Richie,
I'd love to keep up with this thread but today I can't. I get the feeling we are going to be talking about apples and oranges here very soon. I haven't time to read all of what has been said so far but I get the drift I think. I believe I understand your position and why you think that way. Certainly there are reasons for everything you say, which I believe I understand also.
Part of the answer to "where are the customers?" is how many do you need? That depends on the capacity of the builder which in turn dictates how many customers you need. I only need 6 or so per year. I imagine you need considerably more. Needless to say, I don't need more customers. Even if I built 15 per year I wouldn't need more customers. I can't possibly build that many. The project of building a frame here is quite different here than it is over there. The only thing I PRAY for is more time to dedicate to framebuilding. Restorations suck up the majority of my time. Something has to give pretty soon, but even under the best conditions I will probably not build 10 frames in a year ever. Naturally we each have a different approach to the market since we are in vastly different circumstances. Our purposes for framebuilding are different.
Anyway, someone's having a party tonight and I still have some Masis to romance. I woke up this morning to my girlfriend dressed in Christmas lights (the little tiny ones). That should give you an idea of what the rest of my day will be like. I may not come back for a while. Wish me luck!
Brian Baylis La Mesa, CA
>
> Jan Heine asked, snipped from below:
> "Which brings me to my question: Who beyond Singer is
> making "rough" frames today. By that I mean hand-carved
> lugs, or even better, not-investment cast lugs, etc."
>
> jan
> many, many people can fill this request.
> as asked before, "Where are the customers?"
> e-RICHIE
> chester, ct
>
> On Sat, 8 Mar 2003 05:52:52 -0800 Jan Heine <heine@mindspring.com>
> writes:
> > Brian,
> >
> > Well said. Comparing my two daily riders, a Rivendell and a Singer,
> >
> > the difference is obvious. Yes, the Singer is unbelievably clean - a
> >
> > truly great brazing job. All lugs are totally symmetrical, because
> > they were cast that way.
> >
> > Then take the Singer: A few of the lugs aren't quite perfectly
> > symmetrical. The difference is slight, but it is obvious that
> > somebody carved these out of a blank, or maybe even made the lug
> > from
> > two pieces of tubing welded together. Then built them up to a nice
> > radius. Most of the work was done where modern builders start. The
> > bike speaks to me because I know Roland Csuka (whom I unfortunately
> >
> > never met) did this. Of course, the Singer is much cleaner than some
> >
> > Cinellis, but the evidence of handwork remains.
> >
> > Maybe it is like comparing a photography to a painting - the photo
> > always will be sharper, crisper, yet worth less in many cases.
> >
> > Which brings me to my question: Who beyond Singer is making "rough"
> >
> > frames today. By that I mean hand-carved lugs, or even better,
> > not-investment cast lugs, etc.
> >
> > And Brian, what is your take on fillet-brazing?
> >
> > Jan Heine, Seattle