I'll throw my 2 cents in. What any artisan gains with experience is consistency. Also the older they get the more conservative they will get in design. The converse is that early creations will vary in consistency from true masterpiece to something somewhat less. So you rolls the dice and takes your chances. With a modern bike from a long time builder you can be assured of a beautiful product. But chances are he's not sticking his neck out too far. With a young builder or something from early in some ones career you can find magic or maybe just an illusion.
Richard Sachs is correct. A true artisan only peaks when his hand no longer can perform the magic.
Steve Leitgen La Crosse,WI
On Jun 6, 2006, at 8:48 AM, loudeeter@aol.com wrote:
> I would add that material is another factor to consider. Changes
> in the past 30 years, such as the diameter of the tubesets, quality
> of the steel, & precision of lug castings, have a lot to do with
> the perceived quality, whether it be quality of ride or quality of
> the build. Richard Sachs tells me every year that he hasn't yet
> "peaked", so I believe that means he is still improving and
> striving for perfection. Regarding your question, I want both--
> quality of design and build; which is why if and when I decide to
> order another custom bike, it will be from someone who won't
> compromise on either. Lou Deeter, Orlando FL
>
>
> "Accuracy and attention to detail take a certain amount of time."
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lennys_email@juno.com <lennys_email@juno.com>
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Sent: Tue, 6 Jun 2006 13:27:30 GMT
> Subject: [CR] Is Quality Evolutionary ?
>
>
> To add to Jan's insightful analysis:
> The qualtiy of bikes, like all other manufactured things, depends
> fundam
> entally on two factors: design and execution. If the designer has
> quali
> ty, however that may be defined, as his or her objective, then one
> can a
> ssume that quality will improve with experience, and in that case
> later
> built bikes should be better than earlier ones, barring any errors
> in ju
> dgement on the part of the designer. Execution is another story,
> and de
> pends on factors such as those discussed by Jan, especially the
> pressure
> to produce in numbers to meet demand. So one question that can be
> aske
> d is: would you rather have a bike of excellent design and average
> exec
> ution (construction), or average design and excellent execution ?
> Perso
> nnaly speaking, I'll take the former if I can't have excellence in
> both.
>
> Len Grossman, S. Orange NJ
>
>
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