What is the future of road cycling tech?

From disc brake dominance to increasing comfort and versatility

We look at the trends we saw during our 2017 Bike of the Year testing in the hope of predicting the future

Jack Luke

Published: May 11, 2017 at 2:00 pm

What will 2018 and beyond bring for road bike tech? Check out this video on our YouTube channel to find out

As our Road Bike of the Year awards draw to a close for another year, we thought it was a good time to reflect on the 55 road bikes that were tested. What trends did we spot and can this help us to predict what we will be seeing on the road bikes of the future?

Senior tester Warren Rossiter recently sat down with Rob Spedding, editor in chief of sister mag Cycling Plus, and the pair looked into their cycling-industry crystal ball to see what we should expect in 2018 and beyond.

From the ever-forward march towards disc brake dominance, to increasing comfort and capability, the future certainly looks interesting for road cycling.

What tech would you like to see appear on road bikes? Or are you still quite happy with steel rims and cottered cranks? As always, leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Jack Luke

Deputy editor

Jack Luke is the deputy editor at BikeRadar and has been fettling with bikes for his whole life. Always in search of the hippest new niche in cycling, Jack is a self-confessed gravel dork, fixie-botherer, tandem-evangelist and hill climb try hard. Jack thinks nothing of bikepacking after work to sleep in a ditch or taking on a daft challenge for the BikeRadar YouTube channel. He is also a regular contributor to the BikeRadar podcast. With a near encyclopaedic knowledge of cycling tech, ranging from the most esoteric retro niche to the most cutting-edge modern kit, Jack takes pride in his ability to seek out stories that would otherwise go unreported. He is also particularly fond of tan-wall tyres, dynamo lights, cup and cone bearings, and skids. Jack has been writing about and testing bikes for more than six years now, has a background working in bike shops for years before that, and is regularly found riding a mix of weird and wonderful machines. Jack can also often be seen zooming about with his partner aboard their beloved tandem.
This website is owned and published by Our Media Ltd. www.ourmedia.co.uk
© Our Media 2024