[CR]Intro, via Holdsworth on SF Craigslist

(Example: Framebuilding)

Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 00:12:16 -0700
From: "Dan Kehew" <dan.kehew@gmail.com>
To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]Intro, via Holdsworth on SF Craigslist

I'm Dan, 38, and finally taking advantage of the fact that I live in bike heaven, a.k.a. Davis, California.

My lone ride (keep the chuckling down, now) has been a low-end GT mountain bike with no suspension. It's good for getting around town and unlikely to be stolen, but the wide open spaces are calling me. What got me interested in on-topic cycles was my desire for a comfortable, sturdy road bike. Affordable for a grad student. Steel. Lugged steel, like the bikes I was looking at back in high school.

An evil website foisted upon an unsuspecting world by a devious man named Sheldon Brown -- hi, Sheldon! -- made me realize that I might kill two birds with one stone. His site says that late '70s and '80s road bikes can be converted to single speed, something that's also intrigued me. I started hunting for an abandoned road bike from that era that I could rebuild, and when I could afford to buy a nicer road bike, convert to single speed.

I looked for a good while. One early morning I found myself at a salvage yard in Berkeley (Bay Area people will know, others won't care). A black bike came off a truck with others, but it was the only road bike. Too tall for me, and I know I'm not buying. No front wheel. Fair amount of rust.

Come, look closer with me. "Raleigh Competition GS" and "Made in England" in three spots and "Reynolds 531" and (paraphrasing) "Team Ti-Raleigh, 1978 Tour de France Winners" up near the headtube. Campagnolo equipment, mostly. Everything I can test in the absence of a front wheel works; the headset is actually smoother than my GT.

I'm standing there as they put a price sticker on it that seemed ... awfully low. This could be a nice bike with just a little love.

Still, it's too big. I know Raleigh made good bikes and Campy made good parts, but I'd never be able to ride it. It was awfully hard to tell my wife why I bought it, since logic was not involved. I told her I wanted to show it to Robert, who runs my favorite LBS (Bike Barn at UCD, where I took a bike maintenance class late last year), and thought it might be nice to rebuild and then sell. She made me put it in our tiny back yard over the weekend until I could see Robert.

Robert gladly repaid me the money he'd psychically borrowed from me, and took possession of his Raleigh. Don't cringe, ya'all, because it's better off in his hands. He's far better positioned to get it back in prime shape, and I really only have space for a couple of bikes -- and I want to ride 'em. Besides, talking to Robert about his stash and how this Raleigh could be reconditioned got me curious. That's how I found this site, and this list.

Sorry for the long intro, but it might help explain these questions: There's a Holdsworth on Craigslist Bay Area, vintage 1980's according to header. If it's not on topic, it's close.

http://www.craigslist.org/eby/bik/43210209.html

For those not clicking over, here's the text: "Complete bike: 56 cm Holdsworth Reynolds 531 Special Light Weight frame, blue w/ white pinstriping, frame is straight and paint is ok; Campy SR crank & pedals; Campy derailleurs; Modolo brakes; TTT bars and stem, rare Weyless seat post, tubular rim-tires. Overall good condition."

No, I'm not the seller or related or anything. If I had the money to spend, though, I'd be thinking of driving over. If you want it, go for it -- I'm not competing for it. I am asking what you think of what I think I'm seeing.

The seller says "paint is ok" but what little the two pix show is very nice. If I'm truly interested, I want to see what the pix aren't showing that lead to "ok." No chrome on fork or stays, like the Classic Rendezvous archive shots of late 70's Holdsworths, unlike the earlier 70's pix. I haven't spotted any shots of 80's Holdsworths -- is the seller's time right? How would I firm up the date? Or tell if the "ok" means we have a redone paintjob? Should I care?

Anything else you'd like to chirp about regarding the ad, I'd love to hear. It's been incredibly educational hearing you talk about Ebay bikes, and I wrote because I found myself looking at this ad and wondering what you'd have to say....

Dan Kehew Davis CA, where it's warming up again but always cycling weather