[CR] Trexlertown swap meet & Cinelli frame progress

(Example: Racing:Roger de Vlaeminck)

Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:01:46 -0700
From: <euromeccanicany@yahoo.com>
To: classic rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: [CR] Trexlertown swap meet & Cinelli frame progress


So now I know what some of you look like! I picked up my daughter in Philadelphia & took her and two PAFA classmates who are also bike-infected to the swap meet at the Trexlertown velodrome. I brought the gray Ebay Cinelli, hoping to run into a frame builder who might help repair the damage. Several CR guys recognized the frame as I walked around. We talked, and Simon Firth of Bilenky Cycle Works was pointed out to me. He looked at it & said he'd be able to make a structural repair without damaging the other joints. It will look fine when he's done, he assured me. I left the frame in his care, and will post photos of the work when I get it back. They won't be painting it. As a number of you suggested, it would be good for me to ride it first to see if I love it enough to keep it. If so, the standard of finish, as well as component choices will be different than if I restore it to sell. I have most of an unused N.R. Gruppo from around 1970 which I would be loathe to put on a rider, but would happily use to enhance the value and appeal of a restoration. The meet was delightful. I usually go to the gigantic Hershey car show on the same weekend, but I was glad to see T-town for the first time. The bike-nut vibe is quite a bit chummier than the old car one. It is also less stratified, with old guys (like me) having a lot more in common with hipsters, messenger-types & BMXers than the Duesenberg crowd does with the Cobra guys. I picked up a practically brand new pair of old-fashioned lace-up leather Italian cycling shoes which, the previous owner told me, had caused him agony for each of the 20 miles he wore them. I thought that was normal: I can't wait to try them! I also was given not one, but two Cyclo spoke wrenches by a list member from Veloclassique. I carried one around for years before I lost it. It was the first tool I owned which became an extension of my hand, after truing many wheels for a wheel builder as part of my first real job. Having one back in my pocket is a wonderful feeling!

I am still kicking myself for not bringing a camera. There were some wonderful pre-& postwar track bikes, as well as a brand-new lugged Cinelli track frame finished in opalescent white which had me swooning.

I hope somebody posts photos of the event.

Michael Shiffer
EuroMeccanica, Inc.
114 Pearl Street
Mount Vernon, NY 10550
(914) 668-1300
euromeccanicany.com