This raises the issue of component quality, popularity and now, collectibility, based on who decided to fit them in the first place. The
manufacturer if offering a complete machine or the rider outfitting or upgrading a bike.
How many people actually walked into a cycle shop dead keen on buying AVA or Rigida rims? Or Weinmann brakes? Hopefully quite a few of the later but let's be honest Weinmann centre-pull brakes cut no figure around here and never have. I suspect because they were standard fit on so many bikes no t because they were poor quality. Ditto the Weinmann 500, one of the longe st lasting, simplest and most efficient brakes ever (and just about the lightest) but strictly dullsville because Schwinn and Raleigh and everything else had them. Oddly, Campagnolo NR sidepulls are still covet ed even if they, too, seemed to be on everything and somehow just as boring because of it. It's hard NOT to fit them if you want to be prototypical since everyone seemed to have them. CLB, Universals, Modolo etc. seem way cooler since they were less common.
Clearly, the big makers were the ones who determined which components were
"best" and now the most common, not the cyclist. If Raleigh decided AVA made a good rim or Peugeot opted for Rigida, that was enough to put them a t the top of the heap in sheer numbers. But I suspect they were selected f or availibility and price more than anything. By the way, you find few AVA rims for sale on eBay so lasting value seems at issue here as well.
Peter Kohler Washington DC USA
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