Originally Posted by
surreal
Al, I suspect that this is more of a problem with your shop than it is for shimano/derailers. Things may have been different then, but in the mdoern age of QBP (in the us, anyways), online retailers, shops desperate enough to actually offer service to customers, NOS stuff being sold on ebay and the like, etc it is quite possible to grab the old crap with just a little bit of hassle. I've been running the 9spd stuff for years, but i have 10spd on my roadbike, and i just gave away my last 8speed rig--not because of a dearth of cassettes, but because i was building a new bike and i had a friend in need of something reliable and utilitarian. Most any shop can order you compat stuff if they know what they're doing and they have an ounce of scruples. Of course, many shops have neither knowledge nor honour, which will forever be a problem.
He probably had a Uniglide cassette that is nearly impossible to replace now, and probably was very difficult then. Chances are the shop could have just replaced the freehub (not the whole rear hub), but even some of those were incompatible, and he would still need a new shifter and maybe a derailleur.
I agree that buying a very expensive hub that can only be serviced by the small company that makes it is a strange move if obsolescence is your concern, but whatever makes you happy.