Originally Posted by
merziac
Nice find, score, etc.
Well I'm glad you got yourself a Strawberry and there's no one more happy about that than me, but a reboot however cool with a ding and CF fork is a bit different than a 2019 full custom dream build.
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Sorry but I don't see a raise on the table.
Yours is a beautiful Strawberry and I’m sure it is a fabulous ride. Congratulations and I wish you many miles on it.
However, I think my Fragola trumps yours, ding and all. You see, this is C&V, and there are specific house rules. A Strawberry with history, panache, and patina beats one without.
1. Mine was built in ‘74, just the 3rd year of operations, not a modern continuation. Original owner bought it at the Portland shop and rode it home to SF.
2. Mine was built by two legends of American frame building, not just one. Andy Newlands did the machine work and Mark DiNucci brazed it up. Mark since left to design the Allez, Stumpjumper, and Specialized’s ‘80s lineup. (Per authentication email from Andy).
3. I have the original fork but I don’t trust it… Newlands filed the lug
shoulders away to paper thin. At one place on the shoulder, he filed right through the lug. I think that adds a few points to the story.
4. Mine comes with stories from the original owner. It was raced, wrecked, raced some more, turned into a SF messenger bike, raced again, and finally put away for two decades before being revived under my watch. That top tube ding is a witness to the bike’s history.
Both are beautiful bikes. Yours would certainly beat mine on any other forum but C&V. I submit that mine is at least an equal. Enjoy yours and I wish you many miles and tailwinds.
Brazing and lugs were filed smooth… Here it even went right through the lug.
Custom dropouts made of thin plate steel, then drilliumed. Vertical dropouts were pretty advanced for 1974.