Handmade

[gltapley]

A friend of mine passed not long ago, she was an avid cyclist and she had this saying, "In this age of conformity and things that are machine made, many people do not understand or recognize the value and beauty of things that are hand made and unique."Now I think that it really applies to frame builders, especially in this day of "cookie cutter" carbon fiber bike frames. Not to take anything away from carbon, really it is a wonder material in some ways but it has limitations in other ways...thought that in and of itself is another topic all together. When I got started in cycling back in mid 70's it was all about custom steel road bikes. Mostly from Italy, Great Britian or the start up builders here in the states.

More than anything what does my friends saying mean to you?

[edoz]

Personally, I think while that statement is mostly true. I also think we are on the edge of seeing that statement slowly becoming false again. I think people are starting to get tired of disposable things that all look the same. I could be wrong on a larger scale, but I've certainly seen it around me.
I also think that it's up to us who understand to show others the light.

[Craig Ryan]

I think your friend is correct, however, I would not exclude carbon as handmade. It's not the material, it's the handmade. I don't necessarily think handmade is better than machine made. The thought behind the machine can be just as important. I do think as we as a society grow more and more digital and mass produced, handmade will take on more value. It's the difference between a hand made card and a store bought one.

[Thylacine Cycles]

People will attach their own emotions to whatever, so as far am I'm concerned, you create a deliberate feel or ambiance, and that's what you'll get. "handmade" to me is just an 'ambiance' to get people emotional about a purchase. To be honest, all that really interests me is the rendering of the design - I'm trying to get what I picture in my head to what I want to see on the road/track. For me, I couldn't care less whether the entire frame is made with a TIG torch and files, or whether the thing is laser mitred and robot welded.

Handmade....'Machine made' (whatever that means)......I mean, at the end of the day, if you have two identical frames that were made two different ways but the outcome is the same, all you have left is the 'feel and 'ambiance'.

Quality is what it is. It knows no race, colour, creed, or operating fluid!

[gltapley]

Really, I should not have sounded so elitist with the topic. I realize that carbon fiber bikes are hand built. Even the inexpensive ones have lots of hand labor that goes into the layup schedule of the laminents. What I really wanted to convey is that as a society something that is hand made has lost its meaning. It used to be something very special.

Really I should be happy that people are just involved in cycling. There was a time in my life where if someone had a nice race bike and it didn't get raced it would annoy me. Now at least I have realized that it can be appreciated for the functional art that it is.