You had to be a dealer to see enough bikes to say there was a problem in general. Samples of individual bikes don't tell the story.
Some bike boom trends:
Raleigh missed brazing on some lugs. Schwinn built terrible (or barely laced) wheels. Motobecane forks had terrible alignment (may have been flimsy boxes).
All the decent bike companies could sell everything they could produce, so out the door it went. Concientious mechanics faced a different problem every day. Every box was a mystery as to what was wrong with the bike. For example, I aligned the fork or frame on at least half the Motobecanes I built. It did not help productivity to start the build of a bike by pulling off the fork Especially with 10 builds scheduled that day.
At the same time some shops were pulling out the forks and getting them right, the mechanics at the competition down the road boasted about 20 minute assemblies. They got paid piece work and made money hand over fist. I suspect the never "saw" a misaligned fork or frame. To do that, you would have to look, and they didn't have time to look. Same thing on the assembly end as at Raleigh. And out the door they went!
Joe Bender-Zanoni
Great Notch, NJ
> Perhaps I was just lucky but of the four Raleighs I have
> none have exploded or fallen apart, or shown any problem with lugs not
being brazed. (3 are 531 frames)
> The frames are 231/2 to 251/2" so they're big enough to exhibit any bad
flexing habits if they were so inclined.
> OTOH: Maybe the paint's holding them together. ; )
> The worst "defect" I've noticed on my Super Course is that the head tube
was brazed in a bit off center and since the badge holes were predrilled the
little heron always looks off to one side!
> I did see a cheap Record in a Goodwill store that had the biggest gaps
between the tubes and lugs, like they used French tubes in regular sized
lugs.
> So I don't doubt there's some bad jobs out there but sure like to think
there's more good than bad.
>
> OT: as for British sports cars-watch "Victory By Design" on Speed channel
when they cover Jaguar and Aston Martin to see what they could do.
> (be sure to pipe through stereo-beautiful sounds!)
>
>
>
> Pete Geurds
> Douglassville, PA