Cycle industry taking the iphone strategy?

rockmonkeysc

Is it just me or has the cycle industry started taking the strategy of introducing new standards every year which no one asked for or will see the benefit of and then making your current product obsolete when it gets to two years old?
Personally Im starting to think that if I get the latest standard then it will obsolete in a couple years anyway so I may as well keep what I have as long as I can before upgrading.
Will this strategy work on such high value products? Who's going to spend £5k on a product with a two year life span?

t4tomo

You mean like this radical new double triangle frame design?

sloppyschleckonds

IS this a poll?

DavidJB

Examples?

keef66

It's not just phones, it's virtually everything in modern life. Buy something today and there'll be something newer / better / shinier / cheaper tomorrow. If you wait for the latest development you'll never buy anything.
The secret is to simply buy whatever's available at the time, and enjoy it.

So I have an 8 year old alu bike with a carbon fork, 9 speed Tiagra, screw in HT2 BB. I'll be able to buy spares for it for years to come.

I also have a carbon framed bike with 10 speed 105, a press-fit BB86, and I'll be able to buy spares for it for years to come.

I love riding both bikes, and apart from wear items like chains, cassettes, tyres and bar tape I don't change anything.

I am not hankering for 11 speed transmission mechanical or electronic, disc brakes hydraulic or otherwise, wider rims, carbon wheels, thru axles, rear suspension or anything else, but were I in the market for a new bike I'd be carefully considering all that stuff.

Wheelspinner

RockmonkeySC wrote:

...

Who the hell are you??? :twisted:

johnny25

It's evolution.

Example - rear suspension on the Pinarello.

Bikes don't become obsolete, nor do their parts. You can ride a 100 year old bike today.

IT becomes obsolete. But that's different.

ddraver

What you mean is that you like buying shiny stuff and want to buy more shiny stuff

No?

Where is your issue then?

sloppyschleckonds

johnny25 wrote:

It's evolution.

Example - rear suspension on the Pinarello.

How did that work out for SKY?

ddraver

The classics riders seemed to like it...

alan_sherman

Technology remained fairly static until the introduction of indexed gears. Then things took off. Until about 5 years ago Shimano used to be good for comparability but I too am now getting jaded with 'progress'. New 11 speed stuff doesn't work with old 10 speed stuff. External BBs aren't appreciably better than square taper. Press fit sounds rubbish. MTB and road are no longer cross compatible.

The proliferation of component manufacturers and 'stds' undoubtedly means getting some parts in 20 years time will be nigh on impossible so mopre stuff will be chucked rather than serviced an re-used.

A case in point is my commute bike. Drivechain needed replacing due to wear. Chain, 10 speed sprockets and chainrings came to about £45 with careful shopping around. However then the shifter turned out to be knackered, adding another £100. As shimano 10 speed with the 'old' pull ratio is no longer the current standard it doesn't make sense to replace with more of the same.

At least the wheels (bought circa 1993) have done well. 8 to 10 speed over 20 years was a good run I suppose.

Thank god I stuck with English threaded BBs though, press fit sounds rubbish (see angry asian articles on the main site)

Monty Dog

With road bikes at least they're sticking to one wheel size, with MTB's you have 26", 27.5" and 29" rim sizes, tyre sizes of 26", fatbike, 27.5", 27.5+, 29" and 29+ as well as about 6 different hub-width standards. It makes it a nightmare for shops who have to commit to stock orders 6+months in advance - consequently some bike models simply aren't available and many buyers are simply staying out the market.

MountainMonster

You know if your bike is still working it's not obsolete. Being obsolete means it won't work with other items. You'll still have derailleurs that bolt to the same spot, cranks will still go where they are and be fairly universal, same as brakes.

Nothing on a bike is obsolete, you're just buying into the marketing hype.