Received today this bike:
Those who know me know I am a cheapass, so a complete touring bike for less than 1/3 the price of a Limited Edition Ti Brooks Swallow, or $30 more than a long sleeve Vintage Velo wool jersey is hard for me to resist. Especially with the excellent SunShine ProAm wheels and the equally excellent Sugino Mighty Tour cranks. And I love Weinmann 500 brakes - everything you need - nothing you don't.
What makes this a bit special for me is that Romic was built by the late Ray Gasorowski in Houston, TX. from who I bought my daughter's 24" wheel junior road bike and a custom track frame In The Day. he also repainted a couple of bike for me. One surprising thing is that the bike has a foil decal from a shop in Minneapolis. I thought Ray only sold through shops in Houston and the surrounding area.
Unpacking it I find it has bluish green GB rubber barend plugs. I thought these were "GB" as in Gerry (or is it Gary) Burgess, but it also say "Paris". Does "GB" then mean Giles Berthoud instead? If so, this raises the issue of the bar coverings. As seen in the photos, these look similar to perforated sewn-on leather coverings. But instead, the are rubber. Not the fragile foam like Grabons, but thick, heavy rubber. Could these bar coverings be Berthoud as well? If so, I may have to rethink my initial inclination to cut them off.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA