threadless forks seem like another shortcut by designers to me. they can just mass produce one fork and then they can be cut to size for a particular frame later. i like everything a sloping toptube does for a bike except the looks... i'm still working on that. a 1 to 3 degree upslope doesn't bother me but after that its not so great, especially on bikes with drop bars. i dunno it messes up the lines of the bike somehow. mixtes i like however.