Originally Posted by
Salamandrine
Very east bay for sure. (i'm from the bay area)
I don't think I'd be too worried about that hearsay. A 'rash' could have been one or two, which would be enough to PO the shop owner. Care to share which shop owner that was? FWIW the people who I knew who had them rode them for many years and zillions of miles.
One possible weak point could be the seat stays. I'd prefer to see a full fillet on the seat stays where they join the cluster. It'd be stronger than just sweating them in. Then again most (lugged) bikes just have a tiny blob of brass in shear holding on the seat stays at the cluster, which is weaker. Wouldn't worry me regardless. It's always a good idea to inspect your frames for cracks periodically no matter how they are made.
The SF shop is long gone (and too bad I'd say because it was a VERY short walk from where I now live) and I can't even remember the name but it was on Geary around 17th Ave. There was also a Sporting Goods shop in the same block (Family owned, might have been "Sullivan's" or something like it) also long since disappeared. So I'm probably safe from lawsuit for defamation...but if anybody's "defamed" I guess it would be Argos' reputation.
Too many LBS have shuttered in this town over the years: one of the employees at this Geary shop (I think he was named Aldo) later opened his own shop 'way East on Geary at Stanyan, he's also long gone but recall he offered a custom frame program with DeBernardi in Italy and one even could have a stainless-tubed frame (Columbus or perhaps Deda) if you so ordered.