Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexi
Well, I respect the Kirk and et all. But they’re a bit “dad bikes” they’re the bikes that my friends dads listed over and purchased. I respect The Stones, but I’d rather listen to Yo La Tango. And honestly the hand wringing over “who’s gonna replace these master craftsman!” is a bit silly. There are plenty of builders out there making amazing bikes.
I didn’t grow up in the 1970s, my earliest bike hero’s were Lemond and Grewal, my first race bike was a Kestrel Sci, I raced mountain bikes and cyclocross. I lived thru the fixie boom, and the Randossance. These builders have the same shared experiences and many of the same aesthetics that can be traced to that.
I can respect Rob English’s work, but god his design choices are a straight turnoff for me. His bike’s regular end up in the anti-porn threads for a reason
|
You are of course permitted to like what you like but the factual and historical inaccuracies here are stunning..
Are you aware that D Kirk built bikes for Grewal? Or that Dario was cutting his teeth and building race bikes for contemporaries of LeMond and Grewal, plus an entire generation of professionals that came after? Does it register for you that Kirk and Pegoretti work with Reynolds and Columbus to get tubes designed to their spec to achieve the ride characteristics they’re after in their designs? Do you get the precision that Bingham builds with and the perfection he achieves not just in stacking dimes but in executing on design choices and tubing selection? Or the professionalism of all three?
As for Rob, you do get that he’s building for clients, right? Check his galleries.. There are plenty of aesthetically perfect builds in there, including the ones he’s done for himself. He’s also one of the nicest and most genuine people you’re likely to meet.
These folks are master craftsmen. They aren’t (weren’t) just taking a tubeset off the shelf and joining them on a production line. Nor are they gilding lilies with fancy paint and accessories. They’ve moved things forward and innovated. The fact that some folks 10-20 years older than you and me happen to appreciate their work doesn’t change any of that. And none of them are (were) resting on their laurels or turning out the same everything year after year. They aren’t The Stones or The Eagles. They’re Radiohead. And if you don’t get the difference.. well, your loss I guess.
I dunno. I can’t stand Yo La Tengo, so maybe it’s just best we hang out with our own earbuds in. There’s room here for that.
V