-----Original Message-----
From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org
[mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of Thomas Adams
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 11:29 AM
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]KOF styles?
>All true, but the original question was regarding possible sources of a KOF
>bike that would be true to the heritage of lugged steel while still being
>compatible with modern parts, and someone suggested Grant Petersen. A
>Rivendell (which is what the suggestor must have had in mind) would
>certainly fit the bill. And since Grant is bossing the business, he's
>entitled to a share of the credit for the frames bearing his company's
>name. Colnago, Hetchins, Rivendell, they all work more or less in the same
>vein, with different craftsfolk doing the assembly, but the big boss
>choosing the name that goes on the frame.
There are some differences in my mind. If you are buying a Bruce Gordon, Albert Eisentraut, Richard Sachs, Ed Litton, Della Santa, Peter Weigle, Peter Mooney, Mark Nobillette, and more that probably escape my mind at the moment, you are getting a bike that was built by that person in their shop. No one has ever brazed a Bruce Gordon except Bruce Gordon. The same probably goes for the others I mentioned. Rivendell strives for the mystique and heritage of the above builders. PLEASE NOTE - I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with Grant's frames. But, when people talk about builders, and in their catalogs there are always old pictures of the workshops with 25 year old pictures of the builder when they were young. I just got back from a Handmade Bicycle Fair in Tokyo. One of the best parts of the show was that I brought a Japanese Magazine from 1982 that I was included in, it had pictures of many small builders and their shops. Many of those builders were still at the show and were still building frames that bear their names, Toei, Nagasawa, Nakagawa, Level, Amanda, Watanabe, Hirose. We all were still building frames with our names on them - although we all looked a lot older. 25 years from now - what pictures of the Old Rivendell shop will be on their website? Joe Stark's shop, Curt Goodrich's shop, Albert Eisentraut's shop, Roland Della Santa's shop, Ed Litton's shop, Bill Stevenson' shop, Waterford's shop, Toyo's shop in Japan or a few others. All these people build or have built Rivendells. Again - I'm not saying anything is wrong with Grant's frames, just the mystique. And there is one thing this group seems to love - "Mystique" I remember reading a while ago all the talk about how the new Hetchins were not real Hetchins, because they were built in another shop by someone who bought the marque, I think. I get one or two aspiring framebuilders come through my shop a month. They all think it would be the best avocation in the world - I usually tell them to have their head examined, unless they have an outside source of income. The point of my letter?? If people want the small independent builder to be around in the future - they should buy something. Not necessarily from me, but from a small builder, not a small marketer.
Bruce Gordon
http://www.bgcycles.com