A cycling industry rant 

An indexed list of all my videos (with categories, tags, and a search button): www.bikegremlin.com/youtube/ For any questions, comments, additions, and corrections, I recommend you use the BikeGremlin forum (RU-vid is awful with comments and doesn't let you search & find questions and answers later on): www.bikegremlin.net/ Patreon support page: www.patreon.com/bikegremlin P.S. It seems like RU-vid is losing some of my own replies and comments to this video - bug or a feature (censorship) - who knows. Forum does work. :) Relja

Hats off for your sincerity. You won't get sponsors with this video, but, at least you get my thumb up. Keep up such good work.

"Its better, in my opinion, to hit a tree at 20 or 30 kmh than 40 or 50" Never change. You the man!

I couldn‘t agree more. The problem is that you don‘t have a real choice anymore. If you buy a new bike, disc brakes is pretty much standard these days. Rim brake, if available at all, is limited to low-end bikes. I started out on rim brakes and aluminum frames with external cable routing and really love the simplicity. Fixing and maintaining older bikes is a breeze compared to modern ones. We need to go back to affordable, reliable and simple bikes.

9:00 - I LOVE friction shifting. I just move the lever until the gearing feels right and sounds good.

Bravo. Every point you make is spot on. Been riding for 50 years and my 44-year-old steel, long wheel base touring bike is still a dream to ride and service. The bar end friction shifters eliminate so many problems. The indexed shifters on my three other bikes (including full carbon) are OK but often need attention. Indexing has been a step backwards in terms of practicality. Subscribed. 👍

Am novice when it comes to choosing a bike. My idea of a bike thats good enough is trip to Walmart. Where i got the Ozark Trail gravel bike for $268 (including tax). Ive been enyoing it so far. Am just looking to have fun. The bike industry has forgotten that part and has made everything convoluted. Just like any other industry. Look at any piece of hardware, its getting so specilized its easier to throw it away and buy new one. And they'll plant a tree in Amazon and call themself carbon neutral. Pozdrav iz Bostona,

More professional mechanics need to be making this type of video!

The only question they are asking to themselves when making bikes and parts is : How can we make more money with these sheeps riding their bike and willing to pay anything? That's where we are at, they don't care about practicality.

I agree with almost all your point, in particular regarding steel frames, rim brakes, and getting bikes overly complicated ... even with filled up with electronics. That does not belong onto a bike, except may be for the light or the speedometer. For me no electronics on the bike, and simplest technology made with good quality materials. As you mentioned, it is unfortunately not even possible anymore to find a good steel frame or good old J-forks. Many would be surprised how smooth and safe such a bike rides.

Ritchey makes steel frames that have long chainstays!

Sizing is the biggest nightmare now for riders like me who are between sizes. Because of the fashion of long reach, slack angles and short stems it leaves very little scope for adjustment without really upsetting the handling. I either go for a larger frame that has a factory 60mm stem and shorten in 20mm , which makes the bike really twitchy or take the size down , have the seat way back on the rails and lengthen the stem to the point where it just feels plain weird. I never had this issue with older longer stem, shorter reach bikes.

I've got a Rim brake Surly Cross check (that I'm very attached to) but have been hankering for a bike with disc brakes, you've just about convinced me to stay with my crosscheck (not to mention the 3x that I was considering changing to 2x) Thanks for the level headed advice.

very nice "Kein Bier vor 4" picture on the background. Greetings from germany.

Im 6'4" 190lbs and 43 years old and agree with everything you have said in this video. Even though I own a fully carbon disc brake bike that weighs 16lbs. It's a 2 by, and I i have full mechanical shifting and brakes. I do indeed miss the days of simple friction shifting... And heavier bikes always seemed to have a more firm plant onto the ground in gravel and anything offroad.

Agree with everything except the chainstay length, it needs to be as short as possible - looks are more important than anything else!

I love good practical, common sense advice. Good video. Yes the bicycle industry, like a lot of other industries get us to buy things that are proprietary in nature so you have to by the “next biggest thing” rather than building something that will last.

I have seen carbon frame crack without the carbon wheels even sustaining any damage, or without even being knocked out of true. It is also impossible to know if someone has over tightened parts without using a torque wrench. I.e I would not buy a used carbon frame or bike without knowing the owner and how they treated the bike. And buying used, you generally loose the lifetime frame warranty if it came with one, so you better get it cheap.

The opinions video is very much appreciated, because at least some of the questions have already been on my mind. One of the things which I dislike is the move towards making parts proprietary and exclusive - for example, tube shapes that are not round cylindrical.

Yep, I had a pedal totally shred a SRAM GXP carbon crank last week. The pedal actually fell off! On inspection the alloy thread insert was completely shredded. The thread has entirely worn smooth and the pedal slid out of the crank!!! Incredible.

Totally agree! I’ve a full suspended mountain bike with 1x and disc brake for really technical or muddy trails and wouldn’t want theses features on any other bikes. Rim brakes are powerful light and easy to maintain. Triples gives you plenty of range. The only drawback is that I can’t find any triples with short crank arms for reasonable price 😢.

Great video!!!! I agree so much, I am older rider with a carbon bike and disc brakes. I need to bleed my brakes and don’t want to even try. Just ordered a Rivendell with friction, rim brakes and a triple. Those who know will know. Thank you

Good summary of everything wrong with modern bikes. My bike has a wheelbase longer than XL road bike yet it is a 46 size bike. Super stable, long chain stays. Perfect for TT

I had a race face carbon fibre spider “explode” at 5mph going over a small mound. It threw me over the bars onto my back. The worst component is sram force CX1 hydraulic brake/ shifter lever. The carbon shell leads to endless issues with leakage, thread shredding and other failures.

Hello! The first thing i would do is (because this is a carbon fork and steer tube) to switch back the stem from the negative to a positive angle and take off one or two spacers from the steer column, therefor the height of the bars would remain the same and it would be a more solid build. The extra spacers you place them back on top of the stem!

This is the first time I've discovered your videos, excellent rant! Your pov reminds me of another excellent site, The Path Less Pedaled. BTW, you convinced me to keep my Surly LHT with the rim brakes and 3-by chain rings! Thanks!

Thanks for the rant. I was considering a new bike , but will probably upgrade my vintage touring bike I bought used that has very little miles on it. New tires, and better cables and better brake levers etc .. I heard how much better supposedly hydro brakes are , but I always suspected on a touring bike the disc can get bent, dirty, pads contaminated and probably not as good as the old school canteliver brakes properly adjust with new pads and high quality cables, levers.

Thanks for sharing your thought. I agree with most of what you have explained but i do enjoy using mechanical disc brake because it is some what serviceable easily for a newbie like me. Do you have any thoughts on fixed gear bike or single speed bike?

What a fantastic video. I always double my knowledge of bikes when I watch The Bike Gremlin. I'm gonna watch it again to pick up the more subtle points.

I’ve got 2010 Shimano 105 rim brakes, got laughed out of my local bike shop when looking for replacement pads.

I have 223 Trickstuff rotors, got the half off retail second hand so grabbed them, I wanted to try regular rotors, as floating rotors can creak after some years, long before the braking surface is worn out. And I hate creaks on my bikes. No matter size it seems like I will bend them a bit. Of course sticky pistons will make it worse. So remember to lube the pistons. Things come in contact with the rotor, pistons might need re-lubing. bike might fall down, someone might hit the rotor. Stuff happens.

I agree with most of what you said there. Thanks :) I have a carbon fork just like the bike in the video and I don't see the benefit of it at all. I just worry it will break on me one day. Carbon is strong in pure tension but the front fork is mainly subjected to compression so I guess it's only the resin matrix taking all of the load and the carbon itself is not doing much.

Excellent video. I ride old steel bikes, and I’m glad I’m not enticed by most of the technology. I do like integrated brake levers/shifters (brifters) but maybe I should go back to bar-end shifters for reliability. I’m not interested in disc brakes or silly crank designs. I love your Trek, and it’s extremely sensible.

Dude, I have 3x drivetrains on three of my bikes! I have 3x7 drivetrains on my old MTBs, and I have a 3x6 on my vintage Cannondale ST500. I have a 2x7 on my old Marukin M420 road bike, though it was originally 2x6. All four of my bikes have rim brakes. My MTBs have index shifters, while the road bikes use downtube shifters. They're not fancy, but THEY WORK! I'm not a fan of the 1x drivetrains, either. 3x7 and 3x8 drivetrains have been around for decades. Why? THEY JUST WORK! Give me a good, solid 3x7 drivetrain, and I'm a happy camper... 😁

As spoken from my heart 😊 Especially the discussion about the brakes!

Although I have a pretty new bike with almost many of the marketed items you’re talking about, I basically agree with all what you said. What I do enjoy with disc brakes more is the chance to use much wider rims and tyres. The bike overall is a fair bit more comfortable, other than that I still think my 20 year old rim brake bike is great

Well spoken. Very honest and educational. Thank u

Threadless stems were the last real improvement? What about stronger wheels? More precise rim standards? Better tires? Much improved cockpit ergonomics? I could go on. There is no way I would trade my 2022 road bike for a vintage steel rig with friction shifters, my new bike is more comfortable and better in every way. I do love these retro-grouchy rants though so please don't mind me and keep them coming!

Are there still Shimano friction shifting lever? To put where on what kind of bar?

I'm into mountainbiking and ride a 140mm hardtail on our local trails, some of these trails I wanted to ride through wouldnt have worked with my 100mm one I bought before (which -my fault- I havent checked was upgradeable to something like a dropper and had QR axles). However now I keep up with some 140mm full suspension locals without having to maintain rear suspension at all. Having mostly externally routed cables is a blessing as well and although I thought I'd want to upgrade my drivetrain from 10 to 12 speed, looking at the cost of a 12spd cassette and just wanting a one size bigger first gear I might go to 11 spd if not just getting a spacer or a derailleur with slightly more range. From the beginning until now I found carbon on bikes a bit intimidating especially in MTB . I don't think I'll try going for it in the near future exactly for the points you mentioned but also because you have to be so exact with mounting or it's an immediate life risk. I also feel that the prevalence and dominance of metals even in pro Enduro/DH is a sign. I do all of my maintenance myself and do a small repair shop at my university. The thing is that I rarely have "sporty" bikes in the shop so I kind of have more frustration with dutch bikes where changing a rear inner tube takes what feels like taking half the bike apart 😂 Also hub gears. As many of the bikes I see are pretty old and never cleaned, some of them have internal problems with hub gears. Absolutely dreadful when that happens😅

10:36 depends on the terrain and trials you ride, if you want to corner well or get extra grip especially on ice, using a dropper post to be able to get lower and lean the bike between your legs makes a massive difference. But riding in the city relaxed or on easy trails straight up, not leaning the bike you might not need one. But riding down 50 to 90 deg steep rock rollers and rising trough gnarly downhill, you don't get the saddle in the ribs, and riding up rock rollers it's a massive help. Also when doing bunny hop, it helps you get height. But also it helps you get on and off the bike easier.

Absolutely agree with what you've said, I've got 2 modern geometry/component bikes and yet my 24 year old mtb bike is able to keep up with them and WAY easier to maintain and still feels fantastic!!!!!

I even sold a modern Di2 disc brake bike because of rubbing and slow shifting. I continue to ride a 10 year old rim brake bike and it's bliss. Ride feel is the same.

Last good thing in the cycling industry was threadless headset. Lol! No truer words have ever been spoken!! Great video!

Spot with your points. Thus my affection for Surly (simple but very adaptable steel frames), Shimano Cues and TRP HY/RD cable operated hydraulic disc brakes. Simple and reliable is out there it just needs some digging around to find.

Agree with everything except Hydraulic disc brakes and 1X. With cable actuated brakes you always have to adjust them as the pads wear. and with hydraulic disc brakes you just set it and forget it until they become squishy, and you have to bleed them. I've been successful bleeding them without putting the bike in different angles like you describe and it gave me a chuckle. As for 1X drivetrains, I switched to 1X drivetrains in 2017 and never looked back. I just easier to use and maintain, you shift with one shifter and adjust one derailleur. With the right cassette and chainring setup you can have enough gearing. The only downside of a 1X drivetrain is the gaps cyclists complain about them not finding the right cadence to ride at a certain speed, you eighter end up grinding harder or spinning faster than normal or just go slower.

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you have said, apart from being old. 🤔 If I were to buy a 'new' bike, it would be from the 80 to the 90's. I started mountain biking in 84 in Snowdonia, North Wales and our bikes took an awful amount of abuse, but they got us home. Carrying a 34 lbs mountain bike on your shoulder was part of the course 😁. I find the latest bikes to be soulless, no character, plastic looking, fragile, just horrible. It's all race orientated, marketing hype, keeping up with the Jones' BS, throw away society that we live in. A very sad state of affairs. You have my subscription young man 👍

I'm currently building up a '93 or so Giant Trooper for myself as a long-distance tourer. Fits me quite well (classic fit) with a 555mm or so C-T seattube at 5'6" height. Very practical frame with 45cm chainstays, downtube shifter bosses, kickstand mounting plate, all the standard front and rear eyelets for racks. And it's 4130 plain gauge tubing, so it rides very stable. It's very similar to the Giant Expedition of that time, just with plain-gauge instead of butted tubing. In my opinion the Giant Expedition/Trooper/Tourer from ca. '93/'94, maybe '95 or so might be a good alternative to the LHT or similar bikes. Those bikes are very underappreciated IMO, compared to e.g. the Specialized Expedition, Trek 520, and similar models.

Absolutely spot on I’ve probably saved 000’s by buying ‘Old’ rim brake bikes and wheelsets instead of moving over to disc brake

Great video, totally agree. I ride a 20+ yr old Trek - no discs, no carbon.

"One by is a fad" Thanks for saying that...I just don't get it on road bike. Smaller cassette, front derailleur, larger gear range...much better

Your crank thoughts are right, the best shape to resist both torsion and bending is a round tube. Most BMX cranks are tubular.

You speak a lot of truths. 👍 Some subjective, but still truths. 🙂 I’ve never liked curved bars personally, and disc brakes for road bikes are unnecessarily expensive, brittle and complicated. I literally don’t understand how they get away with charging as much as they do for road disc brake systems… But on the MTB / hybrid / straight bar side of things? I’ll take discs any day over rim brakes. 🙂 (I have a small commuter with rims and a rigid steel hybrid straight bar bike with discs - and 445mm chainstays 😉). You can get a full front or rear MTB brake system for around 25 euro, which gets you maybe a cheap rotor on the road side. One additional thing I’ve noticed that drives the lightweight change is that although companies love lightweight stuff so they can sell you parts and frames more frequently, a lot more peole are mainly driving cars today, work on computers for a living, and are less used to manual labour. As a result, many are simply out of shape, see steel frames as ’too heavy’ and then opt for an aluminium XC bike with a cabon fork. It’s a bit sad but it is what it is. On the flipside, there are a lot more cheap options to get people into riding today, and a boatload of other, more advanced options of all kinds than, say, in the 90s. I don’t drive electric myself, but I’ve also seen a lot of positives from that front - older people and those unused to physical fitness getting into riding bikes more. E-bikes also need more durable components, so those are starting to drip down to ’acoustic’ bike use as well. I hear a lot of good things about Shimano Cues, for example. Plus if you browse the used market, you have a LOT of options, even in small countries. But yeah - bikes have experienced technologization and ’advancement’ in a sense similiar to computers: in order to buy a good bicycle that fits the bill today, you also need to know about bicycles. I can feel your pain as a previous specialty shop worker myself. Things would be easier if the only thing people could buy would be an expensive but also a durable, high-quality tool. But then you have people complaining about the price all the time. 🤷‍♂️ I think basic mechanical steel bikes peaked in the 3x9 to 2x10 days. When I saw where the industry was headed, I bought a 2x10 steel frame, tools, a lifetime of spare parts and learned to wrench for myself. No regrets. There’d be a lot of demand for simple, durable, ’it just works’ -frames. Something like a Buffalo Bike. I’m sure someone will take on the challenge as the years go by and the SRAM v. Shimano tech development competition goes too far. 🙂

Good video man! Agree with all of your points. Industry is getting crazy. For me the worse part is push of hydrolic disc on road bikes with fully integrated one piece bar and stem combos and a shitload of proprietary parts. Nothing worse than that.

I think disc brakes have one big advantage. When you ride often, you don't need to replace rims every year or two. I only use mechanical calipers because they are easy to work on.

Wow.....just WOW! This video is so damned good. It's one thing to listen to some "bike guy" that doesn't know the mechanics and even physics behind how a bicycle works, but you clearly do...and it's appreciated by those of us that need to be educated and need to stop buying what is promoted as "the latest and greatest". I couldn't hit that subscribe button fast enough. BTW, your English is outstanding, and I appreciate the time and effort you're putting into this stuff. Thanks!

First time viewer - have been a keen cyclists for decades - subscribed🎉

the things you are speaking about is why when i buy bikes from decathlon i replace and change almost everything. i think the obsession with single chain rings provide many problems including cross chaining and lack of gear choices.i went to 42 cassette and 34 chain ring and still i dont have the gears i want. i think i will replace with small cassette and double chain ring much better idea and no cross chaining.

Relja, your views, opinions and advice are much appreciated and invaluable. Re: the disc vs rim brake argument. "You are preaching to the choir." is an old saying, which I'm sure Serbians have an equivalent for. But, marketing departments are as clever as they are dishonest and if someone has to have the simplest of mechanical engineering principles "belted" into them then they are a lost cause. Re: 1x. I live by the beach. It is quite flat and I ride along the promenade for ~20kms every day, purely for exercise. I ride my single speed most of the time and there are some spots where I need to get off the saddle but I consider this exertion as additionally better exercise. When it's really windy I I know I am going to struggle too much I use my 1x6 bike. My point is that 1x do have their place, but I agree with you in that they have become a fad. Finally, I never watch any of your posts and not come away with something learnt. Thank you.

Threaded forks and quill stems allow much easier height adjustments so for casual city bikes the best choice IMO

I love my surly Ogre. Built like a tank, i have a 2x crank with 9 speed cassette and friction shifting. Unfortunately they got rid of the rim brake bosses on the one i have, but simple cable disc brakes have been reliable enough for me. Oh and man is that chain stay long (and adjustable). Sadly i think its the dying breath of surly as they seem to be going in the same direction as the rest of the industry. If youre looking for a modern bike manufacturer that still make bikes like in the 90s and early 2000s check out Soma, i have a Pescadero from them and its rim brake only road touring geometry and a very capable bike.

Carbon forks, especially in this era of oversized steer tubes have made bikes way, way too stiff on the front end. The transfer of vibration to your hands is increased by a lot. Don't think that running lower tire pressure is the "solution", because it isn't and won't be as effective as designing a compliant front end. Only a well made steel fork can accomplish the ideal combination of strength and vibration absorbtion. Of course the best steel fork will be a rim brake type where the fork legs can be made lighter and thinner due to not having to deal with disc brake forces.

It's good to hear I'm not the only one. I'm riding a steel road bike with rim brakes and Alu rims, and am quite scared that they'll stop making parts for it.

18:09 Yes, Rim brakes work really well, but the main disadvantage is for mountain biking, or riding with untrue wheel. If the rim is messed up it will mean you don't get proper braking, and have to loosen the brakes. Easy to contaminate. Easy to work on. No hydraulics, no bleeding. More user friendly in general. Makes sense for regular people, a commuter bike. But the advantages are: Light lever feel, powerful if using proper pads and pads and rim are not glazed, contaminated. But no need to buy a new frame, fork, or bike to get disc brakes if your bike is perfectly fine as is. Disc brakes in general: Pros: Not as easy to contaminate with oil spills in puddles. Braking surface is not on a rim, so no need to replace rim, you replace discs. Hydraulic disc brakes: Pros: With hydraulic system, there light lever feel. No wire adjustment needed. Cons: With hydraulic disc brakes you might need rebuild the brakes after much use, change piston spring in master cylinder, replace seals as they wear. Cheap ones, or Shimano brakes don't have spare parts, ABSURD! Mechanical disc brakes: Pros: Dual piston ones are easy to work on. Most brake levers suck or aren't great it seems. Cons: Single piston brakes with only one pad being adjusted, so you have to move caliper in to adjust. They shouldn't exist. Some brakes might have heavy pull due to strong return spring in the caliper (TRP Spyke, Spyre)

Track sprint cycle must have short chain stays. That's there characteristic. Any advantage there or purely weight savings?

Odličan video! Pozdrav autoru

I still drive my flinstone bicycle with square wheels. I dont have to worry about any of this stuff. I dont even need a Kickstart.

MORE RANTS PLEASE! I really dog cy ling rants yt!

I always wonder how much force a gravel bike carbon fork can take.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience! As a new cyclist it's invaluable to hear different perspectives in order to come to my own conclusions. Поздрав од Скопје!

Absolutely an epic video mate. Thanks for sharing

great content. Thanks!

9:43 you don't need a Roadlink of you have a rear derailleur that works with this cassette size. But in some cases the road link can improve shifting and on existing drivetrian but will reposition the rear derailleur to allow larger cassette to be used. But if Rd is at the end of it slif wits better to buy a new Rd made for it.

Check out the New Albion Privateer frame. Canti bosses. Chainstays 430-450mm

Good rant - and in English! Thank you. I'm not sure I agree with all your points, but I understand and respect them.

Hi, i'm about to switch from my late 2000s' aluminum rim brake road bike to something newer and I decided to invest a little bit more as I ride quite a lot and I have a huge dilemma about the disc brakes and thru axels (you didn't discuss this, I wonder what's your opinion on thru axels) vs rim brakes. Almost everyone around me says disc brakes are the way to go, or electronic groupsets. But I have huge concerns about self servicing (I can repair ANYTHING in my bike), especially on longer trips. If a brake or shifting cable brakes I can replace it, I can even carry a spare with me for the trip, it weighs nothing. But if hydraulics or electronic brakes - that's it! At them same time, high quality carbon wheelsets make much more sense with disc brakes (A pity you didn't mention that)... Dunno what to do... another thing is that for a price of current entry level bike I can buy used, top-of-the-line bike from 7 years before... yeah, buying used carbon is a little scary, I admit.

I have multiple bike and covered bikes to ebikes but mostly low power or mid drive 750 or less but I know everyone says diskbreaks are a must but I still prefer rim breaks for my bikes ,even though my newest is a disk but with was rim 😅

12:34 Mtb solid alu cranks can be very stiff, so flex is not really an issue. But this system from Shimano seems like a bad design I agree. But I've not tried road cranks. A think I will always avoid is cranks with a spider, as you can bend or snap a spider, then you need a new crank. So I only use direct mount system.

As a former bike mechanic, my bikes are easy to use and fix. Generic tech is the way to go! Thank you for this video😅

I have campy record triples on two road bikes w a corncob 10-17 cassette and aluminum campy ergo shifters. I would not change a thing 😊

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Much appreciated.

Interesting views. I'm totally not into carbon anything mainly because of the failure mode as well. But hydraulic discs have treated me very well! I've had all manner of problems with rim brakes on cheap mountain bikes as a teenager in the 90s/early 00s. Pad wear/alignment issues, non true rims rubbing, crap braking power... Had calipers, v-brakes not much better Switching to mechanical disc was a revelation, especially in the wet. I then resisted hydraulic but my giant 26" hydraulic works fine 12 years after i bought it, never once needed a bleed/brake fluid replacement. Only pad swaps which are a no brainer compared to rim... So i was surprised to hear you're finding people have lots of issues, maybe i just got lucky! I've also got a belt drive Alfine 11 commuter... Man belts are so much nicer than chains, but new MTB I'm buying i had to accept chains again due to cost of pinion belt drive. Anyway thanks for the video, always good to hear opinions of a good bike mechanic at the coal face!

Funnily enough, I now run 2-by + electronic shifting because my hands couldn’t handle shifting front with all that friction after 100+ miles in sandy/muddy gravel. It’s also better in the cold, whereas previously my front mech would freeze in one position and never shift to easier gear. Too expensive and another battery to keep track of, but it solves my problems!

Loved your talk!! Thank you

16:53 In the Mountain bike world some brands do size specific chain stay length. Also on enduro bikes they are long. Mine is 455. I love it. It doesn't effect cornering much, but it reduces unwanted skdding, makes the rear-end more secure, and once it slides it's easier to control. But I don't see a valid reason why not do the same on road bikes.

12:05 A cyclist generally does not put a load on the cranks at the 6 o'clock position; the only instance I can think of is to load the outside crank on a turn with the inside foot raised and outside foot down, even then, the frame would likely flex first due to the leverage before approaching forces large enough to bend the crank. Most of the time, the load is at the 3 and 9 o'clock position when the forces of the foot exert the greatest force when pedalling; even if you spin at 12 and 6 o'clock, the forces are unlikely to be greater than the former. The greatest forces exerted on the cranks are likely in DH situations when riders take huge drops, and riders take them with the pedals generally level. Of course, BMX with drops to flat on solid ground have the beefiest rounded profile (pun?) cranks, but they are generally much heavier than road or MTB cranks.

21:35 restomodded 90s rigid with baloon slicks and front rack is your answer

Love my 1x bikes with 12 gears. Axs so no trouble with setting it up.

The most polite rant I have ever heard ❤

Whats your thoughts on a titanium frame?

Your comments are spot on. So is the message on your shirt. 👍

What are your preferred cranks?

You missed the bottom bracket out. Look at all the different brands and how they all become proprietary, I think this is the reason why the industry is in such a mess. They all want lock in to their product so they can sell more of it. Most of the 'innovation' I've seen in the last 20 or so years has been to make the bike more user unfriendly. I can't think of anything that has made bike maintenance and ownership easier. Even disc brakes - though I run hydraulic discs where I can and really like them basically because I can replace a cheap set of pads and rotor when needed rather than a whole wheel when the rims are worn out and I think that's a trade off worth having plus in my experience, the hydraulic brakes need less maintenance. I've never followed the manufacturer's guidance to replace the oil/fluid every six months etc. just ride the bike and change the fluid if you notice it's not working. Same with bottom brackets. I've been buying and fitting the good old tapered BB and cranks. They're cheap, reliable, ubiquitous and simple to swap out and replace if they do go wrong - though that irritating 5 bolt spider with one of the mounting bolts behind the crank really irritates 🤬. Bikes should be simple to work on, no special tools, no hidden cables - I can see when all mine are frayed, no weirdly sized or shaped fasteners or mechanisms that you have to send back to the dealer to fix if things go wrong. In short, if you can't fix it at the side of the road then it's too complicated and not really a simple bicycle any more.

Thank you for exposing the truth about these "innovations". Best video on the subject so far.

Good rant. I'm with you on many if not all of these points. Needlessly complicated and we are a victim of marketing.

You are a smart man. I completely agree with you.......Australia.

It’s a great video m, basically exposing the greedy cycling industry. Thank you

And I thought I was a retro-grouch ;-) I agreee with much of what you said, but I do like my disc brakes, although I use mechanical ones on both my MTB and Road bike. I have never once had a disc brake pad go out of adjustment and rub through my side wall :-). Now you've got me all nervous about the carbon forks on my Trek AL3 that I bought last year. Didn't see the point of carbon forks, but as you say, that's what was available. As for the Gram Geeks, I can save a couple pounds on my bike by drinking less beer.

I agree with you, it's unnecessary to save few grams, or even kilos in favor to simplicity. One of youtube bike shop owner said, bike I ride is worry free. He ride steel Rithey Road logic, rim brake version. Cheers

Excellent video!