3 super stupid inventions of the bike industry

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3 super stupid inventions of the bike industry
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O+
Posted: Sep 3, 2019 at 21:54 Quote
1) Derailleur hangers: These are a good idea, but the way they did them was so bad. They should be made of super strong metal, and clip into the frame with 2 or 3 plastic or weak aluminum bolts. This way the hanger will never bend causing mis-shifts, you will never need to struggle to find a hanger for a particular frame, and it will cost 11 cents to replace the plastic bolts if the derailleur gets snagged and rips off, and all hanger bolts are interchangeable/readily available... No waiting to order stuff in.
The current way hangers are done is awful, sometimes all it takes to bend a hanger is 1 bunny hop, and then your gears are mis-shifting. If the hanger breaks it's often impossible to find a stock one, or you have to order it in and you can't ride for weeks. Highly annoying.

2) 9/10mm qr axles. You know, the ones with the thinner than pencil thin skewer going through them... WHY? DT swiss made those awesome ones on a stumpjumper that are a nice solid 9mm thru axle. It's still quick release, 100000X stronger, and probably even lighter too because it's aluminum. Plus it sits in the frame a lot more snug, and there is more fork/axle contact, as the axle goes right to the end. Such a superior design, why didn't it catch on...

3) Numberless shifters: This is the only thing I like about walmart bikes better. The gear indicator is the best thing ever. Especially if you run 1X11, or have very little variance between gears. It's not hard to have your shifter tell you what gear you are in. DO IT! Almost everyone likes that feature. Why did they make expensive shifters numberless lol

What do you think? Agree/disagree? What inventions do you think are really dumb?

O+
Posted: Sep 3, 2019 at 21:56 Quote
i think you need to get out and enjoy biking instead of complaining Big Grin

O+
Posted: Sep 3, 2019 at 22:12 Quote
thunder-nuggets wrote:
i think you need to get out and enjoy biking instead of complaining Big Grin
What if I can't bike because of my broken derailleur hanger? Really Mad Really Mad Really Mad

O+
Posted: Sep 3, 2019 at 22:35 Quote
Sayshell wrote:
thunder-nuggets wrote:
i think you need to get out and enjoy biking instead of complaining Big Grin
What if I can't bike because of my broken derailleur hanger? Really Mad Really Mad Really Mad

ok buddy

O+
Posted: Sep 4, 2019 at 5:26 Quote
Every point you have made is hot garbage.

Plastic bolts to keep your mech from falling into your rear wheel? Yeah, go ahead and test that one out for us all.
Bunny hops bending the hanger? Nope, not unless you are bunny hopping your mech into the top of a boulder.
Find the right hanger for your bike and buy two, when you roast one, order another so you always keep a backup in stock. If you are going through hangers on a weekly basis you need to re-evaluate the terrain you are riding and your skill set.

Numbered shifters? Whaaaat? Why do you care if you are in your 7/8/9/12th gear? You should be shifting based on cadence and exertion not based on what number your shifter reads. How hard is it to look under you to see if you have a cog or two left if you are really that confused? Reduces cockpit clutter, and they are ugly/useless.

FL
Posted: Sep 4, 2019 at 9:57 Quote
Shift indicators are pointless, especially with a 1X drivetrain. Keep shifting into lower cogs until it stops, then pedal harder.

I have a drawer full of old ones I removed from every shifter I could if you want them.

O+
Posted: Sep 4, 2019 at 10:16 Quote
What? that was some of the worst shit I have read in a while!

Posted: Sep 4, 2019 at 12:03 Quote
Sayshell wrote:
2) 9/10mm qr axles. You know, the ones with the thinner than pencil thin skewer going through them... WHY? DT swiss made those awesome ones on a stumpjumper that are a nice solid 9mm thru axle. It's still quick release, 100000X stronger, and probably even lighter too because it's aluminum. Plus it sits in the frame a lot more snug, and there is more fork/axle contact, as the axle goes right to the end. Such a superior design, why didn't it catch on...

That’s like saying why did people invent steam engines when petrol engines are so much better. Just in case you didn’t realise, 9/10mm quick release was invented at a time when all you had was a screw on nut to tighten your wheels so needing a spanner. The 9/10mm qr axles were an amazing invention that was the first tool free solution to wheel removal/installation. Through axles came along many, many years after.

O+
Posted: Sep 4, 2019 at 12:29 Quote
Spangoolies wrote:
Sayshell wrote:
2) 9/10mm qr axles. You know, the ones with the thinner than pencil thin skewer going through them... WHY? DT swiss made those awesome ones on a stumpjumper that are a nice solid 9mm thru axle. It's still quick release, 100000X stronger, and probably even lighter too because it's aluminum. Plus it sits in the frame a lot more snug, and there is more fork/axle contact, as the axle goes right to the end. Such a superior design, why didn't it catch on...

That’s like saying why did people invent steam engines when petrol engines are so much better. Just in case you didn’t realise, 9/10mm quick release was invented at a time when all you had was a screw on nut to tighten your wheels so needing a spanner. The 9/10mm qr axles were an amazing invention that was the first tool free solution to wheel removal/installation. Through axles came along many, many years after.

It’s really more the equivalent of this dude still driving a car with a steam engine and bitching about it. You don’t like the QR standards from 1997? Maybe try upgrading to the new standard of 12/15/20mm axels.

O+
Posted: Sep 18, 2019 at 22:26 Quote
1) I have manufactured frames before. It's around 1500$-1800$ for high quality build with reasonable precision. Not worth it for just a derailleur hanger unless I want to start a company. It would be very easy to design. Plastic probably would be strong enough but like I said aluminum could be used if it proves too flimsy. If you buy a used frame you often can't get a derailleur hanger for it.

2) No it's not like that because the DT swiss axles existed since 2005ish, and regular thru axles also existed and were readily used on DH bikes well before that, yet the pencil skewers were used well up to 2014ish?? And still used today. Modern bikes today still use 9/10mm quick releases. Usually on cheaper models, but for example my P.Street had 9X100 and 135X10 axles.

3) The funny thing is shimano shifters often do have gear indicators, they are just numberless so they are useless hahaha. Wouldn't be hard to paint on a number or whatever. It's very helpful to know whether you are in 4th or 5th gear for example. Suppose you are going down a steep hill and then see a hill coming up you have to climb. You want to be in say 4th gear because that would be appropriate for the grade and want to pre-shift to get ready right away. Often you will end up waiting till you are on the hill and then pressure shifting into the appropriate gear which sucks... This is horrible for drivetrain and the best way possible to break chains, or even worse to create the infamous twisted link. Precision leverage can be very important for certain things like trials riding, riding backwards, climbing etc... The way things are done is like building a speedometer and then removing the numbers from the dash. It's silly.

Posted: Sep 18, 2019 at 23:32 Quote
It's a shame people are reacting so negatively to this post. Perhaps you could've phrased it better. Maybe we could try:

"Redesign your least favourite bike part: choose a simple component or sub-component that drives you crazy and let's come up with ideas to make it better!"

To address your choices:

1. Maybe hangers aren't even needed. The derailleur could mount directly to the frame via a break-away screw. Used to be able to purchase these; haven't seen one in ages. Take a few spares with you in the tool kit.

2. The central axis of a beam contributes little to strength and stiffness in bending, so a bike's axle should always be hollow. This allows a universal QR skewer to be designed. It's true a slightly better design would be to connect the outer clamping surfaces to the axle, but this would require multiple / custom sizes of outer clamps and would require a new axle if the thickness of the frame or fork were outside the range of the existing hardware.

3. Visual indicators were valuable in the days of multiple chainrings - especially triples. I had my preferred shift patterns and would always hit them. I took it to the next level by using chains that were too short to allow certain combinations and even derailleurs with insufficient capacity for all combinations. If I made a mistake in my shifting, there was going to be twisted metal and an unexpected expense in my future! Single ring drivetrains have completely obviated the need for indicators, though; the worst that happens is I push for a lower gear when I'm suffering on a climb, only to find I'm already in first.

Posted: Sep 23, 2019 at 4:18 Quote
Canyon actually made this durable hanger - weak bolt sort of affair on old Torque EX. Problem was that the availability of the bolts sucked but because it was special shape, it needed a power drill and metal file - lathe operation to shape an ordinary M6 bolt to work as temporary (3-month) fix.

Now Sram GX DH 7 speed derangeur has their own weak bolt system, which lead to funny situation in Morzine when hanger on YT Tues proved to be stronger than the bolt, just with little problem that no store in the ffing Morzine had that bolt in shelf and my options were either pay 120€ for new GX derailleur or skip last day of riding. Ended up running from store to store until afternoon before giving up.

Point being, whatever the system, you can't assume you can just go and buy spares. Better have a spare bike just in case.

Posted: Sep 23, 2019 at 5:12 Quote
1) I would rather have my derailleur hanger bent than a bolt snap off in case of an impact. Snapping would mean the risk of the derailleur getting stuck in the spokes and destroying the wheel. Not having a standard derailleur hanger is indeed a pain. I hope SRAM's universal derailleur hanger standard will gain traction.

2) I have no idea what you mean. My mountainbikes all had thru axles.

3) seems like preference thing. I have always happily shifted based on feel/cadence.

Posted: Sep 23, 2019 at 8:28 Quote
The OP needs to get out and ride more.

You NEED a gear indicator? NO, you need to learn to ride better. Its all by "feeling" son. I'd rather keep my eyes on the trail than keep looking down to see what gear I'm in.

QR? I dont quite understand what your trying to say? Would you rather have to unbolt two bolts from each side everytime you want to take you wheel off?

And derailleur hangers.....i have a Chromag Aperture, with a hanger built into the frame dropouts. If i strike my derailleur, the derailleur is getting destroyed, instead of a $20 piece of metal.

Posted: Sep 23, 2019 at 13:02 Quote
I don't nessassery agree there stupid inventions, I do however think more could be
done to better improve some aspects of bike design.

I miss the conveniance of single crown forks that allowed the stanchions and steerer to
be bolt clamped, this type of crown would lend itself well in allowing you to buy
wider crowns to suit boost spacing or choose steerer width to suit your frame, infact modular forks would be good,
as the amount of times I see 2nd hand forks that either have to short a steerer
or worn stanchions.

Having complete replaceable rear frame drop out/bolt through plates, such as on some
Kona's and Intense frames, some 26" wheel frames have this, which allows to making
new bolt on plates that can take 27.5" wheel.

More adaptability and future proofing the better. Be nice to see a modular platform frame design,
that would allow the user to purchase frame parts to suit what they wanted to build.

A longer model cycle that gets replaced after 2 years instead of every year, replacement parts
to be available for longer, some kind of catergory chart or guide that states info relating to durability,
life expectancy or similar info.

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