Quote:
Originally Posted by prototoast
I think this gets to the real challenge that a lot of rim-brake aficionados present to the cycling companies--they want the same products they're already using, and they want them to be cheap, and they wanted them to be marketed as top of the line. Rim brake frames and groupsets are still available and will continue to be available, and compare favorably to what was available in the past. But they're no longer being marketed as top-tier, and some of the rim-brake die-hards seem to lament the loss of status more than anything else.
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I think you made a few logical leaps with some healthy helpings of generalisation there. Which of course is your prerogative, but here's my point of view.
I think a lot of people have a cache of equipment that is fit for purpose and they have added to that cache over the years.
The introduction of disc brakes - which introduce complexity to which many would argue don't have the same marginal benefit - has basically meant that you can't continue to 'build the arsenal' of bikes in the same way you might have previously.
At the same time, bike manufacturers seem to have awkwardly lent back into threaded bottom brackets, which is a great thing if you ask me.
All of this ends up being bitter sweet. Right now I'd love a modern aero bike with rim brakes and a threaded bottom bracket. That preference for rim brakes is based on having plenty of sets of high end wheels and of course the belief that rim brakes do just fine while being very easy to live with.
I guess the most ironic bit out of all of this is that the bike industry is terrible at standards but they've managed to standardise a braking system in all of two minutes. It wasn't long ago that disc brakes were unusual... then they got approved for racing... and then it's literally impossible to buy anything else (when it comes to a production and high end bike).