Review - Road Bikes

Technology related to road bike manufacturing has developed greatly in decades. Designs of road bikes however have still remained the same. In the ancient times the wooden hobby horse was used. The rider had to push the frame with his feet then. Things have changed drastically now, but still some of the basics remain the same. The two wheels and the basic frame are still in existence.

Frames and wheels for road bikes:

Materials used for the making of road bike frames have changed, but the basic frame design remains almost the same. The only thing available in the olden days was wood and later, steel started being used. Materials used for making frames gradually started becoming lighter. Nowadays lighter materials like carbon fiber and titanium are being used out of which carbon seems to be the most popular material. Carbon is expensive as compared to the other materials used but it is strong and light.

Earlier, the wheels of road bikes were made of steel, but later on alloys were used. Nowadays alloy parts with carbon rims are being used and it seems like they are going to be around for a long time. Besides the wheels the other parts of the road bicycle also were made in steel but now you find them in titanium and carbon.

Chains, gears and pedals:

In the beginning when the pedals and cranks were invented, they were connected to the front wheel. Depending upon the size of the wheel the size of the gear too was determined. The chain was invented next allowing you to have the same sized wheels as well. The size of the gear depended on the number of teeth on the sprockets of the back wheel and the number of teeth on the chain wheel at the pedal. The invention of gears meant that you could pedal up and down the hills safely.

Earlier there was just one sprocket on either side of the rear wheel. The rider had to stop and then turn the wheel around to change gear. It was because of the gears that things gradually started changing. You could now start changing gears while on the move! Initially there were just three gears, but now bikers use twenty to thirty gears, which depend on the type of chain you have set. Things have come a long way for these bikes and human ingenuity is by far at its best today.