I have a 1979 Davidson race bike with full Campagnolo NR group and I have to say it is perhaps my favorite bike to ride of my 17 bikes, all race bikes from the 60s to the 80s. It has a wonderful, natural feel to it and the workmanship is beautiful. Obviously there are many fine bikes out there with similar qualities (including Sachs I'm sure), but I have to say after riding one that I'm a big Davidson fan too.
I recently picked up a 1973 (first year) Davidson and a 1972 Cinelli SC from a local seller here on Craigslist. The Cinelli had a bent fork crown, so I took it to Chris DeKerf (local frame builder) to have a new crown and steering tube installed. It was a bit funny what he found when he took the old fork apart - the fork tubes didn't fit the crown very well so they had stuffed some bits of metal in to take up space and then just used lots of brass to hold everything together. I don't think you would find this sort of bodge on a Davidson!
Last month I was in Seattle and dropped into Elliot Bay Cycles. I met Bill Davidson and he was kind enough to show me around the shop and he also gave me a replacement decal for my 73 Davidson. When I mentioned how nice my 79 Davidson was to ride, he surprised me a bit by refusing to take any credit, saying it was probably just a matter of rider preference!
Brian Samson Vancouver, BC, Canada
On 1-Nov-08, at 11:02 AM, Charles F Nighbor wrote:
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> Davidson Custom Steel (56 cm - Dura Ace 9-speed) Item number:
> 180302477702