Dale,
When I wrote that Charles' piece was elitist, I was objecting to the premise that my opinion counts for less because I do not score high on his criteria:
<snip> *the collecting experience, in years, of the person making the judgement of ugliness
*the number of bikes of the same national origin, quality, and value, owned by the judge
*the fair market value of said bikes
*if the judge has designed and built more than 20 custom, high-quality lugged steel frames with their own hands, the collecting experience number is increased by some factor to be determined.
The judge need not currently own any bikes, the *number of bikes* may include *all* bikes of the relevant kind that the judge has owned in the past, even if they have none in the present. <snip>
None of these criteria relate directly to the quality of a person's aesthetic judgement. Indeed the second one may indicate a narrowness of focus that prevents the collector from seeing the beauty in bikes from other countries.
Of course you are correct that we learn from experts. Art appreciation is taught by those who have recognized expertise in a particular field. Today's experts were yesterday's apprentices. Still, one does not need to be a huge collector or a builder to learn to appreciate beauty or craftsmanship. This is why the suggestion that we have to learn to TIG weld in order to appreciate a welded frame is ridiculous. I can't carry a tune, but I can appreciate good singing. Does my opinion not count unless I have a giant record collection and/or have recorded a few albums of my own?
I am willing to be an apprentice, and I certainly have much to learn, but I do not want to be dismissed simply because I have fewer bikes in my basement.
Marcus Helman
Huntington Woods, MI