Gang,
Having Mr. Merz back on-line has inspired me out of "lurk" mode. I have one of Jim's bikes, a rather sleek pursuit bike (aero tubes), serila # JB 320 (or 380, damn my eyes are bad) reputedly built for Nat. Team pursuiter John Beckman. The bike has inspored me to ponder "Schools" of West Coast builders. For example the "Eisentraut" school of builders, and the Carlsbad Masi school, or the "Paterek" school. Likewise during rides on a '80 Wizard, I have spent a few miles thinking about how framebuilders concentrated in geographic regions. For example in the Pac NW alone at one time or another you had the aforementioned Jim Merz, Bruce Gordon, Stevenson, Davidson, Erickson (My Three 'sons?), Tim Paterek, Di Nucci, Strawberry, Rodriquez, Klein, Land Shark, Luna, Calvert Express, Co-Motion, Vanilla, Casmano and Iglehart____ add your favorites here.....
South of the Siskyou summit you found Eisentraut, Baylis, Ritchey, Della Santa, Simonetti, Mikkleson, Peter Johnson, Mike Howard, Holland, Kirkbride, Tesch, Tsunami, Felt....add more here.
I am less familar with the "East Coast School" of builders, but wonder what is in the water of East Haddam, Connecticut the would support a Richard Sachs and a Peter Weigle in the same area code?
Much like the various 'Schools" of painters, anybody care to take a stab at defining the traits that might define the various "Schools'?
Too much oxygen in Portland,OR
Kevin Gosney