The niche is small for two reasons. From the late 1980s and forward, industry has supplanted what was once the province of those at the top of the food chain. That is, while there was a time that production bicycles could only, at best, copy what framebuilders were able to do, they've surpassed it. And, for the known names that go back generations, most of them either 1) got old and quit or, 2) tried to ramp up and compete with industrial-made brands or, 3) sold out. That's why the niche is small. What we now have is a rebuilding, not a continuation of any long line back to an Italian maker or three. Before the vaporization situations, the bicycles "like the ones we make" were everywhere. Mining ideas was easier. Finding a job was easier. Making it a career was easier. However, while I read mostly excuses for why someone can't do this because there are production jobs to be had, or that factories don't make the bicycle they want to learn to make, someone somewhere is at a work station learning the tasks that glass-half-empty cats love to bemoan because they're not sexy positions. Again - you don't learn how to make frames by working for a framebuilder. You'll see work getting done. If time allows, maybe your hand will be held. But if you want a career, you have to make the investment. The whining gets a tad old after a while. Leave your network. Move abroad. Work for free at these place making the price point units everyone is racing on. The opportunities are still there.
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