I am not going to argue about "catalog correct" parts or if the box should be sealed and x-rayed, those concerns would be for folks who look at this as an investment opportunity. Me, I would buy it if I could afford it, because I have lusted over this bike when it was hanging on the east wall at Collins, and lusted for it in my mind ever since. I would take it out of the box, assemble it with my own hands, glue the sewups with my own hands, adjust the saddle and stem with my own hands, and be the very first to turn its crank out on the road.
Sure many of you may cringe. After all, some of the investment value would disappear as soon as I remove it from the box. I would lose more value by assembling it, and most of my investment would disappear as soon as I ride it. But by not looking at it as an investment in the first place, all of that blather is pointless. It's like finally being able to open and drink that fine bottle of rare vintage wine. The investment disappears, but the satisfaction is everlasting.
Kevin Ko Eugene, OR USA
-------------- Not to pour cold water, but some of the comments about which parts shown
on this bike are not "correct", and some postings I've read on other bike forums regarding the seller, would seem to mesh. This one could really
merit a personal visit and personal pickup.
For the price, I'd expect that the box had never been opened and that the shape of the fork crown and configuration of the seat cluster would be ver ified by x-ray photos, with other pictures of what was inside taken with
an endoscopic unit.
Besides, I always liked the Mink Brown color, or, for those of us who grew up in Eugene, the older white-with-Raleigh-colored-panels that Doug at Collins Cycle rode.
Kevin Ko
Eugene, OR USA