Hi.  My name is Michal Knudsen.  Absence of the "e" in my first name is because I was Norwegian born, and to this day I don't know if it was a misspelling of my name on the birth certificate, or if it is the correct Norwegian spelling of  Michael.  May 2011 was my first post on this blog, and today is my second post, I'd like to keep them coming.  After working 21 years making composite wheels and bicycle parts (For a major USA company making things in house), and moonlighting selling vintage parts, wheel building, and doing classic restorations, I can proudly say that I am now strictly dedicated to my one love all along, classic lightweight steel road bicycles, and the components that adorned them.
  I spent a long time on forums over the years talking with the likes of Jobst Brandt, Richard Schwinn, Richard Sachs, Damon Rinard and others about the finities of bicycles and their components.  Not strictly from an enthusiast's viewpoint, but from a manufacturing standpoint as well.  We tend to romanticize about framebuilding and bicycle part production, but the reality is that these are businesses that often made maneuvers, from a business standpoint, that may have not made total sense to the avid enthusiast with brand-lust or the need to understand everything about the production.
  So, I'm looking forward to exchanging ideas and knowledge with the classic cycling community, with honesty and integrity being the goals, in order to best understand things from a manufacturing, enthusiast and collector standpoint.  Can we throw in some humor and humility too?
  I'm going to start the easy way, with a simple topic.  Hmm, how about the tool dubbed the "holy grail" of Campagnolo tools, the adjustable headset side-adjust pin tool.

This tool was used on Bianchi, and other headsets of the Fausto Coppi-era of the 50s-60s that had adjusting holes on the side of the headset's adjusting cup. I can't imagine in today's manufacturing world, even with aides of CAD design, mouse clicking, CNC, 3D printers and all, how much this tool would cost.  This was the era of wine, cocktail napkin ideas, extensive tooling costs (hopefully you got it right), and fortitude.  The thinking of Tullio Campagnolo at the time, and throughout his life, was that a tool should be as beautiful and functional as the bicycle components themselves.  To this day, it is a pleasure for me to pull out my old Campagnolo tool kit when prepping or restoring an old bike, as I know as much thought went into the production of the tools, as the parts themselves, sometimes even more.
  So, although most will not need this tool, it is a reminder of the fact that as a manufacturer, Campagnolo (Tullio-Era) did not want to spend time with customer satisfaction, as they didn't have to for the most part, given the standard of quality.
  I welcome comments, and am pretty green as far as blogging goes, but have 45 years of vintage bicycle love, 25 years of manufacturing bicycle parts, and want to build this thing, let's go!  I have a lot to share, and am excited for the future.  Thanks, Michal Knudsen
 
 
   

Hello Velo Folk Bicycles+ spoken here

Well folks, this is my first official blog.  I guess you could call me an old schooler (however the term old school was quite hip amongst certain circles in the Philosophy dept. with me in 1990 in college).  I think a better modern term might be "real school".  Not to tout my self-righteousness, but just to be as honest and objective about things as I can.  Most importantly, to divulge into the history and present of bicycle manufacturing and bike culture and how it all ties together.  I will be bold, I will be right and wrong, and full of parody.  Socrates has helped shape me into someone that really knows nothing in the grand scheme of things, but this lovely thing we call the bicycle has carved itself into my soul, and I've spent a great deal of time with its wonders.  I'm not a snob, or a flake or easily persuadable, but one thing that I have learned is that truth will make some "enemies" so bring it on!  Discussion will diverge, I can guarantee it.  Let's see where this goes...