[CR]Was: measuring ugliness. Now: welding

(Example: Framebuilders:Brian Baylis)

From: <"richardsachs@juno.com">
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2004 14:56:18 GMT
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]Was: measuring ugliness. Now: welding

the list timeline stuff is celebrated because it represents an era which no longer exists - and that doesn't ensure that goods made back then are better or made from loving hands. most of the stuff discussed here daily is production work or factory made or sourced out by the maker, only to find most here incredulous 30-40 years later. welding wasn't used then because the market didn't accept it and the industry didn't embrace it. lugs were common because they were available, not because they were better; most of the lugged frames from the pre-TIG era are junk - we only like the .01% here. what grant said about "...in 200 years" is charming, but it doesn't account for the fact that, while he is trying hard to re-issue a classic frame, not unlike the MASI i outed this a.m., most of the other 500,000,000 lugged frames from the pre-TIG era show no evidence of the "differentiated hand". lugs were used because that's what was economically viable. whether it's off topic or not, it pains me, as a builder, to see such a sweeping bias against all other assembly methods. tig welding has its own aesthetic and requires the same care that lug brazing does - assumming the builder is putting his best efforts into it. just as millions of TIG-ed frames are/were indifferently made, the same could be said for lugged frames.
e-RICHIE
chester, ct