Re: Most significant advance in bike technology for speed?

On 1/24/2025 2:33 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

In another forum, someone postulated that integrated brake & shift levers (like STI) were the most significant bit of racing technology ever designed for increasing speed. But that claim met with little respect. One skeptic noted that there was no great increase in average race speeds in Paris-Roubaix, Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Leige- Bastogne-Leige or Giro de Lobardia since about 1960, including during the era of STI adoption. By contrast, in the  years 1930 - 1960 average speeds increased around 30%. (Note: That does not mean that STI is not tactically beneficial. That's a separate issue.)

I'm going to take issue with this claim. The speeds have been showing a steady increase. "Great" increase is somewhat subjective, and taking into account the general "square-law effect" with going faster on a bicycle, a increase of 1MPH from 28 to 29 MPH could indeed be considered a "great" increase over going from 25 to 26 MPH.
Granted, this has little to do with integrated shifting, my nit is over the claim "there was no great increase in average race speeds....since about 1960"
from wikipedia, the top ten fastest editions of PAris-Roubaix were:
  Mathieu van der Poel (NED) 47.80 km/h (29.70 mph) 2024
  Mathieu van der Poel (NED) 46.84 km/h (29.11 mph) 2023
  Dylan van Baarle (NED) 45.79 km/h (28.45 mph) 2022
  Greg Van Avermaet (BEL) 45.20 km/h (28.09 mph) 2017
  Peter Post (NED) 45.13 km/h (28.04 mph) 1964
  Fabian Cancellara (SUI) 44.19 km/h (27.46 mph) 2013
  Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) 43.99 km/h (27.33 mph) 1948
  Mathew Hayman (AUS) 43.91 km/h (27.28 mph) 2016
  Peter Sagan (SVK) 43.55 km/h (27.06 mph) 2018
  Pino Cerami (BEL) 43.54 km/h (27.05 mph) 1960
Out of the top ten in the 100+ year history of the race, 6 are within the past ten years. I challenge anyone to argue against a 10% increase since Sagan in 2018 to VDP in 2024 as anything but a "great" increase.
Milan/San Remo shows a similar trend. From https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/milano-sanremo/results/fastest-editions   :
Edition Year Avg. speed
115 2024 46.11
114 2023 45.773
113 2022 45.331
97 2006 45.268
112 2021 45.06
100 2009 44.421
98 2007 43.665
110 2019 43.625
104 2013 43.577
102 2011 43.486
It certainly isn't due to drivetrain technology, I'll suggest the trend towards wider tires has a great deal to do with it, but more so training and diet technological advances.

 But if not STI, what were the most significant tech developments regarding bicycle race speeds?
 Here’s my list:
 Pedals & cranks, as opposed to scooting a “hobby horse” via feet on the ground.
 Tubular metal frames and wire tension (spoke) wheels.
 Large driven wheels, to give a much higher effective “gear.” (The Ordinary or Penny Farthing)
 The “Safety Bicycle” with a diamond frame and chain drive, getting the rider down lower, to greatly reduce aero drag as well as pitchover on braking.
 Pneumatic tires. Hard tired “safeties” had terrible rolling resistance.
 The handlebar stem, invented by the heroic Major Taylor, to allow a much more aero riding position.
 Rim brakes, by whatever mechanism, as opposed to spoon brakes acting on a tire.
 Multiple gears, by whatever mechanism.
 The derailleur, making multiple gears easy to shift, customizable and light weight.
 Recumbent geometry in some situations. Recumbents seem to be slower uphill, but tend to be faster on level or downhills
 Fully enclosed streamlined aero shells tremendously increased speed, but at a great reduction in versatility and practicality.
 Beyond those, ISTM that most developments have been chasing ever diminishing returns.
 

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