Originally Posted by
Dave Cutter
+1 And... that is so sadly true. I am perfectly happy (and safe) with regular old rim brakes, Down Tube friction shifters, and toe cages.
But the forth major advance of more gears and the compact crank.... does make cycling more pleasant... from my point of view. And I think improved braking would be nice as well.
I would agree with all of that and rydabent's three advances, but I think you have to include powermeters and sealed bearings. That was about 40 years ago, right? (I can only speak from 7 years experience, and rather retro at that).
In my mind, there is definitely a place for better brakes on road bikes. I'm just not sure that disc brakes are the solution yet.