Well, I certainly share your taste in bikes. For the most part I prefer darker, somber colored bikes with classic silver components.
But I have a hard time faulting the over the top designs at bike shows. The bike builders are business people. Assuming bike building is their day job, they would have to sell at minimum at three bikes a month to make anywhere near a decent living. Much as many of us prefer simplicity, the fact is, loud gets attention. Case in point: I went to NAHBS in Indianapolis last year. One of my favorite booths was Yipsan where the builder had a classic road bike, a functional cross bike and another nice quiet ride. I did not bring a camera to the show, so I spent some time on line looking for uploaded photos. It took quite some time and hunting about. It appears Yipsan got the message, as this year as his rather flamboyant mixte and rando are on multiple Flickr collections already, and the show is not even over. I do not know whether the attention will garner Yipsan more orders this year than last, but suspect it will. One hopes the customers chose a more staid design. On Feb 28, 6:41 pm, Jeremy Till <jeremy.t...@gmail.com> wrote: > 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.
