A small while back I caught a bike which has TDF history, most other classi
cs, a nice hand build. Belonged to a well known figure of pro cycling in th
e mid-late fifties. It comes fitted with some non-period correct stuff, lat
e 60's /1970. The story is (true) that when Robic retired, he didn't make m
uch of a reconversion, being very small he was even employed in a circus wr
estling act as the ref, and the wrestlers would throw him out of the ring.
He suffered from depression. He really hit the bottom. Even had his bike st
olen. His contempory and good friend, owner of my bike, took him on, gave h
im a job in his company. And not riding himself, lent this bike to Robic fo
r "veteran" category races. The upgrades or rather updates were Robic's. So
there's a kind of difficult question here which is do I leave the bike as
it is with both riders imprint on it ? Or should I put it back to first own
er's racing period spec, based on photos ? Difficult question. Kind
of want's to make me give up on bikes and collect something simple like Pi
casso. Plus I could probably do a better Picasso than Picasso, whereas I ca
n't build a bike...
Nick March, Agen 47000, Lot et garonne, France.=0A=0A=0A