Originally Posted by John E

I could rush out this morning and pay cash for almost any high-end road bike, but I have absolutely no incentive whatsoever to do so. I love the durability, practicality, ride quality, and aesthetics of the old lugged steel frames, and I relish having the oldest or most unusual bike on a group ride or at a Bike-to-Work Day pit stop. I also deplore certain technological "advances" which are more about hard-core racing and marketing hype than about serving John Q. Public's needs: low spoke count wheels, indexed front derailleurs, super close-coupled frames, and arguably even carbon fiber or aluminum frames and forks.

Anyone with money can own a 21st Century bike, but very few of us, particularly in the U.S., can ride a 50-year-old piece of European cycling history.