_"The transmission lineup is just a marketing exercise designed to further raise prices on consumers."_
Hasn't this been the case for most "improvements" introduced by the bike industry in the last few years?
I mean, the original (mechanical) Eagle didn't really add much to Sram's 1x11 either. Instead of the big 50 or 52 cog you can just as easily run 1x11 with a smaller chainring (and have a cheaper, lighter, and less complex setup).
I remember an article on the other site, perhaps 10 years ago or so. A number of industry folks was asked what they thought would be the most significant change for mountain bikes in the next years. Most came up with some new tech but one (I think someone from Santa Cruz) said something along the lines of: all those broke 20-something dirtbags that were our original customers are turning into middle-aged folks with careers and money to spend. I think that's what we're seeing now, the bike industry is simply leveraging hyper consumerism like many other industries do.
On the bright side there is still lots of basic and reasonably affordable stuff available and it's good stuff too as most of the real improvements (when improvements were still real) have trickled down to lower price levels.
Oct. 23, 2023, 9:36 a.m. - Niels van Kampenhout
_"The transmission lineup is just a marketing exercise designed to further raise prices on consumers."_ Hasn't this been the case for most "improvements" introduced by the bike industry in the last few years? I mean, the original (mechanical) Eagle didn't really add much to Sram's 1x11 either. Instead of the big 50 or 52 cog you can just as easily run 1x11 with a smaller chainring (and have a cheaper, lighter, and less complex setup). I remember an article on the other site, perhaps 10 years ago or so. A number of industry folks was asked what they thought would be the most significant change for mountain bikes in the next years. Most came up with some new tech but one (I think someone from Santa Cruz) said something along the lines of: all those broke 20-something dirtbags that were our original customers are turning into middle-aged folks with careers and money to spend. I think that's what we're seeing now, the bike industry is simply leveraging hyper consumerism like many other industries do. On the bright side there is still lots of basic and reasonably affordable stuff available and it's good stuff too as most of the real improvements (when improvements were still real) have trickled down to lower price levels.