Trakhak

Chromoly bikes were phased out for the same reason mechanical wristwatches were phased out. Quartz crystal watches do exactly what mechanical watches do---i.e., give you the time---but do so better and more cheaply than mechanical watches. There are still plenty of people who prefer mechanical watches, despite their shortcomings, because they like to think of themselves as more-discerning consumers. Some enthusiasts may even argue passionately that mechanical-watch are superior, on the basis of what appear to be obscure and romantic reasons to the rest of us.

I rode the highest of high-end steel road bikes from 1965 to 2005, at which point I bought my first aluminum road bike. I still have a Reynolds 853 bike and a 531 bike left from the old days, but I haven't ridden either more than a half-dozen times since 2005 because I prefer my aluminum bikes. My only regret is that I didn't buy a Cannondale road bike in the 1980s or 1990s, when I worked for a shop that sold them. (I did buy a Cannondale mountain bike in 1986; rode it yesterday, in fact.)

BikeForums.net is a site populated mostly by bike enthusiasts, many of whom are steel bike proponents. Which is fine---there's nothing wrong with steel bikes.

But: digital media versus analog, solid-state audio amplifiers versus tube, electronic watches versus mechanical, aluminum bikes versus steel: all are examples of a market moving on. Look at it this way: if it weren't for aluminum bikes, choosing steel would say nothing about your taste.