Gear

The 14 tech innovations that changed road cycling

Fourteen bits of kit that make the bike of today

1. The safety bicycle

The future is here: disc brakes are to be trialled in professional road cycling in August and September
Disc brakes and Di2 - two of the tech innovations that make the modern road bike
The safety bicycle was developed in the late 1800s (Pic: H. Clarke via Wikimedia Commons)
The invention of the pneumatic tyre significantly improved comfort
The invention of the rear derailleur made it much easier to change gear
We may take the QR for granted but it revolutionised things back in 1927
The yellow jersey is worn by the leader of the Tour de France
Helmet design has come on a long way since the ‘leather hairnet’ style of the 1970s
French company LOOK pioneered the design of the clipless pedal
The Shimano Total Integration system was introduced in 1990
Greg LeMond first used TT bars to effectively win the 1989 Tour de France
German company SRM developed the first power meter in the 1980s
View image | gettyimages.com
Garmin GPS computers are now almost ubiquitous
Shimano brought the first successful electronic groupset to market back in 2009
The future is here: disc brakes are to be trialled in professional road cycling in August and September
Disc brakes and Di2 - two of the tech innovations that make the modern road bike

1. The safety bicycle

Way back in the late 1800s, if you wanted a bicycle you owned a penny farthing. Even though you could move like stink on one of those – fit riders are reported to have been able to maintain speeds of up to 40km/h and the inertia of the huge front wheel helped with that – they were fundamentally rather dangerous.

So, to solve that problem, the safety bicycle was introduced. Using two wheels far closer in size meant that the rider’s feet were in reach of the ground, making both stopping and getting on or off far easier.

The original model by English engineer Henry J. Lawson used treadles to transfer power from the pedals to the wheel, but that was quickly replaced by the chain, the system that still powers the bicycle today.

While the penny farthing might have been what started the idea of bike racing, the safety bicycle certainly made it more accessible and practical for the masses.