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Thanks, that is a very interesting read.
Back then (I can only relate to around the mid 80s) most pro shop were the typical boutique shops catered to the typical road racing crowd with their bread and butter on mid end frames and service, of course. Bikecology sold volume, cheaper them most around at the time and piss off a lot of the local smaller shops. Are you from LA? That was a shop near Bikecology called Ernie's in Brentwood. Everything about that shop was high end, like going into a Ferrari dealer. They hated Bikecology. I rode for Erine's / LeGrandge for a year.
I remember a lot of the European steel frames that came off the pegs were not straight nor were they faced at the factory. The couple of Gios I worked on were very good but some of the smaller frame builders were pretty bad including their painter who has too many glasses of wine after dinner having to go back to the shop to finish the batch of frames that needed to go out the next morning. You should see some of the lugs that were hand painted. A Jr high kid can do better that in art class. As much I like a Rossin, the three frames that came out of the box were not straight. Cinelli were no better, as least the ones I came across.
Oh man, I wore out that catalogue. That was what keep me awake during Biology class. Tubasti glue. I remember that, what a trip.
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