You shouldnt confuse what you wish or hope market values to be with simple reality. I have a collection with more than 17,000 racing items spanning the late 1800s through the present. I have bought items at auction, through sports dealers, at charity events, from deceased riders families, from collectors, teams, and directly from riders. My opinion of value is not based on numbers I pulled out of my butt. I am willing to bet I put in more hours into the collecting of race used items that just about anyone in the world. Perhaps 20 years from now values will be higher, perhaps not. If you ask a lot of European collectors, they think the stuff is too expensive right now. If one really beleives that bicycles will track like automobiles and will potentially sell for big bucks, I guess its time to mortgage the house to the hilt, move to Europe and start buying.
I think the comments attempting to tie cycling and automobile collecting is flawed. I do a fair amount of work for both the Mercedes and Ferrari Formula 1 programs in Europe. These relationships have allowed me to go to numerous F1 races around the world. Likewise, I have also had the opportunity to attend virtually all of the premier road and track cycling events in the world for several years. I love cycling much more than auto racing. However, lets call a spade a spade. Cycling is bush league compared to auto racing. There is infinitely more money and prestige in auto circles than cycling. The likelihood of that changing anytime in the foreseeable future is about zero.
Just because George Mount was at the head of a chain that includes, Boyer, LeMond and Armstrong should not be confused with the fact that George Mount was never in the league of LeMond or Armstrong. Even if cycling memorabilia exploded, it is going to take a long, long time before you get to George Mounts 1976 Olympic ride on the list of cyclings greatest achievements. Georges contributions to US cycling is important. But that doesnt translate to money for George or his bike. Perhaps one should inquire to George how many endorsements he has going today as a result of his epic ride in 1976. I ask you, how much would you pay for a bike ridden by the George Mount equivalent from say, Switzerland? The guy who paved the way for Koblet, Rominger, and others? My guess is probably not a whole hell of a lot. Further, I feel confident that if I lined up the ten best cycling historians in the world, the most you may get is a glimmer of name recognition for George and that is it.
Bicycle racing memorabilia has tough sledding ahead if there is desire to create a viable market like baseball or automobile racing memorabilia. Principally, there is the issue of quantity. Ever notice how six-day collectors come and go on eBay? Why? Because after 10 tickets and 20 programs, thats it, game is over. Can you imagine how different it would be if, like baseball, there were mounds of vintage jerseys and equipment lying around the country? If people in the US actually cared about cycling, even when an American wasnt winning the Tour de France? Once Armstrong retires, unless another replacement quickly develops, the recognition for cycling will die the death it went through when Greg retired.
A note about the Coppi bike: Bear in mind that the average cycling fan in Europe had no clue it was a bad restoration, had questionable provenance, etc. In all of Europe, and this auction was hyped in magazines and was televised, no one came out of the wood work to drive the price up.
The thought that many are adopting the "don't touch it" mindset due to the influence of Antiques Roadshow is insulting. The simple reality is that you can always paint up a frame. Once youve painted it, it is impossible to go back. Once repainted it isnt original, period.
If a true market ever evolves for historical bikes, then we will all know if bikes are more like race cars than furniture. Until then, it is any ones guess. What I like about collecting cycling memorabilia is that no one has to follow some sort of preconceived notion as to how to collect. If stripping it down and repainting a frame floats your boat, have at it. Perhaps someone will buy it from you and be very happy.
It was said: If George's bike is worth $2,500 as some suggest, that means a contemporary pro bike, available everywhere with no history whatever, with a usable life span a fraction of this bike and absolutely no soul is worth twice as much? In a word: YES. Pray hard maybe someday there will be a viable market for historical bicycles. Until then: buy them, ride them, and enjoy cycling memorabilia as a hobby rather than a component of your investment portfolio.
Brett Horton
San Francisco, California