On 2/27/06, sante_pogliaghi@mac.com <sante_pogliaghi@mac.com> wrote:
>
> I've never lived there and my opinion is overvalued at 2 cents, but I
> believe there is a very distinct Bay Area/ N. Cali style of handmade
> bicycle.
>
I started to draft a reply, but I've reconsidered. Too, too much of Bay Are a cycling, builders in particular, pulls any discussion here off topic. Almos t any of the names you mentioned tie into the early development of that style that WE choose not to speak of here; I have heard some of those named individuals say so in a very public setting.
Dale doesn't want this forum to go down that firetrail, I agree, and I hope you folks do as well. Doesn't mean we don't like those bikes, or hold an interest in the talented folks who built/build them along with road bikes, but even the roadie frames were subject to post-Mt. Tam influence that just makes this topic unmanageably awkward.
I actually mean that in the most complimentary way. Bay Area and NorCal designers/builders have done an amazing thing in the development of mountai n bikes (sorry!), but they also turn out some of the most functional, beautiful, and speedy road and touring bikes, including some that epitomize "KOF" product. I salute AND suggest we move on....
-- Dan Kehew, Davis CA