Originally Posted by
bigbill
The BLE is a bike that is still made. The 8 year old parts are first generation Campy 11 and along the way I've replaced cassettes, chains, derailleur pulleys, UT bearings, etc. Mountain bikes are an exception, that is why I didn't mention them in my post. There is no comparison between a MTB from a decade ago to now, but MTB's are still in their infancy compared to road bikes. I am more fit and experienced than the other riders around here, I can play the rabbit on group rides because I was a good time trialist back in the day, I know to push hard on the hard parts and to recover on the easier parts, they haven't figured that out. I have a Ti Serotta that is much lighter than the BLE with almost the exact same parts, but when it comes down to putting wattage to the wheels in a fast group or sprint, I want the BLE. I'm not romanticizing old technology because what I ride is still current. Even the steel GT's from the 90's have 11 speed campy. My point is that marketing has us look at a bike as a unit, when it gets a few years old, you replace the whole thing. I upgrade or maintain with some replacement parts the groups I have on my bikes. 11 speed is as good as it gets for now, the only improvement I could do is EPS, but I don't see the need for it right now. The campy mechanical stuff works well.
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