Ah, I see a definite trend here... mid 70s to early 80s lightweights!
No wonder that I take my the newest bike in my collection, a run of the mill silver 1979 Raleigh Competition GS, on our first trips together this weekend and last and she gets more kudos and compliments from other cyclists than any of my much sexier '50s British club bikes. Folks just love '70s lightweights it seems. Two guys on one trip waxing poetic about their early '70 Raleigh Internationals! My response: great, but why aren't you RIDING them!!??
It must be a generational thing. I suspect we have a lot of guys here about my age (46) who were teenagers in the glory years of the 1970s when you could just about afford one of the classic bikes of the era. Or at least covet them. My 1950s club bikes belong to another age and probably resonate more in England than bike paths in America.
This must explain why the last Comp GS on eBay fetched $750. Nah, why intellectualise it... she's just one hot little bike that's too much fun to be legal.
Peter Kohler
Washington DC USA