"!Jones' Sock Puppet" wrote in message
...

I agree with you that any dedicated clothing is out of place in an
office environment; imagine walking in wearing a SCUBA outfit... but,
if cycles are to become a viable form of daily transportation, then
reasonable clothing will have to develop.

Already has - go to most clothing shops. See what people wear in places
where they do use a bike for daily transport - it's nothing special.

Re expensive bikes - your 22K bike example is about as relevant as a Ferrari
showroom. There's always the market for those who want to spend silly money,
but that doesn't make that the going rate. Walmart will flog you some cheap
equivalent of your $20-$30 bikes now.

Re friction shifters - thumb shifters still exist in various forms. OTOH
what I've done for the LH (front) shifter on our MTB tandem is gone to SRAM
grip-shift. 9 positions gives me the trimming you desire. (make sure you get
one which has all the positions, not just three).
However for the rear shifter, indexing isn't a problem IME.