sbirmingham@mindspring.com writes:
> "What's really needed is a good visual guide to the traits of particular
> builders over time, gathered into
> one place. Maybe even something a bit more permanent than a website. For
> most of what's typically collected,
> it shouldn't be too hard since the popular brands were produced in
> relatively significant numbers, and there's
> enough information to gather. The custom nature of some bikes, especially
> ones from earlier in a builders career
> before they got into series production will always cause problems, but other
> information could prove the exceptions. I'm thinking of things like odd
> features on a bike that otherwise has all the right traits."
>
This was exactly what I had in mind in the mid-80s when I began to compile
information that later became the Used Bike Buyers Guide. I had come across a
used bike I had never heard of in a local shop--a Romic. This was before the
Internet, or at least the one I began to use around the mid-90s. Al Gore
may have invented an earlier version. But, I wandered. In my first attempt
at describing various bikes, the goal was to be able to describe features that
would help a buyer if the frame had no engraving or decals. I felt surely
that a single builder would use a standard way of joining the seatstays. I was
terribly wrong. I also found that model designs changed regularly, keeping
the same model name. I also found over time that I knew a lot less than I
thought I did. The High Tech Bicycle, The Custom Bicycle, Bicycling Magazine,
Bicycle Guide--all those provided food for thought and stoked the interest. I
still add makes when I find information--usually someone sending me a link or
seeing a new bike on Ebay, so the Guide is alive. The guide has over 150
pages and probably over a thousand builders listed, with thousands more models.
But, my information was very limited prior to 1980. While I applaud
someone who wants to take a project on to actually catalog all the different models
of various builders, over time and by model, I believe it would be a lifelong
project and then would still not catch nuances from the rare, custom build.
Dale's http://www.classicrendezvous.com, the Wool Jersey site, and a few other sites
that I don't have on the tip of my brain, provide a valuable tool for the
researcher--available on the net. Jan Heine's The Golden Age of Handbuilt
Bicycles is another excellent resource for a specific type of bike--the French
Randonneur. The Used Bike Buyers Guide isn't on the net and I no longer publish
it in paper. And, it has no pictures, so Steve's desire for a "visual guide"
would come up short with the guide. My belief is that for every "sure thing"
you could find on a builder's characteristics, someone will find one that
doesn't fit the mold. Maybe someone with more time than I have will undertake
such a project. Lou Deeter, Orlando FL USA
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