Originally Posted by
Amesja
Without a buyer there is no sale. The seller can continue to spout numbers out of their blow-hole until the end of time, but unless and until s/he can find a buyer they are just that -numbers.
I agree: It looks like a hot mess. But does it ride like one? If not, then throw a $100 powder coat at that frame and it'll be like new again.
I'm not the kind of C&V guy that cares about ancient components and hokey religions. That's all a bunch of junk, IMHO, that I can flip on CL for cash to suckers who still do care about that old junk. The frameset is what it is all about for me, and mostly all that I really care about when it comes to C&V. I can't afford to buy a Waterford, but I can easily find a nice frame on CL and have it powder coated for $100 and be a grand or more ahead on a super-nice frameset. They made some really nice frames back in the day -and replicating them today costs a TON of money. Why do it when there is perfectly good unloved vintage stuff laying around. It's too bad that more people are catching onto this fact and the prices are going up.
What I have said is probably sacrilege to many C&V-ers. But it's my philosophy.
I think you'd be surprised at how many of us share this view point. It's heresy on the CR list, but it really isn't here. The majority of folks on this forum fall into the utility school - where you build it how you want to ride it with a mind to aesthetics, but not really originality. There are perfect restoration folks here - but they aren't the only members.
I used a perfect restoration approach on my departed Raleigh Professional and the result was that I rarely rode it. The bikes I enjoy most and ride most are some of my weirdest builds - ones where I focus on what I like, not what other people like. I'm sure that I would have enjoyed it more with Ergos and dual pivots.