Along with the rarity of classic steel on big rides, it's also sad that Shimano had pretty much taken over most of the bicycle component world.......with SRAM and Campagnolo being the only other two big manufacturers providing OEM equipment for new bikes. Almost every bike I see today on a dealer's rack has full Shimano groups on it
Gone are the multitude of different component manufacturers from all over the world that provided the variety that makes gear more interesting.
An all French bike isn't even possible these days, as Mavic is now juat a shadow of it's former self when it comes to what stuff they can offer.
JMOs

Chombi