Zas

Does anyone else think the marketing departments of bike brands and component makers are too much in control of what bikes we ride at any given time? Do you all think this is the way to go? They want to sell us new bikes that are more incompatible and more expensive every few years by any means necessary.

Right now my daily ride is an 80s steel touring bike. Straight 1" steerer, threaded headset. Threaded bb. Cantilever brakes. Shimano 600 indexed downtube shifting from the 90s, hyperglide cassette. Can fit fenders, racks and 37mm gravel or winter tires. I can get all spares for it cheap and they are actually being manufactured still, not everything can always be bought off the shelf from the LBS though. For example a fine quality 7s cassette costs a fraction compared to a modern 1x12 cassette. If I crash, I only trash a cheap brake lever, not a brifter that costs hundreds. Maintenance is easy because the technology has been there for 40 years, once you learn it you´re done. They are trying to force us to buy new stuff for no other reason than to get money from us. There´s been very little development in the modern quality bicycle in the past 40 years(with the exception of the mountain bike, which is arguably better today compared to the 90s). Honestly, we could have stopped most of the development in the 90s and be perfectly happy! For road, touring and commuting anyway.

The end result of all this in 2021: Keeping a good parts stock for the small LBS is next to impossible (let´s start with the hundreds of headset and bb standards, 7-13s cassettes, the list goes on). Learning the skills to service your new bike is a process (disc brake flushing, integrated cable routing, hub and bb service). Collecting all the different special tools for your new bike can be expensive. Spares for your modern bike are more and more expensive (cassette, derailleurs, chainrings) and sometimes hard to get (proprietary seatposts, stems, headsets, thru axles etc.). Sometimes you have a hard time even determining what parts you have on your bike next to you (headset: tapered? integrated? size?). All for some undetermined undefined quite marginal gain! Does anyone else think we´re being fooled a bit here?

Tell me I´m wrong. Rant over.

leob1

Where do you think 'gravel bikes' came from?

Mojo31

You are wrong. If you don't like it don't buy it. Nobody owes you anything.

All marketing is to get you to buy new stuff. Nobody has a right to expect that any business will make or stock parts for old stuff forever.

70sSanO

No.

John

Rolla

Thru-axles, dropper posts, tubeless tires, disc brakes, carbon fiber, electronic shifting, suspension, and 1X drivetrains are obvious evidence of "development." Or do these not meet some arbitrary and subjective criteria of yours?

Manufactured victimhood is so undignified. Thousands of riders don't have any of the "new stuff" you're talking about, and uncomplainingly get along just fine year after year on the older equipment they already own. You can do the same.

biker128pedal

I could deal with less then the 9, 10 and 12 speed cassettes I have. Glad I don’t have freewheels and really really like brifters. Hand close to brakes while shifting is convenient and I think safer. Quicker to stop avoiding hitting a dog a few months ago.

Iride01

Advertising agencies are paid big bucks to get you wanting their client's products. I don't see it any different for toothpaste, cars, beverages, restaurants, and any other thing advertised on TV, radio, print or this very webpage.

WhyFi

Oooh - lookit those fluffy clouds! They could use some yellin' at!

Mojo31

Responses like that are leading to the deterioration of this forum.

Just sayin.

indyfabz

He is doing the same, which is why I don’t get the rant.

WhyFi

Well, you can imagine my confusion - only 42 posts, but a member of 9 years... n00b? Not n00b?

Rolla

... except for the "uncomplainingly" part.

downhillmaster

Yep.
You can literally hear dozens of sensitive new members logging off and closing down their BF memberships

indyfabz

I think some people are, but not in the way you mean.

BTW…Something like a Surly LHT can take racks and large tires. Ask me how I know.

PeteHski

Yes, you are wrong. Just because you prefer to ride old 80s and 90s tech to save money, doesn't make newer tech any less desirable to those who appreciate it. The stuff you are riding was once marketed in exactly the same way as the modern gear too. They still wanted to sell new bikes in the 80s unless I'm very much mistaken.

Mojo31

Probably spends his time rummaging through old parts bins to keep his daily a well oiled machine.

Buying the new stuff frees up time for posting on forums.

2old

I don't blame the manufacturers for developing new standards; otherwise their businesses (probably) wouldn't grow. However, we don't need to succumb, and some developments are actually improvements (although that may be subject to individual interpretation). My wife loves her 12-speed, boosted, carbon, etc MTB and I'm still happy with my 10+ year old, 9-speed Niner hardtail.

indyfabz

“Get off my sky!”

delbiker1 

I think the consumers are fooling themselves more than marketing is fooling them. We let our ego over ride our brain and turn a want into a need. I am not knocking the OP, but these kinds of rants are usually a way to heal a bruised ego, or make oneself feel superior. I, surely, am guilty of this behavior, but I hope much less often.

PeteHski

This line deserves it's own special mention as the most idiotic thing I've read this year.

woodcraft

It's a perfectly good rant- lighten up!

mstateglfr 

Its a marketing department- they exist to make people want to buy the product. But they dont have control of what bikes are ridden. As you point out in detail- you ride a bike from the 80s.
All my bikes have been built from the frame, and one was also a framebuild. The last bike I purchased for myself in a shop was a 93 GT Performer when I was in 6th grade. So clearly marketing departments dont control what types of bikes I ride. 3' behind me right now is a Tange 1 road frame from '89 with 11sp 105 drivetrain. That isnt anything a marketing department made me build.

As for the compatibility complaint- dont buy bikes like that. A high end Cervelo Caledonia has an integrated cockpit, but an entry Caledonia(which is by no means entry level) has a traditional stem and handlebar. This is just a simple example- buy what works for you. The cycling market is so absurdly vast at this point that there is something for everyone.

You complain and list your own example which doesnt apply to the complaint you just made.

Reflector Guy

He's from Northern Europe.... He didn't say how far north.

The nights are long up there by the Arctic Circle. To him it only seems like a few months...

shelbyfv

Isn't this a sticky somewhere on the forum? Seems familiar....

tomato coupe

Sleeper agent.