as i think people have mentioned in regards to this - thats one set of decals that restorer cant use to do a full restoration, one person theyll have to turn away saying "hey, i can repaint your frame to like new, but i dont have the decals cause i sold them..."
that being said, i asked the painter who resprayed the old fiorelli track bike i have (before it came into my hands) about decals some time back, and was told id be able to get them if i sent a photo of the bike with their respray sticker showing. didnt get the decals, though, cause i decided i didnt need to drop decals onto a fiorelli thatd been resprayed legnano green at the request of a previous owner :)
but i do think its the perogative of the decal owner/supplier to determine where they think this oftimes scarce resource should go - it may not always be the good samaritan decision, but in terms of business, it makes sense.
personally, if i wanted decals, and no one would sell them to me, id find a way to make some repro sets (being careful to add some little distiguishing mark to separate them from originals) and sell them at just enough of a markup to cover the outlay required to make the ones i needed for myself :)
-joel
>I think I understand the need to be honest, and
>to minimise the possibility of fraud. However,
>all this begs the question: If I show the frame
>that I need a decal for, to a "trusted"
>painter/restorer, so they can see that I am not
>trying to hoodwink anyone...........then why
>can't I get a decal stuck on that frame without
>having to get the full $350 to $500 repaint?? I
>would be happy to pay the market value of the
>decal, plus a figure for application and
>verification of the frame.
>I have tried to suggest exactly this process to a
>frame restoration service, that is very highly
>regarded, and no dice. Never even considered as
>an option by them.
>Seems to me, that the lure of the $$ is a wee bit
>stronger than the desire to run a scrupulous
>business, in this case.
--
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...