Chuck writes;
The beginning of '76 I was looking for my first adult bike at the age of 32. I had visited all the shops in LA and sent for all the literature I could (still have the letters/brochures from B. Baylis and R. Sachs) and had studied the "bible" (Bikecology 1975© mailorder catalog); Masi frame and fork $350, Ron Cooper frame and fork $250, Bob Jackson frame and fork $200, and had my heart set on a Ron Cooper. Spec'ing full Campagnolo out of the catalog was going to be around $850 and even with all Japanese parts was around $700.
One night driving down Huntington Blvd. in San Marino I saw that a local bike shop had painted on their window, "Full Campagnolo Raleigh Pro $507!" I was there the next day with my tax refund money!
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California, Southwestern USA http://www.velo-retro.com (new retro t-shirts on site)
You were one lucky guy, Chuck. I lived in upstate New York with few good bike shops close by. When I bought my first nice bike in 1972 I was 18 and
flat broke. No car, no nothing... came home from my freshman year in colle ge and had to depend on my father for transportation that summer. And there w as no way he was gonna take me on a marathon expedition to explore the bike sho ps in nearby cities (which would be Albany, Schenectady and Troy). Pop was probably gonna be good for one ride only so I'd have to make some phone call s, make my choice, and buy the bike sight unseen.
After reading Sloane's book cover to cover a few times and checking some prices, I was convinced of two things... first, that I should be more concer ned with a good frame than good components and second, there was no way I was ev er gonna afford a Campy-equipped bike. I recall that the cheapest bikes I cou ld find with all-531DB frames were the PX-10 and some model of Mercier. Not being able to find a Mercier dealer close enough and having a friend who own ed a Peugeot, I talked my father into driving nearly an hour to Great Barrington Massachussets to pick one up (at a shop that looked more like an outdoor/cam ping store than a bike shop... which explains why the salesperson was too clueles s to fit me properly). The cost was $230 with a spare Hutchinson tire and an
outdated handlebar-mount water bottle that they were probably desperate to g et rid of. But I thought I was getting an incredible deal... after all, it wa s the first bike I'd ever bought that came with its own tool kit. In a neat little pouch, yet.
I don't remember if the Windsor was out at the time or not. But I did chec k the prices of Campy-equipped bikes even though I couldn't afford one, and I seem to remember a top model Gitane being the cheapest at something well ove r $300. But whether it had Campy brakes, I don't recall.
My plan to "buy the cheapest bike with the best frame and update the components later" did not quite work out as planned. Apparently I did not read the Sloane book closely enough to realize what I was getting into by purchasing a French bike... every time I wanted to upgrade something (to Campy... yes... must have Campy...) there would be some reason that it wasn't gonna fit on m y bike without tapping, drilling, or replacing more than one component. After
cursing out loud a few times, I reacted in the only sensible way any truly stubborn person would... I declared that Campy stuff was crap and there was no way I was gonna put any of it on my bike. So I bought LJ Super instead of Campy. .. Phil Wood instead of Campy... Weyless in stead of Campy. For twenty years,
the only Campy item I owned was a tiny tub of grease.
Ahh, envy is an ugly thing, is it not? All those years, every time I'd see
a Campy-equipped bike on the road, my eyes would narrow slightly, steady breathing would transform to choking snorts which would in turn become subdu ed angry muttering, stuff along the lines of "Boy, I'll bet he thinks he's such hot ***t." ...Especially if he was riding faster than me.
Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA