Hey folks,
Through a fortunate series of events, I acquired a Rene Herse Demountable. Not sure of the year, but my guess would be 1971 or 1972. There's another valuation thread on here where folks quoted the bike at $5,000, minimum. I'd like to get some opinions on this one because it differs in some ways from the other thread, that I'll list below.
- It's outfitted with Campy parts, not Rene Herse-made parts (crank, etc).
- Side pull Campy brakes, not center pull brakes, as I've seen on other versions of this bike.
- Rear brake is professionally altered to facilitate a cable quick release mechanism. It's pretty neat.
- I believe these are the parts the bike was originally outfitted with-- no swapped parts. The sidepull brakes are integrated with the front and rear racks that tell me that they were purpose-built with side pulls in mind.
- I replaced a few consumables. New Paselas, new brake blocks, new chain. Other than that, everything is original.
- The frame had significant rust damage in parts, particularly the chainstays, BB shell, rear dropouts, and rear rack. Not sure if this is just cosmetic or if it's structural.
- In general, I messed with the bike! I didn't see it and go "holy cow, I need to sell this to a collector ASAP." I saw it and said "wow, I want to clean this up and ride it." So that's what I did; I did my best to remove most of the rust, grease and lube places that needed it, etc.
I rode this bike for the first time this morning, other than around the block. WOW it is a wonderful bike. It was a lot of fun, but it's not for me. Call me crazy, but I want to let this one loose to someone who'll really appreciate it and then buy myself a comparable, currently-in-production or custom bike.
I have a local buyer in mind, but want to make sure I'm asking the right price without burning him or being taken advantage of myself. So, what do y'all think it's worth, particularly noting the rust / cosmetic damages?
ALSO, I have photos but I can’t attach them or post a link to a Google album until I have posted 10 times. Reasonable, but annoying in the moment. Any tips? Just blast a bunch of threads so I can unlock the link posting privilege?
Thanks!