Now:[CR] The search for decals continues (long) - Was:[CR]Decals - a nice story -

(Example: Production Builders:Peugeot:PX-10LE)

From: "Steve Neago" <questor@cinci.rr.com>
To: "H.M. & S.S. Sachs" <sachs@erols.com>
Cc: "classicrendezvous" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References: <5.1.0.14.0.20021207202304.00a90080@pop.erols.com>
Subject: Now:[CR] The search for decals continues (long) - Was:[CR]Decals - a nice story -
Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 07:15:25 -0500

Hello Harvey,

Yes, I tried to purchase Raleigh decals, but was never able to directly obtain them, despite multiple efforts on my part to do so. I eventually found most of the decals that I needed on eBay after 25 years of searching!

In the mid 1970's I worked at a Raleigh bike shop while in high school and accumulated enough earnings by saving to purchase a new '74 Raleigh Competition complete bike. I was attracted to the Raleigh Competition's great looking black/gold paint job and decals with its great feel in riding where I rode the bike to work everyday for the first month that I owned it.

Unfortunately, the top tube "Competition" transfer gold color started to fade with sun exposure (yellowing lacquer top coat or manufacturing paint problem?) and the downtube "Raleigh" script got scratched when I parked the bike one day. I figured it was no problem... I worked for a Raleigh dealer, the frame was new, and I could purchase decals, so I thought. Thus began a long quest to find elusive vintage Raleigh decals.

I was able to order a set of Competition decals from England through the bike shop I worked. The decals came in after several months, but the shop owner sold them to a regular customer without telling me where the owner reassured that he would get me another set. Being young, gullible, and "low man on the totem pole", I believed him, but the decals never came. I later called the regional Raleigh salesrep who said he would try to get them for me, but he never did follow through. I wrote England several times in the late 1970s and never received any response from Raleigh England. Maybe I was too persistent in writing Raleigh for the decals, so I thought. I was so close to getting the Raleigh decals and yet ended up being so far away from doing so.

Fade to the early 1980s... I had just graduated from college and Huffman Corporation (Huffy bikes) had just licensed the Raleigh franchise name to sell high-end Raleigh bikes in the USA. I lived at that time less than 5 miles from the Huffy corporate headquarters and stopped in to find out about the elusive Raleigh decals I still wanted. Huffy contacted Raleigh England through the mail and found out that the decal sets from the early 1980s had been thrown out. :-( However, Huffy gave me partial decal sets of the new Raleigh Team Pro. ;-). And so, I started on the trail to collecting vintage Raleigh frames!

In the mid 1980s I purchased a Apple Macintosh computer and started in the computer industry. I started to use the Mac for graphics and realized that I may be able to re-create the elusive Raleigh decals that I still needed. I made careful pencil tracings used a computer scanner in 1987 to bring in as graphic into Adobe Illustrator and attempted to clean up the image but got frustrated with the computer software. I put this project on the back burner occasionally tweaking the image but never getting it to a point where I was satisfied. Darn those Raleigh decals!

Public interest in the Internet started to gather momentum in the mid-late 1990s and I joined the crowd. I came across a vintage bike collecting forum where people talked about restoring vintage frames. I noticed a few references to Jim Cunningham and CyclArt so I decided to call in search of the elusive Raleigh decals that I needed to complete the frameset. I contacted CyclArt and spoke to Jim Cunningham several times to ask about repro decals which is the basis for the start of this message discussion. My comments about CyclArt and their business practices are readily available to those who email me offline.

Cut to the mid-late 1990s... new computer job, faster computers, and better software remind me of the Raleigh decal project that I never finished. I logged onto eBay for the first time and was amazed at the variety of bikes and components that could be won at auction. Back in those days, 300 listings of Campagnolo parts on ebay was a busy week. I believe there are now over 1200 Campy listings on eBay every week. Maybe I could find vintage Raleigh decals on ebay...

I felt like I was struck by lightning in early January 1999 when I found on eBay the Raleigh decals I had searched for almost 25 years... A three day only auction of over 20 incomplete sets of Raleigh Competition. International, and Professional decals from a Raleigh dealer on the east coast that went out of business. I swore to myself that I would not let this pass.... I bid at the last moment with a sniper bid of $125 and won the auction at $56 - I was in seventh heaven because now I had the decals and images that I needed to start the frame restoration after 25 years of searching! However, I still need a few custom Raleigh decals. This is how I came into contact with the Classic Rendezvous list and I am satisfied to read and participate in all discussions, especially those involving decal reproduction.

Regards, Steve Neago
Cincinnati, OH


----- Original Message -----
From: "H.M. & S.S. Sachs"
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Sent: Saturday, December 07, 2002 8:29 PM
Subject: [CR]Decals - a nice story



> Given the season, I'd like to tell a story about a very particular
> gentleman who sold me his two Austro-Daimlers a few months ago. Both were
> nice bikes, really nice riders that had been ridden lots, very much
> high-end. A Vent Noir (late 70s), and an Ultima SuperLeicht (early
> 80s). With each, he gave me the original purchase receipts -- and a full
> set of decals ordered at the time he bought the bike.
>
> Those who know me know that I almost never buy new bikes (in 40 years, I
> can remember 2 framesets and one complete bike), but I certainly never had
> the presence of mind (and emotional investment?) to think ahead far enough
> to order the decal sets. Did you?
>
> Harvey "some things I still remember" Sachs
> mcLean va