Lately, something called aero road bikes have been getting popular.
I think those flat frame designs are partly about aerodynamics,
but I reckon it's more about "having fun" with design.
It's easy to come in under 6.8kg no matter how you build it,
so it's really about differentiating from other manufacturers through frame shape,
a design choice that's separate from actual performance.
If the 6.8kg weight limit were lowered further or abolished entirely,
we'd probably see a flood of even lighter frames hit the market.
When that happens, aero road bikes won't disappear,
but their market share will definitely shrink considerably.

Along with this aero road bike trend, electronic groupsets becoming standard has meant
frames with the rear brake cable running through the top tube have become really common.

And let me tell you, on some frames that's an absolute pain.
When there's no path for the cable, you first have to thread a wire or liner through it.
Some you can feed the brake cable through and pull along with a strong magnet,
while others require bending a wire into some weird shape just to get it through. It varies.

Damn! It won't go through!
Okay, let me bend the tip like this first...

Alright, looks like it might work

Oh no, that didn't work...














Got it through somehow.

Huh, sounds like someone just showed up.
Who could that be at this hour?
A customer maybe?


"Haha!"