god, i think we need all the cynicism we can muster, and then some. how else are we going to stop being railroaded by what designers think is good, or looks good, or whatever. the same logic i am applying here goes for cars too, and clothes, and guitars, and houses. how can a honda civic ever look better than a austin healy? it cant! chrome and real leather and spoked wheels are all what make a austin a great car, and they are also what make a bike a great bike. how can riding a bike that looks like honda's junior engineers designed it in a bout of sake induced madness, ever be more pleasureable than a bike that was designed for function and beauty, and perhaps even handcrafted by someone who cared what every detail looked like. this isnt even a retro question, its a simple question of aesthetics.
bikes crafted by artisans, or even designed by them, should always win, but they dont. they rarely do.
why are we so entrenched in supposed advances and advantages that we ignore why cycling is so great? its fundamentally a beautiful thing to do, bikes look nice, people on bikes look nice, bikes let us do nice things, and shouldnt be at odds with the environment because of it. they should blend with it, enhance it, like a good garden enhances a house.