Through the long discussion about Martanos (which I can't remember ever seeing, much less using), I kept wondering, but didn't get around to asking, "Are they any good?" Thanks, gentlemen, for helping me understand that they have the charm of Stalinist waiters...More than a bit obsolete, and no fun to deal with. But, I write not to atta-boy, but to react to Chuck's comment:
"I'm only impressed with an "as it came out of the box" bike, if it actually did _just_ come out of a box like John Barron's Masi. I'm less impressed with a restoration that iscomplete down to the original less than stellar OEM parts."
Funny how attitudes on this vary. To me, a 30 year old "just out of the box" bike can have both mojo and funk (although I only am competent to judge the latter), but there is also a wistfulness, that this is a bike that never got to serve its function of bringing pleasure by being ridden, but has only the compensation of offering a pristine view of a past time. Nice, but static.
On the other hand, I've gotten a lot of pleasure, on a modest budget, unwinding the resultsof decades of modernization and change to equip bikes as they were when new. My Cinelli has truly awful paint, but I've brought it back to how it might have been when new, and this brings satisfaction. It's now a grizzled vet, but with one kind of integrity that I value.
And then, there are restorations like e-Ritchie's Masis, which shows awesome attention to detail, to getting the bike back to in-the-box condition. A true just-out-of-the-box is either a lucky find, or a triumph of the wallet. Ritchie's class of restoration is the result of hard work, patience, time, and a not inconsequential commitment to spending.
But, if Chuck was referring to "over the top" restorations with thick, wet-look paint on bikes for which it is inappropriate, I'm with him all the way. These, from some fine shops, sometimes strike me as sad.
Harvey Sachs
McLean VA