Is a lugged steel frame with mech. and rim brakes analogous to a fine analog watch?

[Coffee Rider]

Originally Posted by e-RICHIE

Lugs, and or having them at the ends of a tube, don't equate to anything. They're small objects used for a joining process. The analogy with mechanical watches doesn't translate because all watches were once wind-ups. Just like many industrial made bicycles once had lugs and were made by hand (either en masse at a factory or one at a time by a maker.)

If there was a way to delineate between bicycle frames with lugs and the level of assembly to which they're made, maybe that could be a bracket analogous with independent watchmakers, those in the AHCI for example.

I was thinking of a lugged frame built by a very good builder rather than something industrially made like the Specialized Allez I once owned, which was perfectly functional.

[thirdgenbird]

Originally Posted by reuben

IMHO, that's hideous.

Agreed. I picked it due to the cycling tie in and to show the contrast to n the watch market.

Originally Posted by vav

Winner.

(I really want that frameset)

[Blue Jays]

Richard Mille watch pictured (like most skeletonized watch models) is nearly illegible.

[rccardr]

No, they are not.
Lugged steel bike frames are...like lugged steel bike frames.
Watches are like watches.
Comparing anything to some random other item seems to me to be a waste of time.
But that’s just me.

[Wakatel_Luum]

I think the analog/digital comparison should apply more to mechanical/electronic groupsets rather than frames/brakes.

I mentioned this in Weight Weenies many years ago...the only response I got was the distant sound of Millennials clicking on their iPhones...

[axel23]

They're analogous in the emotions they evoke: An appreciation for old school craftsmanship.

[Coffee Rider]

Originally Posted by axel23

They're analogous in the emotions they evoke: An appreciation for old school craftsmanship.

That's kind of what I had in mind: both are timeless so to speak.

[glepore]

In a way...both are finely crafted and mechanical, and both are inferior to their newer electronic counterparts as actual tools.

I do love my mechanical bikes, and particularly enjoy my downtube shifters, but only because they force me to slow down a bit and engage with the ride, whereas the ergos (even the mechanical ones) are sorta thoughtless and encourage me to focus on the outright effort.