What's the single greatest cycling invention in the world?

[James Drake]

A classic Tuesday afternoon discussion / argument has broken out in the PistonHeads office. What is, in your opinion, the single greatest invention in the world of modern cycling?

We're talking about the more recent and clever stuff, so don't say something like "wheels" or "metal tubing"!

Currently we've concluded that disc brakes are very good (especially on mountain bikes), Carbon frame technology has pushed the boundaries of lightweight vs strength and stiffness and SPD / Clipless pedals are pretty special when you think how much of a faff toe straps were!

What do people think - what's the single best invention in modern cycling?

[louiebaby]

Compressed gas jet-flater thingymajigs?

Retro-reflective patches for clothing?

Strava?

Probably the jet-flater for me...

[Hoolio]

Can't disagree with any of the above, my vote would be carbon fibre frames.

[Don1]

Aero stuff - tri bars, deep dish wheels, aero tubing.... They look cool on the bike and you go fast.

The only down-side is the stupid helmets, skin suits and the like...

[alfaman]

well - not exactly specific to cycling .. but LED lights have been a bit of a game changer for cycling at night / offroad.

apart from that I'd suggest hydraulic disk brakes.

cleats have been around for 30+ years

new frame materials are good, but not revolutionary.

[GaryGlitter]

James Drake said:

A classic Tuesday afternoon discussion / argument has broken out in the PistonHeads office. What is, in your opinion, the single greatest invention in the world of modern cycling?

We're talking about the more recent and clever stuff, so don't say something like "wheels" or "metal tubing"!

Currently we've concluded that disc brakes are very good (especially on mountain bikes), Carbon frame technology has pushed the boundaries of lightweight vs strength and stiffness and SPD / Clipless pedals are pretty special when you think how much of a faff toe straps were!

What do people think - what's the single best invention in modern cycling?

Not sure I'd call clipless pedals modern, think I purchased my first pair of SPuDs circa 1991.

[budgie smuggler]

Tubeless tyres and suspension forks spring (ho ho) to mind.

If you're allowing clipless pedals, then I'd say indexed gears is in with a shout

[longshot]

Integrating the gear lever into the brake lever.

Not so much an invention but getting people to wear lids.

[anonymous-user]

Judging by the way its all going, a helmet cam.

[WestyCarl]

I guess depends what you mean by recent but the rear derailleur has to be pretty good. Improved but still not bettered

[Some Gump]

Strava

[John1006]

Dropper post seems to me like it should be on the list, really changed riding for me

[JustinF]

GPS Navigation

[Jasper3.0]

Garmin Varia.

[BadgerBenji]

Tubeless, bridleways with thorns are now not a problem.

Strava an easy to use self building training diary.

[alock]

Theres nothing I do now that I wasn't doing 20+ years ago on my Raleigh Banana and Marin Palisades Trail. Cycling hasn't advanced much.

If I had to name something then maybe disk brakes and LED lights are the biggest differences.

[Downward]

I'd say LED lights and Speedo's

I was thinking today how cool it would be to have lights like these when I was a kid 30 years ago rather than a crap Dynamo and those ever ready lights

[LordHaveMurci]

Downward said:

I'd say Speedo's

Edited by LordHaveMurci on Tuesday 9th February 19:53

[neenaw]

I'm undecided between three things.

Tubeless tyres
Disc Brakes
Proper suspension

I'd probably have to go with disc brakes if I had to choose one as they are, in my opinion, a huge improvement over other systems in road, CX and MTB riding.

[James Drake]

From a mountain biking perspective I'd also like to add dropper seat posts too - they dramatically increased how much I enjoy riding... And that's probably a fairly good way to define how good something is I'd have thought?