This phrase croped up in the custom steel bike discussion.
Now I'm not going to argue that bikes aren't subject to fassion, lets face it they're a toy and therefore arueing that they're better than each other and buying one over the other puts them on a par with my missus shoe buying fettish Vs my 'brown work shoes, black work shoes, trainers, boots'. They're push bikes, they can't be better than each other in functional terms as they serve no function, therefore they are fassion, functional has an engine and is called a car.
But "on trend", I'd like to think that bikes retain a bit of functionality at their heart, even if that function is to be functional at something pointless like riding up and down a hill for fun. But this isn't the first time I've heard it (for my sins I've read MBR and MBUK recently), are we going to see the 'spring/summer 2014 collection from Specialized' with 'on trend for next year' 71/70 retro 90's angles?
Not sure if I'm more annoyed by the frankly autistic obsession over numbers or lack of a certain axle standard/chain device/headtube by some people that leads them to the conclusion that their current bike is somehow obsolete or a potential new bike is not suitable as it doesn't accept the latest supermegaoversized143.7mmrearaxlechainguide"*. Or the idea that what I'm somehow involved in is fassionable rather than just being fun**.
*SMO1437RACG, you saw it hear first, it's the future, your current bike is now obsolete.
** a bit like the difference between me wearign a t-shirt becasue it's keeping my pasty white flesh covered up and a fenchurch hoodie becasue it was £12.50 in TK maxx , and Edd Sheerans costume change from suitited and booted musician to "still the quiet boy in a Fenchurch T" at the Brits.
Marketing Needs something new to sell to you. Bikes are a functional object with an overlay of fashion without which the market would be much smaller.
Started drinking early did we?
It's like a cross between Fusion and Fission; leave it to the nerds.
middle-aged men like expensive shiney new things.
Started to read that but lost interest when shoes came up, and i've ordered myself a new pair of loakes.
Behind me is the past and ahead of me is the future... what was that you said?
If I worried everytime some new "standard" or emperor's new clothes came out I'd be a nervous wreck.
I tend to pay attention to stuff that may render my current kit as obsolete in a few years (eg. 10spd) and keep an eye out for any bargain 9spd stuff as the followers of trend dump all their old "rubbish" kit for the latest new stuff.
Change your stuff based on fashion and wanting to be first / 'on trend' and you'll get caught out when a crap new standard gains a brief foothold - it happens.
Don't change your stuff for more than 4-5 years - you'd better have a damn good product in the first place.
IMO a wiser brand will only jump on a trend / standard if it's convinced there is no significant downside. If unsure and that means waiting a year or so to see how the new idea pans out, and using a perfectly good standard in the meantime, so be it. Better to late-adopt something good than be first with something problematic.
BBs are a good example - some standards are causing some grief, others just work and always did.