Brandon wrote, in part:
"If when a bike
is pulled from the box and the hubs are replaced with
Hi-E's, the
pulleys Bullseye, the saddle with Brooks, and the bar tape,
cable
housings, and toe straps with a different color. I argue
that that
bike is as original as the bike pictured in the catalog."
>From a purist point-of-view, you are mistaken when you say
that customer modifications of an original bike do not
change that bike.
These changes ARE significant. Very. And they detract from both the appeal and the value of the bike. For instance, I've seen a number of early 70s Masis and Colnagos with parts replaced. Parts that *were* of the period. But they are wrong for the bikes. (like bullseye hubs with mavic clincher rims on a Masi, or Normandy Competition hubs with Mavic clinchers on a Colnago...these are period parts, but totally wrong for the bikes).
What's worse, in these instances, the original wheels for early 70s Colnagos are very hard to duplicate, since they used a model of Nisi sew-up rim that's very hard to find today. Ditto with the Masis, which used a model of Martano that is extremely difficult to find now.
Early Colnago Mexicos sometimes came with another Martano rim that is even harder to find than the one that came on factory-assembled Masis.
So, these owners really did materially affect the nature of their bikes, both from aesthetic/purist/archivist point-of-view, and from the point-of-view of value. Certainly when the world logo hoods have been replaced with Modolos, that materially affects both originality and value.
I could go on. But you get the picture. For a number of us (including me) the bike as it was shipped, factory-assembled, to the retailer, is the bike we want. Nothing else. And anything else besides that is certain in no way original.
Charles "originality is everything" Andrews SoCal
PS: which, by the way, does not mean I won't mongrel-up a classic frame with the best of them. But for maximum aesthetic and physical pleasure, in my view, nothing beats original, original, original.