snipped: "One would think that the workmanship and artistic values of these "workshop arts" would carry over to a basically handmade object like the bicycle."
my rationale:
fuji and panasonic were industrially made products.
kind of like the pottery, textiles, and woodwork at ikea.
e-RICHIE
chester, ct
Thinking back to the early 70's and the bikes I actually saw on the road (as opposed to seeing in ads in Bicycling or Bike World), the only ones I remember that left a strong impression after meeting them face-to-fork were Fuji and Panasonic.
As a lug-licker in training, even back then, my first instinct was to look closely at the construction details of the frames. In both cases, the frames were clean and neat, but there was a certain something that failed to capture the imagination... a sterility perhaps (or dare I say, lack of mojo?). I don't know if there was any objective basis to my feelings or if it was just a personal/cultural bias... but it was quite similar to what I felt (and still feel) when comparing the finest Japanese cars to the nicest European cars. Or Campy to Shimano for that matter... Campy always seems to go the extra mile to make a component a pleasure to hold in the hand. I always found this a bit confusing, considering the incredibly powerful visual presence of Japanese textiles, pottery, woodworking, etc. One would think that the workmanship and artistic values of these "workshop arts" would carry over to a basically handmade object like the bicycle. But perhaps in Europe the intrusion of the "industrial mentality" on this type of art and design was somehow less destructive than it was in Japan.
Still, I'd love to see the best of either of these marques again after all these years so that I can take another look. Guess I should wander on over to CR and see what Dale's got posted.
Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA