Two things I can remember that caught on very quickly in my club days were indexed gears and the wearing of helmets. Even the older club members who were normally most resistant to change embraced indexing, agreeing that it made gear shifts quicker and more precise. Helmets went from not existing to almost universal use virtually overnight, despite little or no instances of head injuries up till then. I was and remained one of the refuseniks on that score, and I am not trying to start a debate or get into one on that subject. It has and is continuing to be done to death elsewhere.
Clipless pedals caught on fairly quickly, though brifters met with a bit of resistance for a while, being the first in the club to adopt them the question I was frequently asked was, "What if you damage them in a crash?" My answer being that if you crashed badly enough to damage the internals in the shift mechanism being unable to change gear was going to be the least of your worries.
Change however is driven by the young, a couple of decades from now metal frames, mechanical shifters and rim brakes will be just historical curios to those who have never used them, Just as three speed Cyclo gears wing nuts were to my generation.
