I'm having the BEST day! Getting ready to drive/ferry up to Nova Scotia to see The Oysterband and Fairport Convention at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival, I dropped into the shop to see if the new Harry Turtledove had arrived from Amazon.com, and it had so I'm going to be well fixed for vacation reading even if I finish the U.S. Grant Autobioigraphy I'm reading on my PDA.
...but wait, there's more!
My Raleigh Pro is back from Brian's tender ministrations!
I've been in love with Gold/silver Raleigh Pros since the first time I ever saw one, back in the early '70s. This was the first bike I ever saw with Campagnolo brakes (which I thought were good at the time) also the first with a sloping fork crown, and the simple elegant lug design was like a breath of fresh air after the proliferation of Nervexes and their imitators.
This was also the first bike I ever saw with a 6-speed freewheel, and that lovely fastback seat cluster...oooooooh!
I've had the opportunity to ride a couple, a 23 1/2 which was a bit too small, and a 25 1/2 which was too big.
A while back I was offered a Pro frameset for cheap, 'cause it had a crack in the bottom bracket. It was a 24 1/2, with a short top tube, just my size, and I snapped it up. It was really beat, and was the mink blue, not my preferred gold color, I figured I could maybe slap a bit of braze into the crack and it would work. I asked about the best way to do this and Brian Baylis kindly replied with bad news and good news. The bad news was that the only real fix was to replace the bottom bracket...but the good news was that he would be willing to do this on a barter basis!
I won't get a chance to build this up 'til I get back from Nova Scotia, but it's just lovely. I opted for an investment-cast bb rather than the more "authentic" pressed steel one, and had bottle mounts installed on the down tube...I don't intend to represent this as a "restoration" more as an "interpretation." Brian did a gorgeous job with the paint and decals, looks just like an original one only better! I'll be building it up as a fixed gear, natch...it's a perfect candidate--no major shift braze ons (only the chainstay, where removing the stop would have messed up the chrome) and the wonderful C ampagnolo 1010a dropouts, the ideal setup for a fixed gear.
I'll be putting pictures on the Web later, but I just had to share my delight!
Sheldon "Good Day" Brown
Newtonville, Massachusetts
+--------------------------------------------+
| In order to understand recursion, |
| first, you have to understand recursion. |
+--------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772, 617-244-1040, FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com
Useful articles about bicycles and cycling
http://sheldonbrown.com