On Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 6:32 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.
I agree about preferring a simpler style, but i also understand the pressure to do something that stands out. I haven't been, and i'm sure it's a friendly environment, but at the same time it's an big investment for a builder to attend and any builder would want to get some attention out of the deal. Much easier to stand out when you can find some theme or detail that people will remember, even if it's not representative of your general output. One plea to anyone posting pictures of the show: please include captions. They make the pix about 1,000 better, otherwise most of the time you can't even tell who did the work. I look forward to seeing more show reports! -- Bill Connell St. Paul, MN -- 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.
