I agree in regard to the price, particularly if the buyer was American. Such classic English bikes seem to command higher prices in America than UK - "a prophet hath no honour in his own country" I suppose. Or perhaps simply the fact that these frames are scarcer in America.
I think the price works out to about $US 700. Perhaps a bit above average for a restored frame, I agree. But a KOF frame from a leading builder will cost over $2,000 and often entail a one to two year wait. And as I recall, Rivendell gave up selling even its production Heron frame when they evidently couldn't make money at a $1,000 price. So an expertly restored classic frame for $700 seems a bargain in comparison.
Or, for a different comparison, an expert restoration by a top US painter, including correct transfers, will probably cost you at least close to $500, and often locating the transfers can be very difficult and time-consuming. And if there is chrome restoration involved, one can easily spend $700 on restoring a frame, as chrome has become very expensive. So from that point of view, $700 may be equivalent to paying for restoration of a frame that one received for free.
So, like Peter, I can understand the annoyance at the frame being sold, but I agree with him that the price is not at all insane.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
Peter Brown <peterg.brown@ntlworld.com> wrote: Doug Smith wrote:
I never thought I would see the day when a frame that I once owned, restored and sold only late last year would go for £365.00 GBP's. I refer of course of the Claud Butler, Avant Coureur frame no. 91543. Apart from it being a wonderful example of the marque to sell for that money is in my opinion just plain madness. It appears to be utterly insane for anyone to pay these prices thus making a complete mockery of collecting and saving these older frames as a hobby.
There is no sour grapes on my part as some may think but only to feel slightly let down when I understood it would have stayed with purchaser as part
of their collection. Maybe this could be warning to other members when deciding to sell some of their treasured possessions only to be exploited by others selling them on auction. Inflated prices seem to be the norm by some in our hobby and of course not helped by people willing to pay the price. So it will go on I suppose until the demand will inevitably dry up and the goods will no longer be available! Doug Smith North Dorset UK
Whilst I can understand Dougs annoyance that someone should sell on a frame which he was led to believe was going to form part of a private collection, I do not accept that the price realised was madness. The price realised was totally realistic for a frame of that age and quality, hand built by craftsmen, and expertly restored. Compared to the prices some collectors are prepared to pay for production line frames of a later vintage, the current cost of some new frames which will probably never become a collectors item, and bearing in mind the current cost of restoring to that standard, that was a very fair price. Good luck to the buyer, and I am sure you will be able to ride your completed machine with great pride.
Peter Brown, Lincolnshire, England