Best new tech to put on a retro bike?

I think I still judge bike tech by the standards of the cromoly-and-thumbshifter era. I'm not impressed by trigger shifters, v-brakes, or the carbon fibre forks and chainstays on my Specialized Sirrus, but I will admit that some things are better, and some are easy to fit to a 20 year old bike:

- Zefal Lock N'Ride skewers - these clever bastards are quick release skewers for your wheels and saddle that only work when the bike is upside down. So if you lock the bike properly you can't come back and find your seat and wheels missing. Brilliant. They're probably good because Rivendell recommend them for keeping their customers' Brooks saddles on. I'm picking some up asap.

- Pink Kool Stop pads, because they gave rim brakes almost the performance of discs in the wet.

- Cheap high power LED lights like Fenix, especially ones with a strobe.

- Truflo Evolution pump. A mini floor pump that clamps to your frame - faster than a lot of big floor pumps.

- Fast slicks. Really fast slicks made out of the same rubber used for racing tyres - at least the tougher training versions. I hear that Rubinos and Fatboys are the absolutely fastest rolling?

- Nexus IGH rear hub. OK, this does alter the character of a bike designed for derailer, but I loved my Raleigh Commando and its 3-speed Sturmey Archer hub dearly. I still miss that bike!

- Disc brakes. But like the IGH I worry that they add too much thief bait to a bike that I'd want to leave locked on a the street.

I'm still looking for a recommendation for a really good dual purpose tyre though - something good on road and ok on softground.

I would say some of the better engineered stuff, like thomson posts, good quality BB's, CK headsets etc. Both the thomson and CK stuff looks right on retro bikes too.

PurpleFrog":1veqjnnj said:

- Pink Kool Stop pads, because they gave rim brakes almost the performance of discs in the wet.

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What planet is this on :?

Rim brakes in the wet are crap compared to discs, or anytime , for that matter.

pshyco 2 were the best combois ive used.

gibbleking":3luawgzo said:

pshyco 2 were the best combois ive used.

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Come off it, really? :shock:

They were bloody awfull. First sign of mud and the rear tye became utterly ineffective, just what you need in the UK. Not as horrendous on the front but I never felt comfortable cornering fast with them.

Butterscotch ones are cool though

Pauls, King, thompson etc as above are good though hardly cheap choices. Also people like Rotor, Acros, Tune still make some nice CNC bling if that's your thing.

Vs (properly set up) are a huge improvement over any cantilever. Disks are worlds apart - i.e they work, and work well in the wet as well.

970 XTR vs XT thumbies. Whilst I love thumbshifters the shifting offered on the latest kit is quicker, requires les effort and can be done under greater load than on XTII. I'm less convinced by XT in its modern guise. I have done lot of "micro adjusting" whilst riding to keep the gears shifting with XT but no such issues with XTR.

Nostaligia is great but you need to keep a sense of perspective. Whether the 970 kit has the same service life though is another matter.

...strobe lights? Do you take your decks with you on a ride? :shock: The best value ones are the P7 light and the new jobbies that Trout has dissected from dealxtreme over on STW.

Schwalbe do some really fast rolling tyres. Racing Ralphs are good at this time of year.

dyna-ti":kx44ivup said:

PurpleFrog":kx44ivup said:

- Pink Kool Stop pads, because they gave rim brakes almost the performance of discs in the wet.

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What planet is this on :?

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The planet Germany, where a magazine did a test with a properly set up bike and lots of pads. Kool Stop pinks came out at a 30% increase in stopping distance for wet rims. The Shimanos that I'm used to came out at double, which is what I reckoned, so the test seemed about right to me. It's consistent with what I've heard from people who have used Kool Pinks for wet weather messenger work and other road riding too. But that's ***wet*** rims, not ***muddy***.

Crell":1ysp7mdl said:

Vs (properly set up) are a huge improvement over any cantilever.

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People keep saying this, but why? Old school cantis already had enough power to lock the wheels with a moderate squeeze, and any more power after that is wasted. What am I missing?

970 XTR vs XT thumbies. Whilst I love thumbshifters the shifting offered on the latest kit is quicker, requires les effort and can be done under greater load than on XTII. I'm less convinced by XT in its modern guise. I have done lot of "micro adjusting" whilst riding to keep the gears shifting with XT but no such issues with XTR.

Nostaligia is great but you need to keep a sense of perspective. Whether the 970 kit has the same service life though is another matter.

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I just don't like the "interface" on trigger shifters. I like thumbies because you know where you are and where you can go to. But I can really see the point to IGH.

v's have tons more modulation, so is easier to keep the power to a max without locking up

dont get me wrong I love canti's, but V's are more precise.