Originally Posted by Ramshackle

Bike companies will compensate for flagging bike sales through parts sales. Namely, they will use more proprietary parts on their bikes that are slightly out of conventional specs. This could include pedals, handlebars, chains, stems, etc. All the while, they will claim this as an innovation. You can already see that in triangular seat posts and Specialized shock dampening. They’ll also push “more aero” for top end buyers.