Originally Posted by
noglider
Hmm, I feel like I have more questions now than before the discussion. But they're more subtle, so I guess that's progress.
Couldn't the improvements we now have been made with single pivot brakes? They have some advantages which we've now lost since they seem to have become rare. I think the only SP brakes being made now come on cheap bikes.
It's easier to understand things once you accept that style and market considerations tend to trump technical considerations. Bike component design is driven by OEM sales which account for the vast bulk of production. So, once something gains a certain amount of recognition as "better" the OEMs will want that and other makers will fall into line with their own versions. Once the tipping point is reached, alternate designs tend to fall by the wayside, where they may linger for years.
In all of this, the wants of existing bikes owners looking to maintain or upgrade older bikes are totally disregarded since their financial contributer to the industry is mostly behind them already.
I suspect that this effect might explain why retro grouches are so vocal in their resistance to disc brakes on road bikes. They are legitimately concerned that if discs gain a certain level of acceptance, the major players will design and spec around them, and high quality caliper brakes will go the way of the dodo, (or quill stem).