Chuck:
1) Tell me with a straight face that less than 90% of the bikes of any material sitting in my (or your) LBS are TIG'ed....
2) Then tell me with a straight face that the new $3000 TIG'ed "wonder bike" that someone buys today is going to be worth more than $600 just a few short years down the road. Now there's lasting quality and value!!
3) A decent high-school metal-shop student with a modicum of training and access to jigs can (and often does) TIG up a frame.
4) I have nothing against progress per se (as an experienced Engineer, I admire the technology in many newer consumer goods - cars, cameras, 'puters, etc.), but I think that planned obsolescence, progress just for progress' sake, and "the bicycle as fashion statement" all suck. There is a huge difference between a high-quality, carefully thought out and masterfully crafted piece of functional art, and something that was zapped together and powder-coated in half a day. Frames today are TIG'ed primarily because it's a fast and cheap way to build a frame.
5) Classic fillet-brazed does not equal TIG-welded. No comparison IMHO.
Pulling on two pair of Kevlar shorts now just to be extra safe....
Cheers and classic lugged steel is (still!) real,
Greg "retrogrouch" Parker A2 MI USA
Where I have not one single index-shifting or clipless-pedal-equipped road or track bike in a rather large fleet*
*OK, the tandem has Suntour Accushift indexing barcons, but it came to me used in that configuration!! I'm now considering retrofitting it to friction just to be even more retro-grouchy!!
e-Chuck wrote:
> Not equal in style and purpose? TIG'd whatevers? (Not everything is
> TIG'd Greg.)
>
> Just different eras. The exact same thing only different ;) I can
> remember when lugless construction was ultra cool. Style and purpose?
> I can see it in current bikes, can't you? There is a comparison!
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> SoPas, SoCal