>>198605815 years ago, road bikes had narrow 25mm tires and a brutal 39 x 25 hill gear. They were designed for athletic sufferfests. Who is defending that exactly?
Modern road bikes have evolved to fit comfortable 35mm tires, even people racing routinely spec 28,30,32mm tires and the gearing is usually a very wide 11-34 cassette with a 34 or 36 chainring. The entry level road bikes have rack mounts.
You won't find anyone saying oh lets go back to mid 00s road spec. Of course not. But there's some kind of strange cognitive dissonance towards people who actually suggested the change before it happened. You should be thankful.
I think the anger is not actually towards what a bicycle should be like, but how a bicycle might be used (for transport, or, for casual fun). $5000 taiwanese gaspipe shitters are an absolute red herring. Most unracers spend less than $500 and ride something old. The fixation the hyper expense of boutique unracers stuff is basically just projection by people who are deeply insecure about cycling and need to signal their wealth while doing it so as to not be viewed as a bum or a child.
