“Shall We Play A Game?” In the 1983 movie “War Games”, the WOPR computer, AKA “Joshua”, asks, “Shall we play a game?”. The game? Thermonuclear war. In the end, after playing tic-tac-toe against itself, the computer, thankfully, decides it can’t win the game. While it sometimes feels like tic-tac-toe is determining our fate, Artificial Intelligence…
Old Frame Geometry Meets New Bike Technology Custom bikes enjoyed a boom in the early ‘00’s. “The Lance Effect” was in full swing. Thousands, if not millions, of people bought their first real road bike. Meanwhile, stock road bike geometry of the day was a disaster for most riders. Most road bikes of the era…
Possibly the most recent innovation on the list, Classified’s Powershift electronically actuated rear hub eliminates the most mechanically finicky and one of the least sophisticated components on a bike – the front derailleur. Introduced in 2022, Classified Powershift technology has the potential to change the way we shift for the better. Classified has created a…
Parlee Cycles manufactures some of the finest carbon fiber road bike frames in existence. They filed for Chapter 11 protection last week. With it came media stories and rider inquiries about what the filing means for the industry and what it means for Parlee. As one of the longest serving Parlee dealers, we have…
Tubeless tires for cars were popularized in the ‘50’s. For motorcycles, in the ‘70’s. So, the road bike world felt a bit behind the times when 50 years had passed and we were all still riding on tubes. Heck, even lawnmowers and wheelbarrows seemed ahead of road bike tire technology in this regard. By the…
There were carbon bicycle wheels over twenty years ago, don’t get me wrong. However, very few of them were considered durable enough to be everyday riding equipment. That has all changed today. Many carbon wheel offerings in the ’90’s and early ’00’s were deep and aero, but could also be terrifying for many riders when…
Continuing our exploration of the list of road bicycle technologies that have been the biggest innovations since our inception, today we talk about e-bikes. Amongst cyclists, a discussion about e-bikes was more likely in 1899 than 1999. Seriously. However, things can change quickly. In 2023, e-bikes are by far the greatest growth sector of the…
From handlebars to saddles, we have been happy to see a variety of ergonomic improvements and broader options in a host of fit based components. It is great that all riders are not being treated alike and that there is more understanding that there are many people who need handlebars wider and narrower than 40cm…
Top Road Bicycle Technologies of the Past 20 Years – On-Bike Electronics While electronic shifting, ebikes and the second generation of Smart Trainers are deserving of their own separate categories on our list of most innovative road and triathlon cycling products of the past twenty years, other electronic innovations merit mention too. Some of the…
Compact Cranks & Wide Range Cassettes We are biased by our hilly area, but the enhancement that having adequate gearing on your bike offers is hard to overstate. A 53/39 crankset with a 12-25 was considered “low” gearing around twenty years ago. Today, 1:1 is a common starting point for paved road gearing in hilly…
We recently released our list of the top road and triathlon bike innovations that have come out since the inception of Fit Werx in 2001. Smart indoor bike trainers is definitely on this list. While the first readily available smart trainers came out in the ‘80’s, computer technology has come a long way since. With…
As Fit Werx heads into its 22nd year of providing rider first bike fittings and rider matched bike sales, it seems like an apt time to take a trip down the memory lane of cycling technology. Since our inception, a lot has changed in terms of the products and services we offer. In a number…