bikeworkshop
Senior Retro Guru
The bike "industry"...
At one end of the scale, Function. Working bikes where cost per mile, reliability and all- round usability are important.
The marketing bods aren't very interested in these people, they don't buy a new bike every 2 years, they fix what they have and value it for still being there on the bike rack after a night shift.
At the other end of the scale, Consumerism, where the latest graphics, complex frame shape and bold design (and loud clicking noises) serve to advertise to others in the car park just how with-it and wealthy you are, and of course just how much fun you are going to have in your Fox pyjamas or Team Sky gimp suit.
We are all on this spectrum somewhere. Maybe even several places depending on mood/ time of day etc
I've seen £1000 wheels worn out in 2000 miles, tyres that last a week max - I remember killing an xtr ti cassette in a muddy weekend race - suss frames in the scrap bin - really the branded end of the business is mostly interested in consumption not function, so ruthlessly drives forward with "innovation" (hydro hoses routed through your £6 headset bearing anyone?) and the magazines, print and online, need to keep up with their advertisers, the main source of their income.
But in the immediate postwar period, a bike was for life, and the manufacturers were with this. The transition came gradually, and by the mid to late 90s imo the consumer end was ahead.
The timing with the MTB boom might just be coincidental.
And why we love 90s mtbs might be a coincidence too
At one end of the scale, Function. Working bikes where cost per mile, reliability and all- round usability are important.
The marketing bods aren't very interested in these people, they don't buy a new bike every 2 years, they fix what they have and value it for still being there on the bike rack after a night shift.
At the other end of the scale, Consumerism, where the latest graphics, complex frame shape and bold design (and loud clicking noises) serve to advertise to others in the car park just how with-it and wealthy you are, and of course just how much fun you are going to have in your Fox pyjamas or Team Sky gimp suit.
We are all on this spectrum somewhere. Maybe even several places depending on mood/ time of day etc
I've seen £1000 wheels worn out in 2000 miles, tyres that last a week max - I remember killing an xtr ti cassette in a muddy weekend race - suss frames in the scrap bin - really the branded end of the business is mostly interested in consumption not function, so ruthlessly drives forward with "innovation" (hydro hoses routed through your £6 headset bearing anyone?) and the magazines, print and online, need to keep up with their advertisers, the main source of their income.
But in the immediate postwar period, a bike was for life, and the manufacturers were with this. The transition came gradually, and by the mid to late 90s imo the consumer end was ahead.
The timing with the MTB boom might just be coincidental.
And why we love 90s mtbs might be a coincidence too