ok, ill bite.
id go with the blue, because:
1. its just a smidge closer to my frame size 2. cantilevers rather than centerpulls 3. nifty "repose chaine" feature (if im remembering correctly, this is the chain hanger bit on the inside of the dropout coupled with the modified r. hub - i think theres pictures of similar approaches in _the data book_) 4. older, even if updated (silly, but thats how i am) 5. has a rear rack
on the other hand, the black one:
1. is black. 2. has that nifty little seat tube mount jos light
so if these were the only 2 rene herse bikes left on the face of the planet, and i had the $ to buy just one of them, it would be the 1957 blue randonneuse.
but *if* i had the $ to buy a vintage herse, id rather it be something earlier with maybe herse cantis, full racks (camping style), cyclo derailleurs etc etc... or a nice "porteur" with drum brakes and internal gears and a big platform rack...
its all fantasy, regardless... :)
-joel
>Ok, Herse afficionados.
>Assuming these bikes are the same size - If you had only enough
>moola to bid and maybe win one of these Herse Randonneuse bikes -
>which one would you go for, the blue or the black? And why?
>
>Dan -just hypothetically, my wife hopes- Borden in Brookline, MA
>
>At 9:10 PM -0400 7/22/02, Wdgadd@aol.com wrote:
>>http://ebay.com/<blah>
>> There's one, and here's the other:
>>http://ebay.com/<blah>
>
>--
>_______________________________________________
--
joel metz : magpie@messengers.org : http://www.blackbirdsf.org/
bike messengers worldwide : ifbma : http://www.messengers.org/
po box 191443 san francisco ca 94119-1443 usa
==
i know what innocence looks like - and it wasn't there,
after she got that bicycle...