[CR]Gitane, Taylor Tourers and Value

Classicpals,

I put the first bid on the 1972 Gitane Tourer that's now on eBay, though I'll not likely get engaged in this in a way that comes close to the reserve (unmentioned but suggested by the Buy It Now to be at least over 1.5K? Justa' guess). Here's the URL: http://ebay.com/<blah I've also admired the Taylor, already noted: $2400 or thereabouts. There is a Buy It Now price on the Gitane for 2K. I'm certainly Francophile enough to like many things about the Gitane, which for no rational reasons I would perfer over the Taylor (like I said, Francophile...). I look at modern offerings of tourers, and I mean the modern bikes with only contemporary parts and values (such as the Cannondales, etc., recently appearing in the BikeCentennial magazine---I can never remember its modern name) and I see none of those I would like to ride or own. I look at these two and I think I would be delighted to own either. I mean, it's not as if I don't think the moderns ride nicely or work well, but they are just not for me. I look at the moderns prices and I shrink. I look at the vintage bikes and their eBay costs and, again, I shrink! But here is my point (if I have one): If I were going to not shrink and spend the money it apparently takes to have a complete pre-built bike, I could see myself spending (the now imaginary) money on the vintage rides. I wouldn't spend that on the moderns what with their aluminum tubes or lugless (=soulless, to me...) frames and inelegant solutions (lots of riser stems, terrible fender lines, etc.). I feel differently about "race" bikes. In that realm, I am not so put off by techno-latest-greatest. I'm wondering if that makes the least bit of sense: why I think "new" tourers are so darn unappealing and race bikes (I confess to having more than one) I can enjoy in vintage or modern terms (but prefer vintage, friction, etc.)

go figuring and grateful for a place to vent, be vetted, and ruminate in the comfort of Dale's living room, Douglas Brooks in PLEASE GET WARM HERE, PLEASE!! Canandaigua, NY