Originally Posted by
operator
Headsets wear by fretting not by impact forces such as from the beaing being smashed into the race otherwise known as brinelling re: sheldon brown.
Yeah, we used to argue about that back in the day too. But of course we didn't have the internet to give us the correct facts.
The OP didn't mention IMO the greatest improvement: clothing. By-God-Real-animal-skin "chamois" that, like real animal skin, dried up really stiff... and had to be pre-softened before each ride. And your 2 precious pairs of wool shorts that always stretched out horribly. Or, you could get the cheapo acrylic knock-offs, whose "chamois" was a cheap felt patch. Mmmm.
By comparison, the absolutely cheapest wally-world ebay reject shorts of today are better than the best that existed back then.