Hello everyone, welcome to the new issue of Cycling Mechanics.
As a cyclist and road biker, I enjoy seeing some of the latest bike development trends and the latest bike accessories. But the technology on these 5 bicycles we are talking about today belong to the kind of design that looks good, but has been proven in the historical examination that either there is no egg to gain weight, or it has little effect and does more harm than good.
First first: Scott’s Drop In handle. Chinese literally translates to sinking inward.
The deepest impression of this bend is that there is a 90-degree bend at the lower handlebar and continues to extend inward, forming a high and low bend. Of course, this is not the most extreme design under the brand.
It was designed to allow riders to get a lower riding position under the handlebars, at least in theory, for more aerodynamic advantages.
However, when hands are placed here, disheveled arms in the wind may offset the advantage of air movement.
This design also reminds me of the double handlebars on Canyon’s latest gravel bike, does it mean that this drop in can also have the kind of comfortable elasticity that Canyon claims when attached underneath? And at the same time increase the rigidity of the entire handlebar? It’s worth thinking about, and there are also reference elements to it.
But it still can’t stop people who love this brand from still loving it, loving the house and Wu, as long as they are marked with Scott is good.
2.Rockshox Roubaix/Ruby fork
When Fox brought their AX gravel road fork to market 4 years ago, it caused quite a bit of discussion. But the use of such suspension systems on road cars is nothing new.
Rochshox Roubaix was the first brand to use the cantilever fork on road bikes.
This fork is essentially a modified rochshox MAG21 mountain bike fork.
But that doesn’t hide the awards it won at Roubaix in 1992, 1993 and 1994.
Although in terms of success or failure, three wins are enough to prove that this is a successful improvement. In practice, however, Roubaix was considered too sensitive, especially in the case of full sprints, and the bracket secured by Ruth was unstable, and the fork legs would move separately, causing various problems.
After 3 years in the limelight, Roubaix won the technical streak, Mapei continued to dominate the race, the team’s sponsor Colnago also began to ban the team from using suspension forks and focused on riding technology, and Rochkshox stopped their development of the Roubaix.
Ruby Ruby Fork:
While Ruby solved some of the problems of the original design, such as the use of a more robust one-piece cast base, it used an MCU damper, which is sensitive to small vibrations, and riders say that it feels like a ball bouncing on the air outlet, but it is very easy to bottom.
It was subsequently discontinued a few years after it was launched.
If Rochshox had continued to develop road forks, there might have been more different forks on road bikes today, but at least they had worked hard and had a decent record.
3. Aerodynamic brakes
The aerodynamic brakes mounted in a unique position on the bike are a headache after the press-in center column, and I think it’s a way for manufacturers to upgrade replacement parts faster.
Aerodynamic brakes are placed in various magical corners of the car, but by far the most popular and criticized is placed in the chainstay position after the tee.
By installing the brakes in this position, you can save valuable power, plus various specifications of press-in center column standards, if you do not have to remove the chainring angrily during installation and commissioning, it is the most pleasant thing.
Of course, this is nothing new, remember the shimano U-brake in the history of brake evolution? Is there anything to learn from today’s design? Why not learn from history? Have you forgotten how the U-brake was discontinued in the first place?
4. Lo-Pro bike (front tilt frame big wheel bike)
Lo-Pro bikes are the kind of bikes that use wheels of different sizes and were very popular in the late seventies and early eighties, especially on British time trial bikes.
This handlebar is also lowered forward a little exaggerated
The Lo-Pro’s design philosophy makes sense, and by fitting a smaller wheel (typically a 650c wheel set) at the front, plus a horn handlebar that extends forward and descends, riders can get a lower riding position. And it allows teammates to get a smaller following distance when riding between each other.
The Lo-Pro has also had some success, such as the silver medal won by the U.S. team at the 1994 Los Angeles Olympics, but is that power advantage provided by the latest time trial helmet? Who knows?
Finally, in the late ’90s, UCI officially banned such bikes and made stricter rules on frame geometry and frame and rider position, after which the Lo-Pro ceased to evolve.
In recent years, Lo-Pro has begun to recover in the fashion dead fly, maybe they feel that just without brakes can not bring too much difficulty to themselves.
5.Campagnolo Delta brakes (commonly known as big crabs)
This brake has almost been described as the most beautiful part of Campagnolo, and the delta with the smooth triangular pneumatic panel has almost become synonymous with handsome brakes. But all this seems to be only superficial.
The internal connecting rod is indeed a complex connecting rod brakes through the center cable, and through the parallelogram link structure, the steel wire linked on the center cable clamp is no longer needed.
The original intention of the design was to make the brakes have a more linear feel, and gradually increase the force of the brakes, but the actual braking force performance is mediocre.
And it’s also very difficult to repair, 76 individual parts make up this brake, which is a big job compared to the dozen or so parts we use today.
From the earliest recall of the first generation due to serious failures, it was doomed to a short-lived brake design, and Campagnolo ceased production of this brake within a few years.
Despite its poor performance, it seems to be more collectible, and a new set of Delta brakes on eBay costs around £1200, which is really staggering.
If there are still those things that you think the design is very unreliable, you can leave a message below to tell me, or you feel that today’s content is unreasonable by you.
Cycling Mechanic, bring you more novel, interesting, fun, practical cycling knowledge every day, we will see you in the next program.
Source: Cycling radar/Internet, etc
Editor: Bicycle Mechanic – Zhao Gong
