What is the best advancement in cycling ?

What to you in your oppinion is the best advancement in cycling ?

For me, it is the LED light, at last bright lights that don't cost the earth to run, although when they came out, my first ever Cateye, there was a lot in the cycling press about what the law says about cycle lights, and how one could be stopped for displaying the wrong kind of light. To me this was plain stupid, as to be stopped with the wrong kind of light told me the light was noticeable enuf for the rider to be stopped, a step in the right direction though unlawful, which was complete crap.

Anyways, now we have the Ledlenser, that is powerful and with about fifty hours constant burn, so economical. The temptation now, is to angle the light to eye view to dazzle the bloody cars for a change.

I don't think I'd want a blinded driver piloting a car at my skull in excess of 50mph, thanks! :shock:

As to your question...there are many advancements that I'd put on the list as nominees, double walled rims, butted tubing, the quick release skewer. For me though, it has to be the integrated 3 pawl Hyperglide cassette hub.

I know I know...it aint sexy. But the reliability of the affordable rear hub went through the roof when the cassette hub came aboard. I remember working in shops in my early days, and there were so many broken or bent rear axles in freewheel hubs back then. The freewheel just afforded no support whatsoever to the drive side axle on a 135mm hub, such that the load on that unsupported axle length was a very obvious weak link in the drivetrain. As people's expectations about what they could do on a bike began to grow, that axle became a real liability. The cassette hub body, with integrated pawls on inboard and bearing surfaces outboard allowed for the placement of that driveside bearing to be moved right out next to the dropout for optimum support. Uniglide bodies weren't as tough as the later stuff, but by the time Hyperglide 7 speed came out, those hub bodies were darn near bulletproof when maintained properly...at least as reliable as the ubiquitous Sachs Aris freewheels of the day. Today's cassette bodies are even stronger despite carrying 9 and even 10 speeds (and now 11?!) I mean...when was the last time any of you took out their Morningstar Freehub Buddy and repacked your cassette body? The things essentially last forever. I'm not claiming that nobody has broken a cassette, because I know that aint the case either. But remember, we are doing more and more extreme and crazy-dangerous things on our increasingly complex bicycles and the cassette hub is a major reason why we can get away with it. Again, it aint sexy, but the cassette style hub was a major advancement, one we certainly take for granted today.

index gearing

SPD's

toeclips are the work of the devil :evil:

Brakes

Sealed bearings and v-brakes - the two things that most improved maintenance and riding respectively.

Clipless pedals are the only part I cannot ride aggressive without.

Suspension forks are a close second.

Disc brakes are third.

well, obvioius answer is the pnumatic tyre (thanks mr dunlop)
but id agree indexing in recent years, althou having said that, you wouldnt need indexinging if not for the rear mech.
led front lights? never mind the car driver, i get fed up of oncoming cyclists blinding me. then if they are on flash too (yes its illegal btw) it feels like some nazi torture technique. I CONFESS!!

orange71":2ne3h0mg said:

SPD's

toeclips are the work of the devil :evil:

Click to expand...

So true

W W Biffta":38538vpg said:

if they are on flash too (yes its illegal btw)

Click to expand...

Not True anymore.

info from the ctc

Thanks to the enactment of Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 2559: on 23rd October 2005, it finally became legal to have a flashing light on a pedal cycle. Even better: it became possible for a flashing light to be approved, meaning no other light would be needed in that position. And since BS6102/3 does not yet cater for flashing (but is likely to be amended to do so quite soon), approval is for the time being, granted simply on the basis of brightness.

Because DfT very much prefer anything that possibly can be evaluated against a proper technical standard, so to be evaluated: any flashing lamp that is also capable of emitting a steady light is approved only if it conforms with BS6102/3 when switched to steady mode. Since most (probably all) flashing lights do also have a steady mode, and since none of their manufacturers can be bothered to test and mark them to the pernickety standards of one small country on the fringes of Europe, it's unlikely that any flashing light actually qualifies for approval. But since it became theoretically legal to ride a bike with only flashing lights on it, the Police are nowadays no more likely to quibble its legal status than one equipped with steady lights – unless they're rather dim or involved in an accident of course.