This previous weekend I rode all three of the BSNYC/RTMS/Tan Tenovo Enterprises, Ltd. 2024 Bike of the 12 months finalists:
And as I rode the crabonium LeMond, one thing occurred to me:
I put it extra succinctly right here, however principally what I noticed was that the street bike reached its pinnacle within the early twenty first century and that since then we’ve spent the final 20 years completely ruining it.
Now, take into account I’m talking particularly about street bikes. What’s a street bike? For the needs of this put up I’m defining it thusly:
Highway Bike [Rode biek] (n): A light-weight, easy, timeless fashion of bicycle with drop bars designed for racing and for longer rides the place you don’t cease apart from espresso and to make pee-pee. Often ridden in particular garments and footwear to maximise on-the-bike consolation and efficiency with little concern for modesty because you’re solely stopping for espresso and to make pee-pee. Not designed to hold baggage or fenders because you’re principally simply driving it for a number of hours with the naked necessities both strapped underneath your saddle or in your jersey pocket. Highway bikes prioritize effectivity over all else, and whereas they’re not uncomfortable, they’re solely snug throughout the context of effectivity. Not restricted to paved roads–street might be dust or gravel–however nonetheless, typically meant for roads.
Please notice that, regardless of its title, a motorcycle just like the Roaduno will not be a street bike by this definition. Please notice I’m additionally not saying street bikes are inherently superior to different forms of bicycles–in reality in some ways they’re arguably inferior. I’m simply saying the street bike is timeless, and distills biking to its essence, and in a means all different bikes are outlined in relation to the street bike. (The Roaduno is probably not a street bike, nevertheless it owes its existence to the street bike.) As such, the street bike stays a handy yardstick by which to measure the evolution (or degeneration) of biking basically. Does that make sense?
In all probability not.
With that out of the best way, right here’s why I posit the street bicycle attained one thing near perfection within the early twenty first century. For one factor, you had your selection of high-quality light-weight frames in both metal…
…or aluminum:
…or titanium:
…or carbon:
And people are simply the bikes that have been available from mainstream firms–clearly there have been all kinds of customized choices too. Oh certain, there have been warning indicators of what lay forward, comparable to these proprietary “wheel techniques,” and bikes that got here with digital drivetrains:
However within the aughts, not solely did you’ve your selection of fabric, however no matter that materials all of the frames principally took the identical components. Certain, perhaps they used completely different seatpost diameters, and completely different headset diameters was beginning to be a factor, and naturally there was all the time the English/Italian backside bracket consideration, however for probably the most half there was nonetheless a excessive diploma of interchangeability.
As for these components, that they had arguably reached their apotheosis by 1996:
Clearly drivetrains are extremely subjective, and nothing beats the simplicity-to-functionality ratio of friction, however in some ways the 9-speed Dura-Ace was the best street drivetrain ever made. The built-in shifters labored nice, however you can additionally nonetheless go for bar-end shifter and even downtube shifters, every of which I consider nonetheless had a friction mode. It was completely fashionable, but wouldn’t look misplaced on a basic metal body. It was even largely suitable with the mountain bike stuff. What have we actually gained within the ensuing 30 years, aside from the necessity for charging?
And sure, whereas I’d give 9-speed Dura-Ace the sting for simplicity and the cross-compatibility with mountain bike stuff, every little thing else additionally utilized to the Campagnolo elements of the period:
Possibly it even had an edge because of the extra simple sq. taper–although after all nothing was stopping you from utilizing a Campy crank with a Shimano drivetrain or vice-versa. (Although I suppose in sure circles they might have excommunicated you.)
And the way concerning the brakes? Effectively, the street brake was so extremely advanced and refined by 1996 that the one selection that they had was to fully destroy it and begin in with this disc brake nonsense:
No bleeding. No squealing. Extraordinarily light-weight. Extremely-fast wheel adjustments. Almost idiot-proof. In a pinch you possibly can modify it whilst you’re driving. In fact, the one main misstep was that by the late ’90s the trade had settled on the short-reach caliper as an alternative of the superior-in-every-single-way medium-reach caliper:
However even a short-reach Shimano brake will sometimes take a 28mm tire, which for a street bike is nearly all the time Broad Sufficient.
Oh, I have to additionally acknowledge the opposite deadly flaw of many in any other case excellent street bikes of this period, which is chainstay clearance:
[A 28mm rear tire on the LeMond is too close for comfort]
However even that shouldn’t be a deal-breaker, since nowhere is it written which you can’t use a 25mm tire out again and a 28mm tire up entrance, which is strictly what I’m doing on the LeMond.
The upshot of all that is that the street bikes of this period (late ’90s to early 2000s) are the candy spot between the serviceability and part interchangeability of the previous days and the sunshine weight and ergonomic comfort of the trendy period. Go forward, inform me how this isn’t the proper street bike? I’ll wait:
[Photo: Classic Cycle]
Oh, I do know what you’re going to say: the gearing. (Although I suppose plastic threadless fork may also be acceptable.) Definitely it really works for a professional, however the common leisure rider may battle to get on prime of it:
[From here.]
However the fact is that it wasn’t in any respect troublesome to realize low gearing on a street bike in these days. Not solely did you’ve your triple:
However you can additionally use mountain bike derailleurs and cassettes:
[From here.]
Sure, should you insisted on shopping for a whole high-end racing bike as a non-racer it wasn’t going to come back with real-world gearing, however under no circumstances was it arduous to realize it, both. And by the early 2000s the compact street crank had arrived to avoid wasting all these individuals who have been self-conscious about driving triples, which finally ended the period of delusional gearing on inventory bikes. (Although actually it’s the shoppers who have been delusional, since so many non-racers insisted on shopping for top-of-the-line race bikes to journey as soon as every week for 3 hours on Sunday.)
Anyway, all this peaked across the time the critanium LeMond was present, and shortly after we started the descent into the valley of despair. Built-in headsets, built-in backside brackets, digital shifting, thru-axles, disc brakes… Now they’d have you ever consider it is a street bike:
Talking of gearing, can somebody please inform poor Russ from Path Much less Pedaled, who appears to be affected by a persecution advanced, that he’s being merely being trolled and gear-shaming hasn’t been a factor since no less than the arrival of the compact?
When you’re at it, are you able to additionally inform him that the trade has been nice about creating decrease gearing, and that the actual drawback is that they’re now charging $600 for cassettes and making shifters and derailleurs that require batteries?
Thanks.
