What do you think is the biggest gimmick in bike equipment?



Adam-from-SLO said:
I forgot to add this one, since it is a new standardization in the road cycling industry:

1 1/8" headtubes on frames.

I get the reason why the industry went that way; however for the folks out there with perfectly good frames it can be a pain to then find a good 1" fork(carbon, etc). It seems as though the only carbon fork makers currently making 1" is Reynolds... and I think Eason EC90 makes one. To find new is tough; so the only other option is ebay. I'm surprised another carbon fork maker hasn't stepped up to the plate to produce a nice 1" carbon fork(LOOK, etc). There definitly is a market to be had there!

1" headtubes/ forks were perfectly fine for over 100 years of hard road cycling.:confused:

Reynolds doesn't make forks anymore.

Easton, as you noted makes CF 1" steerer forks. Ritchey makes a CF fork w/ a 1" steerer. Winwood makes a CF 1" fork. Gios/Mizuno make a CF 1" fork. Performance/Forte makes a 1" CF fork. So, that's 5 manufacturers. Not bad.

What bikes are still being produced with head tubes for 1" steerers come with forks from their manufacturer, generally. Otherwise, I don't really know that anyone is making frames for 1" forks anymore and leaving the fork finding to the buyer.

The standardization on 1 1/8" was bound to happen, because just before that road bikes had 1" steerers and MTBs had 1 1/8" steerers. It was a no doubter for the industry to narrow the range to 1 1/8". That's simple economics.
 
right on... yes, I guess its not so much a "gimmick"; however for those of us out there in bicycle-land that own a nice 1" headtube frame many of us are still shaking out heads :) I'm also hope that one of the main reasons for the change wasn't so that bike manufactures could then expect a certain % of roadies to dump their perfectly fine 1" HT frame and go out and spend $$ on the latest+ greatest 1 1/8" HT frame. I'm sure this did happen(on what scale exactly I do not know.. but I suppose what ever frames that were sold due to this fact, made a good supply on the used bicycle market for someone wanting to pick up a good frame at a small fraction of the price(vs. new))

I've even noticed Marzzochi stopped making(special order) 1" steerer tube suspension forks for MTB.. about a year ago :confused:

I suppose it was an eventual evolution to 1 1/8", but I hope all those fine Ti. / high end carbon frames/ lugged steel frames that will last many more years of riding will be able to find a 1" fork 5-10 years from now (Easton, Richey, etc. .. etc. ... keep making those bad boys.. hope you are reading this!!!)
 
Adam-from-SLO said:
right on... yes, I guess its not so much a "gimmick"; however for those of us out there in bicycle-land that own a nice 1" headtube frame many of us are still shaking out heads :) I'm also hope that one of the main reasons for the change wasn't so that bike manufactures could then expect a certain % of roadies to dump their perfectly fine 1" HT frame and go out and spend $$ on the latest+ greatest 1 1/8" HT frame. I'm sure this did happen(on what scale exactly I do not know.. but I suppose what ever frames that were sold due to this fact, made a good supply on the used bicycle market for someone wanting to pick up a good frame at a small fraction of the price(vs. new))

I've even noticed Marzzochi stopped making(special order) 1" steerer tube suspension forks for MTB.. about a year ago :confused:

I suppose it was an eventual evolution to 1 1/8", but I hope all those fine Ti. / high end carbon frames/ lugged steel frames that will last many more years of riding will be able to find a 1" fork 5-10 years from now (Easton, Richey, etc. .. etc. ... keep making those bad boys.. hope you are reading this!!!)

Yeah, the 1" world is getting smaller. That's for sure. Luckily there is eBay, and it can be a pretty darned reliable source of things hard to find. Hopefully, at least few of the remaining 1" fork manufacturers will stay in the game for a while.
 
Muskrat23 said:
...and you know when those pesky gamma rays get to your cage bolts it's all over.
all these gadgets wouldnt cost as much if less people bought them ,theres allways someone feels they have to buy these items at crazy prices ,im not imune to this myself but would never pay so much for a carbon waterholder i cant believe any one would ...:eek:
 
hod65 said:
all these gadgets wouldnt cost as much if less people bought them ,theres allways someone feels they have to buy these items at crazy prices ,im not imune to this myself but would never pay so much for a carbon waterholder i cant believe any one would ...:eek:

It's called economics. It is possible, some scientists say, that people actually make purchases because they want to, not because they have to. Taste varies. Wants very. If they didn't, it be a boring world.
 
alienator said:
It's called economics. It is possible, some scientists say, that people actually make purchases because they want to, not because they have to. Taste varies. Wants very. If they didn't, it be a boring world.
but you must agree there must be huge mark up on these items and you cant help feeling your being ripped off from time to time....
 
hod65 said:
but you must agree there must be huge mark up on these items and you cant help feeling your being ripped off from time to time....

Nope. There are huge markups all over the retail industry. So what? When I buy something, it's based on its value to me, not markup. If something costs more than it's worth to me, then I don't buy it. Simple. No drama. No consternation. No agnst.
 
Evilbofh said:
remember 1hg on a bike is like 1kg body weight...

so an ultralight bike (9kg) on a 90kg bloke is the same as a 11kg bike for a 70kg wimp...
:D

/E
Why does it make you a wimp for being 70Kgs?
 
Crankyfeet said:
What do you think is the most over-hyped, excess costing, part of a bike that really doesn't give you much benefit? Just interested in people's views.

My choices would be power cranks and carbon fiber bottle cages, not much has changed in the last few years!
 
Anything with carbon fiber or titanium in it's construction!

CF water bottle cages can be had now at Walmart that weigh 26grms for $14...if you gotta have CF but don't want to spend a lot.
 
Hey thanks for bringing this thread up, Froze, it's pretty interesting.

I guess since no one has posted in a while I'll bring up Shimano Di2...

You're not exactly screwed if the battery runs out 100 miles away from home but it would be really annoying. I mean, seriously? With all the kinetic energy going on while biking the Shimano engineers couldn't figure out how to charge the battery from the rider's spinning or other things that are moving on the bike, i.e., regenerative braking ...something?

Also, when carbon was a huge fad in the early 2000's I remember catalogs featuring carbon chainrings and saddles that were 100% carbon. I know someone who has a carbon saddle and according to him it's really comfortable. I wouldn't say it's worth shelling out the $400 though.
 
Easily broken frames with limited lifespans that cost thousands of dollars.

Or shoes and pedals that bring the huge profit margin from selling clothing into the world of componentry.

But perhaps the worst development has been the loss of interchangeability among, and ability to repair, components.

All of this has turned bicycles into high-priced commodities intended to be disposable.
 
FreeHueco said:
6. Trek bikes... They are the Honda of the bike world. Sure they work, but every other clown on the bike has one...
Really? I'm old enough to remember when Trek was the new company on the block, and were the hometown success story (grew up nearby). They're not the bad guy, and neither is someone a clown if they ride one.
 
willocrew said:

I have been putting my head in a home-made vice to try and get it shaped more aerodynamically. It hurts a little, but the reduction in the drag coefficient will be worth it. Now my eyes are on the sides of my head, which make it somewhat hard to see strait ahead, but again, the reduction in drag is worth it.
 
FreeHueco said:
That's all fine and dandy; but you'd still be passing people with the $6000 bike... I routinely pass roadies while out on my fixed gear bike. Nothing like upping the cadence to 130, I tell ya!

No racing for me, just a lot of long rides... Maybe I will race on the track next season. :)

ROFL LMAO. Not racing, passing a roadie, assuming you're a faster rider because you passed them in a particular situation, out of context.
 
genedan said:
You're not exactly screwed if the battery runs out 100 miles away from home but it would be really annoying. I mean, seriously? With all the kinetic energy going on while biking the Shimano engineers couldn't figure out how to charge the battery from the rider's spinning or other things that are moving on the bike, i.e., regenerative braking ...something?

Since the big fad is the ol "fixie" one could say that being stuck in one gear is fashionable. Shame on Shimano for not having a clutch in the freehub that converts from a freewheel to fixed when battery power is lost. ;)

Re-genbraking? what you think it is, a Toyota Prius?

... although you can count me if if the malfunction was having the bike power itself at 60mph mid race.

:p
 
old911guy said:
Really? I'm old enough to remember when Trek was the new company on the block, and were the hometown success story (grew up nearby). They're not the bad guy, and neither is someone a clown if they ride one.

You and me both, in fact I went and bought a brand new Trek TX900 in 1977 when Trek first went into business. It was just a frame and fork so I had it built with Campy Record. But the Columbus tubing, even though it was their best tubeset, was flexy in the bottom bracket and would chainring/chain would rub both sides of the front derailleur. But it was great bargain, a similar bike made in Italy would have easily cost me another $1,000! And I test rode several of the Italy jobs and they all flexed the same way as the Trek did. I only kept the bike for a year and sold it to buy a car since girls seemed to like a guy with a nice car better then a guy with nice bike!? But later in the 80's I went back to Trek, and by then they were making a superior product over the Italy jobs. But today's Treks are a far cry from those days of made in the USA frames, now at least 3/4th of their frames are made in China; I would never buy a Trek today!
 
Froze said:
I would never buy a Trek today!

There are still Trek frames made in the USA (the high end ones). BTW, don't tell the Taiwanese that they're "China" unless you want a fight ;) But really, that's not the reason that people are hung up on Trek. It's because they see them as the industry dominator (which isn't true...they're not that big worldwide), and because they don't like the whole "Lance wannabe" thing that they project onto everyone who rides a Madone. Anyone who feels like they need to get permission from someone else (like the snobs on this board) to buy a good bike at a good value that suits their needs has serious self esteem issues.
 

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