Quote:
Originally Posted by carlucci1106
His answer was not what I expected. "[Indy Fab] just hasn't changed with the times."
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There's really nothing to change since there's really nothing different from what they were doing back in the day versus what's going on today. Unless you're talking about something that
is different (like what Argonaut and Pursuit are doing), it's pretty much all the same. Metal tubes welded, metal and carbon mixed, your choice of paint/finishes- that's pretty much it.
Branding and brand perception are the only thing that's changed and all of a sudden whereas I.F. were the cool guys, they just got long in the tooth for nothing more than longevity, and when the core people left it no longer had the same "vibe" that it had before. I mean, what's the point of getting an Ericksen, when it's nothing more than a Bingham with different logos? And now that's gone. Serotta? V2.0 and V3.0 couldn't keep the mystique of the O.G., no matter how much they tried to recapture that market.
Pegoretti is still holding on, but the purists think it's a different beast than when Dario touched them, and it's that nostalgia that's keeping it going. But then again, he always had a workshop so it was a natural transition when he died. How much desire would there be for a Sachs when Richard hangs up his torch? He's a one-man show, and no matter who would fill those Vans, it wouldn't be the same. Heck, any decent framebuilder can buy his framebuilding kit and braze you up the exact same thing (because you're going to use the exact same materials), but it ain't gonna be a Sachs- even if you send off your AR Cycles to Joe Bell. And "Sachs Toys" under the creative guise of someone else? I don't know if there's a Tim Cook to Richard Sachs' Steve Jobs that could pull it off, and if so, someone other than Richard Sachs sending out Twizzlers and writing long-winded musings would be considered trite instead of esoteric.
Everyone buys into the selling of the sizzle and not the steak, and I'm just as guilty of it as the rest of my Paceline brethren. When I got my Spectrum I remember thinking "bury me with it", and it got sold just like any other non-special commodity. Same with my Firefly. "I'm never getting rid of this", I said in regards to my Ti/Carbon "that I was going to keep forever", but it's gone and I'm glad. However, the new owners of those bikes think that they are the best, most mystical, I-can-feel-the-magic-that-the-name-on-the-downtube-is-known-for, superlative-laden bikes, whereas my perception was just the opposite. Basically I got bored with them once the dew was off the rose for whatever reason.