i was asked:
"So what is the "bike industry" (C'dale, Giant et al.) doing? In house or
contract laser cuttings of flat stock? I haven't looked at one of their
frames in quite a while. Too bad technology didn't freeze about a day
after the Polio vaccine was invented."




my reply:
since this is a framebuilder's list i thought it was obvious
what the "bike industry" was doing: it's making money!
grin!
in all seriousness, there was a related subject/thread
several months ago in which i posted and summoned
a question about "...framebuilders co-opting the methods
normally reserved for industry". look it up in the list archives.
there is (obviously) nothing wrong with saving time and
making money. so - that's what C'dale, Giant et al are doing.

it's an interesting crossroad; i think of what "we" do as
technique not technology. what is the value of the latter
without the former? are "we" trying to level the playing
field with the "industry"? i'm not.
e-RICHIE