That's an interesting question - my rational, if there is one, is "what did I own, or what would I have bought, back then if I'd had the resources to do it?" Not unlimited resources mind you and nothing so totally rare that I would not likely have even heard of it back then. No, in my neck of the woods, Bottecchia was a well respected brand (along with Atala, Peugeot, Gitane, Raleigh, and Schwinn) so those are the brands that attract my interest. I never heard of a Masi or a Rene Herse or anything like that back then so I really have no interest in them now. And since I owned a Bottecchia back in the day, that is the focus of my collecting now although it's just getting started. I owned a plain old Bottecchia Special at the time with some unusual oem components but when a Giro d'Italia became available a while back I grabbed it to start my collection. I still want to get an old Special and rebuild it to match my old one. And I'd like to find a 60's version, maybe a pre-68 chrome frame with the old style decals. And if a 50's or even a 40's model turned up that would be sweet. But I'm also looking for an off topic late 80's to early 90's SLX/TSX red/white/chrome frame like the one Ray Dobbins has on his site to build up with some mix of C-Record and modern Record to create a KOF style daily rider .
Derrick Bourgeois Colorado Springs, Co USA
Dr. Paul Williams wrote:
> Yes, an interesting idea. My penchant is for British bikes and for
> some time now I have been thinking that I would like to add to my
> small collection by picking up one bike from each decade from the 40s
> through to the 80s. I already have the early-80s covered and now have
> a machine (undergoing a build) from the 40s - I also have a couple of
> projects from the 70s hanging in the workshop.
>
> Initially, I thought I would like a bike from the 30s, as this was the
> period when my folks were born, however, 30s bikes are getting harder
> to find as are the parts. Like Steven, I would also like a bike from
> the year of my birth - 1960. This would give me a 60s decade machine
> which would then just leave one from the 50s.
>
> There is no clear rationale for my proposed collecting pattern.
> However, I don't have room in my house for a big collection and
> thought a decade based approach would allow me to get a feel for (and
> compare) a range of bikes. My passion for British bikes is simply a
> reflection of my ex-pat status here in Canada and a lifelong
> fascination with the British machine.
>
> What rationale do others use for their collecting?
>
> Paul Williams,
> Ottawa, ON, Canada
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