Campy’s Xenon was Sora level, Mirage was Tiagra level, Veloce was 105, and then came Centaur (which still exists), Athena, Potenza…all while the more familiar Chorus, Record, Super Record hierarchy existed, and before Cues, Claris, or any Microshift did.

What was happening in 2009 when Xenon was dropped? The Asian bike boom was in full swing, with China open, Taiwan investing heavily, and carbon fiber rising rapidly.

Speaking of carbon fiber, Reynolds tubing (which itself weathered financial hardships including parent company bankruptcy in the late ‘90s) has some tubesets made to spec in Taiwan because “it makes much more sense with lead times and costs to do it this way” according to the CEO: https://road.cc/content/feature/rena...-frames-300667