"its not getting any younger....and bike technology has improved and has gone far beyond what the bike is capable of...."

I picked this from another thread in a different sub-forum because it struck me as a foolhardy statement. A fellow is keeping his most favorite bike, and this comment was part of the overall comments in the thread. My 2000 Moto Guzzi is old, yet it goes down the road just fine, does the speed limit and can even do the tonne plus some. What more is needed? My 1979 Raleigh Professional is old, goes down the road perfectly straight, handles like it is on rails, yet comfy for all day long rides. It goes just as fast as it did back in 79 as the engine (me) can go no faster.

I don't get it. What technology can possibly make a bicycle less capable of going down the road?

tubeless tires.

Wow, I had no idea tubeless tires on someone else's bike would make mine go slower......

road bikes that are ebikes but you can't tell....... could be very easy to go from assist to way more that brakes/tires can handle

I went from a 2001-vintage MTB to a 2018-vintage MTB. In the process gained new geometry, hydraulic disk brakes, 27.5+ tubeless tires, and 1x drivetrain.

It didn't make me any faster, in fact Bike Forums enjoys virulent arguments about how any of it is "better," but it sure is a lot more enjoyable.

I guess your environmental footprint goes way up once you ditch your vintage pedal bike in favour of a composite, battery powered replacement

Technology outpaced me a long time ago.
When I go on a date, I actually talk to the person I'm with.
No phone.

If she can't wait to tell her friends until she's home, well, last date.

Kinda like asking what new sensor technology will crash a proven performer like the Boeing 737? I don't fly a lot and I've been on 4 of them.

Re bikes. Auto-feathering brakes? Anti wobble adjustments? Mandatory gear selection? Wheel lapping corrections?

Shoot me when I choose a pilot-free vehicle. I'll take the Guzzi anyday.

IMHO parts makers are in the world to make money not to make me happy, I don't need Ferrari brakes/gears/etc for my Fiat Panda engine.
Also I enjoy myself my 1999 BMW RT1100, I only ask for time and health to ride them.
Anyway I respect who spends a lot thinking it will made him faster. YMMV

IF you read the electric meters for Portland Based Pacific Power

your route job has been replaced by 'smart meters' ...

Local Paper went from 5 days to 3 & dropped home delivery drivers..

Except that assist levels are limited by law / regulation, which should help prevent exactly that.

I'm going the other way with my ongoing build...... indexed shifting, brifters and ergo bars.........whowouldhavethought......

Straight to hell you go!

Yes!,...the closer that incoming FedEx box gets to me with those goodies for the build........:the hotter I feel!...

We all know brifters shift faster than downtube shifters, and carbon frames are generally lighter, and disc brakes stop faster, and more gears add closer spacing and 11 tooth cogs. So technology is better today than in the past.

The question of whether these differences will make your ride faster or more enjoyable is debatable.
Some people like new stuff. That's all that matters, really. Any justification they use is fine by me.

Apparently technology is outpacing marketing blowhards.

Hear me out. Its 2019 and virtually every manufacturer who markets a TT / tri bike has a level top tube. And why? Because they claim its the most aerrrrrooooo and for UCI legal the frame must have a seat tube (something anyways even if half of them don't seem as such).

Now let's look at the top O line high zoot road race bikes by major manufactures. All are sloping top tube to create the magic in easy stock for dealer, compact frame. But.... they all boast how its the most aerrrroooo deeenamaniac. So explain why their TT tri have level top tubes?

......🎩..... Bitcoin for carbon, anyone??

sure and no one can hack the electronics to override that (just like no one ever hacked mopeds, or cars (or chipped them) for more power and speed) and by law in CA to ride Lime and Bird scooters your need to be 18, wear a helmet and have a drivers license. my observation is about 90% of riders do not meet all 3 of these laws and 50 to 70 don't meet any of these 3

Jan Heine made a post about it recently: Technology transfer from motorbikes and cars

Bicycles are in general not all that different from 100 years ago but then again, so are most internal combustion engine cars...

If I get a new bike it will probably have disc brakes, IGH and a belt drive.

It will be interesting to see how quick release skewers will hold up to current through axle bikes seeing as it is incompatible technology.
Then again I expect places like a VO, Grand Bois and Rene Herse to keep them alive since there have been way too many really nice bikes built on that agony tech.

Technology is not capable of moving a human from point A to point B using absolutely no human-made power source other than humans themselves.

Technology is not capable of matching the efficiency of the bicycle as a machine.

Technology is not capable of anything without a power source.

Technology will never exceed the capabilities of a bicycle.

-Kurt

In the past 10 years or so, the marketing of "innovations" for cycling has increased at an accelerated pace. My observation has been that when participation in the sport stopped growing at the same rate....and then began decreasing, the big manufacturers attempted to replace new participant sales with new product sales. Very quickly, they ran out of good ideas. For example, they've gone to the "you can't have too many gears " well so many times that one of the major players (SRAM) has introduced as an "innovation" the single ring rankest. It's no surprise that the industry is pushing very hard for disc brakes. It's the single change that will render more previously made bicycles incompatible...and obsolete in the eyes of many. In doing so, it will also eliminate one of the greatest and most useful features...The quick release wheel. Even under the most optimal conditions, a disc system can't improve braking performance on a bicycle but slightly as the limiting factors still remain the limit of friction between the tire and road surface and the reaction time of the rider. I like equipment of a certain vintage for a number of reasons-nostalgia being one of them....but I am not a retrogrouch. I appreciate REAL innovations such as integrates shifting (Ergopower) clipless pedals and more gears than 6 in the back....but we are moving well into the territory of silliness...IMHO, of course...

Notice the publication date of that article? ...definitely an April fools joke