snipped from post:
>The debate should be over whether it is possible to resurrect
>the lugged steel frame as a luxury product the way the Swiss
>watch industry resurrected mechanical watches

imo, "we" may not want to do that. at the end of the day, we are
making and selling bicycles, not lugs. the method of assembly is
inconsequential - and it's also trumped up. i'd rather have a
well made tig welded steel or AL frame than one made simple to
show that there are lugs at the pipe confluences. lugs are cool.
perhaps a small legion of makers can eek out a paycheck from
employing them. but they (lugs) are also part of an era that has
been transcended. that's not to infer that lug frames equal "old"
or "reissue". i'm suggesting that the handmade frame builder show
not focus on lugs as a calling card or drawing card. to be successful,
he'll have to keep in step with the rest of the industry with respect
to materials and "all that".

the lugs are not the frame -
the frame is the frame!
e-RICHIE