Went out today on a PPTC (Washington area touring club) ride; maybe 40 - 50 folks showed up at the start for the "A," "BB," and "B" rides. About 65 mi. for my "B" group, counting navigational idiosyncracies. I counted 4 or 5 lugged bikes, couple of others TiG-welded steel, and all the rest was this stuff that I know nothing about. Ti, newer Al, carbon fiber, and stuff like that. The '73 Hetchins felt like a bit of anomaly. Of course, I'm not sure that most of the group I rode with had ever heard non-indexed shifting when it ain't perfect.
Sanity check: had a blow-out, while riding with 2 other folks. Neither had ever seen a sew-up before. I guess us old curmudgeons need to do some gentle proselytizing...
harvey sachs
mcLean va