Bikes, at least non-electric ones, have an immensely long service life and there’s not much margin, and thusly not a whole lot of incentive to deviate from standards unless you’re willing write very big cheques to machine a million copies of something custom–and there’s not really that much improvement year to year. Manufacturers are trying oh so very hard to balkanize the market, but doing so just increases their costs and allows someone else to come in and make a steel-framed 700c with Shimano whatever-they-call-it-this-week for the same money or less.
We are seeing experimentation, usually in the cargo- and fat-bike markets, as well as at the very high end, but no one’s having a ton of success. Even high-end road bikes still use a lot of common components.
I think we already have that.
Bikes, at least non-electric ones, have an immensely long service life and there’s not much margin, and thusly not a whole lot of incentive to deviate from standards unless you’re willing write very big cheques to machine a million copies of something custom–and there’s not really that much improvement year to year. Manufacturers are trying oh so very hard to balkanize the market, but doing so just increases their costs and allows someone else to come in and make a steel-framed 700c with Shimano whatever-they-call-it-this-week for the same money or less.
We are seeing experimentation, usually in the cargo- and fat-bike markets, as well as at the very high end, but no one’s having a ton of success. Even high-end road bikes still use a lot of common components.