The exalted ListMeister wrote:
>> I would still rather have a Richard Sachs or a Brian Baylis or a
...(fill in
>> the blank, even a Dale Brown) where I knew the maker carefully shaped
and
>> carved and drilled and sweated the details, rather than a (albeit
very nice)
>> Nagasawa or De Rosa or Masi or ? in which the component parts were
made via
>> casting accuracy to replicate those shapings that the maker no longer
took
>> the time to do...
Maybe - I completely understand the underlying sentiment. One could argue however that the socketed dropouts on the Nagasawa (or the Joe Breeze / Ritchey dropouts of similar design) require more precise - altho less time consuming - cutting of the stay AND they offer a much bigger contact area for brazing, resulting in a stronger frame that is more resistant to breakage in this highly stressed area.
===================================================== Mark Petry 206.618.9642 Beautiful Bainbridge Island, WA mpetry@bainbridgeisland.net
===================================================== Be quick, be quiet, be right. Especially right.
- Kelly Johnson =====================================================