Ted E. Baer from Palo Alto, CA asked:
"Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if any old bicycle frames or parts were made from old melted down metal guns confiscated from enemies in war times, or non-functioning guns (fire-arms?)
I always wonder about those B.S.A. parts..."
Ted, my response isn't directly related to your tongue-in-cheek question but it reminds me that the old bicycle factory in Kharkov, Ukraine still makes it's frames out of the same metal used in guns. At least that is what they told the Shimano guys when we were all checking out the factory. They (Shimano) had just asked the question of how much does it cost to make a frame at this factory. Shimano went on to say that $5 was a common cost for making frames in various factories around the world that had a capacity of turning out a million frames or more a year. The answer from Kharkov was that it cost $8 to make a frame there but that it used a special harder metal like what is used in making guns. I wanted to ask more questions about this but it wasn't my place to butt in at that moment.
This also reminds me I need to bring my photo album of the adventures I have had at this factory to the Cirque. One of my favorite pictures is a secretary working at her desk with a large picture of Lenin behind her probably making sure none of his business principles were being violated. I doubt they were. (One of the questions Kharkov wanted to know was how much money they had to give under the table to Shimano to get their special OEM pricing. To their surprise, this wasn't necessary.) We asked of course why it was still up more than 10 years after the end of communism. She gave a shrug like "ah, we just never have bothered to take it down."
Doug Fattic
Niles, Michigan