But that's the thing... everyone still has a mountain bike from a decade ago. Did everyone need to go out and buy a bike with disc brakes and a MX fork? Probably not... but that's how our economy works: when you don't manufacture something with immediate obsolescence (i.e., computers), you have to "improve" on what has been offered recently. "Vintage style" 3-speed bicycles might seem like a downgrade to a capable cyclist with a bike they like, be that bike 10 or 20 years old, but for a 'consumer' it's a different story.

North Americans are obsessed with buying an image, and what image do those bikes portray? 1. My bike is stylish 2. I don't 'have' to wear spandex and a cycling jersey to ride it 3. My bike is 'utilitarian' (whatever that means)

That image is worth big bucks. Kids didn't run out in droves to buy skateboards back in the '90s because they thought it would be good exercise, or a convenient mode of transportation, or because they wanted to challenge themselves in a new sport - they did it because it was a popular image that you could buy (or so they thought). And like those skateboards, I am inclined to believe that in a few years more than a handful of these "new old" bikes will be relegated to the closet or shed just like everything else that people buy to secure an image.

Will more people be riding bikes if said bikes adhere to a popular/trendy aesthetic? Probably, and that's a good thing, but the bike industry would die out pretty quickly unless it A) reinvents itself with new products or B) manufactures a product with immediate/fast obsolescence