Gang:
Well now that Hon and I have chatted about this and I now have a list of all the accoutrements that were hung on the frame this puts a WAAYYY different spin on this. So the search begin for all the fabled pieces. I was going in a totally different direction with paint color but white sound good to me... how about it Hon.
Mike as you know I tried to contact the chaps at singer w/ no luck about a new stem maybe you can help me on this ( this was during Ernest's death so maybe I'll give it another shot ). The other two pieces that will be the tough search will be the hubs and saddle, or atleast one in good condition. all the other parts are in my possesion. I just need to send cooper some cash for the long cage.
Looks like I need to sell some dust collecting pieces from the collection to get this done.
Anyway there you have it.
JG
On Wed, May 26, 2010 at 4:31 AM, Michael Schmidt <mdschmidt56@verizon.net>wrote:
> Listmembers,
>
> This is a great story Hon. You've nicely filled in the missing pieces of
> how the bike was dressed and appeared back in the day. Recreating the bike
> should not be too difficult for Jacques Gabus with the exception of the
> bivalent hubs. (Gabus, you know those will cost you if you can find them)
> The A. Singer shop still sells the AS stems made to order for 300 euro
> including engraving. I notice that the frame does not have brazed on
> pieces
> for the racks, just eyelets for the mudguards. How did you attach the
> racks
> and panniers, Hon? I cannot tell from the photos.
>
> Did Spence outfit the derailleur with his special lower cage or use a
> straightaway Nuovo Record and did he equip the bike with any other Spence
> Wolf tidbits? If the former, David Cooper had some cages made up to convert
> a Nuovo Record rear derailleur into a Spence Wolf version. The original SW
> derailleurs are hard to find.
>
> Hon, did you have any photos of your bike?
> Jack, let's hear your plans for restoration?
>
>
> Mike Schmidt
> Millington, NJ
> USA
>
>
>
>
> On 5/26/10 12:13 AM, "Hon Lee" <lejosun@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> > Dale and Jack have graciously permitted me to recount a moment of history
> that
> > seems to me to be the stuff of Cycling's version of Oprah Winfrey. Here
> it is
> > as I sent to Dale, with a postscript:
> >
> > Unbelievable bit of news: Jack Gabus seems to have purchased what used
> to be
> > my Alex Singer frame at a garage sale in Riverside, CA.
> > He just sent me a note asking if I ever owned such a frame, and included
> a
> > page from Spence Wolf's bicycle sales journal noting A. Singer serial
> number
> > 1375 frameset, sold to Hon Lee in May of 1971...he also included two pics
> of
> > its current condition: bare frame and fork, grey primer. I could see no
> > dents or dings in the frame, and all the lugging and fork crown looked so
> > clean, crisp, thinned. It was a startling experience. I sold it in 1978
> to
> > pay for Grad School II to a student in a private school in Danville, CA.
> So
> > what happened in 32 years that left it so anonymously clad in grey
> primer,
> > sans hs, bb, Campagnolo crankset, seatpost, Ideale cutaway, Singer stem,
> > Cinelli bars and bivalent wheels with Nisi rims, Mafacs, front and rear
> > pannieres, white paint, decals and gold lug lining??? It's all so
> remarkable.
> >
> > Jack, it seems, spotted an announcement on Craigslist , twice, and
> followed
> > up, purchasing this 40 year old tidbit. We managed to speak for a
> moment,
> > enough to ascertain that the frame is structurally just fine, but the
> > accoutrements such as that fabled Singer stem were shattered....indeed a
> very,
> > very worthy project. It's the stuff of CR fable: Jack contacted Guy
> Apple
> > regarding the serial number and finds me here on CR. I'm just beside
> myself
> > with a kind of fuzzy joy, made all the fuzzier by the blurry memories of
> 1978
> > and braced with the heady anticipation that the restoration will feature
> a
> > collective Hurrah here on CR.
> >
> > Hon Lee
> > Stockton, California
> > Vereinigten Staaten
> > _______________________________________________
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
--
Jack Gabus
310 490 3784
jgabus@gmail.com
Laguna Beach, CA
USA