In the last 30 or more years, there has been three really big improvement in cycling. They are click shift, clipless pedals, and disc brakes. I have been around long enough to see the introduction of all three. And in the case of all three, the cycling and especially the racing communities, pushed back really hard. Since all three had common sense and logic behind them, can anyone tell me why the cycling community resists change with such vigor?
Change come hard in the cycling community
- Thread starter rydabent
- Start date
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I think the racing guys quickly adopted to click shift and clip less pedals, the road guys were a bit slow on the disc brake adoption but the MTB races probably were early adopters of discs.
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All uphill
Still rolling along
- Location
- Somerset
All three of your changes have negatives as well as positives, so it's not surprising that there is debate about their merits.
My newest and favourite bike has friction shifters, rim brakes and flat pedals.
My newest and favourite bike has friction shifters, rim brakes and flat pedals.
craigwend
Grimpeur des terrains plats
People don't tend to like change
There's a safeness to what you know
If you have something that works there may be no need to change
We are a sentimental lot...
Elements of inverted snobbery?
Birds of a feather flock to CC...
On our group ride today of seven of us late 40s to early 60's, 5 bikes had discs, all had clipless, all had integrated brake / gear levers
Maybe the 'community' is a generalism / stereotype?
There's a safeness to what you know
If you have something that works there may be no need to change
We are a sentimental lot...
Elements of inverted snobbery?
Birds of a feather flock to CC...
On our group ride today of seven of us late 40s to early 60's, 5 bikes had discs, all had clipless, all had integrated brake / gear levers
Maybe the 'community' is a generalism / stereotype?
cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
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- Land of confusion
I was about to correct you with the look pedals circa 1984 but your right the cinelli death pedals that didnt unclip properly were from 1970
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
Clipless pedals weren't resisted by the racing community to my knowledge. They were introduced by Lemond weren't they (Look pedals?) and spread.
Indexed shifters - I don't have much memory of what everyone else was thinking but I was rather envious of them but they were too fancy for me. Or do you mean integrated STI type shifters? Again I my memory is too vague but I think the racing community liked them because you don't so obviously telegraph your intentions with a very visible gear change.
Disc brakes did meet some resistance/scepticism from the racing community and elsewhere simply because there are pros and cons to their use. Ditto tubeless tyres.
Of course many people take the "if it ain't broke" approach and stick with what they already know.
Indexed shifters - I don't have much memory of what everyone else was thinking but I was rather envious of them but they were too fancy for me. Or do you mean integrated STI type shifters? Again I my memory is too vague but I think the racing community liked them because you don't so obviously telegraph your intentions with a very visible gear change.
Disc brakes did meet some resistance/scepticism from the racing community and elsewhere simply because there are pros and cons to their use. Ditto tubeless tyres.
Of course many people take the "if it ain't broke" approach and stick with what they already know.
Hover Fly
Lazy so and so
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- Besides the lake, beneath the trees
Bernard Hainault was involved in a pile up but escaped because he could unclick while the over riders who were strapped in came off worse..
Smokin Joe
Squire
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
I have a few memories of struggling to undo a toe strap while my leg was trapped under the bike after an off. you couldn't just pull your foot out because the slotted cleat was secured over the pedal cage by the tightly closed strap which needed a flick of the quick release buckle before you came to a stop.
Clipless pedals were a revelation which I took to straight away and the day after I fitted them to my racing iron I went out and bought another pair for the hack bike.
cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
Bernad Tapie was the driving force behind them who used his ownership of la vie claire team to introduce them, apparently lemond was promised $1 per sale of look pedals in the usa but never saw any of it .
PedallingNowhereSlowly
Senior Member
I think the weight penalty of disc brakes probably deterred the earlier adoption of them in road cycling.
And some commentators have made the argument that disk brakes have resulted in the pro peloton taking more risks and as a result more severe crashes have occured. So in some senses and improvement and other senses possibly not.
What would really improve cycling for me, is less marginalisation of it.
And some commentators have made the argument that disk brakes have resulted in the pro peloton taking more risks and as a result more severe crashes have occured. So in some senses and improvement and other senses possibly not.
What would really improve cycling for me, is less marginalisation of it.
Smokin Joe
Squire
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
The first "Clipless" pedals I ever saw were those used by the Australian track sprinter Gordon Johnston during the 1970 World Championships in Leicester. No special shoes or pedals, he just had his shoes bolted to the pedals and had to mount the bike in his socks where a mechanic would help his foot into the shoes and tie the laces.
Profpointy
Legendary Member
Clipless is better for cycling, but it does then necessitate "special shoes" so for a practical journey like commuting to work, you need to leave a pair in the office. Despite having adopted clipless, in my case the MTB style I can walk in, it is still a bit of a turn off.
Disc brakes - am a bit ambivolent. Modern rim brakes are about 1000% better than the brakes I had as a kid, and modern pads (and alloy rims) are now pretty good even in the wet. I can pretty much lock the front wheel, and any old rubbish brakes will lock the back, so not sure there's that much improvement to be had. Admittedly wet weather performance is still an issue, but not a non-issue with discs either if my motrcycling experience is anything to go by. To be fair I've not tried disc brakes on a pedal bike, but nevertheless "ye cannae break the laws of physics" as a famous Scottish engineer once said
Disc brakes - am a bit ambivolent. Modern rim brakes are about 1000% better than the brakes I had as a kid, and modern pads (and alloy rims) are now pretty good even in the wet. I can pretty much lock the front wheel, and any old rubbish brakes will lock the back, so not sure there's that much improvement to be had. Admittedly wet weather performance is still an issue, but not a non-issue with discs either if my motrcycling experience is anything to go by. To be fair I've not tried disc brakes on a pedal bike, but nevertheless "ye cannae break the laws of physics" as a famous Scottish engineer once said
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
I've also seen the argument that in a racing scenario having mixed brakes (disc and rim) with different braking characteristics could be dangerous. I've no idea if that's true.
PedallingNowhereSlowly
Senior Member
I don't use "clipless" pedals on my MTB and my town bike.
And I didn't use them on the old hybrid which I've now donated away.
Two of those bikes I've done 100km rides on.
I do like "clipless" pedals - but I think a good shoe is far more important. I've got some flat soled cycling shoes and riding with them is almost as good as riding "clipless".
I think "clipless" is almost the most overated thing about road bikes.
That said, I think riding fixed and clipless once saved my life. A missile was thrown from a vehicle (in the days before I regularly wore a helmet) that hit me square on the bonce. It actually knocked me unconscious. When I came around some seconds later (ears ringing, vision slowly returning in what I can only describe as a pinhole that slowly widened) unbelievably I was still upright on the bike and still pedalling.
Continued on as if nothing had happened for a while. Until I realised I had blood pouring into my eyes and running all over my clothes.
And I didn't use them on the old hybrid which I've now donated away.
Two of those bikes I've done 100km rides on.
I do like "clipless" pedals - but I think a good shoe is far more important. I've got some flat soled cycling shoes and riding with them is almost as good as riding "clipless".
I think "clipless" is almost the most overated thing about road bikes.
That said, I think riding fixed and clipless once saved my life. A missile was thrown from a vehicle (in the days before I regularly wore a helmet) that hit me square on the bonce. It actually knocked me unconscious. When I came around some seconds later (ears ringing, vision slowly returning in what I can only describe as a pinhole that slowly widened) unbelievably I was still upright on the bike and still pedalling.
Continued on as if nothing had happened for a while. Until I realised I had blood pouring into my eyes and running all over my clothes.
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