I'm not judging those builders, and people enjoyed those bikes for a long time. But I always wondered if un-remarked alignment issues were a factor in saying some bikes rode better than others. My misaligned frame rode great, but it had a low speed shimmy when ridden no handed. That's really the only reason I looked. Then it turned out to be really easy to fix. I have a production frame with the same problem, some day I'm going to strip it down and check the alignment. So far it rides great and I don't care about riding no-handed.

As with a lot of things, we have high standards for things that may not be that important. I'd rather know a frame was built by a craftsman than have one that is perfect.