This is what led me back to old bikes. While looking for upgrades to my Motobecane Grand Sprint(1981), I just needed a couple parts, but most shops said"everythings a "system" now- you have to buy all the parts or a whole new bike". I eventually found some stuff, but probably soon I'll put the original parts back.
Steve Birmingham Lowell, Ma --__--__--
Message: 1 From: "Jerry & Liz Moos" <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net> To: <Brichnlucky@aol.com>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Subject: Re: [CR]CR Villains Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2002 11:07:31 -0600
I would say some of the most important items which led to the decline of classic bikes (in roughly the order of importance) were:
1) Shimano index shifting. This made derailleur bikes easier for the beginner, but led to the decline of the "manual bike", a decline Grant laments regularly in Rivendell Reader. Perhaps more significantly, it greatly decreased the ability to mix different brands of components on a single bike.
Balance snipped - SB