Days Gone By

Five things that are my favorite Cycling advances since riding as a teenager.

•  GPS Cycle Computers

GPS logging,  reliability,  size.  Compared to the clicking gubbins I had as a kid and then Avocets with their magnetic sensor rings.

•  Lights

The lights I had as a teen were truly awful.  Wonder lights and Eveready Night Riders.  Heavy,  Poor light output,  clunky mounting,  bad battery life  and terrible reliability.  Flying down a hill in the dark and the lights go out after hitting a bump.  Rechargeable technology also sucked back then

•  Clipless Pedals

I don’t miss toe clips and straps one bit and those awful cleats that wore very quickly.  Hard to get in and adjust and uncomfortable.  Not something I think I could ever go back to.

• Cotterless Cranks

I hated cotter pins and bolt on cranks was such a huge improvement.  There have been further advances such as captive nuts that allow you to remove your cranks with an allen wrench.  Some of the removal tools had a habit of getting cross threaded back in the day and were fiddly.

• Braze Ons

Now this doesn’t apply to most Carbon bikes but not having to have cable clips on your top tube,  gear levers,  Bottle cages and front mechs held on by bands that ultimately hurt your paint was a huge win.