Technology never stands still, and that’s just as true in cycling as any other industry. The past 12 months have seen major advancements: seatposts that seem to base their aesthetics on household fans, electronic shifting at its lowest ever price, and bike-fit philosophy that holds aerodynamics above all else.
With 2024 an Olympic year, this year’s track events have given us a glimpse of what might be arriving in years to come with cutting-edge technology being used in competition as national teams work within the confines of the UCI tech regs. What’s ridden on the boards is now a major driver of the top-end tech and design philosophies that appear on road bikes in years to come. Or earlier. Here’s a look at the technology we’re getting excited about and that could hit the shelves in the coming year.
1 LOWER COST ELECTRIC SHIFTING
Electronic drivetrains are here to stay. They improve both shift speed and shift quality and, increasingly, they are proving to be just as reliable as cable-operated groupsets. That said, they still cost a lot of money, even after years of trickle-down technology.
SRAM’s cheapest AXS groupset, for example, the Rival eTap, comes in at £1,268 – still more than most entry-level road bikes for sale today. Meanwhile Shimano’s 105 Di2 costs £1,730. Inevitably, as time goes on this cost will come down, and we expect that the adoption of electronic shifting may be picked up across lower level groupsets in 2024.
A spokesperson for SRAM told us that they “expect the adoption of electronic shifting to continue to increase across more price points and platforms”.
Alongside the big marques continuing the fight to the bottom, 2023 has also shown the emergence of new brands
