Originally Posted by
marqueemoon
It's all in the details.
+1
When the subject of new CF bikes comes up, often many respond that all modern CF bikes look alike.
I was thinking about this last night when I was looking at some of the "show us your" threads.
My hypothesis is that when you are dealing with double triangle C&V bikes, they are actually more similar than CF bikes. At the visual level, other than the cosmetic (i.e. paint) there is really very little that distinguishes the frames and if all C&V bikes were painted grey with no branding, there would be little C&V collecting.
Please discuss among yourselves.
I'm sure you're not just trolling, but I'm surprised that anyone who has been around this forum as long as you have could make such a comment. Even if you factor out all of the 3-speeds, mixtes, track bikes, TT bikes, constructeur bikes, etc., and just focus on C&V road racing bikes, there are still a vast amount of differences in frame details. From how the lugs are filed (or not filed), to cable routing, geometry, braze-ons, fork crowns, angle and shape of the fork blades, thickness and curvature of the tubes, brand engravings, drain holes (god, I love that thread), etc. That's just the tip of the iceberg. I haven't even mentioned C&V components, which were more beautiful both in finish and overall form IMHO. Also, I do not think it is fair to overlook frame paint. The back/white/red paint schemes you see over and over on carbon frames is part of what makes so many of them seem alike, whereas the tremendous variety and creativity used on C&V bikes makes them so attractive. With a few notable KOF exeptions, gone are the days of hand-painted pinstripes, embellished seat stay caps, drillium with pops of color, and ornate headbadges. Think of all the "Mystery Frame" threads. We distinguish C&V frames by a set of criteria absent from modern frames--not just where the serial number is and which direction the threading goes, but how and with what materials (lugs, tubes, braze-ons, dropouts) and skills were used in the making of the frames. These clues have been smoothed over on modern frames.