I mean when you think back like ten years ago, hell five years ago, things were certainly different than how they are now.
Take a look around, there's all sorts of newfangled gadgetry.
Some good, some not so good.
This is true with bicycles too.
Okay, bicycles are mostly the same, two wheels a crank and a chain and off you go!
Sort of.
Nowadays, though we got all sorts of aerodynamica and electronica popping up, seems like just about every other day.
Case in point.
Campagnolo's (gasp!) EPS.
Well, it seems some of us(you Trevor!) have yet to see the light.
I mean the dark.
Oh yes, the Dark Side:
Okay, I see his point.
I mean sticking some digital silicon based battery operated whirlygigs on a traditional Italian frame just doesn't seem right.
Right?
Now I'm all for the classic look, but I think I'm a bit beyond ten pound rear derailleurs and Flintstone type shifting:
The stuff Fred and Barney used to use is now old school, just like the STI/Ergo stuff we got will soon fall by the wayside.
Ten years from now everybody will be using electronic push button shifting.
Trust me.
Batteries will get lighter and last longer and all the gizmos will get smaller and electronic shifting bicycles will be on the floor at Xmart for like $199.
Just like cell phones.
Computers too for that matter.
Two things that when they first came out were not for the masses.
What the hell do I need a computer for?
Cell phone? There's like a pay phone right over there!
How do I know this?
Folks have a need for things that do things for them.
Electric bicycles?
Electric bicycles with electronic shifting?
You, the reader, know it's coming.
Oh there will be some hold outs.
Small pockets of bicyclists riding around on steel frames with downtube shifters and their Nuovo Record.
Or some nano carbon folks extolling the virtues of last generation mechanical Dura Ace.
Tell you the truth, I'll probably one of them.
Resistance though, is futile.
Somewhere, there is an Area 51 for bicycles, with the newfangled stuff just waiting to be unleashed upon the world.
The Power of the Dark Side(POTDS).
7 comments:
Like the 18 month cellphone obsolescence cycle, the electro-cycle will also "need" replacement after a year and a half, once the batteries wear out, or 12 speeds "drop". Or CVT. Should I braze on ethernet ports?
Ain't built in obsolesence great?
I'm reading a book about the Art Deco period, apparently when all this consumerism thing started, though back then it was more about style than technology.
Come to think about it, technology today is all about style.
Lifestyle.
You are right of course......
I tried to hold out against digital cameras, using film based Leicas until about three years ago......now all my photography is digital based....
Resistance IS futile I know, but I won't give in without a fight!!
-Trevor
Trevor, you shall keep the old guard alive.
By the way, what did you do with them Leicas?
I still have the Leicas - a Leica M6 & R7 - complete with various lenses. I am holding on to them, waiting for the 'revolution' when everyone reverts to film again.
-Trevor
Eh...you're likely correct but I'll definitely be one of those holdouts. I just switched to cassettes last year, though I have been using Ergo for quite a while. Oh, and my cell phone is just a phone...
*deleted the first because I kant spel
Scott, meet Trevor.
Trevor, say hi to Scott.
By the way Trevor, make sure you check your lenses every once in a while to make sure fungus doesn't start to grow on the glass.
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