You know how every once in a while, something gets invented and you’re like “oh, I’m not sure how we ever survived without that. Why did this not happen before?” The internet and craft beer notwithstanding, here are some of my items for that list.
The CamelBak
This is one of those things that was so head-slappingly revolutionary at the time (1990-something) that henceforth all daypacks with “hydration systems” became “CamelBaks,” a la facial tissue and Kleenex. I mean really—when was the last time you heard someone ask for a facial tissue. And I know all the cool kids these days run hip packs vs. CamelBaks or the above-referenced-daypacks-with-hydration-systems, but I predict that’s a fad and everyone will be back to Kleenex n’ CamelBaks pretty darned soon. However, I have also been known to say on about 109 occasions that gravel bikes were a fad destined for the dustbin of history and you know how well that’s going for me.
The Dropper
Remember, ye crusty old mountain biker, when you had to stop and lower your saddle for a decent by hand? Ugh! The horror! It made escaping from that neighborhood T-rex extra dicey. Then along came modernization in the form of the ‘hite rite’ which catapulted us right past the dinosaur epoch but was still dumb cause you still had to stop, get off, and adjust…by hand (unless you were Joe Breeze and most of us were not).
And then…Le Dropper post. I can’t find on the internets when this miraculous transformation took place, but I’m just thankful it did. A lever? On your handlebar? That drops the saddle AND brings it back up without stopping? Mind. Blown.
Tool in Steerer Tube
Brilliant. Just damned brilliant. Scooch open the little pocket door on the top of the steerer tube and up pops a compact, adorable multi-tool. No more “crap, it’s in my other bag/girlfriend stole it/dog ate it”—it’s just right there and it’s got everything you are likely to need. There are even fancier varieties that have more than a multi-tool, but I’m still gobsmacked by this simple thing so let me have my moment.
Tubeless Tires
These probably belong at the top of the list. How many flats did we used to get on a group ride? Obviously the number of riders and the terrain informed this answer, but let me remind you—it was A LOT. For a group ride in someplace like Moab, you’d want to build in an extra hour at least for the number of punctures, pinch flats, sidewall tears, etc. And of course there was always the flat you fixed that went immediately flat again cause you didn’t run your hand through the tire in search of the offending pointy item that started this whole cascade of calamities in the first place.
And this is where your ordinarily supportive friends mutter a swear word under their breath and roll their eyes and sit down in a huff and very loudly pull out a snack in a crinkly wrapper meant to inform you that you are, indeed, a putz. What usually happens next is that once you are (finally…jeez) ready to roll, someone else in the group discovers that they too have a flat. With any luck at all, that person is the aforementioned huffy snacker.
Disc brakes
“Brakes only slow you down.” Undeniably true, but I’m kind of keen on them. V-brakes, rim brakes, caliper brakes. These might all be the same. They might have nuanced or even huge differences. I have no idea. What I do know is that unlike my erstwhile prognostications regarding the quick and fiery demise of gravel biking, these antique clodhoppers are well and truly history (fight me!).
They didn’t work if they got wet. They didn’t work if they got muddy. They didn’t work if they got too hot. If mercury was in retrograde. However, the old style brakes never gave me a calf-tattoo from leaning a tender leg against their overheated surface the way a disc brake has done on more than one occasion (learning disability? You’d think one flesh-searing would be enough).
A future post will focus on the Flash in The Pan—the thing that seemed cool for 26 minutes, but really wasn’t. Cycling skirts, the mullet (mixed wheel size). Gravel bikes. Hmph!
