I'm a bit torn on this. I'm not a Luddite really, but I've been around bikes long enough to understand what's cost effective and what works and what's frills. Timely..I just read an article last night on the death of aluminum frames with rim brakes and mechanical shifting. Basically, we will only have discs and electronic shifting in a very very short period of time. And anything with mechanical will be relegated to the very cheap price point. So for a somewhat rational person, what will the options be for a decent mid-level bike? Am I going to be forced into discs and electronic shifting? I can get a pretty decent road bike for $1500 right now. Does that jump to $4k? Who does that benefit? And the gist of the article was not a flight of fancy..basically, makers build what people want. And based on the number of $8k bikes I see riding around, maybe that's a normal thing. Personally, I hope Campy keeps making mechanical shifting and rim brakes. And hopefully at least 105 level in Shimano. However..I think the writing is on the wall..even if it's mechanical discs it will still be discs.
