Ken Burns' series about the US Civil War has an episode called The Age of Shoddy that mentions, among other things, a contractor who supplied cardboard-soled boots to the Union Army and got away with it by explaining that the order had been for cavalry boots, not boots you could march in.
Fast forward 150-ish years. In 2015 I bought a pair of DHB Aeron gloves and then, since they were so good, another two pairs. I later went back to order more but they were always out of stock. Earlier this year, though, I managed to get a pair and was disgusted to find that they were far inferior to the 2015 model - lighter material, smaller gel pads, and the snotwipe area gone.
In 2007 I bought a Topeak Tourguide HB bag, which I have used on every ride since. It's a nice size, it has good side & front pockets, the fabric in all the pockets is reinforced and although it's not billed as waterproof the main compartment has withstood 24 hours of the heaviest rain Finisterre could provide, and that without a rain cover. It's still fine if a bit used by now: the map case took flight during PBP 2015 and the carrying handle could do with some urgent TLC, so last week I ordered the same bag again.
Got it yesterday and it's going back today. The material is lighter and feels cheap, the zips on the side pockets are shorter and they stick, and the map case is 50% smaller. The side and front pockets deform easily, and although it's still billed as 5 litres it is visibly smaller than the old model. It's crappy.
The Age of Shoddy is back again.
