Modern bikes...

I went backwards. Had a giant defy 2 2020 disc with hunt carbons. Lovely bike but had to sell it. It weighed 9.5kg with peddles. Bought a 2nd hand 2015 carbon canyon with rim brake in 105 soon after and its a far better bike. Easier to work on and weighs 7.7kg, nearly 2kg lighter at a 1/3rd of the cost of a defy. I honestly don't need a dura ace, disc brake, tubeless bike for 7 or 8k but each to their own.

I am an old school cyclist; I love old school bikes (which, at this stage means anything pre-2000!!!) and their relative simplicity.

Technological advances in road bikes are driven by top-end competition, every watt gained or second saved matters in the pro peloton.

People who cycle for leisure, if they have the disposable income, like to have the latest tech, which the cycling industry tells them they NEED - many don't need it, but it is nice to have on the coffee spin. It's a cool brag over a petrol station mocha-choca-soy-lattaccino, made from ethnically sourced beans, picked by a lady in a straw hat in the third-world country of your choice.

Many use the latest tech to improve their cycling; speed, distance travelled for energy expended, general fitness etc.

Many, however, just do the same spin, same speed, every Sunday...just on a more expensive bike.

Tech trickles down from the top tiers eventually; the recent arrival of Shimano 105 Di2 is a perfect example.

From my point of view, I fix and build up bikes all day, every day. I don't care what's next in the queue to be hung on the work-stand. I give them all the same level of care and attention. One day this past week consisted of a 80s steel racer for full mechanical overhaul, a carbon Giant for new internal cables/pressfit BB/headset bearings, brake bleed on a modern MTB, two new tyres on a pram, a couple of kids bikes assembled out of their boxes and a wheelchair with a puncture....every day is different. But I'm wandering off topic.

Some new tech I can understand being used by pros, but not by the everyday cyclist; lots of it is over complicated, for the sake of over complication and lacks the durability of lower end stuff, for the sake of shedding grammes. It can't be fixed by the average Joe and it royally sucks donkey balls trying to fix it for you, especially when you have ''had a go'' first...here you can add in not washing your bike all winter after cycling country roads or giving it to me with a winters worth of crusty sweat from the turbo trainer. Yuk.

The biggest drawback to all this new tech is the lack of end-user friendliness, when it comes to maintenance; you have to bring the bike to me if something goes wrong (and the cyclist's fear of making an expensive error compounds this).

At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, back in my day (lol) you could do EVERY job on your bike by yourself, providing you had the tools (or could borrow a tool from a cycling club mate); this added to the joy of cycling...being able to diagnose and fix bikes as and when something went wrong. The loss of this is one of the saddest things about modern cycling, in my humble opinion. Knowing every nut, bolt and bearing is working because you made it work, makes cycling that bike an even more joyful experience. I wince when men and women who, having been swept up in the surge of popularity for cycling over the past couple of decades, come in to me for a puncture repair, gear tune or chain replacement; all basic jobs, needing basic tools...but beyond the capabilities of too many. In recent years, I ran a basic maintenance class for one of Munsters largest and well established cycling clubs - I ended up showing most of the atttendees how to remove the wheels, before we could move on to the neurosurgery complication of changing a tube!

And yes, in answer to some posts above, a retirement titanium frame is on my wish list. But it will have external cable guides!

That's a good point, but cyclists having their spin ruined by a puncture or a snapped chain is easily avoidable with some basic training and a decent quality multitool.

Also, having some basic mechanical sympathy and knowledge stops cyclists from quickly turning a twenty quid repair into a 200 quid repair.

I think your question WA is best answered by 8valve's posts here and in other threads where he is extremely generous with his advice. Back in his day (and even mine), bike shops like the Rutland were places where you could drop in for advice and even the ocassional loan of a tool you might rarely need. Unfortunately now, some bike mechanics, or more likely bike shop owners, are quite happy to generate work for themselves with OTT reports on what needs doing.

Hopefully 105 Di2 will be on somewhat affordable bikes so it won't be stuck with integrated cockpit, one piece handlebar/stem and just less proprietary parts/setups etc that comes with higher end stuff.

I'm getting more and more old school in my frame preference for sure. Waiting on delivery of Colnago Master x-light for my best weather bike (probably be waiting til next summer, even though told be delivered in November). Just don't like the aesthetics of modern disc bikes. Totally get that they are faster, better braking etc, but just not my preference. I think rim brake bikes look better, and perform well enough for me for sure.

Industry only going one way though, and each to their own.

There is a dedicated Specialized store on the N7 by Citywest.

Joe, were you born in 1919? 🤔

Yeah... I saw a think of beauty in Mount Usher Avoca at the weekend (maybe a poster here?)... Battaglin steel frame, polished green, Campy Super Record, mechanical rim brake... custom build. Custom build is definitely the way I'll go next, when I scrape together the pennies. Although by then will Campy even exist?! All the pro teams now Shimano or Sram and 99% of bikes in the usual online stores are all Shimano or Sram. Where is Campy selling to? I need to find a wormhole to that magic vortex.

Looks like ringing them is the only option - just looked them up - their website is terrible.

I think there is still a market for rim brake bikes, obviously not the full range, but sad to see them disappearing so quickly

I have rim, mechanical disc, and hydraulic disc across my "good", "winter" and "gravel" bike. I'd have the mechanical disc above rim in the wet tbh, especially carbon rim brake.

Just to revisit 8 valves post - I think modern bikes still have punctures and take a quick link to fix the chain? I've been on spins with plenty of older bikes and cyclists, who can't do the basics. I don't think that's related to age of bike.

That would wreck my head