And more generally, even the bikes with really fancy lugs like the Hetchins were built primarily to ride, not look at. So some of the compulsiveness we see nowadays on custom frames just wasn't there. I think the Americans really brought some of that into the craft. Granted, there were some amazing custom European frames. And now the emphasis on steel frames is really based on the craft, obsessiveness over lugwork and finish has become essential to marketing.

Here is a seat cluster I built back in '81 or so. I wasn't happy that I could see the join in the seat stay cap. I guess I've only built one frame with cast lugs, and this wasn't it. I wanted this to look good, but the intent was to build a good solid frame, not something so fancy someone would be afraid to ride it.