I saw this item late last night and decided to watch it. At that time it was standing at £21 pounds sterling with 4 bids and about twelve hours to go.
I thought that I had seen what the others had not seen..and of which the se
ller seemed totally oblivious.
>From what I could see of the frame, it appeared to be 1940/early 50s Rene H
erse...the bottom bracket shell resembled those on several of Alex's machin
es..the lugs are pressed and not cast..the front and rear drop-outs are ide
ntical etc etc. The stem appeared to be Herse with the hole to mount the be
ll etc etc. Even the cup fixed in the bracket shell seemed as though it was
part of a Herse sealed-bearing unit
What I could not understand, short of the frame having been butchered a lit tle, was why there were no brazed on brake-studs on the fork blades and the seat-stays.
With a little over four minutes to go in the auction I entered the fray, wi th the price still at £21. My bid made it jump significantly, as did the next one and the next one ...
Uncertainty, and the fact that I had just received my bank statement made m e pull out at just over one hundred and fifty pounds.
Several hours later having revisited Alex's website I have convinced myself that I should have gone much higher but...Hey! in truth the frame really d oes not have that much to commend it does it? Without the Herse chrome and enamel finish, the Herse chainset, cantilever brakes, D-I-Y front mech, it' s just another old French touring frame and I have sheds full of those.
Or have I misinterpreted this frame..?
Norris Lockley...Settle UK