Re: [CR] Big Names; Was: confente the unknown

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In-Reply-To: <43513C44680D429FA3543ACC326F401E@D8XCLL51>
References: <698701.80374.qm@web55903.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <a0623099fc581818da1d7@[192.168.1.33]>
Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 08:50:36 -0800
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
From: "Jan Heine" <heine94@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR] Big Names; Was: confente the unknown


>How about Fletcher at CNC?

Fletcher/CNC was a mid-size production shop. Their frames were nothing special. In fact, they supplied inexpensive frames for Alex Singer in the 1970s. These were sold as a budget model, labeled with the standard Alex Singer decals. Once in a while, one of these frames shows up on French e-bay, and people sometimes pay high prices, thinking they are getting a true Alex Singer, made by Roland Csuka.

The differences are quite easy to spot, even in an e-bay auction. Most of the Fletcher-built frames use inexpensive horizontal dropouts. (Singer used verticals on true randonneur bikes and Campagnolo horizontals on sport-touring/racing frames destined to the U.S.). The lugs aren't recharged with brass on Fletchers, and there are a host of other details that are different. Most of all, the workmanship just isn't the same. The Fletchers are more like a Peugeot PX-10 than a true custom-built frame.

Konlin/De la Rosa, in their book "The Custom Bicycle," completely missed the French constructeurs, partially because most of them closed before they got to Europe. So instead of Singer, Herse and perhaps perhaps Ducheron, they visited the big makers of production frames. That is how Fletcher/CNC got some exposure in the U.S.

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com