[Closed] Are there really any obsolete MTB standards?

Might struggle to get a quill stem unless you nick it off a kids bike?

[url= http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/stems-1-(222mm)-quill-threaded-dept277/ ]21 different 1" quill stems at SJS[/url]

Uniglide cassettes are no longer produced let alone the even more unique dura ace version.
But just means a change of wheel to keep the bike working.

I think your right it might only be 1" forks

I think you will always be able to keep most bike working it's just the choice of quality parts drops as standards change

MidlandTrailquestsGraham - Member
21 different 1" quill stems at SJS

And none suitable for late 80's mtb use.

Dual control? Can't be bothered searching, can you still buy levers and brake calipers?

I know you can still buy ISIS BBs, what about chainsets? Surely they don't make them anymore?

While you can probably keep pretty much any bike going by just upgrading/changing to a newer "standard", there must reach a point at which it's simply not economically viable to continue that way...

Good question

I think disc brakes have rendered anything before then obsolete for mountain biking, even though you can get parts, if that makes sense. Yes, you *can* ride v brake or canti brake bike off-road but it's just a bit crap really

[url= http://www.carboncycles.cc/?s=0&t=2&c=82& ]Lots of 1" forks [/url]and [url= http://www.tredz.co.uk/.M-Part-Sport-Threadless-Headset_35364.htm?sku=83515&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=AdwordsProductAds&utm_campaign=Adwords&gclid=COv125zn6sICFQiWtAodMQEAEA ]a headset to bring alive your 1" frame.[/url] Well - it worked for me and my Fuqauy.

Disc brakes may have made rim brakes obsolete, but my point is that if you've got bike that won't take disc brakes, you can still buy all the parts needed to keep your rim brakes going if you choose to, you are not forced to buy a new frame and fork.

I wasn't sure about the handlebar diameter thing.
Does no one make flat bars to fit those stems then?

Edit;
Yes they do. Various combination of 1" stem with 25.4mm clamp and bars are available.

Suntour XC Pro hubs with grease ports, should you [i]really[/i] need that functionality!

I know you can still buy ISIS BBs, what about chainsets? Surely they don't make them anymore?

Electric mountain bikes often use home brand ISIS cranks to drive through the motor, so expect blingy ISIS crankset to start making a comeback soon.

If grease guard was fitted as standard to all Shimano hubs then I don't think sealed bearings would ever have caught on.......

As a regular on RetroBike, I can say that the only things which prove difficult to find parts for (not including weird stuff like Bullseye cranks and Pace RC100 parts which were never universal standards) are:

[b]1" MTB forks[/b] - especially suspension, stems are slightly easier to find second hand and headsets pretty easy to get.
[b]straight pull spoke systems[/b] - like Pulstar - those hubs don't sell for much as you can struggle to build them up with few spoke around available.
[b]1.25" headset stuff[/b] - which was before it's time really.
[b]Suntour Microdrive[/b] - again before it's time and mainly because no other cassettes fit the hubs IIRC.
[b]Elastomer forks[/b] - you can get the elastomers new still but theres only one place in the US you can order them online I think, PACE stuff is available in the UK but very limited - possibly not really a standard though.

The only thing out of the above which is really a problem is the 1" forks, that really can hold back a sale if the frameset you are selling has it, as it can be a bit limiting.

Any Shimano drivetrain part is pretty easy to get hold of, seatposts no problem, bars no problem (although there are less decent 25.4 flat bars around nowadays), rims and tyres no issues, BB's/hubs no problems most of the time unless you have something really weird.

CRC sell ISIS Shimano cranks, a few lower end cranksets still have it. Many low/mid range bikes (<£1K) have ISIS cranks, including the 2015 bike I am planning on buying.

As 1.25" Evolution headsets are taken, I'll go with the different cable nipple from Suntour X-press shifters.

I can't find a headset to fit my 44mm head tube + 1.5" forks.

Ok, there is one, it's a Nukeproof, but I'm not prepared to acknowledge that because, a) that's the one I already have. And b) it's the worst headset ever made.

So, my Dh bike sits in the cellar, with a totally shagged (and irreplaceable) headset.

[img][url= http://s10.postimg.org/nzz34mfhl/021.jp g" target="_blank">http://s10.postimg.org/nzz34mfhl/021.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://postimage.org/index.php?lang=french ]hébergeur image gratuit[/url][/img]
This was my main bike from 2009 until sept 2013 ,i replaced the wheels twice and the 8spd cassette and chain each year ,forks were serviced at Dalby V brakes were fine the in dry terrible in the wet and i did struggle with arm pump during 3 days in Morzine, the long descents were hard work but i did everything including a few black runs.
All things considered it was very cheap to run the bike but choice of spares was limited ,i have upgraded to FS and kept the above bike as a spare for the days when my more complex bike decides not to work.

CRC sell ISIS Shimano cranks

No they don't. Shimano has never made an ISIS crank.

ninja edit!

It's not that you can't get stuff in the older standards, more that the choice is becoming more limited both in terms of what's made and what's in stock. So you might be able to get something but it might nit be why you actually want.

My old Aluminium Orange hits a few of the Obsolete standards. 1.25 inch "Evolution" headset and Suntour Microdrive. The Suntour stuff was compatible with Shimano cassettes etc... just they didn't keep developing it with good levers (it was tumbshift only) and it died out.

Another standard long gone was 130mm OLN frames. My first MTB - a 18speed Dawes - was 130mm OLN. Now even BSO are 135mm and many bikes are 142mm

Ahwiles, Chris king and hope both do a headset to suit your needs.

Pretty sure Cane Creek do though?

Whats so bad about the NP one, does it take standard bearings that you could replace with better ones or is it more fundamental than that?
Tried someone like Works Components or BETD or another machine shop to make you a new one to take standard bearings?

As others have said 1 inch suspension forks of any decent quality are pretty much the only thing I can think of that are almost impossible to come by new, and not exactly overflowing with choice second hand.

But if you're really into keeping your bike going then most 1 inch frames were steel, very few (MTB) Alu 1 inch frames around so getting an 1 1/8th headtube fitted is only a matter of a trip to your friendly local frame builder (at which point disc mounts are also an option).

Some older Full sus frames are getting tricky to find bushings for, anything using bearings is not so bad, but plenty out there using weird bushings, if you have an intact one left or can measure the frame properly you can often still get something that will work from industrial suppliers but its a faff and a half.

Decent 1" suss forks or any 1 1/4 forks?

Rapid Rise stuff?

Some of the strange seat post sizes used by Marin, Fat Chance, etc bitd?

Decent 1" suss forks or any 1 1/4 forks?

as above, 1 inch yes to a degree, but 1 1/4 is only a couple of £10 inserts away from being 1 1/8 and so isn't a problem.

Rapid Rise stuff?

True, but this doesn't render a bike unusable, you just have to get used to shifting the perverted way with a normal mech.

Some of the strange seat post sizes used by Marin, Fat Chance, etc bitd?

All still available somewhere, might only have choice of one or two manufacturers but still around.

No they don't. Shimano has never made an ISIS crank.

Some of the strange seat post sizes used by Marin, Fat Chance, etc bitd?
All still available somewhere, might only have choice of one or two manufacturers but still around.

The BBB 400mm seatpost can be found in pretty much any size at less than £20, works brilliantly and can be made to look like a Syncros one very easily (which is what I did on my Rocky Mountain which was a 30.4mm size). Or you can use a USE seatpost with a shim.

The roller cam brake on my merlin would be pretty hard to replace. There are some cheap chunky versions available or even a u-brake would function but the original WTB version that came with the bike was a thing of beauty and would be missed.

The same bike also has push fit BB bearings which although are an unusual size for bikes but readily available from bearing suppliers. But the BB spindle is only available from Phil Wood cycles in California which makes it a bit rare too.

It also take s a one inch fork which isn't too much of a problem, the real difficulty is that it needs a fairly short fork as the geometry is all pre suspension era when forks were a touch shorter than they are now.

Cannondale 5 bolt discs, with odd 165mm rotor. 😐

If you are going down the route of obsolete X rendering a bike absolutely useless then I don't think you'll find it as there's always a bodge.

An Allsop Softride specific frame? Wouldn't have thought you could get the bar any more?

I think hope still make 5 bolt 165 discs. Not sure if it's the same pattern as cannondale but I use them on my road bike.

Cannondale 5 bolt discs

Do you mean the 4 bolt Coda ones?

My GF still has a couple of those on her F900, not looking forward to the day she bends one irreparably*, although a hub swap will keep the bike going.

* I do have a cunning backup plan of some old BETD/Goldteck 6 bolt spiders to carry Hope 5 bolt discs, of which I have many, the 4 and 6 bolt BCD is the same, so 2 of the holes already match up, 2 extra holes drilled in the spider and it mounts to Coda 4 bolt hubs so there's always options!

If you are going down the route of obsolete X rendering a bike absolutely useless then I don't think you'll find it as there's always a bodge.

^ this

Most parts are available, if just a little tricky or limited in choice, and those that aren't can often be worked around or replacements made if you can be bothered.

I just can't find a 60" front wheel for my penny farthing anymore!!!

smatkins1 - Member
I just can't find a 60" front wheel for my penny farthing

here y'go

://www.unicycle.uk.com/penny-farthing.html

Ahwiles, Chris king and hope both do a headset to suit your needs.

Bear in mind that I'm talking about the upper-bearing, I have straight-steerer forks,

Links to these headsets please...

(44mm head tube : 1.5" steerer)

What's wrong with the NP headset? - it's utterly, utterly shit.

You didn't say what was so wrong with the NP one - shit doesn't cover it.

Is it the bearings, or the sealing, or the preload ring, what exactly is crap about it?

If it's bearings have you looked to see if any others will fit?

You're right the Cane Creek one I was thinking of is only lower cup, although you could use one in the top as well upside down and get a new upper race/preload collar machined, or even use the bottom race on the top with a small stepped sleeve to take up the difference.

Also, see above comments about Works/BETD or local machine shop, it's not an impossible task to get a couple of Alu cups machined to hold bearings of your choice (even from another headset).

Or swap fork, but I guess you don't want to do that, guess it depends how much you actually want to use your DH bike.

Surely 26" is not obsolete,so to speak just a different size?. Like 28",27" 650A etc, different strokes for..... 🙂

[quote=molgrips ]It's not that you can't get stuff in the older standards, more that the choice is becoming more limited both in terms of what's made and what's in stock. So you might be able to get something but it might nit be why you actually want.

This. Hence the OP is fundamentally missing the point. I have a very nice 25.4 stem and I'm already finding that my choice of nice lightweight flat bars is extremely limited when I next break the set I have.

imnotverygood - Member

smatkins1 - Member
I just can't find a 60" front wheel for my penny farthing

here y'go

://www.unicycle.uk.com/penny-farthing.html

I doff my cap to you!

It's not that you can't get stuff in the older standards, more that the choice is becoming more limited both in terms of what's made and what's in stock. So you might be able to get something but it might nit be why you actually want.

Can anyone source a 1.5" front mech for a manitou frame? Struggled with that a few years ago.

I have a very nice 25.4 stem and I'm already finding that my choice of nice lightweight flat bars is extremely limited when I next break the set I have.

But unless you want a specific model or very specific shape that is no longer made there are still options out there, either NOS in shops, or look at touring stockists like SPA or SJS.

If it's about a specific model not being available any more then we're beyond the realm of griping about standards and into griping about your favourite products being discontinued, which could happen even to a current model/standard.

I think the OP's point was about things being actually made obsolete, which really isn't the case as you're only a stem swap away from current options.

I complain as much as the next person about diminishing choice for my old kit, but that just goes with the age of parts really, but no bikes should be truly obsolete/unfixable due to parts not being available, or bodgable, or reproduced.

griping about your favourite products being discontinued, which could happen even to a current model/standard.

[quote=amedias ]But unless you want a specific model or very specific shape that is no longer made there are still options out there, either NOS in shops, or look at touring stockists like SPA or SJS.
If it's about a specific model not being available any more then we're beyond the realm of griping about standards and into griping about your favourite products being discontinued, which could happen even to a current model/standard.

I couldn't care less about a specific model - I've swapped several times depending on what's available at a good weight for a good price, as there used to be plenty of options. Yet now most if not all of those I've used are no longer readily available.

I think the OP's point was about things being actually made obsolete, which really isn't the case as you're only a stem swap away from current options.

Ah, so next time I damage my £40 bars I should also replace my £100 stem? This is the exact issue we have a problem with.

welcome to capitalism /economics 😉

Sadly that is the real reason its about persuading us to upgrade things we dont need to change to get something different but not necessarily any better.

See also number of gears, amount of travel, wheel size etc.

Ah, so next time I damage my £40 bars I should also replace my £100 stem? This is the exact issue we have a problem with.

No, I'm saying that there [i][b]are [/b][/i]still decent 25.4 bars out there, reduced choice yes, but that was the reason for me asking if it was a specific model you were after.

Reduced choice on older components is to be expected, I lament that as much as the next person, I have a lot of older kit, a few bikes still on V-brakes and I don't even own a bike with external BB, but the OPs question was about obsolescence as in, is there anything you simply cannot get.

There is nothing you cannot get but you cannot get what you want.

Suntour XC Pro hubs with grease ports, should you really need that functionality!

I bloody wish this was still common. How many decent grease-port hubs are still going strong? A lot more than C+C hubs without a port, I'll bet.

Sold a frame myself last year with an old threaded fork,just popped a aheadset adaptor in it,fitted an aheadstem. Done. There isn't much on a bike that can't be adapted to work again.... 😀

Hence the OP is fundamentally missing the point. I have a very nice 25.4 stem and I'm already finding that my choice of nice lightweight flat bars is extremely limited when I next break the set I have.

Continuing the vintage vehicle theme, I think it's still possible to buy a brand new MGB bodyshell, a Rickman Metisse frame or a Manx Norton engine.
If there's enough demand for something, somebody, somewhere will make it.

I couldn't care less about a specific model - I've swapped several times depending on what's available at a good weight for a good price, as there used to be plenty of options. Yet now most if not all of those I've used are no longer readily available.

To be fair, if you need to replace your bars as often as you seem to suggest I'd be looking at a stronger steel bar and not worrying about the weight. Plenty of them about.

As much as bike standards changing every day cheeses me off you can't expect every standard to be produced in every variety forever. I reckon 'most' people have at least one bike, probably their main bike, that's newer then 10 years old so don't think 'most' people have too much of a problem with older standards being fazed out.

I had a road frame with a 1" zero stack press fit headset that was impossible to find a replacement for

Continuing the vintage vehicle theme, I think it's still possible to buy a brand new MGB bodyshell, a Rickman Metisse frame or a Manx Norton engine.
If there's enough demand for something, somebody, somewhere will make it.

Not really vintage yet, but its possible to build a (and many many more) brand new, original, Delorean DMC-12 from the parts catalogue. For the price pof a house.

I was going to say flex stems but now someone is giving that antoher go. Lord knows why...

I was going to say flex stems but now someone is giving that antoher go. Lord knows why..

A fool and his money are easily parted.

Back to the original thread though - 55 forks acvailable for the 1.125 headset.

However, my bike is only 1999, a veneralbe P7 I'm rather fond of after having it stolen and recovered from ebay!

I fancies treating to new forks. - But out of those 55 forks for a 1.125 headset, eliminate those that won't fit a 9mm qr, and then that have a travel length of, or that can be midified economically to 80mm or less, and the choice is 0 - The standard for front travel appears to be 100mm min.

So despite the 55 forks availalbe, a 15 yo bike has a choice of nil. Does this prove the point?

...what exactly is crap about it?

Not wishing to stray (again) into a world of hyperbole, what sealing it has, is very ineffective.

Does this prove the point?

Only if you limit your search to one retailer.
Is what you want really not available from anywhere?

Taking it to nth degree, if no one makes the thing, you [i]could[/i] have whatever it is custom made, but it would cost a fortune. Or make it yourself.

So, nothing is 100% obsolete. Well, until the raw material runs out.

So despite the 55 forks availalbe, a 15 yo bike has a choice of nil. Does this prove the point?

Was about to post what MTQG did, CRC (and STW) are not representative of cycling and bikes/parts availability in general, sadly nor are a lot of LBS these days.

A 32mm chassis Fox or any Reba/Recon/Tora/Rev/Sid would suit your needs, as would older offerings from Manitou or Marzocchi either new or NOS if you search, or 2nd hand in decent condition.

Not wishing to stray (again) into a world of hyperbole, what sealing it has, is very ineffective.

On the bearings itself or the cup seals?
Does it take standard size bearings that you could upgrade?
If not then replace with new and use the good old 'fill it with marine grease' option. headsets are only really subject to splash, not muck under pressure or large amounts of movement so all you need is a sufficiently waterproof physical barrier to entry. Even crap open bearing headsets can last for years if prepped and looked after.

So despite the 55 forks availalbe, a 15 yo bike has a choice of nil. Does this prove the point?

A custom steel fork would be nice, good value. Or as posted above, get an older Reba 100mm and reduce the travel.

Just thinking about this again. Pace RC100 Bullseye cranks. Sort of an early form of press fit.

Another standard long gone was 130mm OLN frames. My first MTB - a 18speed Dawes - was 130mm OLN. Now even BSO are 135mm

Now 126mm OLN. That's essentially obsolete. But bodgeable if steel.

Can you buy a caliper to fit the Trek 22mm rear disc mount?

I don't think 1" was ever really a standard for suspension forks. I think by the time it was common for a bikes to be sold as a hard tail most manufacturers were using 1 1/8" headsets. So I don't think 1" suspension forks were ever a standard. Same goes for many othe things mentioned here. They may have been made but were never "standard"

Fork length has been an issue for me. Not only did I want 80mm forks but I wanted them in the shorter axle crown length the bike was designed for and ideally v-brake compatible

A bit of waiting on e-bay turned up a set of nearly new Marzocchi Z2 with a long steerer for under £100. So hardly the end of the world

26 inch wheel and 1 1/8" suspension forks really ruled the roost for a long time. So its hard to imagine that buying used or with limited choice they will ever disappear. You can still buy 27" road tyres and they were on the way out in the 1980s

[url= http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres-27-(630)-dept203_pg1/ ]SJS[/url]

Bolt on (rather than Allen key) road brakes are rare but that was 30 years ago

Can you buy a caliper to fit the Trek 22mm rear disc mount?

There's still some Hayes and Hope calipers floating about 2nd hand if you want to do it as intended, but fortunately there's also handy 22mm to IS adaptors available for < £10 that solve that little non-problem

eg: [img] [/img]

edit, I take it back < £15

[url= http://www.halfords.com/cycling/cycling-parts/disc-brakes/a2z-parallel-to-is-caliper-adaptor ]from Halfords[/url]

Clearance may be tight if you try and wedge a post-mount adaptor on top of that and a big rotor, but it's hardly going to consign your bike to the dustbin if it has 22mm mounts.

Not to mention that for Hayes at least piston and caliper seals are still available for the Mag/HFX/9 so should be rebuild-able if needs be.

You can't buy a carbon 27.0mm seatpost any more, which is annoying, you can get alloy posts though, so they aren't obsolete yet.

MidlandTrailquestsGraham - Member

To take one example, CRC are showing 55 different 1.125" steerer forks, to fit all size wheels from the latest industry conspiracy 27.5" to the old obsolete 26".

I was curious... FWIW once you discount the downhill, dirtjump and the 2 road forks in your list you get down to low 30s of which tons are duplicates and entry-level models and most are 100mm.

So for 26 inch wheel, 140mm-ish, you can have a coil Sektor or a Revelation. Which are basically the same fork. Or an Argyll, if you don't mind buying a fork from the mid 2000s. Want a 20mm axle? Just the Argyll. 160mm? Have a low end 55. 120mm? A Manitou Marvel. So yeah, loads of choice.

I don't think 1" was ever really a standard for suspension forks. I think by the time it was common for a bikes to be sold as a hard tail most manufacturers were using 1 1/8" headsets. So I don't think 1" suspension forks were ever a standard. Same goes for many othe things mentioned here. They may have been made but were never "standard"

Hard tails were in nearly every manufacturers range by 1993/4 and plenty were still using 1" forks. Also, the early Rockshox/Pace/Manitou were intended to be retro-fitted to bikes of the era (1989-94) so 1" was most definitely the standard along with 1 1/8th. It was 1 1/4 that was being fazed out around the time of front suss.

@ NW i have a set of Fox Talas 100-120 -140 in the cupboard as i realise my forks cannot be upgraded they can only be replaced with shit so will be able to use for any of my frames.
Problem is it also renders high quality frames as obsolete as well 😕

I cannot upgrade either as these frames are , more or less, worthless. In the past they would have had decent SH value

You can't buy a carbon 27.0mm seatpost any more

Ritchey do one.

Really interesting thread this. I'm sure there are solutions to most problems of abandoned standards, but as more and more MTB parts are designed and sold as consumables the problem of availability becomes bigger.

Has anyone ever had to park their bike up because they can't get replacement parts for it?

Many of us buy a bike and then replace parts with upgrades. If the only replacement parts I can get are effectively downgrading my bike, I'll be pretty disappointed. The bike may still be rideable, but will it be as good a bike as it was? No. Will I then be tempted to look at a new bike? Probably. This bothers people like me.

Bikes are of course subject to capitalism as much as any item, but as prices have gone up the idea of a dream bike "for life" for which parts can be easily replaced and upgraded is for many a reality (and often the way we can justify such as big expense for a toy). As standards disappear that situation becomes frustratingly unrealistic.

Thankfully I'm nowhere near the level that my bike can cope with so I probably won't even notice it getting crapper 😆

[img] [/img]
Funny how similar that is to the new road disc standard, in fitting as well as positioning. 15 years old?

Back to the original thread though - 55 forks acvailable for the 1.125 headset.

However, my bike is only 1999, a veneralbe P7 I'm rather fond of after having it stolen and recovered from ebay!

I fancies treating to new forks. - But out of those 55 forks for a 1.125 headset, eliminate those that won't fit a 9mm qr, and then that have a travel length of, or that can be midified economically to 80mm or less, and the choice is 0 - The standard for front travel appears to be 100mm min.

So despite the 55 forks availalbe, a 15 yo bike has a choice of nil. Does this prove the point?

I had exactly this problem when changing the fork on my 10 year old bike - although I was lucky enough there was still 1 model available. Took a bit of searching (and an STW post) to find it, but eventually... So while not disproving the OP's point, it does show the basic problem - [i]something[/i] will probably be available, but it's unlikely it'll be exactly what you want, and it may be significantly more expensive than similar components designed for modern standards.

Bikes are of course subject to capitalism as much as any item, but as prices have gone up the idea of a dream bike "for life" for which parts can be easily replaced and upgraded is for many a reality (and often the way we can justify such as big expense for a toy). As standards disappear that situation becomes frustratingly unrealistic.

^maybe you're right, in which case I've been deluding myself since justifying my last purchase 😕

The other thing what we've not touched on in this thread is that there is an increasing trend of integration.

We've been spoilt for the last 20 odd years by an environment where [b]mostly[/b] parts have been interchangeable, obviously if you had some proprietary frame fitting, shock length or headset etc. then it made things a bit trickier but by and large you could buy a frame and then decide to fit parts from any manufacturer with little bother.

As things become more and more integrated this kind of thing becomes harder, it starts with small things like proprietary shock lengths and strokes, specific tunes, mounting hardware, then Headsets, BBs and Axles, now we are on to freehubs, integrated brake lever, gear shifter, dropper reomte clamps and stuff like that, not big in isolation but you can see where it could be headed, I mean we've already got frames that are becomeing axle specific.

How long do you think we are away from 'Shimano compatible frame' Vs 'Sram compatible'? Throw in aero concerns on road bikes and internal electronic and hydraulic routing it could get to the point where that interchangeability becomes extremely restricted, and [b]then [/b]finding replacement parts starts to become more of a chore.

Let your imagination go for a minute and think of a frame/fork combo with internal (shimano only) electronic routing, internal hydro routing with banjos direct into frame, caliper body as part of frame/fork (seals pistons replacable obviously), direct attach brake levers/shifters that bolt to the bar, and integrated derailleurs or gearbox (?) and a proprietary QR axle system, could get tricky then!

Would probably only be a problem for top end and race-only kit to begin with but you know how things trickle down!

It's almost as-if they're working their way through this lot:

http://www.triz40.com/aff_Principles_TRIZ.php

On the suject of intectration, the auto industry seems to manage ok?

For example you buy a (insert part here) for a Ford Focus in the same way that you buy that same part for a BMW 3 series, They arent interchangable due to various reasons (i appreciate that some bits are) yet the aftermarket makers of performance kit, on a similar level to the bikes and kit STWers buy seem to be able to cover all standards. (based on a quick flick through a performance parts catalogue the other week)

So rather than buying a '140 mm fork with a tapered steerer and a 15mm axle;, you'd simply buy a 140mm fork for, say a 2014 Orange 5, and not worry about the specifics?

The problem would be that aftermarket parts providers would only supply for the most common brands as that's where the money would be.
If you had a Trek, Spesh, Giant etc you'd be fine but sourcing aftermarket forks for boutique brands would be a nightmare.

.,,,,or it would force them into adopting Trek, Giant's standards and leave them at the mercy of one of these large firms changing standards on a whim and bankrupting a smaller company.

How long do you think we are away from 'Shimano compatible frame' Vs 'Sram compatible'?

Let your imagination go for a minute and think of a frame/fork combo with internal (shimano only) electronic routing, internal hydro routing with banjos direct into frame, caliper body as part of frame/fork (seals pistons replacable obviously), direct attach brake levers/shifters that bolt to the bar, and integrated derailleurs or gearbox (?) and a proprietary QR axle system, could get tricky then!

If I ever put together a bike like that, find me and beat me with it

captured for internet defense purposes!