#!markdown
Change is good when the actual change is good-or, at least, significantly
better than what we already have. We all want bikes and components to improve,
but when does the cost exceed the benefit? How much better does a new standard
have to make our actual experience on the trail for us to be okay with the
fact that we are going to have a hard time finding replacement parts for the
bikes we already own? Those aren't simple questions with simple answers. When
a new product rolls down the pike, we rarely know if it is really improving
things significantly or at such a small level that isn't worth the bother.
I'll still argue, for instance, that 650b wheels fit into the category of
"innovations" that didn't make anything better. Every good 650b bike would be
just as good with 26-inch wheels-the difference in ride quality is so subtle
that it didn't make the change worthwhile.
April 22, 2015, 8:45 a.m. - Vernon Felton
#!markdown Change is good when the actual change is good-or, at least, significantly better than what we already have. We all want bikes and components to improve, but when does the cost exceed the benefit? How much better does a new standard have to make our actual experience on the trail for us to be okay with the fact that we are going to have a hard time finding replacement parts for the bikes we already own? Those aren't simple questions with simple answers. When a new product rolls down the pike, we rarely know if it is really improving things significantly or at such a small level that isn't worth the bother. I'll still argue, for instance, that 650b wheels fit into the category of "innovations" that didn't make anything better. Every good 650b bike would be just as good with 26-inch wheels-the difference in ride quality is so subtle that it didn't make the change worthwhile.