dddd

This one still grates on my economic self-esteem. Payed $220 two years ago, without really inspecting it. So..., the unique lower head lug reinforcement turned out to be a heavy-duty repair, the head-tube shifters concealed a bulge, the integral headset and con-sphere bottom bracket fully rusted, the crankarms were mis-matched-length 151's, all pretty useless.

My only consolation, the seller has given me some real bargains, both before and since. I was the fool who made the offer on this one.

The orange bike is from the same seller, just last week! (click to enlarge)

petrintata

It will be hard to beat this one. Definitely the most desirable, but the worst bike I have ever bought. My Masi Prestige:







Luckily, it was Campy SR all around, with lots of pantographed parts, so great deal overall.

TimmyT 

That's pretty sweet.

sykerocker 

Unfortunately, while going thru my pictures, I found that I erased most of my "before" pics about a year ago so I can only show the "after" on one of them. And, strictly speaking, both of these bikes were given to me because of their condition. Under this category, two come immediately to mind:

1958-60 Raleigh Lenton Grand Prix:

This one was minus the wheels, rear derailleur and fenders, but everything else was there. Happily, long oxalic acid baths did wonders to the chrome, period correct although not factory spec wheels were built, and the paint and patina were salvageable.

Before (with a set of wheels slapped on it to take the pictures):



After (ignore the front wheel - the current one was still being pieced together at this point):



1991 GT Tachyon:

This one I'm REALLY sorry I tossed the original pics. The frame was rattle-canned green, including all the components. No crank. No rear derailleur. It looked like it had been stolen at one point. The local bike shop Re-Cycle had attempted to sell it for $25.00 with no takers, so they gave it to me to play with. Happily, the frame was straight, the shifters and brake calipers were still on it (a forum member attempted to buy the shifters from me after I posted pics of the original bike trying to figure out what it was). Yes, this was a "cost is no object" frame up, powder coat (in the original shade, my powder coater spent an hour with me going thru catalogs to find powder that matched the original) that I happily road for three years and really liked it. Then I had to cull the garage and it went - something I still regret.



I wish you had seen the looks on their faces the first time I rode it to the shop. My reputation was made.

Drillium Dude

Mid-70s Guerciotti frameset. This ended up being a lost cause, mainly because I discovered a bent seatstay (among all the other issues) resulting in a tweaked rear triangle. Rust was extensive, there was an odd hole drilled through the driveside gear lever boss and damage to the fork, top and down tubes from a collision meant lots of metalwork - and what kind of bike would it be once done? I cut my losses after media-blasting revealed (to me) there to be too much work to bring back from the dead.









DD