I think that whoever made the comment was being disingenuous - since when d id collectors have cost-effective as their primary consideration? A collec tor of vintage cars wouldn't buy new ones instead because they're more cost -effective.
Regarding drawing the line, when you buy a vintage frameset in need of rest oration, in my opinion, you're starting with a clean slate, and you draw th e line where you choose. I prefer period correct, but the important things to me are the amount of pleasure I get from the project and the finished r esult, and that a frame is being preserved and used, instead of scrapped.
Neil Foddering
Weymouth, Dorset, England
> From: castell5@sympatico.ca
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2007 22:21:39 -0500
> Subject: [CR]Rebuild/ restoration: Where do YOU draw the line?
>
> As I continue my enjoyable but increasingly costly rebuild of a 49
> Carpenter I have been struck by a dilemma which must face many who
> pursue our hobby: how far does one take a restoration/ rebuild and where
> does one draw the line?
>
> A recent comment by a well-known former listmember, that essentially
> only a wanker would buy an old frameset in need of painting and
> rebuilding - when it is often more cost effective to buy a complete
> bike, perhaps resonates with truth. When faced with laying out the
> equivalent of another two-weeks of grocery money for a ratty old
> handlebar mounted bottle cage with a set of bottles (or maybe not) which
> are more than likely unusable - or at least, perhaps not overly healthy
> - how far is it worth going?
>
> How far is it worth going to ensure that parts are absolutely period
> correct - to the year and, in the case of some parts, to the exact
> month? And will they still be functional? After all isn't this a bike to
> be ridden?
>
> I do not have the bottles or the cage(s), but I do have the nicely
> chromed headlamp and am currently looking for a suitable matching
> bracket. Yet, I haven't a clue whether I can get the right batteries to
> run the lamp! Is a fitted lamp which does not work little more than a
> pretention? And how about the temptation to fit a period cyclometer, a
> time-trial bell, and a stopwatch!! But, isn't that what would have been
> fitted on these bikes at the time, I ask myself?! Will they come up on
> ebay again? How scarce are such items becoming? Will they make the
> finished product any better? Will their absence really affect that
> finished product or, even more so, its ride?
>
> Wanker maybe, but having a hell of a time on the hunt for those often
> elusive parts which will bring this old machine back to life. My ebay
> watch list is full and I may never get that Coloral bottle and cage but
> it is fun to dream.
>
> Where do YOU draw the line?
>
> Paul Williams
> Ottawa, ON, Canada