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