BTW...my Shimano 9sp 105 Koga Miyata is very Windows like:

I use it because others do...it's easy compatability. If you're using a machine for work, you want the simple, popular system that is the standard. If you're using a bike for strictly every day reliability or touring, you want Shimano...since a mom n' pop isn't going to have anything Campy compatibile if it breaks down in rural Alabama.

Mac works better and have much better customer service IF you're near an Apple store. If you don't have an easily accessible Apple store, Macs are NOT the best option. Campy works better, have better service and are more repairable IF you have access to the parts.

Sturmey Archer is like BSD - It's extremely reliable and -the- choice in its niche, but hardly anyone's heard of it.

I started this, and I have to admit, Shimano isn't nearly as bad as Microsoft. Microsoft almost always makes an inferior product, and until recently, they've been the de facto standard not because of superiority but because of better marketing. That's changing, and I expect they may be eating some humble pie before too long.

The lack of serviceability of Shimano is annoying, but I do understand the market forces. You have to come up with something new every year or you will die. Consumers demand this, even if the new thing isn't a true improvement. And keeping everything compatible? That's not only expensive, it's not good business, because it doesn't improve sales.

And Shimano have come up with some superb innovations: freehubs and SPD are two that come to mind. I'm sure there are others.

Thank you for calling 11-speed Spinal Tap. It's very apt. All these extra speeds, and what do they get you? Higher highs than anyone will ever use. I rarely even use a 100-inch gear! Why do I want to pedal really hard down a hill when I'm already going stupidly fast?

The manager at my LBS says Campy 10-speed was a really sweet spot and it's reliable, too. The only indexed shifting I have is Ultegra 9-speed, and it's good enough for me.

I didn't know that story about Shimano demanding exclusivity. Now that's dirty business! But SRAM won with another inferior product. I dislike those grip shifts! Trigger shifters are what God intended for upright handlebars.

Who started this thread, anyway?

Is this the same guy that has us riding 100 miles at a time?

...some kind of puppeteer...

Google is "The User".

I coined the quote, but rhm decided to stir the pot by starting the thread.

velocipede = abacus?

Sturmey Archers are like old bakelite phones. Sure, they don't have that many functions newer phones have like apps, camera's etc., but nothing clicks as nice.

Campy = Rolex. Both invented the technology others used widely. Campy, the quick release skewers and derailleurs. Rolex, the automatic wristwatch and the calendar watch among other develpoments. Both built the very best available...40 years ago. Campy introduced the "Rally" derailleur in 1974 but purists thought it was "too Japanese" and it was modified back to the old technology in 1980. Rolex introduced a quartz version, but it flopped, even though it was an excellent watch. Now, the differences: Campy has advanced in technology and research and is earnestly trying to take back the crown from Dura Ace. Rolex is still building watches with Zenith Automatic movements (Oyster Perpetual) but the only improvement they can make is to make them heavier with more gold and jewels. Now they are making the huge pimp watches that cost as much as a nice automobile, yet the technology in them is still sixty years old. Campy progresses, Rolex digresses.

It would be nice if Windows 7 would go down in flames right along OS-X. OS-X is a pain in the arse to navigate, and 7's interface is nothing but a ripoff of OS-X.

-Kurt

I do...... when calculators first came out (think 1972) their processing time was slow on a long chemistry calculation I could beat a a calculator with my trusty Pickett.

then our math teachr got a hp45 ($450) then and let students use it in class...... slide rule blown away.

by 1976 you could pick up new slide rules on canal street in NYC for a few bucks that four years earlier would have been $50 to 100.

Corel now owns Word Perfect

so does that make sram netscape?

When their indexed shifting came out in 1985, the only way OEM companies could spec it on their bikes was to buy the whole group -- you couldn't just get the derailleurs, cluster, and shifters. Companies like Trek that used a variety of suppliers for their bikes instead had to buy the whole Shimano group if they wanted to feature indexed shifting in their product line. As a result, demand collapsed for components from SunTour, Campy, Maillard, TA, Stronglight, MAFAC, and many other brands. Many of them never recovered.

I do!

I even managed to pick up one of those super-size instructional slide rules when a local high school was cleaning out their old stuff:

http://www.os2.dhs.org/~john/sliderule.jpg

Which BSD? OpenBSD, FreeBSD, NetBSD?

Ouch, now that's harsh.

Then if Campagnolo is OS X, does that mean that Ergo is the Mach microkernel, and that modern Super Record is a pretty shell on top of a Sturmey Archer AW?

:twitchy:

I'm going to call Campagnolo's short-lived offroad lines NeXTSTEP, just to make this extra-confusing.

If you hadn't explained the scale of that thing, my brain may very well have low-level formatted itself trying to parse that photograph.

No love for DragonflyBSD?

Let's hope that's not a "compensation issue....."

I think SRAM's closer to Red Hat.

I can't believe I'm reading posts about staplers on Bike Forums C&V.
Don't bogart that.

I'm putting him down for the intimate searches next time he flies.....

MAVIC = SUN

Was really awesome in about 1990, now you can't find 'em.