Tom and all,
And then there are replicas, and there are REPLICAS, right? The two repl ica frames I have built that are in my collection (both of which have be en to previous Cirque events) are a completely different animal. I would put my replicas in the same catagory as the master fakemaker painter pe rson mentioned my Larry Osborne. I would imagine in the distant future m y replicas will command extremely high prices, relative to other replica s of the period. If one considers the entire replica collection I'm work ing on (adding a Confente, a Hetchins, and a Bianchi Pokkerissimo track bikes) will increase the value of the entire collection. Since I don't m ake replicas (except of my own work, I have an order for a Wizard replic a!!) for other persons, all of these bike s are my size and are known to belong to only me. That's a replica.
Brian Baylis La Mesa, CA Getting pretty excited to attend the Cirque this year. Plenty of really cool stuff going on and lots of interesting and friendly people to hobno b with.
Art Link questioned the list members being a bit Ga-Ga over replicas. I
heartily agree. Replicas are mostly appropriate, in my mind, when pure ly decorative. Obviously we can't all afford a Van Gogh but if we love hi s work enough, one can still stay within the realm of good taste and hang a replica on their wall. Anyone with any sense entering the room will realize that it is a replica. No one with any sense would try and pass it off as anything else, unless there is a bit of criminal intent, which fo r the purposes of this discussion, we can surely dispense with. These replicas of the 3V bikes are available in sizes...that may be a powerful incentive to some. However, it is not all that difficult to fi nd good ones...real ones. At nearly $1800 for the replica frames one can a sk what other great new frames are available for that price, but the fact remains that a complete vintage 3V rarely (ever?) sells for that much. Not to brag (well, maybe a little bit...), but I honestly feel I probabl y own the premium one in the entire world and I paid several hundred dolla rs less than that for my frame, in as new condition, from one of the world 's most knowledgeable bike collectors (Sidestepping naming Dale here for fe ar of being chewed out for an attaboy...God knows I never bend any rules... Dale loves the C Record I put on it, too, he has reluctantly admitted).
I would say a dynamite original frame could be had for $1000 or more ben eath the price of a reproduction...why bother? Maybe to get a difficult size...maybe if you are only a very casually interested rider who is not a serious collector. Does this criteria fit the membership of this list?
Not in my mind! It is always interesting to see what is out there that is related to cla ssic bikes, but let us keep in mind what is really important here. Tom Sanders Lansing, Mi