Andy_K 

This made me think...how does the best riding bike in my stable compare to the worst riding bike I still like enough to keep? The first problem to be solved in this is deciding which is the best riding bike. I'm honestly not sure. There are at least four contenders, possibly more. One of the contenders is a 1974 Carlsbad Masi, which at least in theory Mario would have overseen construction of. He may even have touched it. Brian Baylis may have filed the dropouts. Or it may have been entirely built by one of the anonymous Mexican craftsmen favorably mentioned in the frameteller article. Whatever the case it rides nice. Another contender is my 1983 Specialized Sequoia. This one was definitely built by anonymous workers at some Japanese factory, probably Miki. It definitely has no connection with a legendary builder like Yoshi Konno. There's a very, very small chance that it may have been built during one of Jim Merz' supervisory visits. Whatever. It's very well built and I love the way it rides.

I could go on with the details of this thought experiment, but I think the point is already made. I have some finely crafted beautiful bikes (though nothing on the level of finish that a Confente would have). I have some rather pedestrian mass produced bikes. The difference in ride quality between them is pretty small. Maybe I'm just not refined enough as a rider to notice the differences. Most of what I notice in a bike is attributable to geometry. I've heard Joshua Bell play a Stradivarius. I've heard the resident musicians in the Oregon Symphony play on whatever violins they happen to own. With my eyes closed and no program, I doubt I could tell you which was which. Many people could. I have no doubt that all the musicians in question know exactly why Joshua Bell and his Strad deserve the reputations they have. I'm thoroughly satisfied by listening to any of them. So it goes.