Originally Posted by
Marcus_Ti
Thing is most people don't buy bikes for 30 or 20 or 10 or heck even 5 years anymore....Bikes have become consumables sadly, at least that is how it seems (although maybe that is the nature of the internet and marketing). After a year or two "upgrade-ities" for the latest shiney paint job happens. You see it with all the chatter around Canyon coming to the USA....lots and lots of excited people on the internet lining up to spend money when they have a basically-brand new bike as such things go.
First gen D/A Di2 used a 5-pin pin-out that was deprecated before Ultegra Di2 standardized thereafter on 1-pin. Further, given D/A Di2 was just that, not a whole lot of it sold. Lots of folks were waiting for the Ultegra trickle-down, as is the nature of the uber-group mechanical. With the standard of the 1-pin interface the wiring harness can mostly be kept and the bike upgraded to newer stuff 10s to 11s.
With thru-axles and discs, odds are lots of legacy equipment is going to be made just that anyway.
My mechie 11s Chorus rim-brake roadie still puts a smile on face 9 years later...my Di2 rig puts an impish grin on my face too.
Sadly, that does seem to be the paradigm that a lot of people fall for- especially newbs....until they get to the point where they realize that they're just bicycles, and the equipment and gadgets really don't make that much difference. But I think such a modus operandi is limited to certain types of people- whereas I'd bet the majority of cyclists- especially those buying multi-thousand dollar bikes, are buying for the long-haul.
I know for myself, i wouldn't find things half as interesting if it weren't for classic & vintage bikes; and jusging by the popularity of the C&V boards here, I'd say I'm not alone. Sad thing is, with the current trends in manufacturing, the next generation is not going to have C&V bikes...unless they want to ride patched-up CF frames withy mangled BB30 shells and retro-fitted mechanical groupsets....but then what would be the point?
11-speed Chorus? Egads! That's so 2016! Now we know how the other half live!
