Mark wondered what sort of frame you'd build, or have built, with those $2K dropouts recently sold on ebay.
I'd give 'em to Brian Baylis, along with a complete Nervex pro lug-set, with the nice Nervex Pro bb shell (which may or may not be too flexy for some, but MAN, is it pretty. Prettiest bb shell ever made, imho)
(or, alternatively, build a frame like an old Masi or Pogliaghi, with Cinelli-style lugs, a very fine-grained flambuoyant paint, and some chrome)
I'd have Brian make me his best Nervex Pro frame complete with the bb shell and crown. Paint it up with contrasting panels and some nice pin-striping, Swiss-style, most likely. Then wait for one of those first generation Gran Sport derailleurs to come around, for which I'd have to pay as much--or more--as I did for the damned dropouts..
Then find one of those really early Gran Sport front ders with the lip on the cage and the loopy Campagnolo stamp... if that was the earliest iteration of that derailleur, was it?
the rest of the parts suggest themselves...hm. By the time I was done? I'd probably have something like 9500 bucks in it, give or take 500 bucks.
I'd rather take my 10K to Europe and snoop around for an original top-line Helyett or La Pearle or something of the sort. I'd get a nice european vacation in the bargain, since a clean Helyett from the 50s, assuming I could find one, surely wouldn't cost me more than 5K?
But that Baylis would nice... wouldn't it?
Those drop-outs are destined for a glass case, and I say all power to *allvitluxe* who absolutely has a bigger ahem than I do..
Charles Andrews
Socal