Original Message: ----------------- From: Jan Heine heine93@earthlink.net Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 07:52:57 -0800 To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org, jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net Subject: Re: French bike culture in America, was [CR]re: Why no Toei?
"I apologize if my remarks to this list were understood to say no French bikes were known in the U.S. before recently."
Apologise? Not required... indeed thanks for getting us to talk about French bikes!
And also further the debate as to the relative impact in cycling made by the small bespoke frame makers and independents vs. the big mass production companies. There is no doubt that the former were usually more "in tune" with the latest developments and with their customers' requirements. And more willing to test new components etc. And no doubt that without the latter adopting many of these for the mass market, many of these improvements will not have the impact they did.
As collectors and riders, we gravitate, as do most collectors, towards the rarest and best. We tend to shun "typical" and hum-drum. And there's nothing wrong in that. But it might skew our interpretation of the relative role the rare and the "best" played in cycle development. And let's face it, we don't want the rare and the best for the masses. Otherwise, if all bikes were Singers and Herses, their value (on all levels) would diminish!
Best and first doesn't always have the expected impact. Look at aviation. The British invented jet propulsion. But the Germans were the first to use it in war. The British Comet was the first commercial jet. But it was the Boeing 707 that created the Jet Age. The VC-10 was "better" on all levels, but had no market impact. Today, few would credit the British for giving us the Jet Age as result. We think it came from Seattle. Just like most folks think "French bicycle" means Peugeot. It may not be fair. Or right. But it's "true".
Peter Kohler Washington DC USA
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