posted on the framebuilder's list:
>"And you ask what happened to the bike industry? What happened to a
>common and rising level of prosperity? Dude, where are my customers?"

what happened? as a result of the mtb era and throwing all
prior convention out the window, all manufactured bicycles got
"better", thereby eliminating the need-slash-desire for many,
many folks to view the custom builder as the only resource
from whom that ideal purchase could be made.
e-RICHIE