Your Top 5 Favorite MtB Inventions and Why

Not much happening on the forums so let's dig this topic up again. What are five inventions that made the biggest difference to you in enjoying mt biking. I prefer you keep it to the bike, but what the hell, if Bike Parks are one of your top 5, so be it! If you want to go beyond five, knock yourself out. If you disagree with me, you're wrong.

Not in order:

• Thru axles on forks. This was a game changer as travel went beyond 3". This is probably tied with stanchions bigger than 34 mm. The fork makes the biggest difference in mt biking, IMO.
• Disc brakes. Do I need to say why? Like any innovation, I scoffed when they were first introduced. Who wants to add that much weight when you have two perfectly good rotors already (your rims)? I even thought "I've never had a problem stopping, I can't imagine needing these."
• Tubeless tire/rim/sealant technology. When this stuff got as light or lighter than a tube, and the tires started mating really well with the rims, it was sayonara tubes and buh bye flats caused by thorns, glass or other small punctures. And hello traction with 10 psi less in the tires.
• Slack head angles. Not actually a product, but I started off with Yetis because they had longer top tubes and slacker head angles way back in 2006. Glad to see everyone caught up.
• Clutch or anti chain-slap rear derailleurs. Also a game changer. I could take off the Blackspire chain tensioner that more often than not added massive resistance to pedaling. Woot woot!

Givens:
Useable full suspension systems. The early full suspension designs were ass backward. Literally, They were designed to cushion your ass as you pedaled, and stiffened up when you stood up to descend. The suspension seat post, the Allsop Softride and the Unified Rear Triangle on Trek, Klein, Schwinn and others were just damned dangerous. But then Horst link and good single pivots made the technology ubiquitous and added a ton of fun and safety. Not sure I would still be riding if we never got beyond hard tails. VPP, DW Link, Maestro and a boatload of other variations just broadened the application to work well pedaling and descending.

Rebound damping. - Imagine just a spring for suspension.

Durable wheels. No need to elaborate here. For a while, the industry was going crazy with designs to eliminate traditional hub and spoke systems. Glad that didn't work.

Reliable transmissions. I'll leave the single speeds to you special few.

Your turn.

 

In order:

1) Disc brakes. Single best addition to bikes in the history of cycling.
2) Tubeless tires. They conform to their natural shape.
3) Dropper post. Couldn't live without one.
4) Puncture/tear resistant tire casings. Less failures
5) Gears. You can't pedal to everywhere without them

 

I think dropper post is on most people's list. It's not on mine because around here you ride to the top, then descend, then ride up again. Not real hard to use a quick release, shove your saddle down, then raise it again at the bottom of the hill. It took about 8 seconds when I used to use this method. I still could be plenty happy doing that for Aliso, LCWP, The Luge, Joplin, etc.

Then, I rode other places with lots of up and down. Yup - I get it. Dropper post became imperative and they are now a given.

And most of these inventions took bikes from the desired 21 lbs in 1992 to an acceptable 30 lbs in 2010 to present.

 

You get one more, because I declare your two tire entries as one item.

 

OK, boss.

5A) Aerospace materials for their strength, light weight, and vibration absorbing qualities.

 

Hard for me to like this one even though I used to do some manual seat post dropping myself. Reason being is, nothing is uglier on a bike than a scratched up seat post.

 

Why would they be scratched up? My Thomson posts were never scratched up. A good quick release collar shouldn't keep them so tight that you need to scratch them on down.

 

1) the mountain bike itself would be a good place to start.

2) disc brakes

3) tubeless tire, have tubeless since 2002 on my 2002 Giant NRS. First generation UST sucked royally though.

4) bottom bracket, anything is better than a square taper. external bb is so much better.

5) helmet technology, my first helmet was a skid lid. So now these helmets with all the technology built into a ice chest is just crazy.

 

I wonder if this may be next...

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/video-the-ochain-chainring-promises-chainless-performance.html

I LOVE the idea! And so does A-A-Ron!

On the other hand, it's dangerously close to April 1st.

 

Interesting.......

1. Disc brakes......however there were some really solid rim brakes at the infancy of discs. Magura HS-33 hydro, Shimano XTR V-brakes, Avid Ultimates were pretty good.
2. Suspension forks.....long time hardtail guy here. Game changer with my 70mm Judy SL. Things have evolved, but suspension forks are still a necessity.
3. 4 Bolt Stem Faceplates.....this is a small one, but for safety sake's and less flex.
3a. Shorter Stems.....yes 120-140mm stems came from the roadie side....sketchy.
4. Tubeless tires....I always said I wouldn't go tubeless. You just can't argue with the reliability, ride quality, and lack of flats.
5. 29ers.....Yes, the early bikes were far from decent. But the big wheels just rolled. Looks like they finally figured them out.


Honorable mentions:
31.8/35mm bar diameters
1x drivetrains


Dropper posts.....yes, I enjoy mine, but not needed.
Full Suspension....yes, it's fun, but not needed.

 

I've scratched up Thomson's before even though I admit that it wasn't easy to. Burrs/imperfections inside the seat tube will do it. So beside the scratches going around the post from the collar, there are scratches going up and down the length of the post as well.

 

Nope......it looks like it would feel like something the drivetrain was loose.

 

Interesting. It isolates one thing and creates incredible chain slap at the same time. That isolated energy has to go somewhere, right? With this system, someone needs to invent a cassette chain guard as well, possibly?

 

All the above are great advancements. I also like indexed shifting. Should probably go under your "given" section though. I remember the days of "feeling around" with the shifter lever to find the sweet spot (I still have an old road bike with down tube shifters without indexing). Great thread idea!

 

Wheels. Probably item 1.

 

Smart a$$

 

I mostly concur with your list, though I’d put wide-ratio 1x over clutch derailleurs.

And how about fashion? I like the modern mtb uniform way better than that Tri suit I raced in twice

And trails? I do love me some fun trails. I mean, Blackstar is fine for building fitness, but the legal trails we have now were beyond imagination in 1992.

 

Index shifting X 5; if you ever were saddled with friction shifting, you'd know why.

 

1. Air suspension. So much easier to adjust your suspension feel/sag according to your weight, riding style, trail, etc.. Also a bit lighter.
2. Not only thru axle on the fork, but on the rear as well. Remember those skimpy 5mm skewers? I'm surprised the wheels stayed on at all.
3. Self extracting crank arms. Gone are the days of a crank arm puller.
4. Quick link master link. Back in the day geared bikes had no master. Then Shimano came out with a link you would press in and break off the excess. Still some of the pin would stick out and cause a tick in the drive train. The quick link was smooth. Not only makes easy work if you want to take the chain off but carrying extra quick links make a easier repair when in a jam.
5. Blingy valve stem caps. Nothing keeps me motivated more than seeing that shiny bonnet spin with the wheel on Fully Loop hero dirt. Mesmerizing.

 

Mic drop!

 

Hmmm...

1. Disc brakes. After riding for many years in lousy weather with rim brakes, disc brakes are a must.

2. Chemists. The unseen heroes who are cooking up the rubber compounds deserve a shoutout. Even in the last couple years, tires have gotten better. Faster rolling, more durable, and lighter. Maxxis still sells a lot of the dinosaur tires, but they don't compare to the modern offerings.

I'll think of more, but I've only had two coffees so far.

And what's up with the hate for friction shifters? Shifting technology peaked at that point. It's been an endless hell of derailleur adjustments, upgrades, missed shifts and B tension adjustments for the last couple decades! Finding the sweet spot with a friction shifter was heaven. Fulfilling on an emotional level.

 

You left out COFFEE! I had assumed that it is the greatest invention where cycling or anything for that matter was concerned, in your opinion. Gotta think that many, if not all of these wonderful cycling inventions and technologies were brought to reality during or after coffee consumption, yes?

 

I'm going to add one. Stan's Dart. Only because after using it on the gravel bike Jennifer asked who the hell stays up at night and comes up with this sh¡t? Puncture that doesn't seal immediately? Pull over. Grab Dart tool. Push tool into hole until it bottoms out. Pull tool out. Rotate tire to bottom and let Stan's do the rest. People question the $4 per plug. That $4 just saved my ride.

 

I'm going to try and list things no one has yet.


#1.OneUp EDC pump & tool kit. Whether it's clipped to your bottle mount or stored in the steerer tube. Why? Because Stone Cold said so!
#2. Programable/Downloadable GPS's. Trail map????? hahahaha! We don't need no stinking trail map.
#3. Narrow Wide chain rings. I don't think I've dropped a chain since I've been running them.
#4. Strava
#5. Wide rims.

 

Fun topic....

#1. 29er wheels- I feel that 29" is faster, better handling, though I have not ridden 27.5. Just love my 29er. I have not found anything that I am not better, more confident on over 26"
#2. Dropper seatpost- this was a hard one. at times I fully think this was the best over 29" but not sure it would be the same on a smaller bike.
#3. 1X with Narrow Wide- I have always rode SS so 1X was just natural. I was riding 1X9 before it was a thing. I hate front derailleurs and big chainrings, never used them.
#4. Clutch style rear derailleurs- This goes along with the 1X. great easy addition. Makes so much since and haven't seen a cleaner chain stay since.
#5. Wide handlebars- Love having my arms so wide makes cornering soo much more fun and standing and climbing feels better as well.

Close additions:

Tubeless tires
Disc brakes
GPS

 

I don't know about the external bottom bracket. Still have "quality" square taper and can't tell the difference. As long as you install it and forget it they are just as good.

 

Great choice. That was sooo long ago I think we have forgotten about it. Essential

 

IMTBTRAILS of course.....and Tailwind.......and beer

 

Newest invention that I am enjoying is my tubeless tire seater floor pump. Incredible!