xcskier66 wrote:
I would have loved to have seen message boards when index shifting first arrived in road biking...
I bet there were tons of purists talking about how friction shifters were better, easier to maintain, provided exactly the same level of performance, cost less money and were just industry pushing a new standard on us!
Would anyone want to go back to friction shifters on the downtube? Only the most obnoxious purists would....
It's the same thing with road tubeless. The technology is objectively better, it just requires a new skillset to maintain and a new mindset to accept.
I got a 1/4 inch gash yesterday in my tires and the puncture sealed itself right back up. I could have continued riding but I stopped and added some air for better road feel. I'm never going back to tubes.
In ten years, only the most obnoxious purists will be riding tubed tires on their road bikes. Especially, because the technology is only going to improve.
I was one of the few people running road tubeless at Battenkill 2012. The race was MADE for tubeless road tires.
Over 6 years later, and road tubeless hasn't caught on much more than it had in 2012.
Mostly everyone converted to 11 speed in 2-3 years, disc brake bike sales have gone way up in 2-3 years, electronic road shifting has taken a bit more time but still more common than road tubeless and in less time on the market.
All of these other technologies have caught on incredibly quick, after the initial debate- compared to road tubeless.
-Physiojoe
Instagram: @thephysiojoe
Cycling coach, Elite racer on Wooster Bikewerks p/b Wootown Bagels