[CR]Re: To build or not to build that is the question

(Example: Production Builders:LeJeune)

Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2006 13:29:17 -0400
From: "Edward Albert" <Edward.H.Albert@hofstra.edu>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: [CR]Re: To build or not to build that is the question

I know that similar questions have been put to the list before but I still find myself in a quandry. I have been fortunate to be the recipient of a 1965 Hetchins Europa track bike with straight stays. The bike has NEVER been ridden. It has a campy headset and bottom bracket, a set of Titan steel track bars and stem (with the paper Titan label still attached to the bars) and an inserted Campy seat post and Brooks saddle. Although it has a few scratches from banging around my friends closet all these years, it has NEVER had wheels mounted on it. No wheel marks on the painted dropouts. For all practical purposes it is NOS and my size. As I write this I am looking at it hanging from the ceiling of my office.....crying out "put wheels on me." But, somehow, I cannot bring myself to build the wheels and mark it up with a set of track hubs. Do I leave it as it is or do I bite the bullet, mount the wheels, mark the dropouts, cancel the NOS status BUT......complete the bike and maybe even ride it. To build or not to build...that is the question. All help appreciated. Edward Albert Chappaqua, NY, USA

Edward Albert, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Sociology