CrossChain

Seems trivial and more than 10 years ago.....

but water bottle plastic that is inertly neutral and doesn't make the water taste like essence of plastique. And, for that matter, energy and fluid replacement drinks and gels and such to replace defizzed coke and YooHoo....though peanut butter-and-crackers or grapes are timeless.

Greater variety of saddles including slotted.

More efficient brake pads.

lycra not wool shorts.

more chicks on bikes.

aero cable routing.

better, quieter trainers.

Better shoes and in American sizes.

"Club-fit" jerseys!

Big Paulie

berts

While I have not entered the realm of MTB or bents, I do argue that cycling hasn't changed dramatically. Technology and its influence on components, frame material and computerization have left the bicycle and its innate beauty unscathed, still providing a most efficient and enjoyable means of travel as it did 10, 20, 50 years ago.

bkaapcke

It has to be long wheelbase recumbents. The comfort is ablolutely unmatched. Next, it's gripshifters. bk

Artkansas 

And now some recumbents are actually affordable.

mollusk

The best thing that has happened to cycling in the US in the last ten years is Armstrong winning TdF's. I've found that the road experience is much friendlier vis-a-vis motorized traffic since Lance made the typical American aware that there might be people on bikes on the road and that they belong there. Before Lance the rate of angry encounters on the road was orders of magnitude higher.

John E

For me, the only significant improvements are KoolStop brake pads, low-compression brake cable housings, and reliable high-performance clincher tires. There is nothing that integrated brake-sifters can do that a good set of nonindexed barcons can't do as well or better. I have severe safety reservations about some of the new materials, particularly carbon fiber. I am also disappointed that today's market offers only a few practical road bikes that are not overbred for all-out racing. I'll keep my classics, thank you.

I do like aero brake cable routing, but only because it boosts leverage by about 10%.

Blackberry

+2

BlazingPedals

Shimano STI (brifters?) have been around for more than 10 years, more like 12 or so. I put them on my last road bike in '95 or '96 - and that wasn't the first year they were out. My vote would be disc brakes - awesome stopping power, longer pad life, and they work in the rain!

spry

+1

megaman

I would say tadpole trikes, but they've been around for about 17 years.... So then it'd have to be disc brakes.

TysonB

1. Modern wheel/tire combos.

2. Good brakes.

I have the first on Mimi. My brakes still suck. (They call them Mafac "Racers" because they don't slow much!! )

Tyson

BluesDawg

$70 full-suspension mountain bikes at Wallyworld!
https://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=4231518

Paydirt

Lance Armstrong.

He has done for cycling what Tiger Woods has done for golf. He's made the everyday Joe aware that cycling is not just for geeks and done wonders for bike sales and all different types of cycling along with the higher end lightweight stuff. Without Lance, the volumes for all this cool stuff isn't there to sell and justify for companies to make.

roccobike

roccobike

If I'm allowed to stretch it back a little more than 10 years, I would vote for the oil bath rebound, air chamber, suspension fork, followed by dual suspension MTBs, notwithstanding X-Mart dual suspension bicycle objects.
Edit: I would have said Lance Armstrong, but that was already taken, (good one Paydirt!)

Wildwood 

Pneumatic tires, without a doubt. Followed by tire pumps.

Tom Bombadil

I'll take a half-dozen for $420.

That price does shed some light on how cheap the various parts can be made. To think they could buy all of those parts, ship them overseas, distribute via truck all over America, have someone assemble them in the store, stock them for a few weeks before selling them, and still make a profit at $70 boggles the mind.

John E

... and macadam road surfaces; two great Scottish inventions.

John E

... and the invention I most want to see in the future is a reliable, light-weight, high-performance non-pneumatic tire.

Terex

Gotta go with brifters (+/- 10 yrs, whatever) on road bikes, and discs on mtn bikes (also with indexed shifters )

chromedome

Modern scandals and controversy. Granted, we've always had scandal, but now we get frequent up-to-the-minute updates! And Lance's personal life. Or Tyler's. Or anybody else on a bike. Or off a bike. And the excuses! I love the excuses! "Wha? Who, me? Nah, it has to be wrong. Haven't you read the papers? I'm a hero!"

Also, if I still have the oppurtunity, I'd like to nominate all the tasteless food supplements designed for all of us recreational and elite athletes. I never could have imagined that food-like ingredients could have been shoved together into a wad, packaged into a future piece of litter and sold (mostly without costly marketing) at an overly inflated price. Pure brilliance! Of course, we are all savvy enough to know that the truly organic food wads--the ones that are actually good for us--are packaged in dull brown wrappers, but the ones that are just strictly marketed for capitalist purposes of making a buck for the genius that created them are wrapped in pretty shiney metalic wrappers.
In the future, I'd like to see virtual shifting.

howsteepisit

Seems to me, the finest Scottish invention is Scottish Ale!

Cassave

Islay Single Malt

Red Baron

I was waiting for someone to say EPO and testoserone and glad no one did.

Its not even funny.