Brandon"monkeyman"Ives wrote: <snip>
>Personally I think the list should stop at about 1970 and the US bicycle boom. I think
>bike quality plummeted to bring the numbers of bikes up to fill sales.
>Beyond that anything in the 70s or after is really contemporary not
>really "classic."</snip>
While the gaspipe specials poured in in greater numbers during the 'bikeboom", it was never my anecdotal impression that the high end generally lost build or finish quality in most cases. Exceptions no doubt abound, but I'm speaking in broad terms. The frame construction details on '50s top of the line race bikes I've seen often have left me shaking my head. They frequently look incredibly crude to my eyes compared even to their counterparts made at the height of the bike boom. The finish of Nuovo Record rear derailleurs and brakes at least, certainly was miles beyond most of the high end that preceded it.
I should make clear I'm talking mostly cosmetics here as I am not qualified to hold forth on the real "quality" of those frames.
Kurt Sperry in mostly foggy but occaisionally sunny Bellingham WA -- http://fineartscrimshaw.com
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