Originally Posted by Stucky

I see most of the so-called "advancements" in bicycles as nothing but pure marketing and planned obsolescence.

I'm actually yearning for downtube shifters. (Brifters just don't give you the same control; the same speed and ease of quickly shifting to the extremes)

I had to try a modern CF bike, just to see what all the fuss is about- so I bought a used Venge. I like it well enough- but mainly just because it is new and different. In practical terms, I think many aspects of it (like flange-less hubs and nipple-less rims) are stupid. They offer no real advantage, and yet make simple maintenance tasks more difficult.

I was perfectly satisfied with my old 8-speed bike; and ditto my 9-speed Klein. When I ride the Venge, I don't say "Boy, this 10-speed stuff is just so much better!". In-fact, I can't tell the difference. No advantage- but there is a disadvantage, as the wheels and other components are not compatible with my 9-speed! There must be 1000 different BB's out there now...everything's becoming proprietary.... it really disgusts me.

I refuse to buy 11-speed. Don't need it; don't want it; won't have a skinnier chain. Whether bikes or motor vehicles, as they keep foisting all this non-sense on us, and get further and further away from the things that really matter, I'm tending to buy older and older stuff.

My Venge, for all it's fancy modern technology, does not have a THING on my 18 year-old Klein! Not A THING.

The pinnacle of great engineering, is to be able to achieve flawless performance via the simplest means possible. Bicycles reached that point many years ago. Anything beyond that becomes a liability; and is purely a trade-off, for show/aesthetics/marketing.

And don't even get me started on electronic shifting! [Sorry, guys...] To me, that is just LUDICROUS.