Concept Bikes & Bike Innovation - for better or worse

Which thread is this again?

The "nothing new under the sun" thread :-)

Simple inflation adjustment makes £17 in 1890 about £2k now, although taking account of the faster growth in wages, that Irwell would have cost today's worker more like £8k if we hadn't got better at making bicycles in the last 125 years. If there's a miracle, it's not that the layout of the bicycle frame had pretty much been nailed within 5 years of Starley's first Safety, but that what once took 4 months of an average workers wage can now be paid for with a day's labour.