[CR]Re: Fake Hoods & Decals & What Else

(Example: Framebuilders:Rene Herse)

From: "JB Froke" <jbfroke@msn.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References: <MONKEYFOODDskqC5Etr00005764@monkeyfood.nt.phred.org>
Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 16:18:26 -0800
Seal-Send-Time: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 16:18:26 -0800
Subject: [CR]Re: Fake Hoods & Decals & What Else

My Friends (finally, I can say that having met many of you at Velo Rendezvous!) --

Whoever suggested something painful and dire for someone who would intentionally lie about a fake being original (NOS) was fair and true: A hex (and a gnarly helix) be on 'em. But from there, what's a 'fake' and if a good one what's the beef?

The motorized analogy please: In vintage auto restoration, we'd have been sunk years ago if authentically fake (re-cast, remolded, rewired, rewoven...) tires (tyres to British CRers), distributor caps, wiring harnesses, top fabric, etc. were not available (or acceptable) to us. There'd be no hobby, art, or business of restoration, flat out: a passion plundered. Mercifully, there are abundant and superb repros for sale, also craftsman ready to do it all over again if not. Then, with good fortune ($) and patience there still may be found NOS. To wit, there is an honest difference in the price to be paid for a repro versus an NOS dashboard (then hand-built) for a 1933 Lea Frances shooting brake, believe me. In the middle would be the one-off fresh-built to perfectly match original specs. But unless NOS, its all fake, if you choose to use the word. At show, you won't lose points for an excellent fake; but you might gain bonus points for using NOS.

So, I agree with whomever said that a goodly supply of top-end fake hoods could be a good thing, if the price or seller reflects an honest admission that they are not NOS. Of decals, on the other hand, there is no such thing as an excellent reproduction in peel-off vinyl. You can't have it both ways - unless the original was such an ungodly 80's thing (thankfully, usually off-topic). Apologies to honest on-topic bikes that originally may have had stickers anticipating the ungodly 80s.

"No villain need be! Passions spin the plot: We are betrayed by what is false within." George Meredith, 'Modern Love' from Poems of the English Roadside (1862).

JB Froke, Pebble Beach, CA