On 13/12/2005, at 7:00 AM, classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org wrote:
> charles nighbor <cnighbor@pacbell.net> mused:
> I disagree with that partial quote. As an artist and Architect I find
> most
> bicycle components that are pantographed ugly and super cool. I am of
> the School of thought that less is more. Looking a non pantographed
> Cinelli stem I find the very clean lines marred and ugly when intruded
> on with pantographing. Then to add color further adds to the
> undesirability of it from a, "less is more view point". A Hetchins
> ornate lugs are nice but are they to be preferred over the clean ,"less
> is more" lugs of a 1970's California built Masi frame. I say no. A
> pantographed brake set with the typical red, yellow and green colors
> applied in the resulting grooves is even more of a joke. I prefer to
> enjoy and prefer a bike without any pantographing, clean non-ornate
> lugs
> and a very tasteful letter style frame makers name applied to the down
> tube only.
>
>
To which Frank Lloyd Wright admirer, and Philippe Starck's cousin Joe i
n Madison, WI opined ....
> Charles,
> Here's what I think: I think the practice of sticking foot-long
> full-name decals on the down tube is past its raison d'etre, all
> around. Masi, Colanago, and all the rest get a pass, cuz: race bikes:
> win races: publicity. done. But why now? What's with all the fine
> makers of steel frames in the $2000+ realm doin' plasterin' their
> names on? The other day I saw a rider on a bicycle, labeled "Bruce
> Gordon" on the down tube. I said, "Hi Bruce!" Come to find out he
> isn't "Bruce," he's Chuck, but his bicycle's frame was made by
> "Bruce." Bruce Gordon isn't the only one, there are others who do the
> same. Short story, I got the scoop from him on custom bicycles and I
> now think to myself, "Why would ANYBODY pay several thousand dollars
> for A BICYCLE BUILT TO RIDE AND FIT TO SUIT ONE'S SELF, and then
> submit to the imposition of another man's name up and down the whole
> damn down tube like that!!?
Interesting point Joe. As a surfer dude and a very artistic lover, me thinks that brazin' kid Ugo D Rose was perhaps always ahead of the game (well except for the last few years anyway). Back in '88 he chose to issue his Anniversario model (35th year commemorative) bike with his fabled name by deleting the aforementioned but du jour decals/stickers and simply sticking with a small signature on the downtube (6cm's) and a rose on the head tube. That is super way cool ... especially when an italian bike meant as much bling as you could fit (see Rossin, Colnago et al). A case of let the frame speak and if'n you can't figure out who made the bike then you wouldn't have noticed it in the first place. Heck he even threw in a few low key pintstripes which isn't very common for italian bikes of that era ... all in any color so long as it's off-white pearl. And charge extra. That Ugo is cool ;) Not my thought originally but one that I much agree with now ... is the Rose on the headtube not the finest decal you have seen on a bike ?? Ugo always had good taste ... even the name is cool. Interestingly he chose to mix it up with a bit of panto-ing on some parts and frame ... and in this case I think it looks cool and hot. Interesting approach from a framebuilder who seems cultured compared to the low caste builders of pastiche and garish bici. Let's face it ... Ugo even looks like an artist and intellectual .... most other framebuilders from Italy resemble market gardeners or backyard diesel mechanics (see Ernesto's combover). Hardly refined and to my eyes, so do most of their bikes look like products of unsubtle and try too hard aesthetics. Of course this is conjecture and a matter of nothing but opinion.
A recent ebay De Rosa Anniversario to eye upon (warning: C Record content to those with their head stuck in the sand)
ciao,
Ben Kamenjas Bondi, Australia
p.s. shouldn't H. Stone get some kickback for being quoted in the recent "oh-my-yahweh-that's-lotsa-money" Simplex auction ?? no disrepect to seller or quotee but if'n things go for crazy money like that surely some material props is owed for intellectual property or sumtin' like that. If anyone is deranged enough to quote my words on an ebay auction and they strike it big then please send me vintage champagne or european porn (or both). nah ... actually, send me a BVVW jersey. Them is rare, man !!!