Quote:
Originally Posted by Blown Reek
But how much better is a 3D printed titanium dropout anyway? And what other brake mounts are out there besides flat mount for road bikes and post mount for mountain bikes? Are ever-changing bottom bracket standards really a good thing? All these things seems like an exercise in differentiating one brand from another. Firefly came out with their 3D printed dropouts, but they lost the beautifully (personal taste, of course) designed previous model, however they were (I think) the first. Now Moots has them (because you can't not anymore), and every other "unique" titanium manufacturer does, too. Heck, you can even buy a 3D printed titanium dropout from Reynolds now.
And as aesthetically pleasing (personal taste, of course) as a Bastion is with its titanium lugs and carbon tubes, is there really a difference between a 3D printed lug versus a welded one? Is the Bastion "better" than a Holland, or Firefly, or Seven, or No.22?
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For that market segment, there is no 'better' or 'best' - no matter what a builder might say. As proven by comments on here, bikes of that nature are essentially jewellery and enthusiasts will change them out on a whim. As the guy manning the Blancpain booth at Baselworld once said to me,
"Wristwatches aren't about telling the time anymore. Your cellphone does that more accurately than anything in these halls. They are about complication, fascination, romance and nostalgia."