Designs that were spot-on right from the start and haven’t changed

[Sundayjumper]

Paper clip is also approved.

[Rich B]

Yeah, I was thinking stationery type items. Pencil, scissors, biro, etc...

[Mito Man]

In which case biros were shit from the start and still haven't changed.

[dinny_g]

A bit niche but the Baker Canvas Tent has been in use since the mid 1800's without any change to the design. Similarly the Vango Force 10 since the 60's and the North Face VE25 from the 80's.

The pinnacle of their respective designs:

Baker - Campfire Tent
Vango - Ridge Tent
North Face - Geodesic Dome

[Jobbo]

You know full well that's a hobby horse not a bicycle

https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/3630 ... obby-horse

I always knew them as velocipedes, so have learned something today

That link describes them as the forerunner of the bicycle, and if something has a forerunner then it probably wasn't right from the start Amazing how similar a safety bicycle is to many modern bikes though, you're right.

[16vCento]

I guess cans haven't changed much if at all (beans, drinks etcs)

[dinny_g]

Cans were key open, then can opener, now ring pulls. Were tin, now aluminium etc…

[Barry]

Tetra pack?

Just put that in the other thread as an example of a terrible design

[Beany]

Tetra pack?

Just put that in the other thread as an example of a terrible design

The design is excellent, the implementation is often fucking atrocious.

[Mito Man]

Just scratching my scabbed arms and it’s reminded me of the barbed wire encounter I had.

Barbed wire has a bit of an interesting history. It basically led to the end of the cowboy era and the Wild West with it. Suddenly ranchers had a cheap way of securing and staking their claims to land. And this ended the great cattle migrations in America.

[Jimmy Choo]

They're not used much these days but canal locks are utter genius.

IIRC, ship propellers haven't changed much since they were first introduced.

[16vCento]

I walk past the Five Rise Locks most Saturdays on my way to the pub, its a marvellous thing to watch a boat go through, but it takes a long time!

[DeskJockey]

Zips & Velcro - approved. Zips more so as they’re c. 100 years now.

Also - and I can’t believe I didn’t put it at the top of the list - the bicycle. The fundamental layout hasn’t changed since the 1880s.

The bike is basically the wheel x2. And the first ones didn't have pedals so not quite as we have now right from their invention:

Well. We teach the kids to balance on balance bikes (paging @tim), then they get their pedal bikes. So actually you're just showing us a picture of someone who hasn't progressed to pedals yet!

[Rich B]

Zips & Velcro - approved. Zips more so as they’re c. 100 years now.

Also - and I can’t believe I didn’t put it at the top of the list - the bicycle. The fundamental layout hasn’t changed since the 1880s.

The bike is basically the wheel x2. And the first ones didn't have pedals so not quite as we have now right from their invention:

Well. We teach the kids to balance on balance bikes (paging @tim), then they get their pedal bikes. So actually you're just showing us a picture of someone who hasn't progressed to pedals yet!

overall bike design has moved on massively, but there's plenty of components that have hardly changed. The chain is basically the same design as it's been for 100 years or more, the cables (You could probably fit a 30 year old gear cable to most brand new bikes), spoked wheels, etc.

[DaveE]

They're not used much these days but canal locks are utter genius.

My Uncle grew up near the Thames and when they were kids, for giggles, they used to dive into a lock when it was emptying, and swim out through the sluice gate

[Jobbo]

You could probably fit a 30 year old gear cable to most brand new bikes

Bowden cables were a great design. Not sure I'd want my gear levers to be on the downtube now, so the 30yr old cables are probably too short, mind you. And rusty inside.

[Rich B]

You could probably fit a 30 year old gear cable to most brand new bikes

Bowden cables were a great design. Not sure I'd want my gear levers to be on the downtube now, so the 30yr old cables are probably too short, mind you. And rusty inside.

they don't come cut to length for any specific bike.

[Jobbo]

You could probably fit a 30 year old gear cable to most brand new bikes

Bowden cables were a great design. Not sure I'd want my gear levers to be on the downtube now, so the 30yr old cables are probably too short, mind you. And rusty inside.

they don't come cut to length for any specific bike.

Ah, that'll be why Honda charged me over £20 for one for my mower last month - because it was already cut to length. Thought they should be a bit cheaper

[V8Granite]

You could probably fit a 30 year old gear cable to most brand new bikes

Bowden cables were a great design. Not sure I'd want my gear levers to be on the downtube now, so the 30yr old cables are probably too short, mind you. And rusty inside.

they don't come cut to length for any specific bike.

When I were a lad, the number one brake upgrade was odyssey solid brake cable, which felt like a flexible single strand.

Dave!

[dinny_g]

THE upgrade when I was a BMX bandit as a kid was a brake cable assembly which had a wax ‘sleeve’ between the cable and the housing. Can’t remember what they were called though. Superglide probably or some such