I went and had a look at this frame just now. It's beautiful -- serial number begins 85, so I presume it's a 1985. The 126 rear spacing corroborates this. The seat tube is a 60cm c-t, and the top tube around 56.5-57. The bike is fully chromed under the paint; it has chromed headlugs, chromed dropouts, and the logo itself is masked-off chrome. It is a nice red with gold lug lining. It has a very cool headbadge, which can be seen in the photo.
It does, however, have an all-the-way-around crack in the seat tube, right at the brazed-on front derailleur tab. And the seller, while friendly, loquacious, and seemingly honest, is more than a touch peculiar, and not especially eager to actually sell the frame. After he regaled with with tales of the various broken bikes he possesses (a whole ramshackle garage's worth!), I offered to buy the frame at the asking price, and he declined, asking for more. It's partly my eagerness to put my newly acquired framebuilding skills to use in repairing the frame that led me to offer that much in the first place for a bike that doesn't fit me all that well.
He is not willing to ship the bike. But if someone is eager to have it, and can afford the likely $500-750 repair/paint costs on the frame (it would make sense to have this done by Noah Rosen in the former Mariposa shop), I can perhaps broker the deal...
Adam Hammond Toronto, ON, Canada
On 13-Oct-08, at 9:05 AM, neil wrote:
>
> Someone on Toronto craigslist is selling a campagnolo headset. They
> also s
> eem to be parting out a "mid 90's bike". The photos show a Mariposa
> with c
> hromed lugs. Seller says 'the frame was damaged but the front end
> is perfe
> ct'. Thought someone might be interested in a project.
> http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/
>
> Neil Goedhuis
> Ottawa, Ontario, Canada