In a message dated 5/19/02 3:12:36 PM Eastern Daylight Time, classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org writes:
> Message: 14
> Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 10:56:42 -0700
> From: Chuck Schmidt <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
> Reply-To: chuckschmidt@earthlink.net
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: Re: [CR] Old vs. new again
>
> Greg Parker wrote:
>
> > (cut)There is a huge
> > difference between a high-quality, carefully thought out and masterfully
> > crafted piece of functional art, and something that was zapped together
> and
> > powder-coated in half a day.
>
> We are talkin' apples and oranges here Greg. I wish you could recognize
> and appreciate the art and craftsmanship of today's high end bikes. As
> an artist, I can. My local bike shop (Velo Pasadena) is actually full
> of Time, Look, Seven, Colnago, Litespeed bikes and frames. "Zapped
> together and powder-coated in half a day?" I don't think so...
>
> I have quite a few bikes, both quite old and quite new that I ride
> everyday, and all of them exhibit the art and craftsmanship of their
> respective eras.
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> South Pasadena, Southern California
>
>
>
Chuck:
You must be very busy riding all of those bikes every day!
As an Engineer, I can't appreciate today's high-end bike frames, because I'm aware of how they are manufactured, and IMO they have no soul.
And just how many of the frames that you mention above are lugged steel construction?
I thought so....
And what will these bikes be worth in ten years? Twenty percent of their original selling price perhaps? I've already seen folks dumping stuff that's several years old like that for cheap on eBay (or asking a lot and getting no takers). New bikes are getting to be like notebook computers: a two- or three-year useful lifespan, then throw it out and spend another $3000. It's part of a vicious cycle that the Bicycle Industry has encouraged
However, on a more positive note, I am once again humbled by your abundant expertise and pierced by your razor wit! I am truly not worthy, oh sire! ;-)
Just for everyone's edification & grins, after my first post on this issue, I received one negative response (Brandon's), which interestingly was on-list. All of the other reponses that I received were to one degree or another in agreement with what I said, which I still stand behind, but were sent to me only. E-mail me off-list if you'd like more details.
Cheers,
Greg Parker A2 MI USA
Where I'm starting a discussion group for those interested in classically-constructed fillet-brazed and lugged-steel bicycles from roughly the beginning of the 20th century to the early 1980s or so....! No exotic "alphabet soup" space-shuttle nose-cone-type material allowed neither! So there!