Builders,

In the latest (Vol 12 #3 ) issue of "Bicycle Quarterly" the Soma Grand Randonneur is tested w/ these statements:

"Those who were around the in 1980s remember Tange Prestige as one of the best tubesets ever made......However the Japanese Tange operation closed in the late 1990s and the Soma's Taiwanese tubing appears to share only the name and sticker with the revered Tange Prestige of old."

"If you don't know this, you may expect the ride quality of a superlight, thin wall tubeset, and you may be disappointed."

My question to the frame makers then: Is the Tange Prestige tubing available to you now of an inferior quality, lower specification and thicker walled than in the past?

-Bandera