I don't like the style of intricate lugs. I'm a modernist. I like minimal, super clean, pared down, "less is more" designs. I can appreciate all the artistry and craftsmanship that goes into that fancy stuff, but it's just not me. The Zen of reducing things to their bare essence, is, for me, the fact that the basic structure of the tube and lug joint is exposed, is key.
Hi Grant,
As I see it the ultimate end to this thought is no lugs at all, which is where we have ended up today. The fact that you like lugs means that to some extent you like adornment. Otherwise you would be a big fan of Fillet brazing or TIG welding, and I don't think you are. I used to be much more of a fan of the Bauhaus school or minimalist design, but with so much of the world moving this direction and everything in our lives pared down to only essentials, I have come to appreciate the uselessness of adornment, if only to show what can be done with the human hands if one wants too. As a framebuilder also, and this is purely a personal opinion. Once someone really knows how to make a frame, that is the technical details and improving the process to 100% (which nobody ever quite gets too) then the drudgery of making the same simple thing everyday overwhelms a person. Porcelain is a good example. The form of a vase can be simple and beautiful at the same time, but ask me to make that same vase 100, 1000, or 10,000 times and I might as well commit creative suicide. So in closing, Mojo is obviously in the eye of the beholder but like Grant, I can appreciate all forms of the MOJO.
Dave Bohm Bohemian Bicycles
P.S. were did "Zen" in our society come to mean simplistic modern design? I am being serious here, because if we are to make a comparison, the Buddhist religion greatly exemplifies Buddha in paintings, ornate temples, clothing, rites, etc. The concepts are simple, but adornment in order to praise Buddha is part of many eastern religions.