Bike porn

Well, I had all of those things, but my point wasn't really about whether a modern bike was porn, but that there have always been a mix of ugly and beautiful bikes in every era, even when they were functionally indistinguishable.

This is true. Two equally functional bits of engineering can be uninspired or beautiful respectively.

Some would argue those alu frame/steel fork Cannondales were cutting edge in their day, and beautiful engineering.