you're right Singers don't have perfect finish or paint. But you have to be careful when comparing bikes with Alex Singer labels. In the shop you also find cheap(?) commuter bikes and even kids bikes that get the same Singer decals as the high end randonneurs. Such a race Singer with common lugs is not that different from any other european race bike and has probably not been built by Ernest Csuka. Olivier Csuka himself rides a pale yellow carbon(!) bike with Singer decals. The real Randonneurs have not only filed lugs, but lugs that are built up from scratch. Anyway, the "art" lies in the overall construction of the Randonneurs which are built to suit their riders needs perfectly without any compromise. It's a completely different type of art than the "stunning finish" attempt of many american frame makers. (I like both).
Dirk
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of Grant McLean Sent: Mittwoch, 24. März 2004 16:00 To: Classic Rendezvous Mail List (E-mail) Subject: [CR]ahh-LECHSS sohn-ZJAYY art?
Hi Peter,
I assume you had a look at:
http://www.ece.ubc.ca/
With a serious risk of having the entire list flame my inbox, are you suggesting these Singers are art? I've been a fan of Singers, and don't get me wrong, they have that French mojo thing. But I would describe their finish as sloppy at best. Plenty of evidence of this in Donald's pictures. The seat lug on that silver frame looks like it was filed by a...well it actually looks like it hasn't been filed... Maybe it's that modern French art? You know, where both eyes are on the same side of your face....
Grant McLean
Toronto.Ca