A feature or upgrade that you have to have now?

[SeanScott]

Is there a feature or product that you never had or tried that you now have to have on your bikes?
I was thinking today on a ride how a never rode larger tires and now love them.
Also, I really like a bar with a flat top for my palms.

2 other thing I like that I never thought I would,
electronic shifting
Road disc (for the tire size)

[jtbadge]

Round bend bars. I started on compact but got some Ritchey NeoClassics when I was doing a silver build. Now I can't go back - bars like these make shifting from the drops way easier with short fingers. As a plus there is a bigger difference in position from hoods to drops when compared to a compact shape.

[johnmdesigner]

A car free place to ride or a free ticket to Holland.

[donevwil]

Columbine Quikchainger

[spoonrobot]

Tubeless
Some sort of framebag - half/mini/top tube
Fenders - for road and non-racing gravel bikes
Disc brakes
Helmet mounted lights

[mhespenheide]

I'm pretty darn addicted to 28mm-32mm tires on the road at this point. I'd find it hard to go back, unless I moved to a location that had roads in better repair (but where would that be, after we've ignored infrastructure for a decade or more?).

Being forced to ride with toe clips and cages during Eroica makes me appreciate my normal full-float clipless pedal and shoes.

I also really like the larger bodies of more recent brake/shift levers, like 6800/5800 or later. I've got 7700 on an earlier bike and while it works great and I don't mind the 9-speed, I just like the fit/contact points of the larger bodies.

[FlashUNC]

eTap.

[berserk87]

Originally Posted by johnmdesigner

A car free place to ride or a free ticket to Holland.

I didn't even realize that I needed these until you posted it.

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by johnmdesigner

A car free place to ride or a free ticket to Holland.

We get free plane tickets to Europe every few years. Delta Sky Miles rewards card and Marriott rewards cards is how we do it. We only buy things we would buy anyway and pay them off every month. Eventually, we have enough rewards built up to go on a trip.

[OtayBW]

I used to work for a Dutch company, and so I have been to the Netherlands many times. My impression is that bikes over there are kind of like a swarm of insects flying around your head. Kind of a controlled pandemonium, at best, IMO. It's like riding all at once with a thousand of your best friends who have suspect bicycle handling skills.

[bigbill]

I've been switching all my road bikes to 46cm bars with 12 degree flare. Mostly Ritchey EvoMax bars in WCS and Comp. It just feels better on my old shoulders and I find the flares actually encourage me to ride in the drops.

It all started with the Salsa Cowbells on my gravel bike.

[fkelly]

I'm in early stages of transitioning from Garmin 800 (seven years old and works great) to my Samsung phone linked up to RidewithGPS for cycling computer needs. Found a good mount for the Samsung and went through bluetooth pairing hassles with HRM and Stages yesterday: all worked well today. Still have to work though options for conserving battery power on the phone. Two hour ride ate 50% of battery with the screen on the whole time.

The larger phone screen is great compared to Garmin. I transitioned to DI2 on my bike last year. Not going back.

Re. the Netherlands what you are seeing there is bikes for commuting, going grocery shopping, taking kids to school etc. Few helmets. Recreational cycling is something else and I'm sure some folks over there do it; but biking is just part of daily life for most.

[unterhausen]

Originally Posted by johnmdesigner

A car free place to ride or a free ticket to Holland.

Not quite car free, but riding gravel around here can be close.
If it weren't for people driving out into the woods to get spring water, there would be even fewer cars.

Post above reminded me of this upgrade I need to have now. On my last ride, a 400km brevet, my Garmin 800 failed to do turn by turn navigation at all even though it was on. And then at night, the color code for the roads had somehow switched to a very thin line and all the colors were the same. So I mostly had to rely on my cue sheet. Then with about 15 miles to go, the garmin just locked up. I don't think I could use my phone for this because of the length of time that I ride. I was thinking about getting a garmin 1030, but the 800 just works so poorly for me even though it has all the elements in place. It's hard to make the leap of faith needed to give them more money.

[weisan]

STI shifting
25mm tires minimum for road bikes

[Steve in SLO]

I have a great bunch of bikes and equipment, so nothing comes to mind except time, youth and fitness.