On Jul 20, 2007, at 7:51 AM, Mike Schmidt wrote:
> "If there's a true heir to the spirit of Rene Herse, it's probably
> Toei in Japan"
>
> Richard, I think that Msr. Csuka may have something to say about
> that. BTW, when was the last time you noticed a Japanese seller
> offering french parts for sale on an english ebay site?
>
As in literal life and death, there can be more than one heir. But didn't M. Herse employ other framebuilders in the latter part of his reign? This would more in line with Toei's practice than Singer's. And Singer doesn't presently make its own components any more than Toei does. Both do build exemplary bikes crafted to the purposes for which Herse crafted his.
Sacha White and Peter Weigle are also Singer-like constructeurs.
Maybe Toei should buy out Paul Components...then you'd have a true Herse analog!
As for your second comment, what's the relevance of that to anything? Most Japanese don't speak English (when I was there, I had to get along using my 1-year-old's level of Japanese), so how could they? When the collectors I know buy something, it disappears form the market till they die. That's what makes them collectors, in part. How come it's okay if someone does it in California or Wisconsin but not in Tokyo or Hiroshima?
The only folks I see parting out classics are in the US. Seems to me that the Japanese are more interested in keeping bikes together. Or putting them back together. Just like folks on CR who keep buying parts as well as whole bikes on eBay.
Rick "homo sapiens, kinda paler version" Risemberg -- Richard Risemberg http://www.bicyclefixation.com http://www.newcolonist.com http://www.rickrise.com