To get the bars to a useful height, I always had to buy a too large frame, till the Technomic stem was introduced. To me, the extended head lugs look beautiful.
I think the best thing Grant could do about lugs would be to pay Curt and Kirk Pacenti to TIG or braze up some blanks and carve their interpretations of what a Riv lug set should look like. Then choose one of the sets and send it to Long Shen for duplication. Unaltered!
Grants lugs look like they were designed by a committee, or came from 3 different sets. Hardly hideous, but with awkward transitions and no coherent theme. Don't let me get started on that fork crown. Acceptable on a lesser bike, but not worthy of the craftsmanship lavished on the bikes by Curt and painter Joe Bell.
As for collectability; I have a gut feeling they will be highly sought after. Enzo Ferrari didn't build, or even design most of his cars, but they are the product of one man's philosophy. I can see, years down the road, people trying to collect one from each builder. And telling the uninitiated, "I get asked that a lot. But no, that really is the original fork."
Mark Stonich;
Minneapolis Minnesota
http://mnhpva.org
http://bikesmithdesign.com