> Tom Sanders wrote:
>
>
> I just had a bike come out of paint and it is lovely. A '72 black
> Paramount
> with shiny chrome in all the right places. Now here is what I am
> puzzling
> about. I have three, perhaps four Nuovo Record gruppos on hand.
> One of
> them is very close to NOS. The one that came off the Paramount is
> a bit
> shopworn...Ah...You're begging to see the problem? The NOS bits would
> look
> great and be harmonious with the now very nice bike. The original
> would
> keep the bike original. If it were a '59 Singer with original
> components
> it
> would be an easy decision...originality would win out in a
> heartbeat. But
> it's a '72 Paramount...I still am not at all sure I should put the
> minty
> group on it, even though I also want it to be really sharp
> looking, too.
> I am leaning toward putting the original back on it and replacing
> anything
> that seems not up to par on a piecemeal basis. Friends of mine
> seem to be
> voting for the nicer group of components.
> I'll bet there are some great ideas out there that I have not
> considered...anyone want to weigh in on this one?
> Tom Sanders
> Lansing, Mi USA
>
Tom,
Your enquiry seems to beg the question of the different nuances of "valuable".
There is the song that goes something like, "Everyone is crazy about a sharp dressed bike".
I'm wondering though, since you are a collector of US made on topic bikes, and the Paramount fits into this category, how do you think about this bike? If you consider it more as an individual entity, than that within the context of one item among others in your collection, then perhaps the newer parts might do the effort of the lovely new paint a better justice. Possibly though, using the older parts might be more fulfilling, so to speak, when viewing and considering the bike as one among others in your stable, within a totality of how these other bikes are fitted out. It kind of brings to mind the vocabulary; "Good", "Better", and "Best", that is sometimes used to compare and classify antiques, something I know that you are very familiar with.
Just some food for thought tossed back at you that maybe can be helpful.....
Dennis Young
Hotaka, Japan