Commenting about a Waterford on eBay Charles Andrews wrote:
"The other problem: the paint goes all the way up the sides of the lugs. I know this is the usual way to do it, but it looks crummy. Much better to stop the paint at the lug/tube joint, and leave the sides of the lugs unpainted (chrome, or the color the lug is painted..). The look is very sweet. Baylis does it this way, and I think Bruce Gordon may have started doing it too, I can't recall now. Peter Weigle may do it the better way too. Do you paint that way, Peter? That paint detail makes the frame look cheap, imho."
I would like to suggest that this is a matter of personal taste rather than a superior/inferior way of painting a second color on a bicycle frame. One of the great things about America is our freedom to express personal opinions and we all have a right to define to everyone what we like. My idea of what looks "right" is to have the lug edges be the same color as the head tube. That is what looks "best" to me. This is particularly so when the bike frame does not have a crisp edge between the lug and the tube. Many builders don't take the time or have the skill (like Brian B. and I do) in brazing just the right amount of filler so it covers the entire joint without spilling over onto the lug and rounding the edge. Then there is no defined line where the paint colors should stop and begin. A color transition at the bottom of the now rounded lug edge in this case would just emphasize the sloppy brazing.
My motives for expressing a varying opinion is that since 1976, I have strived to paint bicycles in such a way that it is at a level that nobody is going to do a better job. Different styles, methods and looks from what I do, of course, but better in quality, no way. I've developed techniques to get a precise transition of color at the top of the lug edge rather than at its' bottom. I paint it this way because it is the look I like the best. I would hope that the dominate opinions of this elite list would allow that where a 2nd color transitions is a matter of personal taste rather than a best/poor way of doing it.
Doug Fattic
Niles, Michigan