I've got to share with the list the journey I have taken with a particular bicycle. In 1981, I had returned to Northern Virginia from two years in the Marshall Islands where we didn't have cars, just bicycles. I was exposed to nice bikes and Campagnolo parts while there. I was in the Army so I had to maintain my fitness to pass the Physical Fitness test, but I also had been bitten by the running bug while on the Island of Kwajalein, so was running more than cycling when we returned. In late 1982, I hurt my knee running and took up cycling full-time as my fitness sport. In 1983, the September/October Bicycling issue titled "USA against the World" came out. It had a comparison of bicycles from KOF U.S. builders Brian Baylis, Richard Sachs, Bruce Gordon and Columbine (John Murphy) pitted against bikes from elsewhere, such as Cinelli, Gitane, Bridgestone, Technobull, Chas Roberts, and KHS. The pictures of the Brian Baylis frame just blew me away. I lusted after that bike for years. I finally asked Brian to build me a close replica of that bike and picked it up at 2005 Cirque (pics here: )
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/
Last year, Brian sent me an email telling me that the original bike from the Bicycling article had been located. He sent me a picture showing that the salmon colors were now black--turns out Brian painted over the salmon after the photo shoot before he sold the frame. I emailed the owner but the owner wouldn't respond. A couple of months ago, the frame showed up on ebay and didn't meet reserve the first time. The owner relisted and I won it. I've ridden it over the last couple of weeks. I first built it with a hodge podge of parts just to check it out. I don't even have a front shifter on it! First ride, the stem was too short, but I could ride it. I was adjusting the bar position and when I retightened the stem, it cracked, forcing me to install a replacement, so I took the opportunity to add length. Then, the tires I was using were 700x28 and when I aired up the front one over 95 pounds, it rubbed against the front brake. So, I switched just the front tire with a smaller one, an Open CX. I didn't anticipate that having a much smaller tire on the front than the back would put me in such a forward position, putting pressure on my hands and arms. So, yesterday, I replaced the rear tire, this time with a Clement clincher. Turns out it was also slightly larger than the front, so I had a similar experience. Today, I finally got over my laziness and replaced the front tire again with a matching Clement on the front. Rides nice now.
I now face a decision about whether to have Brian repaint the black tubes to the original salmon. My wife likes the black and plum with the ivory lugs. I do too. Paint is probably 95%, so it isn't a question of needing to repaint. For now, I'll continue to ride it. Brian is painting a third Baylis for me at the moment, so when he gives me the word to send this one, I'll have to make the decision. Not sure what I'll do, but I suspect it will get a repaint. Lou Deeter, Orlando FL USA
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