Classic & Vintage - Removing tubing decals, sacrilege?

I recently acquired a 1991 custom built Colian (Colin Laing) road bike that I've been polishing up. It's completely original to the era with Suntour Superbe Pro components and in great condition. This may be a silly question, but I wanted to ask the group. I'd like to remove the Reynolds 531 decals from the frame and fork blades, mainly for aesthetics. I've noticed many people keep them, and I thought perhaps removing them would devalue the condition of the bike.

Am I over thinking this, does it even matter?

I would say that it is sacrilege... leave them on :)

Here's a photo, for those curious:

http://www.chrismarks.com/bicycles/colian1.jpg

you know Colin has started posting over at Classic Rendezvous list?

wonder what he'd say?

marty

edit. Just saw the photo, and I'd keep them, they really don't detract from the bikes aesthetics
in my opinion (YMMV).

They're not so bad I suppose. There is also "Reynolds 531 TI" lettering under the clear on the down tube, near the crank.

Do you know what name/email Colin posts under on Classic Rendezvous? Too bad they aren't using a message board.

Remove the decals and value goes down. With collectables (bikes, cars, antiques, whatever), value is all about original condition. Removing decals is a one way trip to lowering value. But it is your bike to do with what you want.

Do you know what name/email Colin posts under on Classic Rendezvous? Too bad they aren't using a message board.

You can a search for his name at http://search.bikelist.org/.

Fwiw, I say keep the decals and avoid creating future mystery as to the kind of tubing the bike has.

Neal

If the bike originally came with the 531 decals, I would try to get the exact period correct replacements and clearcoat them. Replacing them with incorrect ones isn't much better than just removing them. Why is it that Reynolds made such crappy decals that they were the first thing to go? Of course, there are plenty of high end custom bikes that never had decals; it was assumed the builder would have used the best tubing.

CR list rules state you use your real name. Colin Laing !

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'll try to resist the urge to remove them! I sent Colin an email, hopefully he receives it. I thought he'd be happy to see one of his bikes is still rolling around Arizona.

The original decal is a piece of evidence of what it was built with. There isn't always a way to gather that information once the decal is removed.

The original decal is a piece of evidence of what it was built with. There isn't always a way to gather that information once the decal is removed.

+1

How often do we have posters here ask if there's any way to tell what tubeset their newly acquired decal-less mystery frame was built with?

"How often do we have posters here ask if there's any way to tell what tubeset their newly acquired decal-less mystery frame was built with?"- That about says it. It is your bike, but you may want to sell it in the future.

You could always roll up a photo of the frame with Reynolds decals, and put it inside the seat tube. When I got my first "serious" bike frame in 1985, the first thing that I did was remove Reynolds fork blade decals, and mfgr's decal on the seat tube that offended me. My opinion is that identification is important and reasonable, but that repetition is boring, such as manufacturer's/builder's name in six places on the frame.