Road Cycling Technology

Road cycling has its traditions and purists like any other sport. There could be a contest between Major League Baseball and the cycling world to see which sport has the most purists per thousand fans and athletes. In road cycling, index shifting, and now electronic shifting, disc brakes and carbon fiber frames and wheels have had detractors over the last twenty-five years. Now it seems that technology is accelerating within road cycling. SRAM has introduced a 1x front chainring; that replaces the double chainring with a single chainring. Garmin has introduced the Varia Bike Lights and Rearview radar. Garmin also upgraded its Edge 520 bike computer to include Functional Threshold Power (FTP) and VO2 maximum calculations and Shimano DI2 integration.

SRAM’s 1x (‘One By’) is a single front chainring with 48 or 50 teeth and 11-32 or 11-36 rear cassettes. This gives the 1x11 gear setup a similar range of gear inches to a 2x11 gear setup, but the gear ratios are fewer. This means that the mechanical advantage is nearly the same, but there is a limit on the top speed of the bike. This also gives the rider a wider step between gears, making it harder to maintain cadence with gear shifting. SRAM alternates the chainring teeth between narrow and wide to help keep the chain from derailing. And the rear derailleur provides extra tension on the chain to prevent derailing also. The 11-speed rear cassette pushed the triple chainring to the fringe, will the simplicity of the 1x create an equal standing with the double chainring?

My wife is concerned about my bike riding. Whenever there is a bike accident printed in the local newspaper, I get to hear about it. Invariably, the cyclist is riding at night in a high traffic area without lights, or a helmet, typically. Garmin has introduced a system that addresses night riding. Varia Smart Bike Lights include a headlight, taillight and a combination of both headlight and taillight. The lights are tied to the Garmin Edge 1000 and 520 bike computers to supply speed data to the lights. Based on the cyclist’s speed, the headlight will shine brighter and therefore further down the road. The headlights and taillights will get brighter as the darkness grows based on the input from the Edge 1000 which has light sensing capability. This system is a far cry from the lights from my high school days with the generator that ran off of my rear tire and slowed my bicycle down. Garmin Varia Headlight is $199.99, the taillight is $69.99, and the combination of both is $299.99.

Garmin also introduced the Varia Rearview Radar system. The radar detects approaching vehicles from behind up to 153 yards (140 meters) away. As the vehicle gets closer, the tail light gets brighter and flashes. The rear unit has the radar and light system included. The separate head unit or the Garmin Edge 1000, 520 and 25 will display how many vehicles are being tracked behind you and how far they are. It also will detect cyclists behind you as well. Garmin quotes a study by the League of American Bicyclists about how getting hit from behind is the leading cause of cycling fatalities in the United States. However, I have seen other statistics stating that 3.9% of bike - car collisions are from behind. This light will do nothing for the ‘right cross’ or ‘left cross’.

Garmin upgraded the Edge 520 bike computer with features found in the top of the line Edge 1000. For $300, the Edge 520 will compute your VO2 Max by using your power output and heart rate and riding at 70% of your maximum heart rate for 20 minutes. The Edge 520 will compute your FTP as well for you. To have these bits of data without visiting a cycling lab is a big benefit to cyclist’s training. If you have Garmin Vector pedals, the 520 will analyze your pedal stroke.

It took years to perfect the front and rear derailleurs. Steel was the main bike frame material for decades. Friction shifters were the only way to shift gears for years before that cyclists had to remove and switch the rear wheels around to shift gears early in the last century. Now frame and component materials change within years, the amount of data available is steadily increasing, and the selection of road bike types is expanding faster than the flavors of Coca-Cola. In the not too distant future, cyclists may be able to have instant analysis on the road.