Road Bike Trends In the Feature

Road Bike Trends In the Feature

Road bikes are the most frequently used models of cycling bikes. In the field of the pursuit of speed, aerodynamics is an eternal topic.

The trend of road bikes pursuing better aerodynamic effects and less drag has never changed. Within the limits of UCI, major brands have gained more aerodynamic effects through research on tube shapes and aerodynamic optimization of components.

Many big brands such as Giant and Trek have updated their new aero models to achieve a balance of weight, comfort, and aerodynamics.

More and more component manufacturers are also beginning to tap the advantages of aerodynamics in small accessories, and more and more components that seem to have nothing to do with aerodynamics have also joined the aerodynamic army. In the future, more and more components will join the aerodynamic camp to jointly capture as much marginal benefit as possible and reduce wind resistance for the rider.

Unified all-inward walking form

In recent years, more and more bicycles have adopted full-inner wiring designs. Compared with outer or half-inner wiring, the advantage of full-inner wiring lies in a simpler appearance and a smaller windward surface. , it has more design highlights in the environment where disc brakes and electric transformers are popular. With the development of the full internal routing design, the routing position will eventually be unified. Now, most of the whole bike adopts the full internal routing of the headset, that is, the cable enters the interior of the frame through the upper headset bearing. This design can reduce the opening of the frame at the position of the head tube and the down tube, and improve the overall structural strength. The diameter of the upper headset bearing is also getting larger and larger to accommodate all the cables.

However, there is still the problem that the specifications are difficult to unify in the full-inner style. For example, the specifications of the upper headset and the shape of the stem are not uniform for different bicycles. Whether the speaker cover is suitable for the set, or for ordinary users, the design of all internal wiring also means that when changing the bicycle settings or replacing the headset bearings later, will become a huge amount of work.

Today, full internal cable routing has become one of the main trends in the future, just like road disc brakes in previous years. We look forward to more manufacturers working together to launch more general internal cable routing products as soon as possible.

Comfort and fat tire trend

Can rigidity and comfort be combined, or are there only compromises? In the past, many competition-oriented products frequently promoted the improvement of rigidity, but in recent years, the attention of the whole bicycle to comfort has increased significantly. There are many factors that affect the comfort of the bike. While adopting various technical means to design the tube shape and adding shock-absorbing structures to improve the compliance of the bike, the manufacturer also pays attention to the improvement of the comfort of the wider tire. The return on investment ratio has to make manufacturers look differently.

The comfort gain brought by wider tires will be more deeply confirmed in the next few years.

Domestic brands are gradually prospering

China has always been a big country in the production and sales of bicycles in the world, but for a long time in the past, the country lacked its own mid-to-high-end brands. Although domestic brands in terms of frame, wheelsets, and power meters have achieved good results in the past few years, there is still a gap with international brands in market size.

Today, domestic brands have been able to cover most of the parts of the bicycle. In 2022, the blueprint launched the RX series road hydraulic disc brake mechanical transmission kit, which is also a step beyond the history of domestic transmission brands. So far, a complete disc brake road bicycle can achieve domestically produced parts, forming an "all-China class" lineup, and laying a solid foundation for the prosperity of domestic brands.