5 bike things we can’t believe you can still buy

New bikes and kit hit the market in a seemingly endless stream, with continual updates rendering products obsolete at a terrifying pace.

At the same time, some products just stay the same, remaining available and oddly immune to the ceaseless march of progress.

• Have carbon bikes reached classic status yet?
• A gruesome reminder of why your bike has bar end plugs

Here are five outliers we can’t quite believe you can still buy...

Shimano’s current R9100-series Dura-Ace groupset is a technological tour de force. An 11-speed masterpiece that offers hydraulic disc brakes and electronic shifting as options.

It’s a far cry from the 9-speed Dura-Ace 7700 groupset that launched more than two decades ago but, somehow, a remnant of that nineties groupset lives on.

The Dura-Ace Track FC-7710 is still listed as a current product on Shimano’s website and you can still buy it new.

This gorgeous crank uses the splined Octalink bottom bracket interface that has since been superseded by Hollowtech II and press-fit designs.

Its continued existence can be credited to the fact that track bike drivetrains don’t really need to get any more technologically advanced.

That said, it’s perhaps somewhat surprising that Shimano hasn’t knocked out single-ring versions of any of its subsequent Dura-Ace cranks, if only for the sake of product harmony and also because why wouldn’t it?

Even more impressively, the square taper FC-7600 cranks that preceded the 7710s are still available new from selected shops.

I don’t know how long this little bearing condom has been on the market but it has to be at least 20 years, and yet somehow it endures.

The Headset Seal slips over the lower cup of a traditional external headset, in theory reducing the ingress of water and dirt.

These days, integrated headsets are the norm on the vast majority of bikes, but it’s reassuring to know that for around £3 / $5, you too can have cosy lower balls.

Someone will doubtless correct me, but I believe that the Pro Carbon has been continuously available for longer than any other carbon bike on the market, with only minimal changes along the way.

It looks quite dated now, but it remains a solid choice and, most importantly, it’s very affordable, with complete bikes starting around £800.

Ironically, after years of press-fit dominance, the Pro Carbon’s threaded bottom bracket actually looks fashionable again, as manufacturers question the wisdom of pressed-in bearings.

• Buy the Pro Carbon direct from Planet X

Has any product ever been included in more gift guides for cyclists? It seems unlikely.

The Park Tool pizza cutter is a legend in its own lunchtime, a utensil that, unlike those now-ubiquitous fixie pizza cutters, actually appears moderately ergonomic.

Park Tool actually teased a new range of cutters made from Reynolds 853, titanium and carbon back in 2017, but this was sadly an April Fool’s.

Something tells me people would have flocked to buy them.

The Mavic Open Pro is a bit of a legend, the default box section rim for thousands of cyclists, for what feels like thousands of years.

It was never the lightest, the most aero or the cheapest, but its spec struck a balance that made it very appealing to wheelbuilders.

Various versions were available over the years including a ceramic coated rim and a classic grey anodised option.

The Open Pro clincher finally received an update a couple of years ago (although you can still buy the old version), gaining a wider, more up-to-date profile that’s tubeless compatible. There’s even a carbon version.

What’s truly remarkable is that the tubular version of the old Open Pro still exists. The market for low-profile tubular rims must be absolutely minuscule but Mavic still lists the Open Pro T on its website, and you can order it from various online bike shops.

Do you have a favourite evergreen product? Have you recently bought any of the ones in this list? Let us know in the comments.