George H. wrote:
Dale: Never was there a more accurate post put on CR. There is nothing inherently superior about one vintage bike with respect to another, save the notion, which cannot be proven, that it was personally made by a builder admired by the purchaser. Even such an idea is flawed, since bike manufacture represents
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Actually, the frame on ebay went a little low, in my opinion. Try finding one of these in original, complete condition. Try.
It's not easy. Very few, comparatively, came into North America. Most stayed in Europe, and up until about 1978, when De Rosa went to cast lugs and a more mass-production method of brazing things up, his production was not all that high, far as I can tell.
These earlier frames have very cool crowns, pressed-and-filed lugs, and, in general, a lot more character than the later cast-lug frames.
It's pretty much as simple as that: relative rarity of this kind of frame..and the more attractive handwork on the frame.
also note that if you'd bought it for the price the japanese bidder did, you'd have paid about $950 landed in the US, then another $600 for a pro paint-job (more if you want chrome, but not all of them had chrome). Greg Softley makes the correct graphics for this frame, so those can be had. Most were one color, pretty inexpensive to spray up.
total investment? say, $1700 for a fully restored frame, all-in; then another $500-600 for a nuovo record donor bike. For $2300 you have a very nice classic CR bike, quite hard to find, that will last another 100 years, with luck. Seems a very reasonable cost, to me.
Charles Andrews
Los Angeles