Originally Posted by ljsense

I like my traditional, all mechanical rim-braked road bikes, yet these are the improvements I think would be neat:

Improved materials:

Spider silk -- Once this stuff can be manufactured commercially, I hope my next set of tubular tires weigh less than a morning breeze, can stop a bullet or hold up a bridge, and flex with the suppleness of sheer negligee. Scraping the moths off of them at the end of the ride will be a small price to pay.

Nanocelluluse fibers -- It's my dream, so I'll say the hype is correct, and they turn out stronger, lighter and less expensive than carbon fibers. Mixed with the spider silk above, I've got a set of wheels that weigh less than 800g than can double up on dirt drops.

Charge-responsive materials -- like muscles, these materials will respond to weak electric signals and can instantly become more or less rigid as the situation demands. As soon as your bike sense power output climb, it tenses up, providing more stiffness where needed. When you're noodling along in the pack, the ride is as plush as can be. Especially since your saddle is like a spider silk hammock.

Technical advances:

Automatic infinite transmission: With a spider silk pulley cord instead of a chain, and a charge-responsive drivewheel and cog that can grow or shrink as needed, your drive ratio instantly adjusts as the bike senses your torque and power output. It further trims it based on heart rate and everything it senses going on with your metabolism and mood.

Car safety override: This system insures that no cars that can operate on the road will collide with you. For smart-road legal cars, it overrides all other programing to make sure you're not hit. For illegal dumb cars, it sends out a micro pulse to kill the engine as soon as they are within a one-mile range.

Net effect

A 2 percent gain in speed is expected, but not gauranteed. A Tour rider on a 90s bike will still be much, much faster.