Originally Posted by
vane171
I was 18 yrs old and didn't use those slotted blocks. That helped.
Generally I would be in favor of more integration but people put up quite strong arguments against it. Reason water bottle cage nuts are integrated is because even pro racers use them during a race. Other integrated options, like those lights wouldn't show up on those race bikes (even pros strap on bike lights on their training rides but they don't carry lights in races) and the top end market of serious bikers, those who may not race but are image conscious wouldn't buy bikes with 'consumer like features' on them, features you won't see on race bikes.
Also would make it more expensive for top end bike frame makers to have no such features for racers and integrated them for the rest of us (who should always have lights on bikes, all our rides are training rides in traffic).
And trust manufacturers to lock you into their flavor of integration. Bottle or brake posts are one thing, light and what not else quite another. You would get a different standard from each bike frame or stem/bar maker. Mind you, I believe there is a bar-stem integrated cockpit with light built into it which looks very nice, on a very high end (read expensive) model. I doubt we would all be content with the light intensity and what not else, given you couldn't shop for the light for your particular needs.
I have a rather gruesome story on topic, the same accident with car turning left against oncoming bicyclist. Two years ago, in Europe and very close to where I ride bike, this guy rode a bike to attend a funeral in a nearby town and he packed the proper black suit for the funeral occasion into a backpack to change into it upon arrival there.
The route took him through a town where there was longer downhill coming to town and in town itself, there is an even steeper downhill section in the middle of which is a T intersection (branching off to the bicyclist's right). Uphill against him drove a heavy duty big truck and made that left turn without noticing the bike... Was instant death, the guy didn't fly over the vehicle hood like I did, the truck was too high for that, but splatted against its side, basically like hitting a wall head on.
I don't know if he had light or even flashing but seriously doubt the truck driver would have noticed him anyway or if he did, it would be too late in this particular situation once he started that left turn.
I am glad I didn't know him personally, I was just morbidly thinking, they could very conveniently change him into that black suit he brought with him in his backpack... Needless to say, as precaution, I never ride through that part of town, there is another, a bit slower side road in town you can take to get around that T intersection. I only tell this to drive into people's heads to ride defensively, lights help but are no guarantee.
I don't find the racer argument persuasive at all. If bike design and production were only predicated on what pros race, we'd not have most categories of bikes, from folding bikes, to beach cruisers, to hybrids, to city bikes, to ebikes. That those bike categories exist are evidence that even if the mechanism you describe is real, that there is plenty of room in the market.
We've also seen, over the past couple of years, that growth in expensive ebikes and premium priced conventional bikes, especially among the feature rich, full suspension MTB segment, has been growing, strongly suggesting that there is a pathway for manufacturers to invest in new tech, like integration, and seek correspondingly higher wholesale pricing.
A perfect example of both of those points is in-frame storage, e.g. the Specialized SWAT Box, which several other manufacturers have brought to market as well. Trek has even brought their in-frame tech to both carbon and aluminum frames.
And yes, light integration has been done. Interesting ideas can be taken from Van Moof with their cartridge design, and Lemond has frame integrated tail lights which basically smaller SWAT-style cutouts in the chainstays, and their integrated headlamp is in a bar/stem combo.
Could a bunch of different proprietary systems emerge? Of course, and certainly they will, however, we could get a standard, just as we've gotten for top tube bag mounts. Maybe the headlight answer is exactly that: a couple of mounts on the headtube. Maybe it's something like a cross between Di2 tech and BMC's internal cable routing stem, allowing a battery in the steerer tube and wiring through the handlebar. The ideas and tech are already a reality, and if they turn out to be proprietary integration solutions, who really cares provided the manufacturer supports the product. Other proprietary integrated products, like seat posts, headset spacers, and forks have not led to a crisis of bikes being scrapped, and I can only surmise that if unsupported, less mission-critical bits like integrated lights, wouldn't precipate trashing a bike, either, so I don't see a whole lot to fear in there.
I'll reiterate what I said in a previous post: none of this is to say there aren't obstacles, but the only insurmountable one is lack of will.