I was out riding last night when I happened upon another cyclist who lives in my neighborhood. He usually is found atop a high end Obrea, but he has mentioned a few times his love of old steel, and his preference for the feel and ride. On this day he rode up on a completely overhauled Raliegh from the late 70's or early 80's I would guess. The bike was stripped down for a good DIY garage paintjob and painted in that sparkly kind of paint that I usually find a little harsh. I'm talking about the paint that has the little metal flake in it. This paint job was a deep but not dark blue done without any decals and it only retained the Heron headbadge for an instant identification. This was obviously an upper level Raliegh as could be told by a quick look at the decent lugwork. The brakes were the original non aero Weinmann's as was the stem an original too. The specialness of the look came together from the ultra modern wheelset in deep v silver configuration. The tires were almost the same deep blue as the paint and the bar tape was a nice medium blue cotton style. The crank was a nice older Stronglight. The overall look was of a unified blue souped up version of the original. Stunning was all I could think, even though I am usually not fond of altered older bikes. This marriage of old and new got me to wondering ....
Garth Libre in Miami Fl. USA