Originally Posted by Andy_K

No, I think it's more like music. When I was growing up (in the 80's), we had "oldies" (mostly 50's to mid-60's) and we had "classic rock" (later 60's and 70's). Some of the music from the 80's became classic rock because it had a similar aesthetic, but most of it will never age into that category, just like classic rock will never become "oldies" while any of us who have ever listened to it regularly are still around. And then there's classical, which looks on first glance like it might be defined by a very large age range but turns out to still be an active category.

In this analogy the early brifter bikes would be like 80's pop -- a historical footnote that most of us are extremely embarrassed about and wish had never happened but which a small number of deranged people still really enjoy.