WHY WOULD YOU POST SOMETHING LIKE THAT, AND NOT POST THE PICS?

fugly

hey patrick, why aren't you riding?
well, i forgot to charge my bike!

hey patrick, why is your carbon top tube shattered?
well, i was sprinting and my bike shorted and shifted on me!

You can also thank the wonderful idea the UCI had by putting a weight limit on bikes. Now they will try to cram every imaginable gadget onto the bike because bikes too light. Already, you can have a SRM and stay close to the UCI limit. Eliminate the weight restriction and this stuff will not get as much race time because everybody will be riding 13lb bikes for sure.

__________________
-Eric


I'm so fast, I can do the hour in 58 minutes!

my first race
my song
my bike
my other bike
my Zank

I'm not usually given to quoting from western scripture but in this case I will make an exception, "And he wept..."

Not out of joy, mind you, but because we need another gadget like we need another gadget. But what will happen is that everyone will first hate it, then love it, then forget what used to be "state of the art," certainly "upgrade," and no one will (or should) care. Spend yer money as you please! I'm soooo done.

outta'the loop, looking for Suntour Superbe and old Mavic constructer sets,

dbrk

p.s., not really, I have my lifetime supply and now I am merely a spectator to the industry's next marketing tool...

1- Thank you so much for the pictures.
2- Butt ugly imho, although I understand we're looking at a prototype.
3- A solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
4- I'm still longing for down tube levers.
5- The future can be scary at times.

I have to admit that it's not as ugly as I expected it to be.

I am intrigued by the pedals though. I wonder if they have changed the function of the spd-sl system, or if it's an effort to lighten the pedal body.

__________________
"Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things." - Robert Heinlein

These parts do look pretty far along the development path.
It's surprising it's been a "secret" this far along.
I can't imagine they will replace the group with only an electronic version,
like disc and v-brake, it'll likely come both ways.

You just know the designers are completely out of good ideas when they start
putting electronics on bikes. Like some others have already said, I just
scratch my head and ask, why?

-g

Why? It might work better! Using servo motors to shift may provide increased precision, reliability, and longevity over cables. Of course, it may not...

Not rushing to judgement,

__________________
David
=======================
http://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum/

If you want those things, you could just use Campagnolo... ;-)

-g

Some day, in ten or 15 years some guy with not too much money in his pocket or his life that always wanted a bike will go in to a store and figure that he can only afford a hybrid, because the bikes Saul Raisin won the TDF 8 times on are way outta his league... Plus he's older, maybe a little arthritic in his hands from toiling away at a career filled with physical hardships for 20+ years.

Like a light from heaven and a choir of angels singing, a bike will call out to him and the owner of the shop will explain that it is an entry level road model from ***** and that it's only $2000.00 ($650 in USD, circa 2006).

The man loves it but remembers the effort to shift on his old triple chainringed bike and wrings his hand just thinking about it. Inside he sighs. Outside, his mood changes. He seems almost let down. He knows lifes been tough. He knows he's been beaten down and most of the reasons are because of errors he made in his youth. He looks at this as another dead-end glass ceiling brought on by his own doing, 20 years in the past. He's past his prime, physically, but really just wanted to feel the freedom of the wind on his face.

The IBD oener sees him wring his hand and can sense the problem. He's dealt with many a Baby-boomer in his day, and now their children as they age...

"Sir, you should try this bike. I know you want to, and may have some reservations, but I gotta show you this fantastic feature. It comes with a new, 14 speed (in the rear) light action electronic Tiagra group. It's all trickle down technology, sir."

--------------------------------

See. It's not about us snobs . It's about the future. It's about the people that'll never know what a Vanilla, RS, Serotta, IF, or Zanconato is. It's about people that'll never know what someone means by a "French fit", or ever care about the differences between 650a, b, c, d, or e, let alone 700 v 27.

Someday, somewhere, this will benefit the masses riding.

To me, more people riding is WAY more important that Dura-Ace or Record.

Look at the response on this board when the pics of the Tiagra 10 came out. People who know the industry, like many of us do either casually or as part of our livelihood recognized that it makes that group level "Less awful" or even, "not bad". Hopefully in a few years this will also help some people that may not have otherwise benn able to enjoy cycling, enjoy it more.

We need to get more then 1% of the population on bikes, grow the infrastructure, grow the base, and if is trickle down electronics that's gonna help... I'm in.

Hell, if I thought it would help improve the amount of people that rode bike, I'd equip [one of] mine with Tiagra 10 as soon as it came out.

The future is coming, we can't stop it, so lets make it work to our benefit.

And the poor overworked arthritic peasant will not be able to service the electronic POS he just purchased. He'll have to go see the local Shimano Mr. Goodwrench and get overcharged for simple adjustments and minor repairs.

GDW,

Couldn't you add a " " to that post? Mr. Arthritic couldn't adjust a 9 speed 105 either, but at least now he can shift his triple. So negative, no soup for you!

I can't wait to not use this stuff!