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Hydraulic Shifting? Why?
Cables are too simple for some people. Light. Simple. Easy to understand. Easy to fix. Replacing a damaged cable, whether for brakes or shifters, is an easy job even for an inexperienced home...
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What The What? Brooks Goes Carbon?!
Crazy things are happening over at Brooks Saddles.At Eurobike last week, the 100+ year-old maker of classic, handmade leather saddles unveiled a new saddle with carbon fiber rails. Carbon fiber...
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Making the Headbadge Collage
In the recent post about this blog's 2nd anniversary, I mentioned the head badge collage that makes up the blog's background "wallpaper" image. Here it is:I know that some people might be interested in...
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Oval Chainrings Again
Oval or elliptical chainrings seem to be back with a vengeance, don't they?I remember seeing ads in old issues of Bicycling magazine from the '70s for the Durham elliptical chainrings, though they were...
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Disc Brake Failure
I recently read this pretty scary story on BikeRadar:Apparently, one of their test riders was testing a Specialized Tarmac Pro with Shimano R785 hydraulic disc brakes on a long ride into Rocky Mountain...
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SunTour Vx: Old Is Good
The last few Retrogrouch posts have been pretty grouchy -- looking at questionable new technology, and scary disc brake failures. It's time to take a look at something old and good -- in this case, a...
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Are You A Snob?
I took a goofy "self-assessment" quiz on BikeRadar the other day -- Are You A Cycling Snob? I found it deeply flawed, but readers might be interested in checking it out.I actually had a hard time...
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Vintage Snobbery: Ted Baker - Quella Vintage Style Racers
Regardless of what some flawed self-assessment quiz says, I think that in some ways I really am a Cycling Snob. I just saw that Ted Baker (the upscale British designer clothing line) and Quella...
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Bigger Wheels For Marginal Gains
Remember these guys?The same people who brought us $1000 derailleur pulleys are back with another hyper-expensive marginal gain. The latest oversized pulleys from Ceramicspeed are supposed to save...
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Great Bicycle Advertising: Lambert Cycles
This 1973 advertisement for Lambert Bicycles holds a special place in the hearts of many vintage cycling fans -- even for those of us who, in 1973, were too young to fully appreciate it.A lot of young...
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Edward Gorey: Cycling Illustrations
I've long been a fan of the stories and illustrations of Edward Gorey. His style, which is often described as Gothic -- but almost absurdly so -- usually has a dark sense of humor, and his hapless...
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Sexist Selling Strategies?
About a week ago, I posted about an old advertisement for Lambert Bicycles from 1973 which featured the following photo:A reader pointed out the irony of my waxing nostalgic about the ad with its sexy...
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Suspension Stems
Like lots of other rehashes of old technology posing as something new, it seems that suspension stems are back. In the days before suspension forks became a virtual marketing requirement on mountain...
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Sprocket Man Comics
It was the Bike Boom of the early '70s, and bike use at college campuses was . . . well . . . booming. With so many young cyclists taking to the streets, and probably annoying the drivers who up until...
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The Carbon Fiber Anachronism
Have you ever wondered what the first bicycles would have looked like if people like Pierre Michaux and other early pioneers had access to today's carbon-fiber and e-bike technology?Though fully...
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"Smart" Pumps and PSI Apps
It's getting to where a person can't even pump up tires anymore without a smart phone and some kind of "app."At least, that's how it seems after looking at a couple of recent pumps from Airace. Offered...
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Flipping the Bird: fUCI Concept Bike
What would a fast road bike look like if it weren't for those wet-blanket retrogrouches at the UCI constantly stifling innovation?Robert Egger, Creative Director at Specialized, thinks he has the...
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Standards Schmandards: Roost Carbon
I've ranted lots since starting The Retrogrouch Blog about the lack of standards in the bike industry - or how new so-called standards are constantly being introduced. Well, it seems someone out there,...
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There's an App for That: Derailleur Adjustment
After looking recently at Bluetooth pumps that use a smartphone app for a pressure gauge, I found that there really does seem to be an app for everything now -- even derailleur adjustment.Clip these...
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An Argument Against Anti-Cycling Propaganda
Browsing through some other bike blog articles, I just happened on this article from the the U.K.-based Velomanifesto Blog:It was originally posted back in April (though it's still perfectly relevant),...
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