XmisterIS
Purveyor of fine nonsense
At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man before my time here; is the "latest thing" in bike technology really all that great?
I give you an example - I have an old-fashioned octalink bottom bracket in my MTB which has seen four years of pretty hard use and now it needs replacing.
I remember when the Shimano UN series of bottom brackets came out; they started at about £40 and went up to over £100!
Now that we have Holotech, the Shimano UN73 BB can be picked up for about £15.
I went into my LBS to see if they had any ... "Oh no!", said the yoof behind the counter, "we don't recommend them for a good mountain bike any more", he said with an air of, "oh, that's just so last season, like, whatever, y'know, of course we wouldn't be seen dead with one of those in stock!" He then warbled on about how holotech was the next best thing since slived bread, although of course I'd need a new set of cranks too because the old ones don't fit holotech, etc, etc. I thanked him for his copious advice and politely told him I'd think about it (which means I'm going to buy one off the net!).
Now ... I looked on chainreaction ... price of an XT/SLX Holotech + cranks is gonna be about £50 or more, price of a UN73 (which was the old XT/DX spec, I think) ... would have been £17, but they don't sell that anymore (presumably because it is just so last season, like, y'know, whatever!).
I have just realised I don't actually have a specific point or question to ask in this thread, it's more of a general rant!
Anyway, I have found a UN73 online for £15 + £2.99 p&p, so I am afraid that for the next few years my bike is going to be just so last season, like, y'know, whatever ....
I give you an example - I have an old-fashioned octalink bottom bracket in my MTB which has seen four years of pretty hard use and now it needs replacing.
I remember when the Shimano UN series of bottom brackets came out; they started at about £40 and went up to over £100!
Now that we have Holotech, the Shimano UN73 BB can be picked up for about £15.
I went into my LBS to see if they had any ... "Oh no!", said the yoof behind the counter, "we don't recommend them for a good mountain bike any more", he said with an air of, "oh, that's just so last season, like, whatever, y'know, of course we wouldn't be seen dead with one of those in stock!" He then warbled on about how holotech was the next best thing since slived bread, although of course I'd need a new set of cranks too because the old ones don't fit holotech, etc, etc. I thanked him for his copious advice and politely told him I'd think about it (which means I'm going to buy one off the net!).
Now ... I looked on chainreaction ... price of an XT/SLX Holotech + cranks is gonna be about £50 or more, price of a UN73 (which was the old XT/DX spec, I think) ... would have been £17, but they don't sell that anymore (presumably because it is just so last season, like, y'know, whatever!).
I have just realised I don't actually have a specific point or question to ask in this thread, it's more of a general rant!
Anyway, I have found a UN73 online for £15 + £2.99 p&p, so I am afraid that for the next few years my bike is going to be just so last season, like, y'know, whatever ....