we've batted this around before many times and i've culled my opinions and keep them on my blogsite. the url is in my sig.
to sum it up, the raison d'etre of this list is directly tied to
the fact that cr timeline stuff is no longer made. if it continued
to be made, there'd be no reason to analyze it or lament its
passing. the reason the industry has moved on is because it
can sell more units and make more money using what are
now modern parts.
all things considered, i think the current bicycles and frames
are better than ever. when i say that, i am taking into account
that i believe that steel and lugs are hard to beat, but since the
shops are now oriented to nonferrous materials, there are no longer
folks available to do profitable work in the older ways.
it's true, i had my eyes opened in my 79 trip to italy. i thought fine
frames were lovingly made at the benches of caring craftsmen who
considered each and every order as it was being made. what i found
was that framebuilding is an industry and the names that i held in
somewhat high regard were the stewards of their eponymous firms
and a staff of underlings did all the work and followed all the
blueprints. rather than continue with this, i'll just say - it's all in
the
list archives and most if it is in my blog.
e-RICHIE®©
Richard M Sachs
Chester, CT
site: http://www.richardsachs.com
pics: http://photos.yahoo.com/
"Edward Kasper" <doghouse44@earthlink.net> writes: Angel, It is also my understanding that Americans are more into nostalgia. I have a car buff friend who took an auto factory tour in Italy a few years back. He was able to chat with some of the old timers who had built some of the great sports cars (Ferrari, Maserati, etc.; I forget which one.) He was hoping to glean some of the passion and pride that went into the cars that he is so enthusiastic about today. Basically, their response: "We were just building cars." Kinda like they just did it for the paycheck...no sentiment involved. Here in Detroit, it seems every other UAW worker owns a classic car. The Woodward Dream cruise later this month attracts huge numbers of people and cars. Of course these are generalizations and there are exceptions. But I think my friend came away with the same burst bubble that Richard did when he visited the Italian framebuilder's shops.
Ed Kasper Detroit MI
> [Original Message]
> From: Angel M Garcia <wa2vuy@mindspring.com>
> To: <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Date: 8/3/2004 7:23:02 PM
> Subject: [CR]Italians Today: Into Steel or Not and Why Not?
>
> I've wondered if the fascination with now-being-built (KOF, Keeper Of
the
> Flame) steel lugged bikes that exists here has any/much interest to
> Italians. I have read that all the steel Pegoretti bikes are sold to
the
> USA because they say there is no interest at all for them in Italy. I
guess
> the same is true for Tommasini who apparently have given up as there
are
no
> Italian buyers. e-Richie: have you sold any of your frames to Italy (or
when
> last?). Having been to Italy a number of times in the last couple of
years
> it seems that the Italians seemingly want to be on the technological
bike
> edge (which is not to say that steel can't be on the edge also). I find
it
> interesting that here in America we lust after many Italian marques,
and
> still seek out KOF builders, whereas the Italians don't appear to be
that
> interested. It's just an impression I have, in general, which may be
> incorrect. But, that how it strikes me. Considering the rich history of
> cycling and Italian builders why the seemingly low interest? No
negative
> intended, I love Italy and Italians!
> Angel Garcia
> Long Valley, NJ