20 January 2010 - 8:47A Rant on Bicycle Technology

If you don’t want technology to move forward, and you fear change, then you may as well stop reading here.

Picture borrowed from the Hagoromo blog

The latest rumblings around the web are the new 20 and 30 speed mountain bike groups that have just leaked out. Shimano and SRAM reportedly have new groups coming out for the 2011 model year. SRAM has updated the once top of the food chain X0 to a sweet looking 2×10 offering, and Shimano has updated it’s XTR line with a 10 speed cassette, and a double or a triple (really?) crank option.

Picture borrowed from the Hagoromo blog

Maybe a little sour grapes for SRAM getting the 10 speed jump on them, “Oh yeah? Well we got 400 speeds!”, but it’s also rumored that 10 speed will might make it all the way down to the SLX level.

Back in the day, when things shifted to 9 speed, there was a huge outcry from the “retro-grouch” crowd, stating that 9 speed was ridiculous, unnecessary, and far inferior to the 7 and 8 speed drivetrains that preceded it. Blah blah blah… These are the same folks that refuse(d) to give up thumb shifters, cantilever brakes, square tapered bottom brackets and threaded headsets. Well, to each his own I say. There is no real right or wrong when it comes to stuff like this, although many people are more than happy to share their opinions on this subject with anyone within earshot, especially those that will tell  you that these sort of components have no place in mountain biking.

They are certainly entitled to their opinions, as are the rest of us, but I feel we are also entitled to draw our own conclusions as well. The fact of the matter, is that it is almost impossible to stop progress. New products and new technology are what drives this world.

It’s why houses are better than caves.

Why Bic lighters are better than rubbing 2 sticks together.

Why shoes are better than bare feet.

Why riding a bike is better than walking (or running or driving a car, for that matter).

Without progress, mountain biking would not be what it is today.

I was an early adopter of 9 speed. I worked at a shop back then, so it was fairly easy for me to make this jump. It can be an expensive proposition for a major drivetrain upgrade, which is a difficulty for some. But, as the technology gets refined, it tends to cost less to reproduce, and finds its way from the high end to the more reasonably priced groups over time. Ten years later, and there is no high end 7 or 8 speed componentry available. It’s all 9 speed now. And, as you can imagine, this makes some people angry. People love their bikes, and I guess that having the big companies force new technology on them equates to having their bikes unwillingly changed right underneath them.

Well, guess what, that high end train is calling “all aboard”, so you better start thinking about making that jump form 9 to 10 speed. Or if you haven’t even gone 9 speed yet, go directly to 10, because soon, 9 speed will be yesterday’s news.

OR

You can ride a singlespeed and forget all about that technology altogether!