After a bit of off-list correspondence with a couple of list members, I have a challenge for the mathematically-minded among us.
This challenge comes out of some idle chatter about that Colnago Export frame on ebay. I think the seat-cluster is butt-ugly, and the question was raised "how do you measure ugly?"
I propose that one *could* measure ugly, with the right formula or equation. I am not sufficiently trained in the science of measurement to design such a formula, but I'm sure there are people here who *are* so trained.
Whoever comes up with the most useful formula (that is, can be used without fear of *meaningful* refutation in conversation with like-minded obsessives, and could also be used in Concours, and the like), will get a prize from moi, yet to be determined.
Discussion can take place off list, or on it, unless or until the omnipotent list-master calls a halt to list discussion of the matter (I figured he might want to compete himself, although what he'd need my prize for I can't imagine, he probably has three already, whatever the prize ends up being)
...it'll be a good prize too.
The formula, or metric, must take into account the following, in some fashion:
*the collecting experience, in years, of the person making the judgement of ugliness
*the number of bikes of the same national origin, quality, and value, owned by the judge
*the fair market value of said bikes
*if the judge has designed and built more than 20 custom, high-quality lugged steel frames with their own hands, the collecting experience number is increased by some factor to be determined.
The judge need not currently own any bikes, the *number of bikes* may include *all* bikes of the relevant kind that the judge has owned in the past, even if they have none in the present.
The result of the formula must describe ugliness by a number that falls into a consistent range of numbers without reference to any other judge's result... the range can be 1-10, 1-100, or may be some fraction, as long as the number, and the range of ugliness, is predictable.
the idea is to flatten the subjectivity of the judgement, and render some useful description of the ugliness involved.
Have at it.
Charles Andrews
SoCal