i wouldn't part out either of the two examples you cite here. but gios frames were ubiquitous, common, batch-made, not sold as complete bicycles...
i think they're quite cool but hardly the stuff of legend. the company story is legendary, imo. some of the promotional ephemera is rare and cool in its own right. but the frames were a dime a dozen.
e-RICHIE
chester, ct
Just to clarify a couple of things. It does appear that this Gios was not built up with exactly period-correct parts. I should have checked that first. The fact that it was built from a frame, and the parts are not totally correct/original to the period does reduce the charm-factor somewhat, so I stand corrected on this particular bike. I myself may well part-out a very nice bike in the next month or so, but I don't have much problem doing it, because it started life as a frame/fork only, and the parts aren't really quite right for the vintage of the frame. Close, but not perfect. In a case like that, I don't have much trouble parting something out. And the Gios on ebay is probably closer to that example.
The general principle remains, though.
For instance, imagine a 1963 nervex-lugged Masi Special. You find it in someone's garage, and it's perfect. I mean perfect. And every part on it is clearly original to a 1963 build-date, whether at Masi, or in the shop that imported the frame. Everything's original to the bike. Parting that out would be gauche, to say the least.
Or take a more tempting example, a late 50s/early 60s Peugeot PX-10. Candy blue with yellow lugs. With that incredibly rare Simplex rear derailleur (JUY 60? I forget the number now...a couple have sold on ebay for well over a grand in the last couple of years)...this Peugeot is absolutely mint, with all the right parts. *Nothing* has been replaced, or altered from the day they opened the box. Would you part that one out? It'd be tempting, from a purely financial point-of-view. But I wouldn't do it. How many here would?
Or, you could just remove the derailleur, and replace it with something cheaper, but equally plausible to the period and the bike? Would you do it? I wouldn't. It'd be like drawing a moustache on Botticelli's Venus.
Oh, both the Masi and the Peugeot are in the 58cm-60cm c-t range. In any case, a size that does not fit you, and/or a size less likely to command a top-price as a full bike.
Charles Andrews
SoCal
<classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2004 8:15 PM Subject: Re: [CR]ebay outing: gios super record..sad
>
> Richie,
>
> In this case, it's blood money. Why not be a hitman?
What's wrong with that? I'm sure the hitman feels the same
way. "Hey, a guy's got to make a living, right?" I guess it
is just as hard for me to understand how someone than think
that way as it is for others to understand why I feel the
way I do.
>
> Brian Baylis
> La Mesa, CA
>
>
>
>
> -- "richardsachs@juno.com" <richardsachs@juno.com> wrote:
>
> chas-
> what is wrong with (the seller) making money?
> e-RICHIE
> chester, ct
>
>
> -- chasds@mindspring.com wrote:
> Note that the seller parted this out from
> a fully original, complete bike:
>
>
http://ebay.com/
>
> That seems wrong to me. I know it's his bike. I know he
can do whatever he wants with it. But I think it's wrong
to part out a bike like that. I know why he did it.
Maximize profit. Still seems wrong to me.
>
> Charles Andrews
> Socal