PSA - 65cm Singer on the 'Bay
 

Currently on everybody's love-to-hate-'em auction site, a 65cm Alex Singer f/f at a not-ungodly price ($2,000). Find the listing here. This is not my frame, I know nothing more than what the listing says, and all usual disclaimers apply.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4f9643876a.jpg

It's my size, and it is tempting, but I need another bike like a hole in the head, especially as I have no French-threaded parts to hang on it. But it would be a fantastic addition to somebody's stable.

I think if you're not the seller you should post this in the regular C&V forum, such as we see in the main PSA thread for eBay/Craiglist, etc.?

I'm glad it's a couple cm too big for me, personally, as I always have my eye open for such a bike and will need to do some serious explaining to the missus when the opportunity arises...

-Gregory

I went back and forth on that, and have asked the mods to move or not move this thread at their discretion.

I don't peruse that site for bike stuff. Is it common for such a special item to be put up for auction with little to no info given? Seems a shame. I suppose if the seller doesn't have any background on it (even a ballpark year of manufacture) then they don't, but it seems rare for people to be in posession of such items with no knowledge of them.

Info in eBay bike listings, including for high-zoot stuff like this, runs the gamut from minimal to cryptic to obtuse to informative to verbose to the Great American Novel. Occasionally, the listing info is downright non-sensical. Some listings make it obvious that the seller is clueless (or worse), but this isn't one of those. Based on a quick look at the sellers completed sales obtained via the feedback listings, it appears that he/she has a pretty good idea about bike stiff. Just $.02.

I see your 65cm Alex Singer and raise you a 27" Takara Tribute for $10:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...79b19f219f.png
https://boston.craigslist.org/nwb/bo...834968562.html

Probably safe to assume this was originally ordered through Spence Wolfe (Cupertino). Wolfe always spec'd Campy 1010 dropouts, which Singer rarely used otherwise. Nothing against Mr. Wolfe, but that makes the frame less attractive to me. If I wanted a Singer, I'd want it to reflect the design preference of the builder, not some bike shop.

To get top dollar, a Singer should have more bells, more whistles. Like brazed on brake pivots, remote actuation lever for the bottle generator, Singer steel stem, and it should not be missing the custom rack this was clearly made for. With the rack attachment points on the seatstay rather than the dropout, you can't just bolt on any old Velo-Orange or Nitto rack, you really should have something made to fit, which is stupidly expensive especially if you want it chrome-plated. Yes a Pletscher (or any adjustable rack) would bolt right on, but a Singer deserves a nicer rack. Of course not an issue for someone was wasn't ever going to use a rack anyway, but then you have those braze-ons there, looking sad. No problem functionally but most people don't buy a Singer if mere function is what they're after.

My long-windedd way of saying that though it's my size, It'd have to be half the asking price to make me raise my hand. But I'm a cheap bastard, and I fully expect this one will sell, to someone less crotchety and cheap than myself..

FIFY

And to be clear, that is not a comment on you specifically, but rather on us C&Vers generally. Please don't hate me.:o

In contradiction to your statement, I'm the sort who's usually happy to pay a premium for the bicycles or assortment of frames and parts that come together to create the bicycles I enjoy, but I inevitably end up selling them to folks with the mentality described above at a serious loss... Hence my recent unwillingness to invest in any more especially rare or unique bicycles.

-Gregory

Oh, you're the one.:D

Mmmm. Me too.
But I was smart enough to stay away from Singer the last couple times we were in Paris.
Cuz, ya know…bikes.

Well I wouldn't say I want a "discount" exactly, but I'm patient enough to wait for a better deal.

Or I'll splash out when it's exactly the thing I wanted, no compromises like a Singer with horizontal dropouts and parts missing. If Nelson Miller ever decides to sell the Jerry Collier Singer, I might go into debt to buy that, cuz it's my all time fave bike, has been since I first saw it in 1976.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f02147004e.jpg

'Nother example, I wanted a Spin Dex, which is for indexing parts on a manual milling machine. For example say you want to put flutes in a seatpost, to look like the early Super Record. The Spin Dex holds the part for machining at any degree of rotation. I don't need one, just have wanted one for a long time (I'm a tool junky). The Chinese knockoffs are truly identical and $50 new with free shipping, but I waited for a US-made original and just got one, had to pay double that, plus it needed work and a missing part made. But I enjoyed fixing it up and making the part, and I'm seriously chuffed to have a real one now, with a serious amount of beausage.

Anyone need a seatpost fluted? or slots milled into each wrench flat on a Super Record headset à la Art Stump? Kidding, I don't have product liability insurance so I won't modify bike parts for customers. But I'll show pics when I do some. They won't be up to Jon Williams (Drillium Revival) standards, but then no one ever was. Here's one of Jon's seatposts:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...611ab8c0d6.jpg
Baylis bike made for Dale Brown.

Apologies for the thread drift.

No need to apologize for the thread drift, but feel free to apologize for the picture of the clamped top tube! OMG, I cannot believe someone would clamp a beautiful vintage/custom bike by anything but the seat post. And such luscious paint, too! And when the seat post is a thing of beauty? You insert, tighten and clamp the DUMMY SEATPOST.

I'm sorry, but this is an outrage!

:eek: OMG, I think I need a cigarette . . . .

Very nice bike and desirable but like so many others , I'm kinda headed in a different direction at this point. Honestly , as sought after as these are , the seller may get that , but I have less than that in any complete bike I have , including my Colnago Super that I had Jack at Franklin Frame respray for me. The Colnago is built well above any racings skills I have ( very little !) . I have gotten my collection down to a manageable size for now( -8 bikes to date) . The last frame I got , a beautiful Medici Pro Strada was considerably less $$$$$ than this beauty and rides like a dream . Thank you Rich bikingshearer , 64cm of riding bliss. Joe

There's more than one Jerry Collier bike, a red one too, maybe a 3rd.

Calm down, there's no one on earth more qualified to pamper a top-flight bike than Dale Brown.

Rules like the ones you state are good to hammer into newbs, but when you get the master level as Dale did decades ago, rules don't apply to you anymore.

Medici bikes are undervalued.
the only person who made money on one to my knowledge was Ray Dobbins.
and he sold it to a buyer in France.

most of the time those clamps were set to 28.6 mm tubes, go to 26mm and much less likely to have an issue

Do tell! Got any more details?

Jerry, as a pre-eminent collector, of course had more than one bike. But the yellow one is the only Singer I knew him to have.
After I moved away in '79 I didn't have any contact with him, so if he bought more Singers it might have been after that date.

Not so much that the rules don't apply, but with age, experience and wisdom comes the knowledge of when the rules can be bent a bit.:50:

yea , I occasionally clamp bikes the same way for light duty work and cleaning . Just wrap a polishing cloth around the tube and clamp lightly , no problem .

And the cradle effect lessens the need for pressure needed to hold it in place especially if only carefully futzing. ;)

Especially now that many ads are written with AI. They are so generic they could be describing a kids Murray or a vintage Masi with the same words.

It's my size but I have zero experience with French bikes and this Singer is not the place to start.

I did not choose the option to "watch" this bike back when I opened the ad the first time, but I just received an offer for $1,600, FWIW.

Can you just send offers to anyone who has looked at the ad?