Someone replied offlist that he has a Sekai that looks identical to the Romic touring bike I posted yeserday. Is it possible that Ray Gasorowski had these made in Japan by the same people who produced Sekai for another American importer? Since it seems these were sold by a lot more shops than I realized, including CDO, maybe some of the LBS owners know the story. There is no tubing decal, but the bike does have Japanese DO's and mostly Japanese components, although the brake calipers are Weinmann 500.
I had always thought Ray, with maybe an assistant or two, perhaps for a while including his son, built all the bikes sold as Romics. But then, until yesterday, I had thought that Romics were only sold at shops within 100 miles of Houston, or at least within Texas. But now it seems they were sold in shops as far away as Minneapolis and Carolina. That would imply decent production numbers, and I have to wonder if Ray could have produced that many.
I visited the Romic shop several times in the early to mid 80's, to order and later pick up a custom track frame, and also to have a couple of frames repainted. There was no evidence of any sort of mass production going on. Seemed pretty much like a one-man shop. The building was a fairly large steel warehouse, so it could have accomodated receiving and shipping of bikes contract-built in Japan. I didn't notice any such bikes in the warehouse, but I wasn't really looking for them, and if they were all boxed, I might not have thought to inquire what the boxes were. On the other hand, my visits were all within maybe a three-year period, so there could have been either a larger scale production operation or receiving and shipping of contract-built bikes that had ended before my first visit.
Anyone know the whole story?
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, Texas, USA
Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net> wrote: Received today this bike:
Those who know me know I am a cheapass, so a complete touring bike for less than 1/3 the price of a Limited Edition Ti Brooks Swallow, or $30 more than a long sleeve Vintage Velo wool jersey is hard for me to resist. Especially with the excellent SunShine ProAm wheels and the equally excellent Sugino Mighty Tour cranks. And I love Weinmann 500 brakes - everything you need - nothing you don't.
What makes this a bit special for me is that Romic was built by the late Ray Gasorowski in Houston, TX. from who I bought my daughter's 24" wheel junior road bike and a custom track frame In The Day. he also repainted a couple of bike for me. One surprising thing is that the bike has a foil decal from a shop in Minneapolis. I thought Ray only sold through shops in Houston and the surrounding area.
Unpacking it I find it has bluish green GB rubber barend plugs. I thought these were "GB" as in Gerry (or is it Gary) Burgess, but it also say "Paris". Does "GB" then mean Giles Berthoud instead? If so, this raises the issue of the bar coverings. As seen in the photos, these look similar to perforated sewn-on leather coverings. But instead, the are rubber. Not the fragile foam like Grabons, but thick, heavy rubber. Could these bar coverings be Berthoud as well? If so, I may have to rethink my initial inclination to cut them off.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA