G1nko

It's funny, if I like a bike and buy it, I generally haven't had any buyer's remorse; it's when I walk away that I second guess myself and wonder whether I made the right decision. Today I walked away from an early 70's London-made Witcomb. Here's why, and please tell me if you agree or disagree:

• Goal would have been a restore and resell.
• It was a medium blue 24" frame, 531 Reynolds tubing, fancy custom lugs.
• Bike was complete, but in pieces.
• Mafac racer brakes; the only markings on the levers was "Cherry."
• Simplex front derailleur with chrome peeling off. Simplex delrin rear derailleur with cracked limit screw housings.
• The dropouts were paint-free and pretty well rusted.
• One of the Witcomb down-tube decals was about 40%, the other about 75%; all the London decals were 90% or better.
• Seat post looked pretty rusted, but I didn't have a wrench to check if it was frozen.
• Original high-flange hubs on an original Saminox rear wheel, but the front wheel had been replaced with a generic US-made aluminium rim.
• Someone had repainted the bottom bracket and the sections of the chainstays and seat post that connected in with the wrong shade of blue. My assumption was rattle-can, poorly matched and poorly executed to hide rust.

I estimated the bike's final fully restored value at about $650. Seller wanted $200, I offered $100, he came down to $140 but I just saw too much work and walked. As I said, now I'm second-guessing myself. I really think the bike needed to be repainted and new decals applied. I have access to "at-cost" powder-coating. How much work is a rare-marque like this worth?

Veloh

$650 seems a bit of a reach. Delrin Simplex and steel(?) Saminox wheels would not, given my limited knowledge of Whitcombs, put it at top-tier level.

Without pictures, it's hard to pinpoint a value and visualize the damage. It also depends on the other parts that the bike may have had. 531 is great but there's different levels of 531 used on a frame. It could be 531 non-butted main tubes only.

It seems that Whitcomb USA had some fantastic frame builders. Again, not sure if you could tell if yours was one of them.

I would have passed at $140. The amount of money and time you needed to put into it would eat into your profits unless it was one built by Sachs or Weigle.

Veloh

Here's some extra advice when you're looking at a frame that you have no knowledge about:

1. Look at the parts as a whole. Campagnolo Nuovo Record and up is a strong signal you got something of quality. Aluminum Simplex, high level Shimano/Suntour are also good indicators.

2. Look at craftsmanship. This is iffy because some top-tier bikes were built pretty poorly without much attention to details. However, finely filed lugs, cutouts, forged dropouts with a brand, rear brake and chain stay stiffener lugs, and a nice "ping" when you tap it might suggest you have a treasure.