>Since no one else is, as an artist I've got to jump in and register
>my complete agreement with Brian's critcisms of the graphic
>treastment on this bike. The lettering looks to me like the
>cheesy press-on '70s lettering I used in graphics art classes
>then. It was ugly then and, '70s nostalgia aside, much like
>disco it still sucks. I am not qualified to comment on the
>construction details. Maybe I'm just averse to '70s graphics
>in general, but I swear it wasn't all so canned looking!
>
>My two lire,
>Kurt Sperry
>B'ham WA
Would you allow another artist to weigh in as well? It amazes me how half-hearted the execution of this design is... the head tube logo is attractive in it's elegance and simplicity... why couldn't the treatment of the downtube type somehow follow that clean and classy theme?
And have I gotten spoiled by looking at Joe Bell's paint jobs or is that an unbelieveably sloppy masking job on the head tube?
The other thing that bothers me is the front of that top head lug. I realize they nipped the (extended) top off the lug, but to then leave the front open like that seems very uncraftsmanly... couldn't they at least have added a spot of braze and filed it back so that the two sides of the "V" came neatly together, like they do on the bottom lug?
That said, I have to complement Alberto... a steel frame, with lugs no less... with Richie's luggs no less... maybe the good old days aren't gone forever after all. It brings tears to my eyes, like seeing Kevin Costner gaze across the field as the old ball players emerge from the corn rows...
Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA