I have had the sense lately of more and more folks feeling that KOF builders
are replicating the OT bikes of Pre-83. All the KOF builders that I know
(and there are a few) feel that they are building modern steel bikes with
the craftsmanship and artisanship of the period, but perhaps a bit better.
A few will build a replica bike if it is requested...and it sometimes
is...with beautiful results, but their main output is a modern bike...nearly
always of steel with serious individual attention to detail. From Richard
Sachs to Sacha White, few would say they are building anything but modern
bikes. The KOF designation does get a bit shaky, if one is only talking
about them and looking backward at pre-'83. They need to be considered as
just what they are...and I don't quite agree that this list is just about
the pre-'83 stuff...it is about the stuff from that period and also the
stuff which is built with an individual care that reflects the values of
those times...and maybe a bit more, even. If there were no improvements
being made, it would be a dead art, indeed. Frankly, if the list was
concerned only with what was great 30 or so years ago, it would be dead,
too.
Tom Sanders
Lansing, Mi USA