I'd like to provide a little more detail and perspective on my request for opinions of value on George Mount's 1976 Olympic bike and jerseys.
First, I'd not mentioned and several have asked, who made the frame. Guerciotti, although quite different than the later ones. This frame for example has no "stars" or BB cut outs. It has only simple teardrop cut outs in the lugs and very clean workmanship.
There have been comparisons to a Bianchi ridden by Coppi sold last year for $9,000 at auction. Pre auction estimates and Post auction "if only" projections were $30-50,000.
The Coppi Bianchi was poorly restored and it's documentation was not as good. Provenance was third party, the seller actually... The Bianchi "restoration" if it can be called that, used numerous incorrect parts, the paint and graphics were not accurate. While there are photos of Coppi riding what is possibly this bike, it was not even Coppi's usual size. I don't think there was any specific claim that that bike was used in any landmark event. There were no jerseys or other accessories included.
George's bike uses the correct parts, the actual parts used from the seat on down. The owner was wise enough to store parts he took off as he made changes to the bike. Although CyclArt does a lot of touch ups and "preservation clear coats" on original finishes, that was not an option in this case. Repainting was required to reverse a previous repaint. CyclArt used the same color and with original team issue decals. We replaced a few parts and the consumables as required. Note the single Gold chain ring bolt, a set of 5 of these was given to George at the Olympics. He gave one to each of the team members.
Granted, George was certainly not the international star that Coppi was. On the other hand, there were many bikes used by Coppi and essentially identical bikes used by his teams. There is only one bike documented as THE bike that was used to bring the US it's best Olympic road race finish in 52 years and was ridden by the vanguard of US success in European racing. I was incorrect about George medaling, I misunderstood something said by the owner and should have known better. Still, George clearly was at the head of a chain that includes, Boyer, LeMond and Armstrong.
Given all of the above, it seems very unfair to arrive at a value of less than one half the auction price of the Bianchi.
I've been told that Europeans don't see value in old race bikes. Neither did they see value in old race cars. Ferrari crushed their race cars at the end of the each season until the late 1970's. Similar cars have sold for prices into the millions. RESTORED! Can they have been more wrong? Fine cars at auction bring more money restored than "as raced" and are rarely shown or sold in other that pristine condition. Why is it that some feel that bicycles lose all their "mojo" when damage is repaired and cars do not? I think this comes from the perception that bicycles are not "worth" restoring. Maybe we should crush old race bikes; I don\u2019t think so.
Also I think many are adopting the "don't touch it" mindset due to the influence of Antiques Roadshow, but bicycles are certainly more like race cars than furniture.
If George's bike is worth $2,500 as some suggest, that means a contemporary pro bike, available everywhere with no history whatever, with a usable life span a fraction of this bike and absolutely no soul is worth twice as much? Something is seriously wrong with our priorities here. Many of us would even prefer to ride a bike like George's than many contemporary bikes. Even as a useable piece of equipment the valuation seems low to me.
Sorry I did not provide more in my initial post. I'd appreciate any further, or recalibrated opinions of value.
This bike cannot be auctioned as it is donated to the US Hall of Fame and is there now. I think that is where it belongs. I encourage all who can to visit and support our Hall of Fame.
For another look here's the link:
http://www.cyclart.com/
Thanks,
Jim Cunnningham ~ CyclArtist
Vista, CA