A bike is a great way to get around town or to take to the trails. Some older bikes look great, but up until around 1984, almost everything made look pretty good. Down hill before that. It has not been a constant decline, either, and it is strange how much bike parts have changed.
The cheapening, as it has been aptly called, has actually affected quite a few common industrial metal objects, such as fork sets, bike parts at the very least. Fork sets, for instance, used to be black steel, with the handlebars covered in chromium plating. They are still chrome plated, but it looks terrible! They were also made of chromium-plated steel, so the fork set now looks like it came straight out of the factory in China. How things have change.
Other bike parts have changed, too. Shimano used to produce brakes that could take on dirt, mud, and even snow, at high pressures. Now they make them rain hard. And yes, the brakes themselves, while no longer solid steel, are still made from ceramic bearings, rather than steel.
Other bicycle parts have been made to work more quickly and efficiently. These are not necessarily bicycles, though. If you like the beach, you can find axle attachments that attach to a bike frame so that your back wheel doesn’t twist and rub on the sand. These can come in a variety of colors. The axle moves, rather than being attached to the frame.
Then there is the Lever Bar, which attaches the brake to the pedal cranks. You’ve probably seen one of these. They are a piece of metal that has a lever on it. When you lift the lever, you can easily turn the bicycle frame to the right or left. Very handy!
A final part that has changed is the sprocket. The sprocket, or crank, is the part that turns the chain around. It also attaches the seat to the bicycle frame. The part looks similar to a nut. If you haven’t seen one of these before, you might be wondering what they look like.
The new genesis bikes have a top tube that is much longer, up to 37 inches. Previously, the bike frames were made with two top tubes. The new design allows for longer top tubes and reduced wheel angles, resulting in lower drag.
One more important part has been added: the seat post clamp. The seat post clamp fits into the seat tube and holds the seat in place while you are peddling. Before, when you wanted to change direction, you had to remove the seat post. Now, instead of removing it, you simply grab the clamp and rotate it until it is in the way the bolts are inserted.
Probably the most important part of the bike is the rear triangle. The rear triangle holds the back wheel and rides along a chain through the main triangle. Before, when you wanted to change directions, you would twist the rear triangle, which would make the bike go up and down. But now, instead of this, you can just turn it. The new parts do not affect the chain or the rear triangle at all.
Other important parts include the front and rear shocks. The front shock, which can be spring or hydraulic, mounts above the bike frame. It has two shock types: compression and rebound. On the other hand, the rear shock does not have a compression or rebound feature. Instead, it just acts as a spring. The new parts do not affect the bike’s suspension at all.
The last part to be replaced were the seat tubes and the tops. These are mounted on the top tube and help the bike move forward. The old parts can easily be soldered together, and the new parts are so sturdy that they will not even notice the difference.
So, what does this mean for mountain bike handlebars? The handlebars are usually directly mounted to the bike frame. However, there is always that one little bit of stuff sticking out from under the bar. You know, that little bar that sticks out from underneath the handlebars. This is called the seat tube and it’s the weak spot. That is why most manufacturers have decided to replace all the handlebars with more durable, stronger ones.
