OCD takes many forms, but I'm with you and DougP. "I certainly hope not." I like the weathered look, but one of the attractions of a used piece of good gear is that it's significantly cheaper than a mint version. The idea of 'brassing' a Leica makes me kind of angry.
Really good question for the list. I think there IS a market for pre-weathered fine bicycles, but not amongst current Rivendell owners. Which is nice, because it would expand their market, but it sucks because we'd be inundated with nouvelles riches and their faux authentique velocipedes. My friend is an amazing woodworker, and he's spent a fair amount of time fake-aging pretty furniture he made: drilling little worm holes, banging, sanding and scuffing, in order to give "authenticity" to pieces. It's not his choice - his best work is making things from actual salvaged wood and steel. People crave authenticity. If you can fake that, you've got it made. Philip www.biketinker.com On Friday, September 21, 2012 10:18:42 PM UTC-7, Benz, Sunnyvale, CA wrote: > > I'm OCD so I like my bikes as pristine as possible, although I can > understand and accept beausage if said beausage is obtained in the line of > duty. Battle scars if you will. To me, however ugly I find beausage > (remember: OCD), they at least remind me of the times and good times I had > with the bike. > > Thus, I cannot really understand the relic'ed option. Why would I want to > pay extra for an essentially banged up item that I have no history with? I > know this mentality exists outside of guitars. For example, a dude in Japan > is charging hundreds of dollars to "brass" black paint Leicas, so they look > like heavily-used pro equipment. I suppose the brassed look can be nice, > but it's not really authentic and I'm old enough to not care about image. > > Anyway, to answer your question, I'm fairly sure there's a market for such > a product, although I'll hazard a guess that it's small and probably > transient. But then again, I do not belong to the demographic that relic'ed > guitars and Leicas are created for. > > BTW, I see the aged range from Brooks quite differently. The Brooks are > aged in the sense that they're pre-softened for immediate comfort. These > don't look used and the user still has to break in and mold the saddles to > her/his butt. > > > > On Friday, September 21, 2012 6:54:30 PM UTC-7, lungimsam wrote: >> >> Hello everyone, >> >> You all have been around Riv-culture longer than I. I was wondering what >> your opinion is of Rivendell having a custom line of factory relic-ed >> (beausaged, in Riv-speak) frames one day. Is there a market for it? >> >> Let me explain: >> In the guitar and bass instrument retail world, makers manufacture >> special lines of their instruments, called "relic-ed", for high prices. >> People seem to lust over these and pay thousands upon thousands for them. >> The reliced versions have chipped, worn off paint, down to bare wood; >> aged hardware (rusted and oxidized metal parts); and discolored, "aged" >> plastic parts. This is done at the factory on a new instrument. >> So, you can have a guitar that looks well played and 40 years old, if you >> think that looks nice. >> >> Personally, I prefer to do all "relicing" myself to my instruments (and >> bikes), through years of lovingly playing (riding) and using them. So I >> like to buy new, standard models. >> >> But there is a *HUGE* market for this in the guitar world. >> >> Is there a market for this in the Rivendell world? >> Would you buy a Rivendell, made with dinged paint, environmentally worn >> components, gassed gumwalls, and discolored plastic parts, for a more >> "artistic" look? Everything functions perfectly, of course. >> >> I wouldn't, as I like leaving my mark on things myself. >> Just wondering if you think there is a market for these kind of models. >> Pre-Beausaged bikes. >> >> Looks like Brooks has already started doing this with their saddles, as >> they have an aged, line, I think. >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/7Hx1chuDZwgJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
