tridork wrote:
Forever bike. LOL. good one, you almost got me with that one. I remember when ti came in and everyone came up with the forever bike concept.
Hell, why would anyone want a forever bike? I mean we live in a technologically galloping time. Improvements we can't even imagine, are just around the corner. Disc or rim brakes are the current question, but next week it will be some other upgrade or advancement and you, along with the rest of us, will be clamouring for it.
Your new bike will be a 5 year bike at best. Get used to that. Buy whatever suits your needs, ride it for 5 years, then put it on the Kickr and buy a new bike for the road. Repeat as necessary.
Sigh...I have a 30 year old road bike that I still ride regularly, AND has modern equipment on it (brand new wheels as of last week, new compact crankset, etc.)
Prior to that, I had an aluminum Soloist that I had been riding for OVER 10 years and the only reason I got a new road bike at the time was that I was offered an awesome deal on something that worked well as BOTH a road bike and TT bike (S5).
When the S5 and Soloist were stolen 2 years ago, I had a local builder make me a custom frame out of steel. I'll damned well ride that thing "forever".
When I was riding the 30 year old bike with nice wheels and tires on it (only possible because "standards" hadn't shifted significantly in that time frame) after the thefts of the Soloist and S5, it became completely clear to me that as long as new technology is compatible with the base frame, you can keep a frameset "alive" for quite a long time AND enjoy technology as it evolves.
When a "step change" is forced though, that's when things start getting limited. Here's a great example: On my current road bike, I'm running the SRAM Hydro R rim brakes. I've found that the hydraulic actuation really DOES keep the "lever feel" and modulation consistent over time.When the eTap hydro setups were announced, there was a conspicuous absence of a Hydro rim brake to go along with the wireless shifting and the updated hydro levers. When I asked the SRAM reps where they were, the response was basically "Rim brakes are old tech...why would we mate new tech with old tech?" And thus, the freezing out of some of the newer tech to the older standard has begun...and Shimano has gone "all in" on discs, and has never even offered a hydraulic rim brake with their newest groups :-/
Anyway, I think your "5 years at best" statement is overly cynical and misguided...but, I'm sure the bike industry loves that attitude in consumers!
http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/