I'm inclined to agree with Chuck that it is difficult to compare the collectability of two bikes as different as the so-called Ducatti and a 25 year old 753 bike. In an off-list discussion I suggested to another listmember that old 753 bikes share something in common with bikes like the Ducatti, namely that they are full-on race bikes that aren't intended to last. I recounted a friend's experinence with both types of bike. While they are comparably delicate, the steel bike was repeatedly repaired while the aluminum reapeatedly replaced. Given that it was all under warranty, it was all the same to my friend. Overall, he prefers the added rigidity of modern bikes. Here's what else I wrote:
...I'm sure they ride nice (the XLev3's) but as I suggested in my last post to you, super-light aluminum bikes (as oppsed to heavier aluminum bikes) are throw-away bikes. The same guy who broke his (one) 753 Raleigh three times in three years (or whatever), went through either two or three different XLev2 Bianchis in about a year. No repairs on the lifetime (!) warranty, just new frames. He finally asked the rep to give him the next cheaper bike, one that had a bit more wall thickness. It lasted a bit longer, but has also been replaced under warranty. He's now on his fouth or fith frame on the one purchase. After he broke an aluminum Colnago one year into a two year warranty, he sold the replacement and bought a 'dale. Not glamorous, but cheap-ish (Frame and Ksyriums for the price of the Colnago frame) and lifetime warranty... and the maker is right here in PA. The funny thing is that the 'nalgo that died in one year had Airplane tubing, not even the really light Starship. And this is a guy who rides maybe 200-*250 miles a week. Not a fulltime racer, for sure.
Tom Dalton
Bethlehem, PA
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