Lazyass

What do you think bikes will be like in 20 years? What new things that will be the norm? I predict lightweight internal gear hubs with a lot of gears and an electronic remote shifter paired with single chainrings and belt drives. Derailleurs will be on Walmart bikes.

veganbikes

I think we will probably see more graphene in use with carbon frames and components. Electronic groupsets will start to come way down price wise and have more wireless integration. Batteries will improve as well becoming smaller and longer lasting. I think we will probably see 12 speed drivetrains becoming more prevalent and more than likely even better 1x systems. Post mount disc brakes will probably be on really low end bikes and flat mount will be even more common.

I don't think things will change a whole ton but as technology gets better who knows. I would love to see more IGH/Pinion style stuff on the market that weighs less and maybe has more gearing or sticks to 14-18 but just gets lighter and lighter. It would be cool to have a 22lb steel bike with a Pinion and Rohloff that is durable and low maintenance.

exmechanic89

Anti-lock brakes will likely be on bikes imo, as well as almost all having electronic shifting. Not saying I want necessarily these things to happen, but I think they will.

02Giant 

Autonomous...

Ogsarg

I can see a lot of possibilities with powered bikes as battery technology improves. Honda has already demonstrated a self balancing motorcycle so we could see that on an e-bike and perhaps autonomous control as well.

For human powered bikes all electric shifting, built in power/cadence monitors, perhaps collision avoidance. Helmets with headsup displays for all the stuff you now get on a bike computer/GPS. Energy harvesting gear to charge your electronics.

As someone that works in the microelectronics industry I can tell you that the most advanced tech we have available today will cost pennies 15 years from now. That will make a lot of things possible. There are likely to be things we haven't even dreamed of by then.

GrainBrain

I'd guess ultra lite weight materials, super light bikes for the masses! Improved battery tech for regenerative braking? That'd be nice on a tourer.

wipekitty

I'm with you guys on improvements in lightweight materials, electronic shifting, and energy harvesting. Perhaps also improvements in tubes and tires to make them even lighter and more resistant to punctures and blowouts.

It will be interesting to see what new kinds of bicycles become hot. I'd never heard of a gravel bike just a few years ago. Same thing with fat bikes - now I see them all over the place.

But really, I will not be happy unless we get flying bikes. Preferably, the crash-proof kind.

manapua_man

What will bikes be like in the year 2525?

TimothyH

Steel will still be real.

ThermionicScott 

Hand-operated shifters will be C&V by then.

dprayvd

Virtual Reality. besides, pedaling a bike--exposed as they are to the wind&weather--is really rather entirely overrated

sdmc530

Airbags lol

General Geoff

Assuming man is still alive...

Roadwanderer

Electric shifters, when functioning properly would likely be a lot less error-prone.

My preference, though, is to keep the parts of the bike that have a mechanical function muscle powered rather than electric.

HerrKaLeun

Everybody will ride E-bikes. Instead of rim/disc brake discussions we will have heated Li-ion/Li-po battery discussions.

Your battery pack will be on subscription, once you fail to pay your dues to pay your bike will be immobilized (or if you fail to buy the newest iPhone to be able to communicate with your bike). There will be a chip to prevent any non-LBS from repair work.

Instead of Hex and torx screws there will be proprietary "rwerwtw-screws" that will change design annually and in between manufacturers. A disc rotor will be mounted with 6 different screws for no apparent reason other than to sell you the new 6-size-multitool that will work on your 2042 model, but not your 2043 model. Obviously there will be a different multitool for road and MTB. Also different screws for road and MTB.

There will be 28.25" wheels to combine advantages of 27.5" and 29". Those will be in addition to subgroups of 27.75" and 28.75". There will be threadless everything because of the threadless success off BB... and a new boost axle standard with 150 mm, because 2 more mm is exactly what keeps the noob from going to Whistler.

Doctor Morbius

Smart bikes. Not sure how, but I'm guessing they will have a lot of integrated tech.

In the future your bike may be flashable to a more current operating system or AI.

Theft proof bikes where it will take a thumb or retina scan to be able to unlock it.

Definitely lighter and more durable materials for the frame and wheels.

Better rubber compounds for tires. Maybe even flatless tires that are worth a crap.

Bearings will continue to improve with much higher tolerances.

Lubes will improve ... more chain lube threads.

Possibly infinitely variable gear ratios.

Walmart bikes will be made with carbon fiber but will still be unsafe.

Bicycle manufacturing will radically change.

Retail bike shops will have to radically change or will die out.

Older cyclists will long for the glory days when carbon fiber frames, dick breaks and electronic shifting were in their prime.

Reynolds 

Lifespan of new bikes will be 1 year or so being discarded afterwards, but old steel will be still around.

BobbyG

I posted this last February...
"With or without self-driving cars, vehicle-to-vehicle communications will become required on all vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians under the ruse of public safety. Preying on people's fears and fascinations, the media with political backing will over-publicize horrific vehicular and pedestrian collisions and carnage in order to sway public opinion in favor of vehicle-to-vehicle communications. This will at first be a separate transponder unit, but will quickly be integrated into personal tracking and surveillance units, a.k.a smartphones. This data will then be used measure and collect road-use taxes which will be renamed "infrastructure investment shares". As concerns over accuracy and health come to the fore, the strength of the radio signals will be reduced, necessitating larger, more optimally shaped antennas spurring the return to separate units which eventually develop into mandatory helmets for cyclists, pedestrians and passenger car occupants. Certain, popular lightweight materials for clothing and vehicle construction will also be outlawed due to radio-wave reflection and interference. Meanwhile, as a result of the "collision and carnage" campaign "human error" is percieved as the weak link in the system and the push for self-driving vehicles revives and this time succeeds. Adapting existing e-bike technology and electric shifting is a cake-walk, and thanks to the "Bicycle Stability Act" traditional two-wheeled bicycles are phased out in favor of tricycles and quadra-cycles. True, two-wheeled bicycles will be required to employ either a segway-like balance system, or a large, heavy-mass, spinning gyroscopic stabilization unit. The result will be an expensive, complex, heavy, heavily taxed, autonomous, self-driving personal recreational and mobility unit the average bicyclist will neither recognize, enjoy, nor be able to afford. And contemporary parts or standarizations will no longer be part of that equation."

manapua_man

...If woman can survive...

Altimis

Every bike will be motored-man-powered as standards

Stadjer

My bike hasn't changed much in the past 45 years, why should it in the next 20 years?

Saale

After comparing bicycles from 1997 and 2017 I have concluded that bicycles in 2037 will still look like bicycles and still be made out of bicycle materials, but the market will have come up with more ways to integrate them into apps.

JohnDThompson 

Retro Grouch 

You ask about bikes in 2037 like there will be just one answer.

What I've seen in the last 20 years has been a proliferation of variations on a theme. I think that in 20 years racing bikes, and functional transportation bikes will become progressively more diverse. Between those two classes will be a myriad of recreational bikes that borrow characteristics of the first two.

indyfabz

That was the FIRST thing that popped into my head when I read the thread title. Now it's stuck in my head.