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

[531Aussie]

The Steel is Real idea. What a load of cow dung. People like Grant Petersen have taken it to gimmick proportions.

I agree (although one of my 'good' bikes is steel, and I love it), especially when they start charging thousands of dollars for customs

The Henry James stuff is also extreme. After reading all this hype I was too scared to ride my tigged alu frames for a week
http://www.henryjames.com/faq.html

 

[gclark8]

Compact (MTB) Cranks on Road Bikes.

 

[bobbyOCR]

Compact (MTB) Cranks on Road Bikes.

ha, yes.

But we live in WA, which is fairly flat.........which means people that buy compacts around here just **** me off more.

(on a side note, have you ridden river road/roelands/pile rd?)

 

[willocrew]

+ 1 to Carbon Fibre bottle cages.

They have only one weight reducing feature: to reduce your wallet weight.

 

[1id10t]

Bzzzkill harmonic dampers from Bontrager. These are 'special' bar plugs which, when inserted, reduce vibration to your road handlebars.
Does anyone know whether these things really work?

 

[caferacerwanabe]

http://www.cyclespeed.com.au/p/368542/carbon-bolt.html


One born every minute.

 

[jsull14]

Maybe not a gimmick, but an ultralight stem seems like something I'd want to stay away from. That would really suck to have your handlebars detach on a fast decent.

 

[mitosis]

Interesting no one said 10 speed vs 9 or 8 or 7 for that matter. It's not a gimmick I guess, but is 10 really necessary?

I thought the same but over the last few years when I put my 9 speed spare rear wheel in the support vehicle and all the others are 10 speed I wonder about the likelihood of getting my 9 speed if I get a flat, or of some poor ******* ending up with my wheel and only having a few gears that will work reasonably smoothly.

You are sort pretty much forced into it.

 

[FreeHueco]

I have a few... I apologize in advance.

1. Anything other than a steel frame for someone who is not racing. Saving weight is not THAT CRUCIAL...

2. faux-carbon bar tape. yes, I have it; and yes it does suck. I will be replacing it soon.

3. Ceramic bearings in the bottom bracket. I can understand the benefit of having ceramic bearings in the hubs; but in the bottom bracket? How much effort will that REALLY save you? can you do fewer leg presses of 40 pounds than you can of 39.9? Would you be able to tell the difference if no one told you there WAS a difference?

4. Shaving legs... Whatever!

5. Integrated headsets. Sorry, I'm with Chris King on this one...

6. Trek bikes... They are the Honda of the bike world. Sure they work, but every other clown on the bike has one...

 

[caferacerwanabe]

Maybe not a gimmick, but an ultralight stem seems like something I'd want to stay away from. That would really suck to have your handlebars detach on a fast decent.

95gr of magnesium , and seeing how long it took my magnesium pedals to snap & the reliability of magnesium frames this is one stem I willl be avoiding.

 

[pistole]

- could the double-tap SRAM shifting system count as a gimmick ?

- it takes the STI concept no further than the systems offered by Shimano/Campy.

.

 

[caferacerwanabe]

- could the double-tap SRAM shifting system count as a gimmick ?

- it takes the STI concept no further than the systems offered by Shimano/Campy.

.

They were restricted by patents held by the above , still think its way too expensive for Taiwanese clobber.

 

[willocrew]

http://www.slipstreamz.com/content.asp?subID=9

 

[LeDomestique]

http://www.slipstreamz.com/content.asp?subID=9

Ha! This is brilliant. I don't even understand what they are supposed to do.

For me, this, next to the carbon bolts (70$ each) are clear winners here....

 

[Xsmoker]

 

[Tapeworm]

I thought it would be any manufacturer with pointless acronyms in the marketing spiel "...with our state of the art Big Oversized And Special Tubes (or B.O.A.S.T) system you'll feel like you're being taken for a ride like never before..."

 

[Tim Lamkin]

http://www.cyclespeed.com.au/p/368542/carbon-bolt.html


One born every minute.

Holy cow.....

 

[dabac]

http://www.cyclespeed.com.au/p/368542/carbon-bolt.html

They ...are impervious to gamma rays.

What?

 

[Tapeworm]

They ...are impervious to gamma rays.

What?

It's so Customs won't damage them when they excessively x-ray them secreted in your luggage.

I am sure such a thing would be illegal in most countries that abhor the use of excessive carbon fibre.

 

[Induray]

1. Overly expensive shorts and jerseys with CF in it and anti vibration material to avoid muscle fatigue
2. Overly expensive bikes that tout significant "stiffness increase" but compliant for a smoother ride.
3. Weird shape top tubes and proprietary bottom brackets designs that elicit "lightness and ultimate power transfer".
4. Anything with an Italian name and costing hundreds of dollars for a freaking jersey!!
5. Weird ass design wheels for "maximum acceleration" (Modolo)

Yet I see myself drooling over all this ****.........