This morning I lucked on on having high bid on a nice Rossin frame and fork (eBay #290496301802). Already got plans for it: The Shimano Tricolor 600 gruppo and Helicomatic tubular wheels that were used on my Schwinn 564 last summer (loved the gruppo, hated the frame).
The downside is that something's got to go from the collection. No, that's not the wife talking, that's me. I can't really justify owning more than 12 bikes at a time, as I don't have the space to store them in an orderly manner, and I insist on knocking out 500 miles per bike during the year.
Going over the garage, I've got it narrowed down to three possibilities. I'll list them, along with pro's and cons for letting each one go. I'm interested in everyone's opinion as to which of the three you'd sell off if you were in this position (and no "I wouldn't sell any of them, just stuff another bike into the garage" is not an acceptable answer).
1. Peugeot UO-8
I'm currently riding this one with a set of tubular wheels (Campy Record/Nisi). If sold, the stock wheels would go back on it. Would probably ask $150.00.
PRO: It just an ordinary French bike boom bicycle. Until I swapped the wheels out, it was a nice but nothing special ride. I will be adding the Roger Riviere to the collection sometime this winter, and that'd fill in the basic bike boom French bike with something that has a lot more emotional attachment to me.
CON: With the tubular wheels, it's a wonderful ride. Along with the Tour de France, it's the beautiful basic definition of a vintage road bike. And it's a lot prettier looking than the Riviere is ever going to be - just a bit shy of mint, in fact.
2. 1986 Centurion Accordo single speed/fixie
My first custom bike. Looks absolutely mint due to a beautiful powder coating job. Different in that it's set up with tubulars, not clinchers, and fenders. This is my after-the-rain-wet-roads bike. Unfortunately, it's not the only single speed in the garage anymore, and the retro Raleigh Gran Sport I built up has more style and class. If this one goes, the fenders (Blumel Popular's) get pulled first and installed on the Raleigh - which will really make it look like that '48 BSA. Probably would ask about $250-300 for it.
PRO: Another fixie, and I love to coast downhill. I don't ride urban anymore, and the hills around my house make it one heck of a workout. The vintage look of the Gran Sport puts this one to shame.
CON: It still gets some interesting looks, and the "No dead kittens" on the downtube guarantees lots of rather odd questions. A very sweet riding frame, showed me what all the blather over Centurions was about.
3. 1990 Trek 2000T (the replica Mavic Neutral Support bike)
My second custom bike, set up in all Shimano RSX with Mavic Aksium wheels added after this picture was taken. If this one goes, only the frameset is going. I keep the wheels and drivetrain for a future project. Another absolutely mint looking bike due to the same powder coater. This one was built as a wry little joke on the locals riders on their Cervelo's and CSC team kits. The frameset would go for somewhere in the $100-150 range.
PRO: It's a bottom of the line all aluminum frameset, with all that entails. Nothing special about it that's not covered by the powder job.
CON: On hell of a climber. If I know Poguemahone is planning on lots of climbing stretches on our Sunday rides, this is the obvious choice.
About the only other comment I can make is that I'm leaning a little stronger towards either #2 or 3 as the one that goes, although a lot of that comes from the attitude that I can always build a custom, finding a nice clean original is a lot harder to do.
Open up, folks. I'm interested in your opinion.