Okay, several seem to equate the metal frame building with the carbon because they use glue to assemble the frame instead of brazing material. If just joining the frames is all it takes to make a fine hand made bicycle then sign me up. I will stick those lugs onto tubes, file off the excess slag and do a decent paint job to boot. I guess we can expand the definition of handmade to include me so look for my table at next years event. Obviously I am being a bit over the top here but my point is that joining carbon lugs to carbon tubes with glue does not even come close to my understanding of what a lugged steel bike is like from a handmade perspective. I see all the time on this forum the passion and almost sexual attachment some have for finely filed lug work. Does someone take a file to those carbon lugs and scroll artwork into them? Can you look at the glue joint and see the skill that it took to get a good join or fine lug outline? Don't get me wrong, I see some very artistic carbon bikes, some very beautiful but not in the same context as a fine steel lugged frame. I guess you can say that there are more hands involved in a carbon frame build then in a classic steel frame. I don't think the number of hands qualifies you for the artistic use of the term Handmade. I am sure we can get a bunch of engineers and people to build a machine that can sculpt a copy of Michelangelo's David, that shure would be more hands than the Master used.
Ray Homiski
Elizabeth, NJ