old man yelling at clouds content

[robt57]

Re: Nitto Pearls.

Any one know if the anodized ones cleared over?

[Cantdog]

Integrated cockpits are just this decades Campy Delta brakes, and in another 15 years people will be all nostalgic for it!

[bicycletricycle]

Originally Posted by Cantdog

Integrated cockpits are just this decades Campy Delta brakes, and in another 15 years people will be all nostalgic for it!

That may be true.

It isn’t true that all things that are popular are later broadly looked upon with nostalgia.

Are people ever going to be nostalgic for those early aero bikes with those stupid integrated aero rim brakes that all seemed to suck?

On the other hand, I myself like the way some of these bikes look and in 15 years when they are worth nothin I might buy one

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by bicycletricycle

i was at a shop yesterday holding the broken parts of one of these trek front ends in my hands, huge weird stem , proprietary bar, gigantic fork, etc, etc. The whole thing is just not appealing, PIA to assemble/maintain, soon to be impossible to get parts, 600 dollar handlebars, but also just kinda ugly (to me anyways). When all assembled and cleaned up these fully integrated modern front ends can look pretty nice I admit and this one isn't the best example perhaps but I was just kind of revolted. Later I was at home looking at some bikes with Nitto pearls and salsa quill stems and I just felt better about the world.

I guess I am an old grump.

I have a similar experience at the auto repair garage. I saw the whole frond end of a W12 powered Bentley at the euro shop the other day. hoses and crap all over the place. You have to take the whole bumper bar and lights off to get to basically anything on the engine. I liked the looks of the car but looking inside I just think-

It isn't just not enough juice for the squeeze, same with the weird integrated trek bar thing.

rant over.

visual aids found on web
trek-madone-slr-9-disc-project-one-stem-top-739953844 by bicycletricycle666, on Flickr
5185097982_8de60416c7_b by bicycletricycle666, on Flickr

Man, that Salsa stem looks good. What kind of bar finishing tape is that?

[bicycletricycle]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Man, that Salsa stem looks good. What kind of bar finishing tape is that?

Just looks like electrical tape

[bicycletricycle]

Originally Posted by robt57

Re: Nitto Pearls.

Any one know if the anodized ones cleared over?

None are clear coated. Silver ones seem to be clear anodized but not sure.

[charliedid]

Nobody works on Friday...

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by rkhatibi

When I see the same I can only remember every single time the cables have caught on a door handle, tangled with another bike, or made getting bike on and off the wall rack that didn't have enough space for all the bikes I had harder than it needed to be.

And I'm sitting here trying to think of ANYTIME any of that has happened to me...

[bicycletricycle]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

And I'm sitting here trying to think of ANYTIME any of that has happened to me...

Same here, I actually cannot remember getting my cables tangled on anything

[cgolvin]

I too agree with the sentiment in the original post. I would guess that the majority of people who own bikes with integrated cockpits don't do their own maintenance which makes it (mostly) a non-issue for them … I could be wrong.

There has never been a single instance of me looking at the cables on those original STI shifters and thinking "thing of beauty." Not once.

[TimD]

Originally Posted by robt57

The 'Endurance' Domane was not right for me either. The Long Low Race Shops whole different machine. And no Domane nose bleed stack. I mean that in the not quite right right for me dept, not the disparaging.. well maybe a little.

If one has more inseam than normal for height and can still ride without the head tube extension, these RSLs are great IMO.

Apologies if I wasn't clear, the endurance geometry Domane works great for me.

Consider yourself fortunate that your body can tolerate handlebar drop. That might change over time.

If you're lucky you'll grow old too.

Tim

[pwgoode]

I agree that the carbon/fully integrated/internal routing overkill and unnecessary. Plus I hate how it looks. I much prefer my shifting to be mechanical and my bikes to be metal with external routing. I don't know if that makes me a retrogrouch or just a grumpy old man.

There are some advancements such as hydro disc brakes on mountain bikes that are really beneficial. Some such as electronic shifting are less beneficial. A shift is a shift, right?

I must confess that I am installing a dropper post on my mountain bike this weekend. My first ever dropper on a mtb and I've been mountain biking since 19991. I'm hoping that this is one of those tech things that is worth the hassle. At least it's going on a steel singlespeed.

[Geemalar]

I have to admit, as long as the stem isn’t a giant bulbous hunk of whatever material, I like the look of everything being hidden. It’s just a clean look.

But I know it will not make me go any faster. And being one who does all his own repairs, and really only does repairs when necessary, it just looks like a complete headache to have to work on.

I have two rim brake frames with integrated cables through the frame but not through the stem. Looks clean, complete pia to replace cables on. So much that I fitted them both with electronic shifting. That at least eliminated some of the hassle of routing cables.

[reuben]

Originally Posted by charliedid

Nobody works on Friday...

Friday is Shake Fist At Clouds Day. I was a member before there were clouds.

[Philster]

As has been said on here a couple times, people obviously like the look of hidden cables and I do, too. I don’t think these “normal” cyclists (or whatever you call people who spend that much) are poorly served, either. They have one bike and when it breaks, they take it to be fixed at a shop. Within the context of high end product, bike repair is cheap.

Personally, I draw the line at the one piece bar/stem. But even there, most riders that aren’t tinkerers probably don’t change their fit for years.

Maybe these new trends will save the bike shop. I would find it intimidating to buy one of these one piece cockpits online. The stakes for getting it wrong are high.