Brands have very many different methods of
03:07achieving this, but as a general rule, they'll run into the handlebars or underneath the handlebars
03:11through the stem and headset, and then alongside the steerer en route to their destination.
03:16Routing 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
03:26re-cabling. Speaking to local bike shops, they're saying that a job that used to take five minutes
03:31is now taking half a day. When you add in the cost of the hydraulic cables, you've got a pretty
03:36big
03:37maintenance bill on your hands. Secondly, these methods of internal cable routing involve new methods
03:43of engineering, and new methods of engineering sometimes go wrong. Case in point, the Specialized SL7.
03:50Specialized recalled that bike because the compression ring, which was acting as a guide
03:55for said internal cable routing, was potentially causing undue stress on the steerer.
04:00The US Product Safety Consumer Commission website says that there were only two instances, and there were
04:06no major injuries. However, a steerer failure is pretty significant if it does happen to you,
04:12and the brand was concerned enough to issue a stop ride notice when it issued the recall.
04:17Fork recalls aren't nothing new. Recalls in any industry are certainly nothing new. However,
04:23systems that allow for internal cable routing do seem to be cropping up as a factor fairly often,
04:28alongside the search for ever lower weights and ever better aerodynamics.
04:37The next irritant of modern day bicycle design might separate opinion, but I'm presenting the
04:43video 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
05:09side, aerodynamic tubing is often quite boxy and it's not quite so responsive and can become a bit too
05:15stiff. The 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 direction
05:29of travel has been to improve aerodynamics, sometimes at the sacrifice of weight and sometimes at the
05:34sacrifice of ride quality in terms of tube profiles. If, however, you're more interested in how a bike feels,
05:41then the rise of more aerodynamic tubing on bikes that aren't really focused solely on speed might seem like a
05:48little bit of a shame. Sure, you can make the argument that people buying endurance bikes who sometimes
05:53just want that bit more comfort still want to go fast, but do they want to go fast more than
05:59they
05:59want to enjoy the ride? Well, it probably depends on their Strava settings. Not only that, a lightweight,
06:05fun, fast climbing bike can sometimes just make you feel faster because you're really enjoying the ride.
06:11I've certainly been out on both the Specialized Athos and Specialized Tarmac and I've compared
06:16my watts with my overall speed and frankly the difference wasn't huge. Therefore, if your number
06:22one goal is just to enjoy the ride, then round tubes often make a lot more sense.
06:32Next up, wheel and tyre incompatibilities. Direction of travel has certainly been towards tubeless in the
06:39last couple of years. We don't have a problem with tubeless tyres. Lower pressures, wider contact patches,
06:44certainly improve cornering no end and they also reduce fatigue. Now, some data suggests that actually
06:50narrower tyres are still faster on glass smooth roads, but if you can go out and find me a local
06:57route where over 50% of the terrain is glass smooth magical tarmac of dreams, then I've got a prize
07:03for
07:04you somewhere. Once compatibility issues are addressed and sealant is a little bit better at road type
07:10pressures, 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
07:20associated with getting it wrong ranges from giving your club mate a sealant facial on the next chain
07:26gang, to 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 licence 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
07:42-hookless
07:42compatible tyre and pumped it to 200% of the maximum, which also you shouldn't do. And you
07:49shouldn't have a problem as long as you do stick to the guidelines. But there's always potential for
07:53people not to read the small print and that's where the concerns lie. The point here is that we're not
07:58against tubeless technology and we're not against hookless technology. What we are in favour of is
08:03better standardisation and both wheel and tyre brands sitting down and having just better communication.
08:14Next up, and I think this is going to be quite a popular one because we get a lot of
08:18comments about
08:19this, 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, 50 mil carbon rims, a power meter and
08:31a top
08:32end frame, you're going to be looking at shelling out £10,000 or £11,000, which is a pretty massive
08:38outlay. The cost of production for the brand is without shadow of a doubt less than the addition to
08:44the RRP at the top end of the scale. Now I do completely disagree with the you can buy a
08:50motorbike
08:50for that argument. And the reason for that is quite simple. These 10 and 11 grand bicycles are UCI
08:56pro level bikes. They are the same bikes that the UCI pros are riding. So yeah, you could buy a
09:03Honda
09:03CBR 650R for 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 the same
09:16motorbike as your MotoGP idols, well then you'd be looking at shelling out the £1 to $2.5 million.
09:23So an £11,000 bicycle that's ridden by the UCI pros on the world tour stage at £11,000 is
09:30absolutely
09:31not the same thing as a Honda CBR at £7,000. So let's just put that argument to bed. And
09:37finally,
09:38no one is forcing people to ride those bikes. However, it is completely understandable that people are
09:43annoyed 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 was
09:59cheaper. The thing is, Asia's actually got really good at producing frames now and they're now charging
10:04a premium for that expertise, which kind of feels fair enough. Secondly, very few brands actually
10:11produce their own carbon. Giant is a really good example of a brand that does produce its own carbon
10:16and you will notice that their prices are a bit cheaper than everyone else's. Many brands use a
10:21manufacturer Torre and Torre has recently introduced M40x carbon. M40x carbon is significantly stiffer,
10:29which means the brands need to use less carbon in order to produce an equally stiff frame and that
10:35means that the frame is lower in weight. Of course, M40x also costs more. So there you have rising labour
10:42costs as well as rising material costs. Then factor in shipping costs, which have ridden following Covid
10:48and in the UK following Brexit. And you do have a perfect storm which will create higher RRPs. However,
10:55I think it's fair to say that those higher RRPs also include a pretty substantial profit. And where does
11:02that come from? Well, the fact is that some people are happy to shell out five figures for a bicycle
11:07and 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 and
11:21facilitates 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
11:31styles? Well, the bottom bracket shell is an area that is very, very important in the stiffness equation.
11:37And 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
11:52eliminate 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
12:11recently
12:12that it's going to include it on all of its road frames going forward. It's compatible with a great many
12:17different 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. However,
12:29the fact that T47 is a really great solution doesn't really help for you if you've got a Cervelo wearing
12:35a BB Wright or a Cannondale with a BB30. Perhaps what's needed is some overall governing body that could
12:42enforce convergence on one specific standard, but they probably end up just swimming against a salmon
12:48and may get hit in the face with a wet fish. And finally, disc bra- no, disc brakes are
12:59really good.
13:00I'll give you cable actuator disc brakes, they're really not ideal and not much faster than rim brakes,
13:06but 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,
13:15please do air them in the comments. Hit like if you enjoyed this video and do subscribe if you want
13:20to see more. But at this point, at our last count, there were 21 different styles of bottom bracket.
13:28Really? Yeah. F***ing hell. Yeah.
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