Originally Posted by
zactaylor
What I meant by that was that it's not as easy to do things yourself anymore. Lots of things are proprietary shapes etc. It's not impossible, just more difficult. A slightly ironic thing to write I'll admit, as I myself carry out all my maintenance jobs!
It can be more difficult, but it can also still be quite easy.
There are still new bikes with mechanical shifting, both entry level and mid level.
There are still new bikes with mechanical disc brakes.
The bikes with hydraulic disc brakes require a couple youtube videos and like $25 in tools to service.
Bikes that are SRAM wireless are super easy to set up.
Bikes that are Shimano di2 can be set up with some youtube videos.
About the only thing that I would say is legitimately more difficult than 5, 10, or 20 years ago would be fully internally routed hoses/housing that runs thru the headset.
But again- there are a ton of quality bikes that still come with cable shifting, easy cable routing, etc.