My goodness, I understand that a few of my ill-chosen or ill-directed words in an earlier contri to the List has caused at least one British frame-builder, and contributor to the List, to have sleepless nights..to such an extent that he is probably thinking of putting his gas bottles and oxy-acetylene gauges up for sale on UK eBay!!!
In an earlier email concerning Dawes bikes, I was trying to puncture Barrie's assumption that every frame built in a factory is rubbish while, on the other hand every frame produced by a craftsman builder in a back-street workshop or back-of-the-bike-shop workshop is one of God's gifts to the lightweight enthusiasts of this world.
I mentioned that, in my workshop at the moment, I have a frame produced by a very reputable British builder whose name figures in the annals of Classicrendezvous.The frame is beautifully built and the lugs are impeccably filed and feathered, but it suffers for the fact that the fork column has detached itself from the fork-crown, duly to the fact that there is almost no brazing material in the joint and that which is there is only bonded to the bottom of the column and not to the inside of the crown. The failure of this inadequate joint at this strategically important part of the bike, led to the rider crashing...the frame is very badly crumpled up as a result.
So, British frame-builder from the south-west...do not worry..you did not misbuild this frame.. and your reputation remains as untarnished as ever.What I should have stated originally, but I failed to find the most accurate description, is that the builder of the frame features in the list of builders from the British Isles on the main Classicrendezvous site..not the email list
Sorry about that...
Norris Lockley.
Settle UK