Originally Posted by
kingston
The profit maximizing strategy for the major manufacturers is to promote disk brakes so everyone thinks they have to buy a new complete bike instead of upgrading components on their old frame.
Originally Posted by
Seattle Forrest
I don't think people are spending thousands of hard earned dollars on disc brake road bikes just because Big Bike made them available, or got some kind of serum into the water supply.
I've actually been discussing a lot of this with others in the industry. Almost all of us in the "accessories" or "upgrade" segments have seen a colossal drop in sales in the last few year. It's because people have gotten to the point where they can't just go buy an upgrade - they HAVE to buy a bike because the tech has changed that much and not a lot of the old stuff is still available or appealing to them anymore (I love those wheels but it looks like I'm going to have to go disc here in the short term anyway so I'll hold off for now).
That's led to a artificially high number of bikes being sold for the last 3 years or so. That is starting to calm down as the tech become ubiquitous. The shift we will see in the next few years will be bike sales dropping and upgrades coming back up as people who have had their cool new bike with disc brakes for a few years now start to look for ways to freshen it up instead of buying another $3k-$8k bike.
So.... by nearly eliminating the rim brake option from most lines in most brands the industry did artificially create a push/need in people to buy full bicycles. It's just the way it is.
I'm not one to go for conspiracy theories though. There is no "Big Bike" as there isn't enough money in this industry for that to exist and hardly any of us can agree on anything let alone carry out a conspiracy. It's simply a lot of small brands going, "Uh... everyone else has disc. That's what people want I guess. We need to make disc bikes too. Make everything like the big guys are."