In CR, Nick March a ecrit :
" at what stage does a frame need to be repainted ? Do you really want your vintage bike to look new ?"
I think this brings up a very interesting point. Many of those hallowed vintage machines we finished to really a very mediocre standard. I remember Spence Wolf unpacking a wooden crate from Italy which contained Cinelli frames packed in straw. major file marks in evidence under the bottom bracket, and paint looked like it had been applied with a broom.
I think it was not until builders like Sachs, Baylis, Redcay, Ritchey, and a few others got into the game that the standard for filing and finishing was raised to a whole different level. These builders used 2 stage paint, media blasting, and (in some cases) power files. Having said that, "soul" does not come out of a spray gun. In my opinion, many restored bikes (cars too) are over-finished, that is, detailed to a much higher standard than they ever were when they were new. My '63 Cinelli, after Lodi Chrome and CycleArt got finished with it (this was 20 years ago) is far, FAR prettier than it ever was the day it was when it left Via Egido Folli 45.
A good repaint / restoration of a bike you are going to ride and USE should look good but not be so utterly perfect that a scratch will spell disaster. After all, we rode the hell out of these things, back in the day! I personally have had a bit of a re-think on this topic of late, having come to the realization that life is short and therefore
NO MORE WALL HANGERS
If I'm going to own a bike, make room for it in my stable, I'm going to ride it and enjoy it. Does this mean I won't pay Baylis or Elliot Bay or D&D or any of the other dozen or so refinishers to paint a frame for me, preferring to ride only tired old soldiers bearing the scars of many battles ? NO, not at all. What it does mean is that the endless compulsive pursuit of utterly NOS, pristine components to be install on yet another gleaming, untouched parts hanger has come to an end, it leads nowhere good. And I think this is similar to Jan's allusory comment about homogeneity in a collection such as Chuck's - indeed if all the bikes are like new, classic race bikes, restored to utter, museum - like perfection, well, what's the point? Even the 550 Spyder in the Porsche Museum's collection still bears the stone chips on its nose from the '53 Carrera Panamerica and I think it is the better for it. And a vintage Bianchi I've seen that was rusty from Il Faustino's sweat as he climbed the Passa Gavia was undoubtedly better and MORE interesting than it would have been were it pristine.
So, ride 'em, I say, ride the hell out of 'em, knowing that they can be repainted if need be Let those scratches be fond memories of a great day in the saddle, rather than "oh, that scratch is where my wife knocked it off the display stand while housecleaning.
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Mark Petry mark@petry.org
Bainbridge Island, Washington USA
122.31 W 47.19 N
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