Folks,
Ordering a bike from some of these folks is a heck of a lot more difficult
than some seem to believe. Whether you're talking a Master with a grand
total of 18 bikes built (Art Stump to me in a private conversation), Brian
Baylis' ( a giant in my eyes) 4 year wait list, or Richard Moon's refusal
to return E-Mails or phone messages, it can be a very difficult and time
consuming process to order a bike from a very small builder. (OK, folks,
here is where the builders chime and in and tell us how easy it can be!)
On the other hand, you have some very nice people out there even if they are
not building a lot of bikes.
Also, I was delighted when David Kirk told me that during the off season,
a 3-6 week turnaround was not uncommon.
Of course this is all complicated by the fact that many builders have more
than one big area of interest that takes up a lot of their time. Whether
Chris Kvale's resort, Richard Sachs racing and sponsorship activities, Dale
Brown's many other interests, or Doug Fattic's humanitarian activities with
his church or in foreign lands, these are often at least as important as
bike building in their lives...somehow I like that.
Tom Sanders
Lansing, Mi