Tubing stickers are just branding, pure and simple. One of the big problems with steel bike frames from a marketing point of view is how does a company/builder make the bike stand out on the shop floor? In other words not be a commodity. This has always been true and is one of the reasons steel is not used much for frames these days. Of coarse one obvious way is a flashy or unique finish, the color is a big deal. But beyond this what? Well, you can use a tube set that has a long history of racing and reliability, 531 for example. And I can assure you (at least in the USA) a lot of novice bike buyers thought Reynolds meant aluminum back in the '70's, i.e. "exotic". So the tubing sticker saves a lot of time for the salesperson. The sticker really has less appeal for a custom builder, just as Chuck mentioned. After all as a builder I was not selling tubing, but really the integrity came from my history of building. So it is a little bit of an insult to have to explain what the tubing I was building with was. The main reason I put them on was I like the way they look. But really, why would I build a frame without choosing the best tube for every bit of the frame? It is really not going to make my day by putting a seamed head tube in and saving $0.50. Big companies like Peugeot and Raleigh did this kind of thing and still used 531 stickers. So the stickers help make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
Jim Merz Big Sur CA
On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 9:11 AM, David Bean <beandk@rcn.com> wrote:
> A question occurs to me: How common is it for custom frames to lack tubing
> decals completely? Two of my favorites (Holly and Hartranft), that were
> according to their builders made for specific customers, are both free of
> Columbus and Reynolds decals respectively. Production bikes, though,
> almost
> always have them; as they should, since their buyers wouldn't otherwise
> know.
>
> David Bean
> Arlington, MA USA
>
> > Norris Lockley said he prefers customers who trust in the builder to know
> > what to build for him/her. Man, I hear you. People still ask me
> > what kind of
> > tubing my bikes are made of. These are hand made bikes made by
> > very skilled
> > builders. They know what they want to use and I don't care what it is
> > called. As if I'd know the difference between one brand and another!
> >
> > Chuck Hoefer
> > Pacific Coast Cycles
> > Oceanside, Ca.