I attended the NAHBS in San Jose three years ago and had the exact same reaction. Give me simplicity and ridden-everyday beausage over technical cleverness and high polish any day.
On Feb 28, 4:32 pm, Marty <mgie...@mac.com> wrote: > Got to see what all the fuss was about on Saturday morning. Granted, > there was plenty there to be inspired by, but honestly I was a bit > disappointed. Too much bling for me. Too many "sky's the limit" > designs. Too many over-worked wanna-be-masterpieces that showed off > mad skills with torches, welders and spray guns, but lacked the subtle > simplicity that demonstrates the restraint and maturity of a true > master - or the humility and honesty of an up-an-comer. Now I'm not > saying I could do better. I've never built a bike from raw tubes - I > know my limits. But it seems that the premise of the show itself may > be a misnomer when so much of the work is done by CNC driven lasers, > water jets and similar computer controlled machines. IMHO - the > intricate detail made possible by computers adds little to the overall > end result, and in many cases becomes a distraction. I may be alone in > this opinion - there was a whole lot of drool left on everything that > pushed the envelope in that regard. But gone was the Shaker-like > simplicity, practicality and celebration of the fundamental practical > forms that define two-wheeled transportation. No need to look for > innovative little details that mark progress - it was in your face - > chromed, polished and begging for attention. In many respects I felt > as if I may as well have attended a Low Rider bike show. I guess I'm > showing my age here, but the only booths I found myself lingering were > those where the frames were basically triangles, the paint was > basically one color - maybe two, and the overall vibe was that of > timelessness. Hank Folson was there with his Henry James lugs. Richard > Sachs with a pair of dirt-encrusted Cross bikes. Peter Mooney. Chris > Bishop. Bilenky. (Way to haul in the whole workshop guys!) Plenty of > pics on other sites, so you can judge for yourself. I found myself > back my the room looking at the Flickr Rivendell pages just for some > peace of mind. Worked like a charm. > > Marty -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
