>I'm sure this was inspired by the two grand set of NOS drops from last week.
>
><http://ebay.com/<blah>
>4&rd=1>
>
I think it is an act of barbarism to cut up what appears to have been a nice frame. I am told the same seller cut up a wonderful cyclotouring bike from the 1940s to retrieve its front derailleur braze-on!
I just hope nobody will buy these hacked-apart bikes, so that this guy stops before he gets his hands on other things. Overall, it is a real problem that bikes are worth less than the sum of their parts! Even something as desirable as a pristine 1952 Rene Herse, fully equipped with the best parts, would be worth more if parted out.
It boggles my mind that people are willing to pay huge amounts for individual parts, but not for complete bikes. Add to that the hassles of shipping bikes vs. shipping parts, and you have the current situation, where frames aren't worth much, if anything. Instead of throwing them away, Mr. ParisBicycle cuts them apart to salvage what can be salvaged...
I once read how a schoolboy who loved cars saved all his money to buy a Mercedes SSK in 1940s France that had been left at a casino as a collateral for gambling debts and never reclaimed. When he finally had enough (it wasn't expensive!), a scrap dealer had bought the car, and cut it up for scrap! Today, you'd get a few million for these. (Marinelli: Memoirs of a Bugatti hunter is the English title, I believe.)
I don't like thinking of old bikes in terms of dollar value, but I do believe they should be valued enough that they escape this fate!
Of course, the main problem here is that Japanese collectors value a new Toei with old parts higher than an original old bike. When I admire one of these beautiful creations, I see the ghosts of all the historic bikes that had to give up their parts to equip them! I wish they would instead make nice new parts (or even replicas of old ones), which could be used without molesting old machines. These parts also could be used by the likes of Peter Weigle and others who are making randonneur bikes.
Of course, I don't think it is terrible to part out a 1970s or 1980s second tier bike - in fact, it can give it a new lease on life. Equipped with less desirable parts, the frame can become a valued rider, and the parts can be used to restore a lovely machine. It's like hot rods in cars - it's not a crime to cut up a Ford Model T or A, as there are hundreds of thousands. But if somebody did the same to a Dusenberg, I'd cry. -- Jan Heine, Seattle Editor/Publisher Vintage Bicycle Quarterly c/o Il Vecchio Bicycles 140 Lakeside Ave, Ste. C Seattle WA 98122 http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com