Discuss the five difficult to popularize road vehicle technologies

Many equipment enthusiasts like to be the first to experience the latest technology at the fastest speed possible. However, when faced with some immature and new things, they may also be the ones who can afford it. In recent years, the rapid development of road vehicle equipment, the rise of disc brakes, and the popularization of electronic transmissions have had a profound impact on road vehicle sports. However, it must be said that there are also many new technologies that have not been accepted by the public. Today, we will introduce the five isolated technologies in the development process of road vehicles.

1. Hydraulic ring brake clamp

Using hydraulic ring brakes on road cars may be a great idea, but it's a bit untimely. Firstly, there is a background: hydraulic ring brakes have been a concept for decades, and even mountain riders used this technology in the 1990s. Today, this type of brake can still be seen in Europe, such as on station wagons, and there are also many climbing enthusiasts who still use this type of brake.

SRAM introduced three braking modes on the RED and FORCE kits in 2013: conventional ring brake, hydraulic ring brake, and disc brake.

The hydraulic ring brake caliper has been highly praised for its excellent hand feel and adjustability, but it has never become mainstream because it does not have any advantages compared to the hydraulic disc brake that has gradually emerged in recent years. On the contrary, the hydraulic disc caliper is even more reliable, especially on muddy or wet roads.

So, this technology can hardly replace the increasingly popular hydraulic disc brake caliper for road vehicles.

2. Line pulling oil disc

This seems to be a stepping stone for the development of hydraulic disc brakes. Before the emergence of oil disc technology today, its existence was still very meaningful. However, compared to the brake technology that truly transmits braking force through oil pipes, they appear to be useless. Nowadays, this technology is only used by a very small number of people.

There are still some brands in the market such as HOPE and TRP that offer a line pull oil disc solution, but if users want to use a smaller hand swivel while also wanting better braking force, then this is also a reasonable solution.

3. Shoe locking power meter

Imagine if a power meter were integrated into the bottom plate of a shoe lock, perhaps it could record the power data of any car we have ridden. This is the design concept of Brim Brothers DPMX, which is known as the "world's first wearable power meter". After years of improvement, Brim Brothers released a product on Kickstarter in February 2016 and promised to launch it as early as July of the same year. After raising over 180000 euros in funding, the brand went bankrupt with funds provided by its supporters.

However, in this situation, the basic concept still holds appeal. A power meter is a significant investment for ordinary car enthusiasts, and if its applicability can be expanded, it would certainly be a good thing; That's why some recent products, such as Garmin's Rally RS200 and Favero's Assioma power locking pedal, have had such a significant impact.

The fact has repeatedly proven that manufacturing a reliable and accurate power meter is actually very difficult. So, is there still a chance for power lock shoes to appear in the public eye again? We can have expectations for this.

4. Quick release and transplantation of disc brakes for mountain bikes

The braking system has always dominated this list due to the chain reaction brought about by constantly developing technology. It is difficult to accurately identify which one is the most important among numerous new and abandoned technologies, but perhaps the two biggest challenges are abandoning quick release levers and ring brake systems.

Highway vehicles have been using quick release systems for nearly a century because they provide extremely high efficiency when disassembling or replacing wheels.

But through the barrel shaft, the rigidity of the flower drum position has been improved, and it can more accurately locate the position in the middle of the disc. Therefore, in the days when disc brakes are gradually becoming popular, quick release is basically impossible to take over the new generation of disc brake frames.

Therefore, many early released disc brake road cars, due to the use of quick release systems, have deterred many people because, in terms of disc brakes, they are far less reliable than bucket axles.

The disc brake caliper has also undergone similar changes. At first, the disc brake of road bikes was more like that of mountain bikes, but in 2014, Shimano introduced the flat standard, which is now widely used in road bikes.

If there is a plan to install an old highway bike frame now, then the only option is to look for brake combinations similar to mountain bikes, but it is a very interesting thing.

5. Highway vehicle single disk system

This last one may not be widely recognized, as single drive systems are becoming increasingly popular in the field of all terrain road vehicles. However, it cannot be denied that single drive systems have never become popular in pure road vehicles

The 3T caused a huge uproar as early as 2017 when it launched the Strada frame, a pneumatic road vehicle with a single disc system only, and tire compatibility was considered quite high according to the standards at the time.

They believe this will be the future of road cycling, and even sponsor professional racing teams to prove the reliability of this technology. Despite the public's interest in this car and admiration for the brand's foresight, drivers openly complained that they were forced to use single set racing, and subsequently the team disbanded in the midst of their complaints.

At the same time, the public's desire to purchase single disc systems does not seem to be high, as it may indeed provide clearer power transmission during off-road driving, but it is different on paved roads, and the choice of gear ratio is basically abandoning climbing to choose cruising and thrusting or vice versa.

However, SRAM's latest 12 speed single disk kit is more suitable as a pavement option than most of the former. Campagnolo's Ekar can even be said to do better, although it is mainly focused on all terrain road vehicles - there is currently no pure road kit to choose from.