First it was great to meet a few of the CR list members while here in Portl
and (I'm still here actually as my flight back to Dallas isn't for a few mo
re hours). A friend on another forum has been nice enough to host all of t
he photos I've taken this weekend (600ish in all) for me till I am able to
get home and organize them properly. If anyone is interested here is the l
ink: http://homepage.mac.com/
Have to admit, I enjoyed the eye candy of every shape and size here. Even the bikes that might not by my particular cup of tea I could see as express ions of the builders enthusiasm for cycling as a whole. Anyone who puts th at much time and effort let alone money into becoming a frame builder must have a real passion for bicycles. And I can never fault anyone for that.
Jon Fischer Dallas, TX Velobase.com
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The Greatest Trophy of all is the sense of Accomplishment http://velobase.c
om | http://thecuda.com
> Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:51:41 -0600> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.or
g> From: mark@bikesmithdesign.com> Subject: Re: [CR]re: NAHBS 2008 pictures
> > At 2/10/2008 08:24 PM -0500, Harvey Sachs wrote:> > It's really strange
, and maybe just suggests that I'm getting too > > old to have right good s
ense, but I wasn't overwhelmed.> >> >There were some very nice ideas, such
as innovative ways to mount > >wheels in frames, and there was some extraor
dinary workmanship and > >detailing. But somehow, and maybe it was the sele
ction of pictures, > >an awful lot seemed to be a triumph of pure decoratio
n. No > >improvement, but differences for the fun of doing it differently.
> >Maybe Novelty is the nice word. A rococo alternative to the > >minimalis
m of e-Richie (Sachs), Peter Weigle, Masi, et al. The > >pendulum swinging
back toward Hetchins, Ephgrave, Carpenter, and the > >British school of the
50s?*> > I agree completely. The object seems to showcase the builder's >
skills. And as an occasional framebuilder I'm very impressed with > the lev
el of workmanship, imagination and skill on display. But my > engineering b
ackground sees too much inefficient use of metal, in > pursuit of style. Ra
cks with curved supports where straight would be > lighter and stronger. La
bor intensive rear dropouts that look heavy > without looking strong.> > Bu
t this is understandable. At this event you want to be noticed, > have ever
yone posting photos of your bikes. The best bicycles, have > just the right
amount of stiffness for the job and no more weight > than necessary. Yet I
believe that at such an event a Chris Kvale, > with paper thin edges on lu
gs little heavier than a TIG weld would > only be noticed by the true afici
onados. The careful tube selection > that an experienced builder uses to ta
ilor a frame to the rider means > nothing in such a venue.> > That said, I
spent hours poring over the photos, and there is also > very much to admire
.> > > Mark Stonich;> BikeSmith Design & Fabrication> 5349 Elliot Ave S. -
Minneapolis. MN 55417> Ph. (612) 824-2372 http://bikesmithdesign.com> http:
//mnhpva.org > > _______________________________________________> Classicre
ndezvous mailing list> Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> http://www.bikelist.
org/mailman/listinfo/classicrendezvous