John- This is a topic I have given thought to over the years. The finish grade of current frames is much better, as an average, then those "back in the day" (for me that's 1975). But the market is also different. Frame manufactures knew they didn't have to do the finish prep. BITD bare frames were not marketed directly to the consumer (to any degree at least) and most were built up by shop or team mechanics. So race or delivery pressures would dictate the degree of prep work any one frame might. In the late 70s a few changes started to happen. The American made frame "entered" the market, mail order got big, racing got big. The American builder differentiated his frame from the standard European ones partly with the higher amount of finish and alignment. The mail order companies found they suffered from returns and expensive problems when un prepped frames were assembled by the guy at home. And lots of guys wanted to be just like their favorite racer (remember the post 1984 Olympics Pinerello craze?).
So the demand for frames that did not require further prep work by the buyer and the higher price that pre prepped frames could get went hand in hand with what we read in the magazines and ads. In time a new standard resulted.
We still see a range of frame issues at the LBS these days. Not any near as severe as BITD but I still have to hone or sand down burrs, clean braze on threads and check drop out alignment often enough.
> Jan wrote about the Merckx "quizzler" bike photo:
>
> "...raising the saddle exposed some truly ugly scratch marks." (on the
> seat post).
>
> It is interesting to me that this professional-grade bike had a flaw
> that would not be tolerated today. Even kid's bikes have seat posts
> that fit like pistons these days. My 1977 PX-10LE was also murder on
> seat posts, and up until a few years ago I just thought having scratched
> seat posts was part of the natural order of the universe. Things are
> much better since I got busy and cleaned up inside the seat lug.
>
> This raises some points. Apparently, this particular aspect of bicycle
> construction and finish wasn't seen as a priority back then, at least by
> some builders and mechanics. Was this more characteristic of racing vs.
> touring frames? or frames of certain brands or countries? I would
> suspect it all came down to the builder, regardless of the frame's
> purpose or country of origin. Or perhaps the builder assumed this sort
> of detail should be left to the mechanic who assembled the bicycle.
> Where or by whom were the Eddy Merckx frames built?
>
> John Hurley
> just curious in
> Austin, Texas, USA
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
Andrew R Stewart
Rochester, NY