19wisconsin64
08-19-2019, 09:44 PM
Looking around at all of the expensive road racing bicycles I've noticed that the consumer demand of the high-end market really products to market. Disc brakes, wide rim wheelsets, electronic shifting, framesets that are more comfortable over bumps, and more. Wow, these new bicycles are great!
For most of my life, I've ridden steel bikes, either geared or fixed, but in the past 20 years have had carbon road bikes that have been upgraded every 5 years or so. Now, am in the market for a high-end bike, and taking a look around they go from $5,000 to $10,000 and more, which is a lot.
There are far more people buying these high-end bicycles than ever before, so the market is larger, and it stands to reason that there might be a demand for anti-lock brakes as an "upgrade" to a bicycle that already has wiring and a battery. These new systems will initially be heavy and expensive, but for a pound or so of weight, they seem like a good step toward rider safety.
Maybe soon when light-weight graphene batteries are cheaper this might be a good option for someone, like myself, who can justify the price in terms of safety. 99.9% of the time I'll never need them, but it's those emergency moments where they will be worth every single penny. Close calls going downhill, or close calls braking to avoid bad drivers or obstacles in the road that you can't go around, are just a few of the examples I can think of. Those and trying to do an emergency stop in the rain.
So, bicycle manufacturers, please start putting these on the market. Place the batteries low in the down-tube, and maybe even use it as an excuse to put in power for head units, in addition to powering front and rear lights.
I'm willing to pay extra for a good system over and above the cost of a $5,000 or $10,000 if they truly work, and if the marketing research departments in the cycling industry do some surveys, they might be surprised at the demand. Bicycles are light, aero, fast, and comfortable now, and with the disc brakes that they have now, this seems to be a future upgrade that might save some lives as the technology gets trickled down.
In the past, there was a huge discussion about pro cycling adopting disc brakes, and in the end, it happened. Like on motorcycles. Anti-lock brakes are standard on most high-end models. It would be great to see this happen.
For most of my life, I've ridden steel bikes, either geared or fixed, but in the past 20 years have had carbon road bikes that have been upgraded every 5 years or so. Now, am in the market for a high-end bike, and taking a look around they go from $5,000 to $10,000 and more, which is a lot.
There are far more people buying these high-end bicycles than ever before, so the market is larger, and it stands to reason that there might be a demand for anti-lock brakes as an "upgrade" to a bicycle that already has wiring and a battery. These new systems will initially be heavy and expensive, but for a pound or so of weight, they seem like a good step toward rider safety.
Maybe soon when light-weight graphene batteries are cheaper this might be a good option for someone, like myself, who can justify the price in terms of safety. 99.9% of the time I'll never need them, but it's those emergency moments where they will be worth every single penny. Close calls going downhill, or close calls braking to avoid bad drivers or obstacles in the road that you can't go around, are just a few of the examples I can think of. Those and trying to do an emergency stop in the rain.
So, bicycle manufacturers, please start putting these on the market. Place the batteries low in the down-tube, and maybe even use it as an excuse to put in power for head units, in addition to powering front and rear lights.
I'm willing to pay extra for a good system over and above the cost of a $5,000 or $10,000 if they truly work, and if the marketing research departments in the cycling industry do some surveys, they might be surprised at the demand. Bicycles are light, aero, fast, and comfortable now, and with the disc brakes that they have now, this seems to be a future upgrade that might save some lives as the technology gets trickled down.
In the past, there was a huge discussion about pro cycling adopting disc brakes, and in the end, it happened. Like on motorcycles. Anti-lock brakes are standard on most high-end models. It would be great to see this happen.