"Isn't modern bicycle technology absolutely wonderful?"😍

[MattiThundrrr]

I liked things better when all you needed was a flathead screwdriver, plank and a hammer

View attachment 838790

You found the video of me building Duck Norris!

 

[bikeworkshop]

Consumerism isn't interested in function.
To a certain extent it's opposed to it, in order to maintain continuous demand.

Interesting though that there are now some bikes and brands with a high level of utility, the Gravel Adventure Bike, what we used to call Tourers.
Some of them don't have internal cables!
Some are made of METAL!
Athough sadly many have full length gear outers that don't last well in UK climate)

Is this high function's return to fashion or just a small niche in an otherwise disposable world?

 

[BerthaPog]

They make everything.
To aerospace industry levels.

With the malaise that seems to be consuming Boeing at the moment, that’s not the “recommendation” it once might have been.

It’s always easier to maintain tight tolerance specifications when your making a (relatively small) number of things (thousands) rather than properly mass production numbers (millions) of something.

 

[Mike Muz]

Pretty sure someone on Singletrackword found a source of cheap Vitus hangers mate? Might be worth having a look as from memory they’re generic catalogue items rather than bespoke.

Thanks mate, yes I did find one eventually

 

[Mike Muz]

Consumerism isn't interested in function.
To a certain extent it's opposed to it, in order to maintain continuous demand.

Interesting though that there are now some bikes and brands with a high level of utility, the Gravel Adventure Bike, what we used to call Tourers.
Some of them don't have internal cables!
Some are made of METAL!
Athough sadly many have full length gear outers that don't last well in UK climate)

Is this high function's return to fashion or just a small niche in an otherwise disposable world?

Speaking of which, what is the smoothest, most reliable and long lasting full gear cable around ? Asking for a (Trek) friend.

 

[Mike Muz]

What does the dropout look like? I bought a few in the hope I could get a match for a non Vitus frame. Haven't yet checked but if I've a spare that could fit yours, I'd let one go

Thank you, I did find one eventually

 

[Mike Muz]

This was the offending item.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Our choice:
Smoothed stainless shimano inner, nice gentle curves in 5mm outer (sis-sp51) chromed end caps, and all assembled dry.

Those plastic caps distort fast, and the ones with the noses trap as much as they prevent.
4mm outer seems a fraction tighter.

Some of my colleagues love the superflexy Elvedes inner, but that might be more important on compulsory tight curves like road bike with cables under the tape

 

[Cloverleaf]

Surely it stands against all the rules of common sense engineering.. Progress can hardly be defined as taking a machine that was easy to maintain, inexpensive relative to other forms of transport and at it's finest incredibly beautiful to behold, and turning it into precisely the opposite. So expensive that it excludes the common man, needing expensive maintenance and specialist knowledge even to replace a cable. This is progress..?

Not to mention being incredibly ugly to look at. Henry Ford was scoffed at for proclaiming one could have a Model T in any colour as long as it's black. Henry should have stuck around long enough to see a sector embrace his views wholeheartedly.

No wonder the industry is on its knees.. ultimately it's a victim of a takeover by hedge funds and luxury brands seeking to sweat every penny it can from those with more money than sense...

I'm conflicted on this. There's a lot of daft 'engineering' which goes into bikes, but bear in mind that my world is bigger travel stuff, not lightweight XC, and not road. Internal cable routing is so-so. On some bikes it just isn't an issue, but on others it's crap - like some of the videos I've seen of internally routed road frames for example where it goes through the head tube. I think the average bike now that could be got for £500 from Halfords is probably going to be better overall than something you could have spent thousands on years ago.

My biggest bugbears are manufacturers making stuff that could be easily user serviceable (and rebuildable) not, either through lack of part availability, or through needing proprietary tools that are intentionally just a little 'off' which means you can't bodge something together, and also making proprietary parts like bearings that will at some point become NLA and essentially kill the bike as a result. Suspension companies are particularly bad at this. But the performance is now so good in most cases that this isn't a problem as you'll generally send it to a service centre and they'll pick up the tab for that, and £100 to service a shock really isn't that bad, and people would have done that years ago too.

I'm struggling to think of anything that needs particularly expensive maintenance, other than suspension and dropper posts (both of which are well worth it, unless your manufacturer doesn't provide any spare parts - I'm looking at you BOS and Ohlins). Your point about gear cable replacement does seem very valid though when looking at some of the daft road bike setups I've seen mentioned. I guess I see it that you've still got cheaper bikes available, it's just the upper end of what is available has moved somewhat north but that doesn't mean you have to spend that much; I don't think the 'common man' is being excluded from things as a whole, perhaps just the upper end, and that can apply to everything in life. Not everyone has a luxury car but their existence doesn't prevent someone else buying a Fiesta or whatever, and if their jealousy causes problems then it's their problem to bear, not the person's who can afford the top end. I do agree with your point about hedge funds and vulture capitalism, but that's more down to seeing them stripping profit from the industry and not actually providing quality to match the perception created by the price.

 

[bikeworkshop]

There has been a growth in nice quality usable bikes lately - but for a few years most of the "nice quality" stuff was high end sport specific.

There's plenty of people here using decent quality 8 speed setups, but most current 8speed is a little basic.