Symox

I recently got back into road riding after about a decade away. When I bought my bike 13 years ago I was up on the technology and the trends.

At the time most bikes had 23 or 25 width tires. I was surprised to see most bikes are now 28 widths and it seems like things have come full circle. I used to have a Schwinn Varsity 10 speed that had hugeish (32?) tires and I recall wishing it had skinny ones as it was the trend (I admit I am shallow).

I wonder what trends might be in store since it seems at least with tires people are perhaps coming around to the realization that what works for the pros may not work so great for the weekend warrior riders. To that end, I wonder if triple chainrings will come back.

What's your guess for mainstream ($3K and less) road bikes next? Electronic shifting, rim brakes?

znomit

Tyre widths have increased as the population is getting fatter. I know I am. I don't see this reversing anytime soon so am looking forward to my gp6000s in 42C.

The current fat frame tubes are like that simply to make the overweight rider look less ridiculous. They will therefore increase more. Probably the limiting factor will be "can we still get a water bottle in there?". Swat boxes will be so big you'll be able to fit a whole bike in them.

Gearing will go to 1x because the front derailleur confuses the general population.

Miele Man

The trends towards wider tire and 1 x X# of cogs will last a number of years and then go back to narrower tires and multi chainrings as the latest/greatest things. LOL

Cheers

Ghazmh

Aero full suspension road bikes capable of tackling the gnarliest of singletrack using the newest Shimano road series; Dirtegra. All while being .0045% more aerodynamic than last years frame.

WhyFi

I wouldn't quite say that wide tires have circled back to what they were. Many modern rims are significantly wider so the profile and handling is going to be considerably different.

aliasfox

Sure, let's give it a shot.
- Some researcher will prove, mathematically, in a lab, that side-to-side BB flex is actually better for performance than a super stiff BB for all but last 100 meter sprints. Endurance frames will get flexier and softer.
- Cycling population gets older, and endurance frames will get taller stacks and shorter reaches until they're almost cruiser-like
- As batteries and motors get smaller, e-bikes with the motor and battery in the hub will become a thing. Eventually, so will regenerative braking.
- Cycling Spanx. We don't all look good in skintight lycra, so there will be a market for girdles designed to keep the belly at bay. For aero, of course.
- Has anybody tried golf ball dimples on deep dish rims yet?
- Manufacturers will realize they'll never get a D-seatpost clamp to work properly, so they'll start making frames with D-section extensions for compliance, but accept a round seatpost at the top

caloso

Zipp has dimpled rims for at least 10 years.

Seattle Forrest

Motors.

Seattle Forrest

Shut up and take my money!!

znomit

Makes sense, the way things are going your highways might be gnarly singletrack soon.

MidTNBrad

I predict that next year's models of bikes will be:

• 3% lighter that this year.
• 6% more aero than this year.
• 4% stiffer than this year.
• You would think that those changes would make it harsher to ride but no, they've been able to make it more vertically compliant for all day comfort.
• Fully integrated cockpit for that clean look and it's more aero.
• The new redesigned fork and stays can accommodate up a whopping 32mm tire so you can do light off-road when the tarmac runs out or when you are ready for that back-country adventure.
• An 11-32 cassette so that you can beat the group to the county line and yet have enough gear to spin when the road heads vertical.
• Engineered with advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software to model the optimal design over previous generations

Did I miss anything?