Re:
They’ve all (mostly) gone because we didn’t aspire to or value them!
Case in point, when I started with RetroBIKE I built my BITD nostalgia bike - a 1990 Kona Fire Mountain, with full XT! 300LX, the original fitment is heavy, plasticky and clunky to use - the cantis are crap too.
As I plan to return to factory spec at some point, I have kept the best bits of 300LX I can find so I have a nice groupset. I’m only doing it to keep it ‘factory’, it is lighter, better shifting and better stopping with XT. Oh and XT takes a nice polish.
SP
P.S. I have some 400LX / 500LX bits too as they’re worth ‘owt but too nice to throw away.