Because new Chinese factories bought all the old tooling from all the old factories going on to better things.

You know what happens to the machinery American factories get tired of using because it costs so much to make it pollution-compliant? Hello, China. Why thank you, India.

China will be producing 1970s components forever, because they are cheap to make, and sticking them on cheap frames. They don't have to worry about licensing ... and for those customers, the performance is adequate.

A point some seem to miss: talking about disc brakes and looking at what is on the market now is like talking about cars in 1883 and airplanes in 1900.

In five years discs will be a lot better than they are now. Then we will see how much of the market they command, and how riders feel about them.

Right now I would get a disc commuter, tourer, gravel bike ... anything but a pure quick bike.

On another hand there is that guy who machines his own parts ... the My Chinabomb thread ... who built a 16-lb disc speedster.