Its definitely true that changing a cassette is one of the easier tasks in the hierarchy of bike mechanic'ing. It's still an extra thing to do though. Some people won't mind. It just depends on your propensity to enjoy wrenching on your bike. The thing is that the more you dig into life with 8 speed rather than 12 speed more and more people are eliminated from the ideal candidate for 8 speed column and the ideal spectrum for using 8 speed becomes a pretty niche group. Nothing wrong with a niche group of people though! Maybe a small manufacturer like Ingrid could release a nice high quality low cog count drivetrain to satisfy those who want that extra simplicity. More choice=more better.
Jan. 27, 2020, 9:34 a.m. - WheelNut
Its definitely true that changing a cassette is one of the easier tasks in the hierarchy of bike mechanic'ing. It's still an extra thing to do though. Some people won't mind. It just depends on your propensity to enjoy wrenching on your bike. The thing is that the more you dig into life with 8 speed rather than 12 speed more and more people are eliminated from the ideal candidate for 8 speed column and the ideal spectrum for using 8 speed becomes a pretty niche group. Nothing wrong with a niche group of people though! Maybe a small manufacturer like Ingrid could release a nice high quality low cog count drivetrain to satisfy those who want that extra simplicity. More choice=more better.