eh? open letter to nahbs

[Chad]

they can buy a booth

[boydcycling]

A few days have passed since the initial posting of the letter. Here's my thoughts as of today. It sparked a great conversion where a lot of the builders have chimed in on this thread. Many of you have links to your webpages in a signature, and I have clicked on a lot of those. My n+1 is now all of a sudden n+8.

[PezTech]

Want funny?

The wheel shown in HEDs response at VN is...

Custom.



This was done at Ground Up Designs in CO Springs...


I took Wheelbuilders open letter as exactly as it was billed... "Why not use custom wheels on custom project bikes"...

Hell they even mentioned that lots of custom wheel builders would likely help.


I thought HED's response was a bit Napoleonic...


Anyhoo, thought it funny enough to share.

[e-RICHIE]

Want funny?
The wheel shown in HEDs response at VN is...
I thought HED's response was a bit Napoleonic...
Anyhoo, thought it funny enough to share.

Doh atmo!
http://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum...tml#post586563

[Too Tall]

We got that PezTech and maybe we can just stop talking about it.
Rich S. knows there are a many builders at NAHBS using handbuilt wheels or I'll eat my hat. This is apparent in light of the business W.B. is in nes pas? It was not an innocent inquiry, the motive may have been to incite public attention and debate. Who was it that said "there is no bad publicity"?
Peace, Josh

[andys]

HED also sells rims to wheelbuilders and was hand-building wheels in their booth at last years show. In fact Steve Hed showed me how to stress relieve a wheel the HED way - by walking on the spokes in stocking feet which is not how I learned it. Really cool folks, glad they will be there again.

[PezTech]

I could tell Wheelbuilder knew/knows there are builders using custom... The part where they say exactly that was a give away for me.

Calling out Richard English as a good example was a nice touch and of course it was arguably the best example of not tossing in the towel when it comes to wheels given he went well beyond the norm...

[PezTech]

To be fair to Rich, there used to be all sorts of discussion on what constitutes a "handmade" bike and who could exhibit at the show. A Colnago C60 or Trek Madone 7 is no less handmade than many other bikes at the show, but you don't expect to see them anytime soon. Does a set of Mavic R-Sys wheels on a bike that is intended to be exhibited at a show celebrating the "handmade" and "art form" really fit in?

That's the classic response...

Virtually everything at Trek, Specialized, Cervelo, Cannondale are hand made as well...

Watching the necessary hairs get split was reasonable way back when NAHBS went through the teething process for what could be on the show floor... It needed doing and turned out well.

Watching folks reach for the glue bottle to unsplit the same hair and disregard wheels being looked at in similar fashion is kinda interesting...

[Dave Anderson]

....Watching folks reach for the glue bottle to unsplit the same hair and disregard wheels being looked at in similar fashion is kinda interesting...

Who's disregarding wheels being looked at? That's where much of the consternation is coming from. At least from my angle. As I said earlier....the letter implies that "builders don't see the value in custom wheels, don't offer them to their customers, and don't display them at shows. Wrong, wrong, and wrong." They are basically calling attention to themselves while portraying builders, in general, in a negative light...."notable exceptions" excepted.

[PezTech]

I'm thinking there was the possibility of seeing it as a cup half full versus cup half empty.

I totally missed the third choice of tossing the cup out the window.

[Dave Anderson]

....I totally missed the third choice of tossing the cup out the window.

I don't think that is what anyone is doing, and its unfortunate if expressing concern for how this has come off to some builders warrants such condescension. I would think that if they would like us to encourage use of their product by our customers they would be interested in how this has come across. Anyway, its no skin off my nose and I honestly wish them the best and hope that they continue to be successful.

[Chad]

HED builds wheels, WB assembles parts. These are not the same.

I can assemble a bicycle from parts, I've done that, I'm not a custom bicycle assembler. I cannot build custom frame.

[e-RICHIE]

HED builds wheels, WB assembles parts. These are not the same.

I can assemble a bicycle from parts, I've done that, I'm not a custom bicycle assembler. I cannot build custom frame.

What does this ^ mean atmo?

[Curt Goodrich]

I feel this thread has gotten trolled into this ridiculous semantics discussion about wheels and what defines hand built. The original article seems like a misguided attempt at shaming frame builders. A proactive approach would have been for the wheel building business to approach individual builders about their products and services. In other words get out there and do what other businesses do- find some customers. NAHBS makes it easy to know who's attending and their contact info. The one year I attended NAHBS many businesses approached me privately about their products and services. That's just good business.

[Jeffrey Borisch]

The Show is not the Rules.
The Show is the Show.

Hope everyone has fun.

[Chad]

What does this ^ mean atmo?

A custom frame builder takes raw materials and creates a frame. A Wheelbuilder takes finished parts and assembles them.

I think it's a stretch to compare custom wheel building (assembling) to custom frame building (creating).

I can't do either...

[mjbabcock]

That video of the guy making the sword was someone making something. Me, I can make mac & cheese in the microwave...just add water.
Can we shut this down? What needed to be said was said and now it's gone stupid.

[e-RICHIE]

A custom frame builder takes raw materials and creates a frame. A Wheelbuilder takes finished parts and assembles them.

Well that is all news to me, really atmo.

[Too Tall]

I'm putting the my foot down. I've made some vacuous comments, you've made some brilliant observations and the next mofo who comments better come up with something productive or I'll scream.

We ain't locking this thread.

[e-RICHIE]

Handmade isn't better; it's just handmade atmo.