Editor's letter - Are you going soft?

The most desirable (and most expensive) frames - Masi, Pinarello, Colnago, Rossin, Bottechia, Somec, Gios, and Casati - were (are) Italian, although in a few short years the rise of 'super' brands like Trek and Specialized in the US, and Giant in Asia - and the outsourcing of the manufacturing process, which by the mid-nineties involved mostly carbon and aluminium (and was, to all intents and purposes, automated) - led to the decline of many of those Italian marques.

But what's all this bike