> So I agree to a certain point. The same can be said of American
>builders. , But, what, are, we, talking, about, here-, the, sign,
>of, the, hand, of, the, Euro 'masters' was unsteady and shoddy in
>most respects if you take an objective view of their work. Bad paint,
>poor weld penetration, overheating of surrounding metals, out of true
>frames and forks, etc are all 'signs of the hand' that the Europeans
>are guilty of too- not just the Taiwanese or Mexicans.
agreed. In fact, i apologize to the nameless custom japanese frame builders that i mistakely slandered. somehow, if you had asked me, i would have guessed that 3rensho (the only one i had heard of before) was italian... i profess ignorance of the others and will do more homework next time. i'm sorry for sweeping them up in my shimano tirade.
i was thinking mainly about mid-range ($100 - $500) 1970's and 1980's fuji / sekai / raleigh-japanese / schwinn-japanese / univega / miyata / lotus bikes that go for $15 these days on ebay. these bikes are characterized by 1" or 2" drain-pipe lugs, with nary a point on them, no chrome, cheezy stickers instead of head badges on the frame, and a grand total decorating budget large enough to place a sticker saying '4130' on the seat tube in order to adorn the bike.
in contrast, i'd rather see raleigh or peugot try to make a beautiful bike painted with 2 tones, have them fail with a screwed up result with uneven paint, lumps in the welds, and stickers that fall off, than to never try at all, as was common by the mid-range japanese production builders of that period.
- don gillies
san diego, ca