Which other sports have gone such massive hardware changes like speedcubing in the recent years?

[abunickabhi]

Cubing has undergone a drastic change in the past two decades and especially in the past 5 years. The number of people doing it and the outreach is still very limited compared to other sports.

The hardware has massively improved a lot with insane customization and quality control.

Which other sports have gone such massive hardware changes like speedcubing in the recent years?

For example, pole vault underwent a major change when synthetic poles were introduced. Bamboo poles were introduced in 1904, and both aluminum and steel poles appeared after 1945. The world record increased massively each time because of hardware.

My friend, Soham recently brought up this discussion and it had me thinking about how novel speedcubing has been in its development and acceleration of growth (hardware wise and also in other aspects).

Disclaimer: This is my personal view. This question is speculative and I do not intend to imply anything. I do not want to indirectly propose anything or create confusion. This question was not made on behalf of any of the cubing roles that I currently have.

 

[JDAW6]

Cubing has undergone a drastic change in the past two decades and especially in the past 5 years. The number of people doing it and the outreach is still very limited compared to other sports.

The hardware has massively improved a lot with insane customization and quality control.

Which other sports have gone such massive hardware changes like speedcubing in the recent years?

For example, pole vault underwent a major change when synthetic poles were introduced. Bamboo poles were introduced in 1904, and both aluminum and steel poles appeared after 1945. The world record increased massively each time because of hardware.

My friend, Soham recently brought up this discussion and it had me thinking about how novel speedcubing has been in its development and acceleration of growth (hardware wise and also in other aspects).

Disclaimer: This is my personal view. This question is speculative and I do not intend to imply anything. I do not want to indirectly propose anything or create confusion. This question was not made on behalf of any of the cubing roles that I currently have.

Maybe better balls?


Edit: I am talking about like football and stuff omg I did not mean that

 

[stoic]

Tennis and golf spring to mind.

Oh, and somewhat different but F1. They're continually changing the regs on tyres, engines and bodywork to keep those things slowed down,

 

[rebuC]

Esports I guess

 

[abunickabhi]

Esports I guess

High speed mouses?
What sort of innovations or fast hardware changes have happened there?

 

[Swagrid]

High speed mouses?
What sort of innovations or fast hardware changes have happened there?

not necessarily super super fast but there has been a lot of shifts away from traditional wired mice and towards wireless, as well as higher refresh rate monitors. It feels like very recently most people were on 60hz monitors and the pros were on 144+. nowadays most pros play on 240 or 360hz monitors and even casual want 144/180hz minimum

im still on 60 but that's a me issue ig

 

[Fred]

I immediately thought of the high-tech swimsuits that got banned, but that was a much more marginal improvement. I suppose bicycle races allowing gears and shifting in the 1930s would be a big leap. Prior to that, they still had two possible gears, one on each side of the rear wheel, and they had to stop and put the rear wheel in backwards in order to switch gear.

 

[qwr]

I immediately thought of the high-tech swimsuits that got banned, but that was a much more marginal improvement.

I think there was something similar with Nike Alpha Flys shoes for Kipchoge. I don't follow running but I read some YouTube comments that it could make the difference between a world record and not. @Running for cube

 

[qwr]

If you count chess engines as hardware, then chess has been revolutionized by preparation with chess engines starting in the 90s. Nowadays you don't need a team of chess players to analyze unknown positions and search for new opening novelties because engines will tell you exactly the best move for an engine and Leela zero has no shortage of sidelines to introduce. In some ways it's killed the human creativity of openings.

 

[Justincubes]

not necessarily super super fast but there has been a lot of shifts away from traditional wired mice and towards wireless, as well as higher refresh rate monitors. It feels like very recently most people were on 60hz monitors and the pros were on 144+. nowadays most pros play on 240 or 360hz monitors and even casual want 144/180hz minimum

im still on 60 but that's a me issue ig

The only games I play are minecraft and geometry dash, I'm definitely casual. I have a 1440p 144hz monitor, because my older brother convinced me that it's better than a 60hz 4k monitor. I can confirm that the higher refresh rate is good though, there's a huge difference

 

[Deleted member 36445]

F1

 

[abunickabhi]

Tomasz Kartasiński
Literally every sport has some hw update. For example take simple running: shoes with carbon plates and special types of foams that are lighter etc. Every discipline has it's own improvements in hardware which could be not visible in olympics but for example on everyday training which leads to better performance during competition.

Cade Beck
American Football players are finally getting better helmets and pads that won't make them develop CTE as fast, that's pretty cool. It's not a change that impacts how the game is played but it's important to put their health first. I'm hoping that better knee braces will also be developed specifically for football. I played offensive and defensive line (the big guys in the front that push each other around) for 10 years and my knees will likely never be healthy because of the high strain playing that position puts on the knees on top of the many knee injuries I had across my career.

 

[Isabellikesmaths]

Cycling had significant improvements a while ago. More gears and not having to get off to change them. I’ve heard that there’s now devices which can allow you to change your tyre pressure during the race (good for varied terrain) but I couldn’t find much more about it online and I don’t think it’s widespread.

 

[n0nco]

Esports I guess

Isn't the main changes pure specs? (as Swagrid said)

I sometimes find myself reading people complaining about not having 60 fps as I cry in 20 fps, also what a weird figure of speech to have found a clone of you doing something, and sorry for the low quality post.

 

[Gecko777]

I immediately thought of the high-tech swimsuits that got banned, but that was a much more marginal improvement. I suppose bicycle races allowing gears and shifting in the 1930s would be a big leap. Prior to that, they still had two possible gears, one on each side of the rear wheel, and they had to stop and put the rear wheel in backwards in order to switch gear.

techsuits are legal and most competitive swimmers own around like 4 of them or more ( i was one once....)

 

[rebuC]

Isn't the main changes pure specs? (as Swagrid said)

I sometimes find myself reading people complaining about not having 60 fps as I cry in 20 fps, also what a weird figure of speech to have found a clone of you doing something, and sorry for the low quality post.

Yeah, the rate that technology is advancing is insane. Even just gaming with tech from up to 5 years ago, I can quite easily notice the drawbacks compared to the latest releases.

 

[Christopher Mowla]

I'm not sure if it counts, but NASCAR? (That article was written in 2010, but I don't see why more constant improvements aren't being made to the cars every year.)

 

[Skewby_Doo]

As a tennis player there are constantly new changes to the game, including pressureless balls, ball machines, better racket and string material, as well as simply the court surface itself. I recently actually wrote a paper on the history of tennis for an ELA assignment, just a few decades ago people still were using wooden rackets. I was actually able to pick up an old Wilson Embassy and a T2000 from a thrift store recently, it's definitely pretty crazy how much the sport has changed in the past few decades, most notably the past 200 years or so.

 

[One Wheel]

Cycling had significant improvements a while ago. More gears and not having to get off to change them. I’ve heard that there’s now devices which can allow you to change your tyre pressure during the race (good for varied terrain) but I couldn’t find much more about it online and I don’t think it’s widespread.

I've been spending quite a bit more time on cycling than cubing recently. There are some very interesting things going on with aerodynamics and tire rolling resistance. Electronic gear shifting has been around for about 15 years, and is definitely a maturing technology. It's apparently a game changer, although I admit the short test rides I've done on bikes with electronic shifting I wasn't particularly impressed. The availability of high-quality Chinese parts, especially carbon fiber frames and wheels, at drastically reduced prices has taken a big leap forward the last 2-3 years.

 

[Lord_Oscar]

I've been spending quite a bit more time on cycling than cubing recently. There are some very interesting things going on with aerodynamics and tire rolling resistance. Electronic gear shifting has been around for about 15 years, and is definitely a maturing technology. It's apparently a game changer, although I admit the short test rides I've done on bikes with electronic shifting I wasn't particularly impressed. The availability of high-quality Chinese parts, especially carbon fiber frames and wheels, at drastically reduced prices has taken a big leap forward the last 2-3 years.

The introduction of platforms like Zwift has also played a big part in cycling, allowing riders to train without leaving the house. (Good if it’s wet or windy, which it always is in my city!)

Also, dropper seat posts on mountain bikes are being used widely now and are in my mind one of the best recent innovations in bike technology.
The same goes for suspension using compressed air.