Hi Peter, I disagree with your analogy of bikes to suits. No one (normally) buys used suits or shoes. To me a used bike is more closely akin to buying a used car. The used car has seats that you can adjust to fit you, ditto a bike with stems and seatposts. I personally love other peoples used custom frames. I ride large frames and as long as the top tube isn't overly short or long they work fine. I can see no better buy than a used custom frame. I feel most people buy custom frames because they want an especially nice frame, not becuase the owner had strange body proportions and couldn't find an off the shelf bike to fit.
just my 2 cents, cheers,
Rod Kronenberg
Fort Collins, CO
> The idea of "tiers" is useful especially for those of us with no real
\r?\n> ambition to find our collections fall into the top two or even three
\r?\n> "rungs".
\r?\n>
\r?\n> A lot of folks here are into handbuilt, custom-made frames etc. and that's
\r?\n> obviously "top tier". But I like to ride what I collect and buying someone
\r?\n> else's custom-made bike, unless they are a mirror image of me, is like
\r?\n> buying and wearing used custom made suits or shoes. It's still quality but
\r?\n> the "it's all about me" quality is largely wasted on a second owner in my
\r?\n> opinion. Of course one can still admire the tailoring of a custom made suit
\r?\n> that's two sizes too small.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> So I guess I aspire to second tier which I might define as the real
\r?\n> quality, top-of-the-line machine that was still an off the shelf item. I
\r?\n> would suppose my '73 Cinelli SC and '48 RRA would qualify for that. But
\r?\n> there are intangables too, what some here call "mojo" so maybe my '74-5 TI
\r?\n> Raleigh Team Pro gets a notch up for that... I know it was at least owned
\r?\n> by a famous pro, if not ridden professionally. Then again what about my '69
\r?\n> PX-10? Not quite in the league as a bike if you just look at it (well I
\r?\n> love her!) but loaded with mojo associations of Tommy Simpson et. al. and
\r?\n> an off the shelf machine that was a racing champion in its day.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> To me, the most aspired to "tier" is when you've got her out on the road
\r?\n> and you get "Man, that's a great looking bike". A '77 Sears "Free Spirit"
\r?\n> might get that, but I kinda doubt it. We all know what we like in the end...
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Peter Kohler
\r?\n> Washington DC USA
\r?\n>
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