This is an interesting discussion! I have to say that in the collecting world there are those items that are worth more unrestored and there are items that are worth more when restored. A couple of examples are vintage aircraft and vintage race cars. The reason is obvious - in unrestored state both airplanes and race cars are dangerous if they are to be used and most collectors want to use them (plus FAA or motor racing governing bodies won't let you use them if they do not meet specs).
Bikes are not really dangerous in an unrestored state if everything is in reasonable condition and one is not trying to beat any records. If one intends to go fast on a bike I would make sure all is up to a standard where one can be reasonably confident that mechanical or structural failure is unlikely. To sum up - I think there is room for both worlds in our hobby.
Mike Short, Austin TX
On Tue, 7 Sep 2004 11:23:58 -0700 (PDT) Fred Rafael Rednor
<fred_rednor@yahoo.com> writes:
> > if this frame or one as rare as this is
> > re-tubed owing to an accident, how is the
> > value/mojo/provenance affected? the same
> > question goes for the fork if a new steerer
> > is installed.
> All I can say, before giving this some deep thought or
> consulting a reliable oracle, is that Richard's question brings
> us to the heart of the definition of original. This is
> probably why antique collectors care so much about original
> finish, patina and all that.
>
> At some point, a repaired frame will not really be much
> different than a reproduction that uses original decals. The
> only difference might be whether an old "master" or a current
> framebuilder filed the lugs. With many classic frames, an
> unknown assistant might actually have performed that task so it
> gets to be a sticky discussion.
>
> That's why, should you travel to Ghent this winter and visit a
> museum instead of watching the Six Day, you're likely to find a
> painting credited to "the school of Pieter Bruegel". In those
> cases, much of the value is based on the quality of the work as
> much as for the director of the workshop in which it was
> produced. Actually, there are more aspects of all this to
> discuss but I'm at the office now...
> Best regards,
> Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia
>
>
>
>
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