I had a call yesterday from Tom Kellogg of Spectrum about the progress on my Redcay restoration. All the metal work is done. Top tube replaced, internal brake cable guides to match the existing derailleur guides, dents fixed etc. Tom said that repolishing the Henry James stainless steel lugs took 3.5 hours! Ouch - the bill is climbing. I'll have the frame in a couple of weeks. I will probably build this up with a boring but correct Super Record group. The first generation Suntour Superbe group I originally had for it has just too many miles to match the restoration.
We also talked about the state of the custom frame business. He says that if he didn't have the titanium frame business with Merlin, he couldn't afford to do steel.
As to restorations, that Mondia is quite nice. I sold a few of these new and that is certainly better than original. It was amazing to me that in 1974 one of these hung on the wall for a year at $400 or so at the shop. My size too, but did I buy it noooo. Too much of a "touring" bike.
Joe