Well Charlie, I take the exact opposite view from yours, as the pics don't seem to show the area in question very well at all. I think Mike's observations were right on the money. If there are any potential problems, show them as best as possible right up front. And perhaps list the name of said framebuilder, so a potential bidder could confirm/assess the diagnosis.
Dave Patrick Chelsea, Michigan USA
Nipponcomet@wmconnect.com wrote:
to anyone who's paying attention to this: nothing like a little spat between
seller/buyer/reseller to prick up my ears...so i went to the item and looked
and found an old, odd french frame set that was of little interest to
ME....but people were bidding on the item based on what they read and what they were
seeing...i thought the photos were plentiful and good enough...i saw the
painted over boss probably grasped by a vise grip and rocked back and forth til it
departed company w/ the tube...ugly-yes, fatal flaw-hardly!!!...in need of
downtube replacement, ahhh, i would think NO. the frame and fork are what they
are....fairly described and well presented....without reading tags or holding
the frame in my hands the bike hardly looked like it was going to brake apart
at the shifter boss if built up and ridden....i also looked at the seller's
rateing which is high...i found the ONE negative and saw it was resolved by both
ebay and paypal in the sellers favor...so far so good....read a bunch of the
feedbacks, some pretty nice praise to the seller. once again, i'm getting
nothing but green lights...back to the photos and i'm seeing all i need to see in
order to make a decision to bid or not to bid....what more does a fellow need
to present in order to sell something of this ilk on ebay....if mike thought
the frame was a danger to build up and ride than maybe he shouldn't have sold
it at all, even "super cheap"....obviously al saw value beyond mike's
assessment and has gone to the world's auction site to offer it to a larger audience
than the velo swap where he found this neat frame cheap.... even w/ a template
al went to some effort to present his item with text and photos....again, the
"area" IS mentioned, the one photo that shows the area is at an angle so you
CAN see the detent....i think that mike has besmurched this fellow w/
inuendo.... something of a personal nature w/ words like, he's endlessly annoyed w/,
lousy job describeing, jack up value, shaddy as possible, downright dishonest,
I'm not perfect, I tried to persuade, the seller "claims" to have taken it to a
framebuilder (what, he's lieing mike), boring race frame, not so exciteing
workmanship, sleezy as you can, don't get dinged etc etc... mike, thanks for
trying to protect all of us from this old frameset that'll top out at less than a
buck fifty....but i think that ALL of us here are more than capable of
discerning what's what w/ a tired old frame that is being saved from the trash by
someone out there who will probably be delighted to have it, build it, and ride
it. i do not see anything at all that al has done that deserves your brand of
vitriol....and if an ebayer is uncomfortable, they don't bid, OR write the
seller and ask some questions. that frame set offered nothing for me, but others
have found it to be worth a few bucks to save....lucky for it. charlie
flaherty baltimore maryland usa