Originally Posted by
Bad Lag
As this is yet another Raleigh Competition thread on yet another distinct bike, let me as this generic question -
Are these bikes worthy of serious restoration? Is the frame worth spending the time and money to strip, repaint, maybe rechrome the fork and stay ends?
Is this model worthy of the restoration so many willingly spend on Raleigh Professionals and Internationals?
I do not ask the question in terms of economic return on investment. I'm not sure what the context is but it isn't a question about flipping the bike or other financial gain.
You ask good questions, and I am not sure I can answer them. I'm not so sure about "restoration" per se, where one rechromes and repaints and hangs all NOS parts on it, not unless it is an individual bike that one has lots of history with, or one that replaces a long-lost bike that one had history with. Maybe that's true of any old bike, the costs of "restoration" to new appearance are always greater than any recoupable value.
As the basis for a custom/semi-custom mount, or for creating something that fills an individual rider's needs, the Competition (and the Gran Sport and the Super Tourer and the International) have a following on this forum. Peter Weigle has converted Competitions to 650B constructeur machines, as has our own @
gugie. These bikes have good bones, good tubing and decent lugs and a design that lends itself to lots of riding styles, and the bike boom examples in particular continue the old tradition of an all-rounder bike. People pursuing a certain ride experience on 650B wheels like them a lot - once they have been reconfigured.
That we have so many threads running right now featuring Competitions just illustrates that it was a widely sold bike (for its category). It's not rare like a Confente or a Rene Herse or an Alex Singer, and they don't have the sheer panache of the aforementioned Professional or International - which came with Campagnolo, which means lots of guys who wanted them couldn't afford them back when, but now they can.
This particular Competition was in poor shape, poor enough that I feel no qualms about taking it in the direction I have chosen. I still won't do anything permanent that cannot be reversed - if someone felt the need, they could strip and rechrome the fork, though it would be a pricey choice - but at this point its value is purely a reflection of its functional use. If I wanted a nice clean pretty Competition, I was offered the same bike but with Nervex Professional lugs that appeared to be all stock save for the saddle and bar tape, for not too much money. That one looked clean enough that with some serious focused TLC it could be burnished back up without the need for paint or chrome.
But what I wanted was a particular ride experience, which the Competition gives in spades, sort of like my other beloved beater, a Gitane Tour de France that is also a fixed-gear conversion. Both machines were built in a hurry, there is no evidence a file came anywhere near these lugs, but in the end they ride superbly.