The details do speak for themselves. They are beautiful.
But the logic of these bikes escapes me. I can understand putting updated components on classic frames, so that you can get more enjoyment out of the frame (a la Sheldon Brown). But why would you want to put 40-50 year old components on a modern frame? I have this beautiful new expensive bicycle, and I have to make a 50-year old derailleur work? Well, to each his own....
Louis Schulman Tampa, FL
Bryant Bainbridge wrote:
> Sitting here this morning, glazed inside my house by one of Portland's
> occasional ice storms, I thought I would look through my collection of
> cycling jpgs pulled from the web. In short order I came to the Toei 50th
> Anniversary bikes and had to wonder 'what are people thinking'? Has
> anyone really looked at the workmanship here, work that surpasses
> anything put down by Messieurs Singer, Herse, Goeland, et al. ?
>
> Which brought me back to the moment in 1975, where I had finally scraped
> together the $350 I needed for a Carlsbad Masi. Heading over to Sea
> Schwinn, I spent the next hour scanning every detail on the frame they
> had on display. Nice, but the lug work was not quite what had got me all
> fired up in the first place. Something has slipped here. Maybe another
> shop would have a frame finished with a little more care. I pulled into
> to Corona Del Mar Cyclery and there on the wall were several names I had
> never seen before...'Wizard' & "Lippy'. Damn, look at the lug work and
> the brazing! These bikes were a notch above anything I had seen before.
> It was upon learning that the guys behind Wizard had worked at Masi,
> that I jumped in my car and headed for Huntington Beach to place my
> order. My vision of what a properly executed frame could be was
> inextricably moved that day. Talking with Baylis when I placed my order,
> he mentioned that he had just come back from Portland where he had
> picked up some tricks from a guy named Dinucci at Strawberry. That
> pointed me north and before long I had uncovered the work of Dinucci,
> Merz, Eisentraut and later Gordan.
>
> By the mid/late 70's it became clear to me that a new generation of
> builders, with the Americans at the forefront, were leading the way in
> terms of quality and for my money it has been that way ever since. Why
> then do we heap so much praise on the French builders of the past and
> ignore someone like Toei, who builds not only exquisite frames, but
> racks, derails, stems, etc?? Granted, the French were the originals, but
> there was more than a little 'borrowing' of ideas from builder to
> builder within the French community. Why then is Toei any different and
> why no reverence for his work outside of Japan? Why too does a used
> Baylis generate less excitement and discussion than a used Masi
> Carlsbad, whose work IMO is inferior to that of Mr. Baylis by a wide
> margin.
>
> Will we have to wait for these builders to pass on to value their work
> in the same way we value that of Masi, Cinelli, Colnago or will we have
> to wait until the next generation shows up looking for what they could
> not afford when they were young?? Looking back at the Raleigh
> International I rode in 1970, it is a rough, bike boom execution that
> has severe front end shimmy over 35mph. Sentimental? Yes, but great work
> and a great ride?? Not by todays standards. Not by a wide margin.
>
> At one point my stable included; Baylis, Davidson, Dinucci, Eisentraut,
> Gordan, Merz, Pauley, Ritchey, Strawberry (Dinucci), Wizard
> (Baylis/Howard). I think these (among others) are the names of the
> future. Too bad we don't give them their due today.
>
> For anyone that has not seen the work of Toei in person, you can check
> out several of his 50th anniversary bikes here, both lugged and lugless:
>
> http://www.generalworks.com/
>
> Double click on one of these pictures to pull up the details of these
> bikes. Having once owned a Toei, I have cast my vote for Mr. Toei as one
> of the best living framebuilders. Even if you have no predilection for
> classic French details, the workmanship speaks for itself.
>
> Bryant Bainbridge
> Portland, Orygun
> 30 degrees & Freezing rain