[CR]Re: Do great frame builders bikes keep building better bikes?

(Example: Books:Ron Kitching)

In-Reply-To: <20060606133710.48212.qmail@web51104.mail.yahoo.com>
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Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2006 08:06:15 -0700
To: John Clay <jmedclay@yahoo.com>, Classic Rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
From: "Jan Heine" <heine93@earthlink.net>
Subject: [CR]Re: Do great frame builders bikes keep building better bikes?


> Workmanship vs technical execution - the terms sound synonomous to
>me, what's the diff?

It comes down to what you look for in a bike. Is it a piece to hang on the wall? Or is it something to be ridden? To be admired by other riders, or to give you the most joy on a lonesome mountain descent with nobody around?

To me, a bike is a functional piece of equipment first and foremost. It needs to ride well, and it needs to work well and reliably. Once that is taken care of, I consider the looks. I am looking for a balanced, well-proportioned outline of the bike. Third, I look at the details. Nice lug outlines, pretty dropout connections, clean brazing.

So to me, technical execution is first, and by that I mean the ride and function. How the bike feels, how it reacts to pedaling input, and how it handles. How the derailleurs work, how the brakes feel. Whether the bike is balanced as I turn into a hairpin at speed and release the brakes approaching the apex. When I ride, I look at the road ahead, at the scenery, and sometimes at the top tube and down tube, but never at the rear dropout/seatstay connection.

Style, for lack of a better word (the French call it the "line") is second. If a bike is ill-proportioned, I couldn't care less whether the lugs are finely filed. In fact, I'd prefer TIG-welds over ugly, but well-brazed lugs. The "line" is important when I get off the bike during a long ride. As I sit in the shade, I look over at my bike beckoning me to get back on and continue. It is easier to leave the shade and get on a beautiful bike than it is when an ugly one is waiting for you.

Third is the workmanship in the details - this is assuming that the workmanship is good enough not to affect the ride or durability (see technical execution). I mostly notice this when working on the bike. Compared to riding or sitting in the shade, I must admit that working on my bikes comes a distant third in my preferences. Fortunately, most of my bikes are relatively maintenance-free (see technical execution again)...

Fortunately, you don't have to choose one over the other. The best bikes offer all three. In fact, for a top-quality custom bike, one should insist on all three. That said, I am willing to accept some marks that show my bike is hand-made (say a slightly asymmetric lug outline on a lug carved by hand from a blank) that distinguish it from mass-produced lugs or bikes. Of course, the difference between sloppy work and handmade charm is hard to define, and probably lies in the eye of the beholder. I consider gaps in the brazing and blobs of brazing material sloppy, not charming...

Those are my priorities. Yours probably differ, and there isn't anything wrong with that!

Jan Heine, Seattle
Editor/Publisher
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
c/o Il Vecchio Bicycles
140 Lakeside Ave, Ste. C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com