The thing that I don't like about all innovations is the developers/marketers willingness to throw new developments onto the market, and then abandon the Buyer a couple of years later. No support, and no replacement parts means the Buyer is forced to replace the bike he/she just paid a fortune for a couple of years ago.
Proprietary headsets, bottom brackets that are changed every couple of years, special seatposts, and cartridge bearing wheel hubs are all going to be maintenance problems two to three years after a bike is made. I read about some people who complain that the old standard square taper bottom brackets were not a standard at all with the two different tapers, three different threadings, and multiple spindle widths. Yet here we are year after square taper was abandon by the major bike manufacturers, AND square taper bikes are still with us, and we can still easily buy replacement square taper bottom brackets with the expectation that they will fit.
Can you say the same thing about some of the bike frames that were manufactured with proprietary integrated headsets (Vitus 992 headsets being one example)?
What I see are new designs that make the manufacture of bikes faster, and easier for the manufacturers and raising prices, while raising the ultimate cost to the consumer, and shortening the service life of the product, without any regard for the consumer.
Component and bike manufacturers produce components and bikes with proprietary parts to lock the consumer into their products. They have no interest in supporting technologies that they force on consumers, since they make a profit on every change, just like the Paris and New York Fashion Designers, changing styles every year to force women into replacing their wardrobes every year, OR like Microsoft, and the Computer Manufacturers getting together and deciding how to change the "acceptable computer software and hardware" configuration to keep the "churn" going to keep selling more software and hardware each year.
Want to send a message to the Component and Bike Manufacturers that you aren't interested in buying into the annual fashion change? Refuse to buy the they and greatest. Economical Pressure is the only pressure that For Profit Companies will acknowledge.
Last edited by RoadGuy; 03-25-15 at 01:05 PM.