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The two that Velonews missed (innovations of all-time)

Last Post 09/16/2014 02:18 PM by Jim Crouch. 8 Replies.

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Posts:3180

09/15/2014 04:50 PM
Velonews has a top 10 list of all-time innovation that have changed racing. They go back as far as 1905 with the start of the derailleur, but they missed the two biggies that changed cycling completely forever and dwarfed anything since. You could not possibly race without both of these inventions/innovations. Since ~1890 no one has. Velonews lists the parallelagram derailleur as the most important innovation, followed by index/brifters then lycra. How 'bout pneumatic tires? The chain which allowed aero positions and gearing higher than 39-17 (roughly the effective gear of a high-wheeler). The improvements in bicycles since the days of Major Taylor are dwarfed by those two improvements shortly before his day, improvements so huge no significant changes have been made to the concept of either. I rode Cycle Oregon with innovations #3 and #9, velcro shorts, etc. and a helmet. No brifters, shifters (electronic or otherwise), power meter, clipless pedals, professional fit or drug testing. I wasn't racing so you can argue that doesn't count. But I will give anyone all of those innovations but not the pneumatic tire and the chain and I will take him on anywhere! Ben

Posts:2881

09/15/2014 06:56 PM
The pneumatic tire was invented before 1905, so perhaps that's why it didn't make the list?

Posts:3180

09/15/2014 09:12 PM
John Dunlop "reinvented" the pneumatic tire in 1888. John Kemp Starley produced the first safety bicycle with equal sized wheels and a chain in 1886. Both well before 1905. Velonews needed to go back further. (Bump lycra and electronic shifting off the list and put pneumatic tires and chains as #1 and #2, please! I'll let Velonews decide which of those comes first.) Also from Wikipedia: "Obsolete chain designs previously used on bicycles included the block chain, the skip-link chain, and the Simpson lever chain. Most modern bicycle chains used with a single chainring and single rear sprocket are conventional industrial bushing chain. Until the 1980s, most derailleur chains were also bushing chains, but today, virtually all derailleur chains are of the "Sedis" bushingless design. Compared to a bushing chain, a bushingless chain is cheaper to make, is less likely to break under shifting load, promotes better lubricant flow inside the rollers, and creates more lateral flexibility for multi-geared bicycles. However, it also wears much faster and has slightly worse mechanical efficiency than a bushing chain." Proud owner of 3 bushing chained bicycles. Edit: Oh, since shifting on a fixie never happens under load, that benefit of bushingless chains doesn't help those bikes. Ben

Posts:833

09/16/2014 12:34 AM
Surprised that compact cranks are on the list. Carbon fiber changed everything, love it or hate it.

Posts:163

09/16/2014 08:28 AM
That article was sponsored by SRM and, surprise, surprise, the PowerMeter was part of the gadgets that "changed everything". What a crock.

Posts:833

09/16/2014 11:28 AM
Sponsored by SRM. Make sense. No mention of clipless pedals either....

Posts:3180

09/16/2014 12:16 PM
Clipless pedals are #5. The list: 1. Rear derailleur 2. Shimano STD Brake/shift levers 3. Dupont Lycra 4. WADA Biological passport 5. LOOK clipless pedals 6. Digital bike fit 7. Compact cranks 8. Di2 Electronic shifting 9. Foam helmets 10. SRM Power meter If we are talking speed and results, #4, the WADA Biological passport is a step backwards. Ben

Posts:4499

09/16/2014 01:25 PM
That's as a silly a list as I've ever seen one. Get rid of #2,4,6,7,8,9. While those were nice innovations; they did not lead to a fundamental shift in how racing is conducted. I'd consider them incremental gains. The Power Meter should be on list; it has changed training and racing fundamentally. EPO and associated products should be on list; racing again was changed fundamentally. I don't think pneumatic tires or chains should necessarily on the list; while they fundamentally changed the concept of the bike; I don't associate them with a fundamental shift in racing. But maybe they did. What about the quick release?

Posts:33

09/16/2014 02:18 PM
Surprised aero-bars are not on there. Aerobars had a profound impact on racing. Like most posts so far, I was surprised by about half of the list. For example, while I think computer bike fits are nice, it didn't fundamentally change cycling or racing (as compared to the previous non-digital, professional bike fit. At the top level, I'd have to put wind tunnel testing above computer bike fit, but I wouldn't put either of them as a top-10.