Dale wrote:
> [...] about those Nagasawa dropouts..
> In them, we have cast in "flourishes" that used to be the
> signs of hand work...
> The exposed and tapered edges of the dropout insertions, the
> scalloped tubing ends, the flattening of the outer edges of
> the main drop out
> body. All those things used to be done with a file and an
> artist's eye. Now all that is required is clean brazing...
Yeah, but when did anyone ever make a frame as elegant as a "cast" Nagasawa using the old ways? When did anyone make dropouts that beautiful by hand?
I'll take the frame with more hand workmanship, all else equal, but all else is not equal. The '80s-and-later Nagasawa with the cast bits is just head and shoulders above anything else I can think of. Of course this is purely subjective but those bikes pretty much define elegance for me.
Even speaking as one who once was defined (professionally) by my hand workmanship (I'm an ex- bike frame builder), I think the end result is what matters most, not the path the part took to get there. To the trained eye, the two are really the same; the path is represented in the end result, no hiding it. And certainly I have some prejudices there, generally favoring the one-off hand-made path. But the artist's eye is evident in castings too. And in the case of Nagasawa castings, it surpasses most anything I've seen hand made one at a time.
Mark Bulgier
Seattle, Wa
USA