Dale, I will make an effort here to stay on topic while mentioning the "C" & "T" bikes, because I think Mr. Dalton has a legitimate point to make here about why we like what we like. That would be, the exclusivity factor. In short, we are kind of a "snobby" group, 'self included. In the '70's & '80's, when I was entering the cycling world, it was a pretty exclusive club, and all of the very best products available were even more exclusive. That has all changed as Cannondale, Trek & others have brought bikes to the market that are not at all exclusive but are very competitive in both performance & price. They did this with that very much maligned but misunderstood thing called "mass production". As a freshman Industrial Design student @ the University of Cincinnati I got into a little bit of trouble with one of my professors for lamenting mass-production. His point was that to a very high degree, mass production techniques could greatly enhance quality control. Oddly enough, (and pardon me, Richard), Richard Sachs has referred to this in one of his many articles about the framebuilding process when he talked about his striving for a "repeatable process" in his own work. A horse of a different color, to be sure, but lets recognize some of these folks for what they do bring to the table.., a consistently good product at a competitive price. What they lack is that elusive quality that we call "soul". That is still very exclusive, thank goodness! Richard Rose (Toledo, Ohio)
-----Original Message-----
From: classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org
[mailto:classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of Tom Dalton
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2001 9:50 AM
To: garth libre
Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]More Bicycling magazine bashing
>I feel sorry for those of us on the list who must
continue to sell Cadd 4 as if it is the product of an
enlightened factory.
Tom Dalton replied;
Well perhaps not enlightened, but...
I think the big problem that most of us have with 'dales, Treks, etc. is the total lack of exclusivity.