Re: [CR]Restorations

(Example: Framebuilders:Pino Morroni)

In-Reply-To: <20041128.190309.26393.190833@webmail32.nyc.untd.com>
References: <20041128.190309.26393.190833@webmail32.nyc.untd.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 19:31:17 -0800
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Jan Heine" <heine93@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]Restorations


One thing many discussions of restorations miss is that often it is impossible (or close to) to recreate the original finish.

To me, a black 1947 Alex Singer or Rene Herse that originally was dipped in hot paint (yes, you read this correctly) just doesn't look right with a shiny "wet-look," smooth Imron paint job. Restored bikes reflect the repainters "handwriting." So the paint of a restored a Colnago looks like that of a Confente, which looks like that of an early Herse which looks like that of a 1938 Paramount. Originally, each paint was quite different - Italy vs. California in the 1970s, or France vs. Chicago (?) in the 1930s and 40s. To me, the bikes lose some of their personality in the process.

And speaking of the impossibility of replicating the original finish: Try finding somebody to do a good job on the pinstriping (by hand, with a brush, a little sloppy not because they lacked skill, but because they were in a rush)...

I know some restorers on this list will come out saying they can do a perfect job... and most do a very nice job indeed.

I have seen many restored early bikes, but not yet one that really "speaks" to me like the originals do. I have a restored Herse tandem myself (see the "Image Archive" on my web site). When I got it was a pile of rust, with none of the original fully chromed finish left. There was no choice but to restore. It's nice now, but put it next to an original, and you see the difference.

For questionable bikes, I prefer to wax over the rust, put FrameSaver inside the tubes, to refurbish mechanically, but to leave the paint as is. I leave the restoration for another day, maybe we'll have better finishes or recreated the craftsmanship. Comparing restorations from 20 years ago with today's, we have come a long way already. My bikes are perfectly rideable that way, and they don't deteriorate.

Of course, it's scizophrenic to worry about originality when the original owners were all to happy to upgrade their bikes, to have them repainted every few years... Especially in France, it was common to keep an Herse or Singer or Routens for decades. Every few years, you'd take it to the builder, have it sandblasted, changed the derailleurs and/or brakes for the latest model, repaint, and the bike was as good as new. They shake their heads when you tell them how excited you are to have found a rustbucket that was not modified after it was built.

In the end, the prized bikes will be the ones with perfect original finish - the ones that look like they did when they were new 50 years ago. But those are rare. And to some degree, a bike that has lived is very appealing. It has history, it seems to speak of mountains climbed, of sunsets enjoyed, of long days in the saddle in a way that a showbike cannot. -- Jan Heine, Seattle Editor/Publisher Vintage Bicycle Quarterly c/o Il Vecchio Bicycles 140 Lakeside Ave, Ste. C Seattle WA 98122 http://www.mindspring.com/~heine/bikesite/bikesite/