Here at BikeRadar, we’re of the opinion that new tech is nearly always a good thing. However, every now and then, a product is discontinued or disappears from the road cycling world that we end up missing.
In no particular order, here are five road products that we wish were still being made.
Shimano Dura Ace 7810 pedals
Shimano has been in the pedal game for a long, long time, making some fantastic models, right from the high-end, all the way down to more budget focussed options.
We think its Dura Ace 7810 pedal, which was in production from around 2006 to 2010 was one of the best it’s ever made.
It featured a full aluminium body, which, thanks to a stainless steel protective plate on top, could put up with a lot of use and abuse if you were a budding amateur racer. The wide pedal platform also gave plenty of stability for getting power through the pedals.
Experience proved that they’re absolute tanks – our very own workshop manager Will still has a pair going after 10 years and countless miles.
WorldTour pros loved them too, thanks to their aforementioned durability and solid pedalling platform. Many riders would hold on to a pair and secretly use them over the then newer carbon versions.
In fact, a quick trawl through the BikeRadar archives revealed this photo of Team Ineos (then Sky) rider Ian Stannard’s bike from 2013, with a set of Dura-Ace 7810 pedals attached.
This was a good couple of years after the pedal was discontinued, so it goes to show how good they really were.
A limited edition release from Shimano? We can only hope.
The original Scott Addict
In 2020, it’s still pretty impressive if a production bike manages to dip well below the UCI’s minimum weight limit of 6.8kg.
That Scott was doing this way back in 2007 when it first released the Addict is doubly impressive.
With a claimed frame weight of 790g, the Addict represented a mind blowing leap when it came to lightweight tech at the time.
A quick look through BikeRadar’s archives shows this 2008 model weighed just 5.95kg in a size 56cm. That’s incredible, even by today’s standards.
So why do we miss it so much? It’s down to simplicity.
No funny standards, externally-routed cables and a classic looking shape made this a superbike that was relatively easy to live with.
When compared to the modern day Addict, it probably isn’t the comfiest, but for pure unadulterated performance and acceleration, we think those early Addicts were a great example for the time.
Another thing we really miss about the Addict has to be the price.
Obviously inflation will inevitably make things more expensive, but it’s interesting to see that back in 2008 the Addict was considered wildly expensive at £6,799.99.
Now, that’s by no means cheap, but when you consider that many top-spec road bikes comfortably sail past the £10,000 mark nowadays, it makes you wonder just how expensive bikes will be in 2030.
11-speed Campagnolo Super Record (5-arm)
Our next pick is partly down to vanity rather than function, it’s Campagnolo’s older Super Record groupset – the 11-speed version with 5-arm cranks.
Campagnolo has something of a cult following in the groupset world, and some of road cycling’s most dramatic moments featured riders using its wares.
But in the last decade or so, Campagnolo’s popularity has waned among all but the most die-hard fans as SRAM, and particularly Shimano, continue their dominance in the market.
While its latest Super Record groupset is a functional masterpiece, we think Campagnolo lost some of its soul when it switched from the – dare we say it – beautiful 5-arm design, to the more modern, but perhaps less attractive, 4-arm cranks.
Obviously, if you’re all about performance and function, the appearance of your groupset matters not one bit.
But if you want a groupset that blends modern-day performance with some old school style then 5-arm 11-speed Super Record is where it’s at.
In fact, we think it could be the only groupset that would look just as good on a modern-day bike as it would on a retro machine, and for that reason we miss it.
Think we’re wrong? Don’t forget to let us know in the comments.
Cannondale SuperSix EVO
When Cannondale released the all-new SuperSix Evo in 2019, we were pretty excited.
As expected, it featured improved aerodynamics and the de-facto dropped seatstays we now see on most modern race bikes.
However, we were also pretty sad because it meant one of the last great traditional triple triangle ultralight rim brake bikes would no longer be made.
Released way back in 2014, the previous generation SuperSix Evo won the hearts of racers and bike testers alike with its combination of class-leading weight, competitive stiffness, and more traditional road bike shapes.
You just have to look at that double diamond shape and it’s easy to see how the previous SuperSix did an incredible job of blending tradition – which, whether you like it or not is a big part of road cycling culture – and modern-day performance.
However, time marches on, and the current generation SuperSix is likely to be a faster, more rounded racing machine, which is definitely a good thing.
But it perhaps lacks some of the soul and traditional good looks of the previous generation and, for that reason, we will miss it when they’re finally all gone.
If you’re lucky enough to have one, we think it’ll be worth keeping hold of because it could very well end up becoming a modern-day classic. But as they were being made up until 2019, there’ll still be plenty around at discount prices, for now.
SRAM Red 10- or 11-speed mechanical groupsets
Upon the release of its first electronic groupset, Shimano changed the groupset game forever. There had been electronic groupsets before, but nothing could compare to the performance of Shimano’s design.
Since then, all the major players have followed suit, and we’re now finding electronic groupsets beginning to creep down to the (almost) more affordable end of the market.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t lust for some old school cable action, and particularly the last two generations of SRAM’s mechanical RED groupsets.
Why, we hear you ask? The answer is weight.
True groupset weight numbers are hard to come by, but the general consensus is that SRAM’s mechanical RED groupsets are among the lightest ever built.
Yes, electric is faster, shifts better, and 11- or 12-speed groupsets offer more range, but if you want the lightest available – and let’s face it, lots of people still do – then these two groupsets are where it’s at.
Amazingly, SRAM still lists 10-speed Red on its website, but we doubt you’ll be seeing it on any bikes in 2020.
So, if you want to build an all-out, no compromise weight weenie build, then get scouring the internet for these components because we don’t think they’ll be around for much longer.
What do you think of our list? Did we get it right or should we have picked something else? As always, let us know in the comments and don’t forget to like and subscribe on our YouTube channel, and click the little bell icon so that every time we upload a new video you get a notification.
