Hi all. My name is Raymond Bailey. I am new to CR and look forward to finding information on old English and French cycles. I live in Chicago. The riding conditions here are not so great as the weather can become quite severe at times.
I own a couple of Masi Gran Crits, but never liked them. They are both equipped with your average everyday Campagnolo Nuovo Record components. These bikes are just too average for me. I am looking for exotic English and French machines.
I began working on bicycles in the early 60's while in high school. We used to do funny things like pack people's seat tubes with grease or put various shop tools (4 or 5 screwdrivers) down the seat tube and send these folks on their way. One time we poured about 100 ball bearings down a customer's seat tube. He came back with the bike complaining of loud pinging noises. We put the bike in the stand, removed the seatpost, and turned the the bike upside-down and watched all of the bearings fall onto the floor. The customer was shocked! We looked at him as if he was pulling a prank on us. Another time, we pulled the schrader valves out of some inner-tubes and filled them with water. The customer returned to the shop one day after having a tire go flat and said, "The strangest thing happened; I ran over a nail and a bunch of water came shooting out of my tire." I guess the moral of the story is: If bike shop managers paid mechanics what they are worth, these things would not happen. Well, that's my introduction. I look forward to becoming highly involved in this exciting list.
Raymond Bailey
Chicago, IL