6/19/02 10:49 PMclassicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org
> dale, my leader...
> i humbly disagree.
> i really believe richard storino on all counts. whether they made
> their rubber products or had them sourced, campagnolo srl is
> not in the business of replacing parts on thirty year old bicycles.
> if they, in fact, made hoods, some other e-group may pine for
> chainring bolts that say 'patent'. where does it stop?
> in the case of the hoods, 'back in the day', they never cost
> a king's ransom; why didn't the several hundred or so folks
> who want them now not have the foresight to stash a few away?
> for what they now fetch on ebay, one could've bought a dozen pair
> in the days in which they were new, not 'vintage'.
> i think the firm is getting a bad rap. campagnolo is not mercedes,
> nor is the cr 'timeline bicycle' collected with the fervor attached to
> vintage autos. that's a market with a long lineage and from which
> some serious profits can be taken. not so, this bike thing.
> e-RICHIE
> (i hope you'll still take my phone calls!)
gotta agree with richard - mercedes benz only started their heritage parts division after seeing just how much money was to be made. 3rd party fabricators were reproducing everything that most people saught and it dawned on MB that they still had all the old moulds, casting, plates and machinery. it is a profitable venture on their behalf. being such a huge company they could afford to and its also a nice marketing schtik for them as well. take your 280sl for $18,000 that runs and looks fine and restore it for another $65,000 to be in close to concours condition. yet they still aren't as sought after or valued as an original low miler in pristine condition.
repro campy hoods debating seems more semantics than anything - buy whatever tickles your fancy and leave the fuss out. brandishing high and mighty views will only attract the campy legal dept. without garnering an interest from them to remake them. if someone remakes them and makes a tidy summ good luck to them. were campy to remake them for and profit im sure we would endure 2 weeks worth of outrage at the high price and quality offered and yes repro's would still be made and sold. fresh world logo hoods can still be had - if the price kills you then a little humility and probably a better made hood in that style can be found for a lot less. always will be.
im sure were we all to own up to our hoardings there would be enough to go around and drop their market price considerably. greed amongst us is the only thing thats driven their price to where it is. i know that some who lament the outrageous values also take their stash out of carefully stored, and cotton lined boxes to get all fetishistc over their "riches". there are also sellers who have them and could sell them for far less but as the demand will always outwiegh supply there is no reason for them to share their riches - its a simple waiting game.
i dont wear horse hair on my head just cause nature/god decided i was to go without - nor am i asking god for some owed liability or compensation. i dont see why some should feel that campy owe them brake hoods for small coin when it only represents such a minutely small % of what their customers buy. all the parts from them that interest us here were profits that have been forgotten and spent. the buyers of their modern parts is what is in their interests. simply - they dont need the cult status, its not worth ($) the effort.
Leica aren't chaffing at the bit to make a new shutter curtain for me after 30 years, especially when i am perhaps the 15th owner of the camera. if they did i wouldn't want to pay the $300 odd dollars for one were they to start making them in small numbers top satisfy the 1500 or so owners currently using them even.
if you are buying bikes and parts that are no longer made what do you expect. who here would buy a garage sale "ultra-desirable" and tell the seller that they are going to pay them $2000 instead of the $100 they are asking cause thats the market worth. this hoo-hah is boring and finding rare things for little coin is a joy and not a right. otherwise open your wallets or start looking. were campy hoods available at colorado cyclist for $5 im sure something else to gripe about would eventuate.
none of this becomes the CR list.
would my life be richer if i had an original remote for 4 year old sony VCR - no the Tandy universal model for $14.99 does just as well. sony would laugh at my request to remake one for me just as Campy is laughing at requests for their hoods. its cute and flattering but they will never take it seriously as they are in business to make money. if tullio were alive his response would be the same. it should have dawned on some of you that what you live for isnt getting cheaper.
ciao,
ben "still waiting on repro door sills for my Yugo" kamen NYC