It seems there are small esoteric shops all over building small amounts of
quality products that fall well below the eye even of most collectors.
In this country we had (and have) folks like Chris Pauley, Michael Celmins,
Rich Gangl, Dave Bohm, Peter Mooney, Mark Nobilette, Richard Moon, and a
host of others who are certainly not well known, a couple of these guys
would not even be known to many on this list. All have produced bikes of
exquisite quality...some still are.
I recently discovered some similar folks in Great Britain that I had not
heard of until last year...Rotrax and Carpenter, for example, who were just
great.
To me this is just exactly what the excitement of collecting is all about.
Not to denigrate them, but just about anyone can get their hands on a
Colnago or Raleigh or even a Cinelli SC...show me a Chris Pauley or Richard
Moon in my size and I am riveted...
Every time I go on impulse and buy a bike not made by one of these great one
man shops, I end up wishing I had saved my money for something more like a
Doug Fattic bike...
Ain't it grand that we have all these differing tastes? Imagine if we all
liked the same thing...only Bill Gates would be able to afford it!
Life is good...
Tom Sanders
Lansing, Mi USA