asked:
>I also think that a person modestly current with the world
>economic sitiuation and media can reasonably infer that most
>of the folks assembling carbon bikes in Asia are probably not
>riding them.


let's look at it from this angle:

what is wrong with the guy in asia making ??? frames a
day - whether he cares about bicycles or not? what does
that have to do with framebuilding? my point is this: to a
certain degree, everything is commoditized(sp?). and
whether we like it or not, it's really not a a sin if some guy
high bids $7000 on a colnage made by the fellow in the
brain article. can you, hal, or myself make as many frames
as it would take to satisfy the market? can we do it efficiently,
and affordably? someone has to make those frames - and no
one is confusing what that asian is doing with what we are
doing. to use historical anecdote to make an analagous point:
are you/hal/others upset when you find out that most of hetchins
(to use one "hand-built" frame as an example) has, from the
begining, used pre--fabbed parts to create the illusion that their
"hand-made" frames are, well, hand-made?

what i am getting at is this: in the 21st century, there are more
efficient ways of getting "it" done. it's no more face-less for a
cat to toil in a factory and do his best than it is for a sub-contracor
for a famous f'builder to use lugs that were decorated by a punch
press.
e-RICHIE