Here, here!!!
Where does this "originality" stop?????
Back in the day, one could spec what one chose for a new bike. If the catalogue offered "part A", and one chose "part B" does that damn the bike for ever as non-original???
Bring on the righteous indignation.
Tony Taylor Manchester, NH
________________________________ From: coel canth <coelcanth@gmail.com> To: Classic Rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Tue, March 23, 2010 4:14:54 PM Subject: Re: [CR] "Original and unrestored Barra" on eBay
well... how were Barra's originally sold ? were they available as framesets only ?
what if one purchased the frame in 1948 and waited fifty years to assemble it ? what if one purchased the frame in 1948 and waited one year to assemble it ? could it ever be original ?
what if Barra's were only available as complete bikes and this bike was reassembled from parts identical to those originally found on it ? what if Barra's were sold as complete bikes with every component identified by a matching serial number and the bike was disassembled in 1950 and the parts were scattered to the four corners of the earth but then the bike was painstakingly reassembled with all the original earmarked parts after a 20 years quest ?
what is the official grace period during which an original owner can affect repairs to the bicycle and still maintain originality ? what if the original owner replaced one single spoke one day in 1963 after a particularly bumpy day ? for that matter; is any maintenance acceptable for an original bicycle ? ..if the original owner does not still own the original bicycle is it still original ?
if one were to wash the bike would that be restoring it ? can i even use a bike and maintain originality ?
i have so many questions !
i am also quite curious to know why george "and many others noted the frameset ...[to not] represent an interesting example by this maker"
andrei padlowski
brooklyn, ny