On Monday, May 8, 2017 at 11:33:17 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Monday, May 8, 2017 at 9:06:57 AM UTC-5, wrote:



It's no surprise that not only have they survived but they still work almost as well as new.


The problem is even when new, the old stuff did not work nearly as well as any of the new stuff today. Kind of like a fool saying the drum brakes and carburetor on his 65 Pontiac was better than the new fancy dandy computer cars today.

Well, it's all in the viewpoint. You can have a 5 speed with original bearings in the wheels and bottom bracket and the original 5 speed chain barely worn.

But the technology advanced as it is today hardly lets you get a couple of thousand miles on a chain. The sealed bearings last forever but you can't replace one failed ball. The rings and cogs wear out so fast you have to keep replacement on file. The lower end shifters simply stop working.

The lock bolt on the shift wire breaks off regularly enough that you can't forget how to do a rapid repair.

Is the newer equipment better? Certainly. But there's something that can be said about reliability.