As everyone around me upgrades to disc brakes, electronic shifting and radars for bikes, I am quickly realizing how much the commercial world considers me a total luddite.

I got online yesterday to look for a few of these guys…

….and was surprised to find that they weren’t that easy to get (I need them for Campy, which is even more niche). The last time I bought a few packs of brake pads was at least 2 years ago and apparently much has changed since then, i.e. who hell rides Campy rim brakes anymore?

That same day I had another wake-up call when I started looking for rim brake wheelsets, both carbon and alloy. These are still being produced, but I get the feeling that there’s not a lot of love given them. And if you want a quality set of Aluminum wheels for your antiquated rim brakes, it’s even worse. I can get some HED Ardennes, for example, but they don’t come with Campy freehub.

I am beginning to see that resistance is going to be futile soon.