show me some beautiful modern components!
 

I often complain that modern components are ugly, and have gone so far as to suggest that they are intended to be ugly, though I really don't know why anyone would do that. But for the purposes of this thread, let's assume I'm simply wrong. So...

Do you have a modern component in mind, that you consider beautiful? Note, I don't mean a new component with a "retro" aesthetic. I mean a new, current production component, with a modern aesthetic.

I thought I'd lead off with a photo... but I haven't found anything yet. :innocent:

Saw the thread title and immediately thought "Trick question." :)

I really like the modern components on steel frames. But beautiful, no I don't think any modern component could be described as beautiful. New rear derailleurs are cool, Campagnolo Nuovo Record derailleurs are beautiful.

It's not the thin, airy look of vintage components. But it has it's own style. And it's designed to be stiff and efficient.

http://keyassets.timeincuk.net/inspi...9000_53_39.jpg

Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, how else could you explain someone marrying me?

http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps51ahtxks.jpg

http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/a...a/photo-34.jpg

http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/a...pss0phanoy.jpg

http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/a...psrlsfa7s6.jpg

I like the Campagnolo Veloce and Athena, they have the same styling but Athena is higher-level, both available in silver.

I also like the Microshift R10 group. It's not their highest or most premium, they call it Tiagra-equivalent. The derailleurs are all-silver and the brifters look like gunpla kneecaps with a cool decal.

I like the Shimano Metrea group even though it's not at all like anything old. Especially the crankset.

And anyhow, what exactly do you mean by modern? DIA-COMPE

+1. Modern, upper end components are "BEAUTIFUL" when viewed with an engineer's eye.

+2 - it's a different aesthetic. Like most here, I prefer not having the labels and decals over everything, but I do like the form.

I really find ergo levers attractive actually, and I've always liked campy's crank design (could lose the logos though). The 10sp campy record is, IMO, a BEAUTIFUL gruppo. I especially love the alloy meets CF rear derailleur.

Hollow aluminum cranks, and carbon fiber too for that matter, are fated to get fatter and fatter as the material improves, just like frame tubes did. Therefore I think it's more appropriate to talk about their styling than about their form. That's why I've been going on a bit about Shimano Metrea. This has basically the same shape as the DA crank above but I love the brushed finish, the stripe, the enamel that disappears, the polished bash guard.


http://bike.shimano.com/content/dam/...img.detail.png

This stuff all looks pretty badass.
If Cylons (Mmmm, 6 & 8) rode bicycles, this would be the group they'd use.
While I'm not a huge fan of black components, they've done a great job of mixing black and silver.

http://bike.shimano.com/content/sac-...7149144813.jpg

Shimano Introduces New DURA-ACE R9100 Road Components, Integrated Technologies

Maybe it's the campy nerd in me, but I generally dislike DA designs...at least post 7700. The rear derailleur above is pretty cool looking.

Man, I've finally settled into finding Dura Ace 7800 and Ultegra 6600 "classically" styled.

THM Clavicula crankset.

http://www.thm-carbones.de/tl_files/...gesamt%201.jpg

Industrial design and styling change over time and I can appreciate modern styling and styling from other eras.

This is super cool too.

http://streamlinermemories.info/Stea...6Hours-Chi.jpg

If Rosemary's baby built a bike...

I like that, but... compared to everything else we've seen, it's retro.

I agree that this crank has aesthetic integrity and is well designed. Still, IMO the right frame is needed. I think DA cranks similarly own the form, though not quite as well. Still, the grey/black powdercoat sort of limits the components as to what color frames they would look good with. I photoshopped a DA crank on my Mercian and decided it looked ridiculous, though this was more of an issue with the the fat cranks contrasting with the thin steel frame.

What I would like most of all is someone to make a hollow steel (cromo) crank. Obviously (or not) Bullseye used to do this, and they in fact invented the modern hollow crank. It'd be nice to see a more svelte modern version with road rings.

I don't know of anything right now. Just an opinion and could be way off base. The test will be twenty years from now and looking back.

Anyone recall the late Boyd Coddington, hot-rod guru and the rage for his wheels in the 1980's? They just don't have that long term appeal. Thats how I see and compare to todays bike components.

I have a sneaking suspicion that nothing actually moves from "cool" to "beautiful" until about 20 years after it is current technology.

Nitto R bottle cage. Looks great and the best functioning cage I've used. Before someone says it's retro, it's not. (unless there was a cage like this in the 30s??) When I started cycling all there was were the TA steel cages, or those chrome steel spring loaded REG type.


https://janheine.files.wordpress.com...e800.jpg?w=640

I'm sure you'll think I'm crazy, but I like the look of modern discs.

http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/a...pseicgmxjq.jpg

I think this is the key right here. Modern parts are designed for big tubed carbon bikes. Whether or not it's possible to make a bike like that look good is clearly subjective, but just as a modern DA crank looks ridiculous on a vintage Mercian, a vintage polished and fluted crank would look ridiculous on a Pinarello Dogma.

How about a "who wore it best" style comparison on 5700/6700 era Shimano components?

https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8245/8...d0128848_c.jpg

https://c4.staticflickr.com/2/1559/2...166989b4_c.jpg

I'm very partial to this LeMond, but I think it's clear that the components -- particularly the crank -- are more at home on the Ridley.


Aside from that issue, I personally really like the look of the latest generation of Campagnolo ergos.

https://c5.staticflickr.com/2/1555/2...54db463c_z.jpg

It took a while for the Gumby head look to grow on me, but now I think it's the best looking lever they've produced. The fact that it feels like it was molded directly from my hand doesn't hurt either. I like the look of this whole group, but I don't think the other components look quite as good as their late 90's counterparts.

And since I have that picture up, can I also plug the aesthetics of the Soma HWY One bar and the Thomson seatpost? Sure, they get a lot of their appeal from the classic polished silver look, but they're also both distinctly modern components. I'm kind of partial to that Specialized Phenom saddle too.

I like this crank a lot and expect to have one on my commuter within a year. I was browsing some web site recently, scrolling through the cranks looking for this one. I thought I found it, but when I paused to look closer it was the DA crank. I'm surprised Shimano gave aesthetics like this to what appears to be functionally a Tiagra level component, but I'm not complaining.

I have to agree with the disc brakes. I've been wanting a cross/adventure bikes with disc brakes. Local bike shop has the Jamis lineup. I really liked the Expat.