Cycle Sense

By the time of the 1972-74 bike boom, a few key improvements had entered the market. SunTour and Cycling innovations Shimano produced which, to the Euro-snobs’ dis- may, worked better than Campagnolo’s dated designs, and absolutely humiliated the offerings from Huret and Simplex. that matter But the shortcomings of the bikes sold during that boom were a key reason why sales fell by about half in 1975. The The sport’s most important market had become saturated with a toy people couldn’t use very well. advances in the last Most shops sold most customers the wrong frame size, especially if the customers were women. Touring equipment generation was rare, and most bike shops never put a triple-chainwheel bike on the sales floor. Cycling shoes were much harder to By John Schubert find than the racing bikes which begged for their use. Clothing was just as hard to find as the shoes, and it was still scratchy wool. Riders who wanted high performance few years back, I was chatting with a fellow were ushered into sew-up tire hell. (You youngsters will cycling journalist about how little we cared about never know the agony of trying to get those things to hold Seattle air, or to stay on the bike’s rims safely. Drat.) policeman a major industry-wide innovation that had every- one but us all thrilled. (I don’t remember which By the end of the 1970s, the all-important triple-chain- Paul Grady A wheel drivetrain became more widely available (but not yet one it was.) Since he was as unimpressed as I was, I asked was a pio- common), and shifting had improved to the point where it neer in him: What was the most important industry innova- developing tion in his lifetime? worked quite well. A few false starts had been made in - bike cop “LED flashing lights,” he replied. bon fiber and aluminum frames, and there was one “true” technique. You might not agree with his answer, but it raised an start: Gary Klein had sold his first oversize aluminum ultra- intriguing question: Which rigid frames. If you were a friend of Joe Breeze or Gary advances have really mat- Fisher in Marin County, you might own one of the first two tered for cyclists? dozen mountain bikes ever made. For a starting point, I’ll In the 1980s, the pace of innovation increased radically. arbitrarily pick the time I The industry saw the mountain bike as its answer to market bought my first adult bike, saturation and its way out of a disastrous sales year in 1982 October 1965. While in the- (the fewest number of bikes sold since 1967), and worked ory you could enjoy a great harder on advancing mountain bike design than it ever had cycling experience in 1965, on road bikes. Meanwhile, aluminum, carbon fiber, suspen- it wasn’t practical for most sions and other innovations were taking hold. people. The number of bike What’s it all mean? Just how much better are today’s shops that knew how to sup- bikes than the ancestors I’ve described earlier? Here’s my port good quality cycling list of the innovations that have mattered: numbered in the dozens, at Mountain bikes. The mountain bike is the biggest most, nationwide. single innovation in this generation. Whether or not you or I If you knew the benefits ride one, the importance they’ve had to the bike business of seeking out one of those worldwide is stunning. They shifted the center of innovation shops (I didn’t), you could and design from Europe to the U.S. They gave a positive, buy a European racing or sporting image to two attributes most customers badly want- touring bike, a Schwinn ed — flat handlebars and rugged wheels. Their off-road Paramount or one of a very capability has meant excellent exercise and recreation for a few U.S. custom-built bikes. hardy minority of their owners (the ones who actually leave PHOTO BYPHOTO GREG SIPLE You could have any frame the pavement). material you wanted, as long On the downside, the mountain bike has given cycling as it was steel, and wear any an overly macho image. Trail riding, which is a slow and kind of cycling clothing you benign activity (at least when I do it) is perceived more like wanted as long as it was scratchy wool. You could have a dirt motorcycling than like hiking, when exactly the oppo- 10-speed racing drivetrain, or 15-speed touring setup. The site is true. shifting was lousy, especially on the 15-speed setup with its Huret Luxe rear . Good pannier racks were sel- patrols. Cops on bikes may be dom-seen. Despite all this, people went riding anyway. approachable, and two of them recently gave me trading Cycling’s too much fun to let mediocre equipment hold you cards with their pictures and biographies, but these guys are back. also deadly serious crime fighters. One of the guys who

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gave me his card showed me the techniques when the Bell V1-Pro became the first good the rider. Oversize aluminum does all these he uses to ride up to a criminal suspect and helmet that had enough ventilation. The sec- things. Aluminum will never completely use the bike as a tool to take the suspect ond occurred three years later, when Giro replace steel, which has the aura of old- down. It was, um, impressive. As you read Sport Designs, a company started in a fashioned craftsmanship, and which still this, somewhere in our fair land a bike cop garage, built the first seven-ounce “beer works quite well, but it’s coming close. is cuffing a bad guy who could have cooler” helmet and got Greg LeMond to escaped from foot- or car patrols, and not wear it. Shortly after that, the beer cooler The end of European hegemony. too long ago bike cops apprehended a fugi- helmets added a valuable ounce of plastic in The Europeans started all the wonderful tive triple-murderer from my (gulp!) neck the form of a thin shell. cycling traditions: the racing clubs in of the woods. While a helmet is no substitute for care- France and Italy, the time-trialists and Police patrols weren’t what the Marin ful and skillful riding, it’s an immensely cyclotourists in England, and the wretched- County crowd had in mind when they col- valuable backup device. Bicycling is a hap- ly muddy spring races in northern and laboratively invented the mountain bike, but pier sport than it would have been if all Eastern Europe. But those traditions became this delightful unintended consequence those brain injuries hadn’t been prevented. too hidebound, and equipment design had stagnated badly. SunTour and Shimano makes our lives safer at the same time that it makes police seem more human. Suspension. In the pre-suspension started an earthquake under Campagnolo’s years, many so-called technical “experts,” mighty pedestal, and companies like Fuji myself included, thought it would and Bridgestone toppled the mighty never be important on . Raleigh, Peugeot, Motobecane, and other Consider us chastened and proven premier European marques. Later, American wrong. Suspension has completely companies like Trek and Cannondale, and changed the face of mountain bike other Pacific Rim companies like Giant and riding, allowing riders better con- China Bicycle Corp. continued to shake the trol and less fatigue. And ever so ground. No one will ever be able to be so slowly, it is edging into the road complacent again. bike market. The day will come when we all have suspension and Recumbents. The age of recumbents no longer have hand fatigue from a is a work in progress, but for the first time, long ride. in 1999, I can easily tell anyone who asks, “Look for a recumbent dealer in your

PHOTO BYPHOTO GREG SIPLE Seriously stiff and light town.” (There are probably about 1,000 frames. The traditional steel bike recumbent retailers among the nation’s Helmets. Few people realize how is a good bike and an efficient 6,000 bike shops.) I doubt recumbents will long ago we Americans started yearning for structure. A framebuilder with good tech- ever be a dominant fad like mountain bikes a good bicycle helmet. The year was 1969, nique can take a Columbus SL tubeset and became, but their availability as an option and the Snell Memorial Foundation issued make a 54 cm racing frame weigh as little will usher in an era when shop personnel its first standard for bicycle helmets. But the as four pounds. So why bother with addi- are forced to be broad-minded in dealing standard was so strict that it took a motor- tional stiffness? with customers’ needs. A lot of riders really need it or want it. cycle-like helmet to meet the standard. No An oversize aluminum frame, depending on Better drivetrains. I think we have one wanted to ride with such a hot, heavy too much drivetrain development, resulting helmet. the design, is half again as stiff, twice as stiff, or something in that ballpark, com- in too many incompatible repair parts and Bell and Mountain Safety Research attendant service headaches. But through (MSR) produced the first good bicycle hel- pared with our Columbus SL baseline. And instead of weighing four pounds, it can be the mid-1980s, drivetrains simply got better, mets in 1974. They were as stylish as albino with only a few incompatibility problems to bowling balls and therefore blackballed by less than three. If the rider is heavy, or strong, or carrying heavy panniers, or cor- remember. Whether index shifting — first the racing snobs, but they did a good job of introduced by Shimano in the 1985 model protecting the head. Two subsequent break- nering hard in criterium races, he has every reason to want a bike that steers more accu- year — is worth the repair headaches and throughs made helmets socially acceptable added expense is debatable. Some folks to the masses. The first occurred in 1983, rately, tracks better, flexes less under hard climbing, and delivers less bump energy to love it; others are indifferent.

Adventure Cyclist • April 1999 Much better wheels and tires. If you time trail riding, and made Left: The first talk to Adventure Cycling members who night road riding far safer and good bike rode the Transamerica Trail in 1976, they easier. helmet undoubtedly have lots of broken spoke sto- appeared in ries. Today, we know how to build better Some advances and innova- 1974; this original Bell wheels. The theory of how a tension-spoked tions in the cycling world have been overrated. Top of that list: helmet was wheel supports weight might not seem captured on important to Joe Mechanic, but it’s because extra rear cogs. Touring bikes do well with five or six cogs; the TransAm of that theory that we understand how tight ‘76 ride. the spokes should be to avoid fatigue fail- seven or eight don’t help us. ure. The theory existed in 1965, but it’s Aerodynamic brake cables Opposite: The widely understood, and used as a basis for make the bike much more dif- dawning of teaching practical steps to mechanics, in ficult to disassemble and stow the age of 1999. for transport, without speeding recumbents Similarly, today’s tires offer both techni- me up appreciably. is a work in progress. cal and marketing advances. The supple Aerodynamics in general are silly for tourists, and expensive nylon casings deliver a huge improvement BYPHOTO DAN BURDEN in handling and ride quality. (If you think for racers. that’s been overrated, go put some clunky Electronic speedometers are great for backcountry naviga- department store tires on your bike. You’ll nailing on his own cleats is out of business. feel the difference.) tion, but the rest of the time, they just nag us. Pedal binding systems, while far more The search high and low for workable com- Reliable tandems. If you bought a elegant mechanically than the medieval toe ponents is over. I miss some of that aura, but if I never have to glue on another sew- tandem in 1965 — that is, if you could find clip and cleat, lack the goof-proof simplicity one — your first move was to put most of and versatility of the toe clip and cleat. (In up tire, it’s a tradeoff worth making. its components in the attic and replace them 1996, I watched a rider lose the 1996 with sturdier ones. After all that was done, Olympic trials team pursuit because she the frame was no prize. And the bike was pulled her shoe out of the pedal binding All of technical editor John Schubert’s sew-up painfully unreliable to ride. system at the start. Phooey. A dream ruined glue has hardened in its tube, and his scratchy Today, one swipe of the Mastercard buys by technology.) wool cycling clothes have been mothballed. you a tandem that no one back then thought Cycling has lost some of the aura of the was possible. In the hands of a careful user, hobbyist. The guy who puttered in his shop a tandem isn’t a significant maintenance burden. And the handling and ride are … don’t get me started. At Independent gusseted for Kidback tandems, trailers and trail- Fabrication,we extra strength, ercycles. The 1971 introduction of the know the reason and alignment so Cannondale Bugger trailer started a minor you buy a bike straight it would revolution. Cannondale soon added a baby isn’t just for the make an arrow seat to the Bugger, and a new family recre- ation was born. decal, or the cool jealous. Meanwhile, kidback tandem rigs were paint job – it’s Whether it’s around, but in the 1970s and 1980s they for the ride. road, mountain, became more widely available, thanks to That’s why we cross, touring or companies like Santana and Phil Wood. The put so much into custom, every IF 1990s saw the trailercycle, which delivers the things you ride is handcraft- some of what a kidback tandem delivers at can’t see in the ed with the same a small fraction of the cost. Riding with showroom – the fanatical care. your kids isn’t a high-speed experience, but things that make To get yours, call it’s one of cycling’s important pleasures a great ride us for the name nonetheless. possible. of your nearest Great lighting systems. The super- These are IF dealer. bright bicycle light dates to about 1975, things like size- when attorney/bicyclist Ed Kearney found specific air hard- he had to buy lights wholesale to get the ening Reynolds ones he wanted for his own use. A tiny 853 tubing, a business was born, based around existing fully sealed equipment intended for other uses. The lights have gotten smaller, sleeker, tubeset that’s and more sophisticated, and their chargers Independent Fabrication, Inc., P.O. Box 98, Somerville, MA 02143, Ph. 617/666-3609, [email protected] no longer automatically ruin your storage battery. LED taillights, the favorite of my fellow journalist, attract plenty of attention, and are small and light enough for you to have several. These equipment advances made possible the unlikely sport of night-

Adventure Cyclist • April 1999