CR,
I guess everyone got my last one except for me. Sorry for the goof up; I'm not sure what happened.
To backtrack just a little bit, I'd like to also mention that during our examination of the frames and bikes on Fri., there was another listmember present who had built his own frame and was riding it during the event. That would be New Zealander David Benson. He's a very pleasant gentleman who had built this Rene Herse style demountable frame just before comming here for the event. We had a demonstration of the demountable feature and I was very impressed with both the work and the concept. I'll be building a demountable just to have done it some time; and having seen Davids' bike was inspirational. We had fun on the rides as I recall also. David was in the frey at all times. He came there to ride!
The Friday ride was also the first time Karen had been on the back of a tandem. I gave her a few basic pointers on how the tandem thing works and she performed perfectly the whole time. Imagine my surprise when she stood up on a short climb for the first time as we accelerated over the inclines. Once a tandem team becomes "unified" it is common for both riders to stand and climb together to maintain speed on the climb. When only the stoaker stands in must be done smoothly and while maintaing a centered position over the frame; otherwise the pilot will experience some steering of the bike by the rear rider. Karen stood up gracefully to the point that I actually hadn't noticed the move until I felt something on my back. Then I knew. Most tandem pilots will get my "point" if they have ridden with female stoakers. ;-o! The ride was great fun as I previously mentioned and it's hard to describe how cool it is to sail through the back streets of the Pasadena area in a group of 30 or so people on vintage bikes. It really is amazing. Riding like that tells me that everyone rides similarly regardless of where they're from. When we all get together we have a blast. Especially when there's a slight hill every so often!! ;-)
Dinner Friday was at Kathleens; they had a wide varity of foods to choose from and the room was big enough for the large group that had assembled by Fri. evening. Stevan Thomas and Matteo Brandi joined us for the first time that evening. Having had a fight with my dinner the night before I opted for the fruit medely; half of which I took back to the hotel to have for breakfast. That worked for me. We all ate then seperated to retire for the evening. I suspect a few others stayed up later at the Marriot; just to experience the wonder that is "Josh". Pretty funny story that Mark Petry and Karen can relate if I recall. Pergolizzi was probably there for that one, too.
Sat. morning. Absoulutly a beautiful day in Pasadena. I'm looking forward more to the ride I think than the symposium. One of the best times of this gathering is the morning of the symposium when the next larger expansion of attendees happens and people have bikes everywhere and we're meeting the new faces for the first time.
The symposium starts off with Dennis Crowley (?) who gives us a brief history of bicycles in Pasadena. It turns out Pasadena was the end of the rail line that originated in Chicago; one of the largest bike producing cities in the US. The result was a tremendous influx of bicycles into Pasadena. In about 1900 there were 15 bike shops in Pasadena!
Next Sterling Peters gave us a short slideshow and an account of the early years of the Tour De France. It was most certainly a different event then as compared to now; but not altogether. Back in the early days it appears that local rivalries and local heros raised lots of emotions (and betting, etc.) amongst the spectators following the race thru the newspapers. Going through rival towns could be hazardous. Sometimes a "disguise" was neccessary to get out of town on the next stage of the race. Bikes dissappeared. The early Tour De France sounds a lot like the "Wild West". Holy Smokes!
I followed Sterling into the flypaper. I attempted to address the subject of "Counterfeit vs Replica" as related to our interest in Vintage Bikes. The topic is actually rather expansive and it could take quite a while to cover the whole topic completely. We just dipped our toe into the Hetchins trademark "debate" and the existance of a "Hetchins" which everyone who has seen it (including myself, Jim Cunningham, Michael Kone, Joe Bell, and Jimmy Thomson) feels is an unauthorized counterfeit. The frame was actually discussed on the list a while back (maybe even a year or so ago) and the group collectivly dubbed it the "Magnum Bogus" which was to appear on the frame once refinished so that it would not be confused as a "genuine" Hetchins. The worksmanship on this particular frame was sub standard in the condition it appeared when we all saw it. It also had things that authorized Hetchins wouldn't have on them. I also recall that the patterns for the lugs were wrongly perportioned as compared to an original. It was an odd bike. It would have taken a tremendous amount of work to make this thing look decent and still it was not well made at all. We kicked that around a bit and went on to the counterfeit Confente that was on loan for this topic. It was evident that the effort was half hearted but intended to decieve none the less. Interesting frame to look at but we all wondered; why bother? There's very little point in counterfeiting frames, it doesn't make sense.
The replica on the other hand is presented as homage to the original but is clearly marked as not original. In my case I added a point to the Nervex seat lug which no original I've ever seen has. That was to distinguish the frame in addition to the markings. The BB shell is also English threads which should tip off any collector to the fact it's not Italian made. The reason for taking the time to clearly seperate the two is not to prevent my replica from being mistaken as an original Masi; it's to make sure an original Masi isn't mistaken for a Baylis Replica. ;-).
I don't see the "Replica" concept as a market; it's just a personal outlet for myself to build a few "historically significant" bikes as replicas in my collection. I intend to build the Fausto Coppi Pokkerissimo track bike, the Eddy Merckx hour record bike, and a few others. If I don't find my old Pogliaghi track bike I may build that someday also. They will eventually end up as odd one-of-a-kinds in the distant future. Who knows if anyone will find them interesting.
Lunch followed which consisted of deli style goodies. I think everything got chomped by the time lunch was over.
Next up was long time bike racer and lifetime Swhcinn employee Dave Staub. He began racing at age 13 in 1953. He lived in San Francisco so there was in fact a racing faction there at the time. He grew up and raced with many old timers and a few other young riders his own age. There were very few racers in the US that weren't from the few "pockets" of cycling in the US at the time. San Francisco, LA, Chicago, St. Lewis, and New York I think were the primary centers.
Dave told us of his young racing days and told us of how they went to Italy to train when he was about 17 and they hung around Cinellis' shop when they weren't riding. I would never have guessed Dave Staub was a shop rat at Cinellis in about 1957! No Way! He rode Cinelli road and track bikes and Masi specials also. I saw a photo of Dave riding his 1964 Masi Special track bike and thought how cool it must be to have such a shot of oneself on that bike. I was really impressed.
Dave gave a great talk which I enjoyed tremendously. He told us a bit about his Schwinn years and had his collection of Paramounts which is "neato". I've known Dave for a number of years but I never knew he had this early Cinelli and Masi connection. I think being around us has lit a spark in him as well. The bug has bit him square on the ASS! A little Phil Wood grease on that thing Dave, will have it knocked down in a few days!
I'll save the next part for later. Ted Ernst delivered a "sermon" with the intensity of a fire and brimstone preacher! If you've never seen a 70 plus year old geltleman with the fire in his eyes of a 19 year old, you've never seen Ted Ernst. His willingness to share and inform is beyond enthusiastic. It's infectious! I'll explain in the nest installment.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
Vintage Bike Bug bites are the WORST!