No decals, was [CR]Re: Holdsworth / Bob Jackson et al...

(Example: Events:Cirque du Cyclisme)

Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2008 18:40:50 -0500
From: "Harvey Sachs" <hmsachs@verizon.net>
Subject: No decals, was [CR]Re: Holdsworth / Bob Jackson et al...
To: Classic Rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>, <fred_rednor@yahoo.com>


Fred Rednor raises an interesting point: <snip> I.e. what's the proper thing to do when refinishing a frame made by a famous contract builder, and the reseller's insignias are unavailable - but the original builder's insignias are?

It's a difficult situation. For example, in my own case, I bought a CID frame built by MKM, and could not find CID decals. (No surprise there - CID being the house brand of the defunct Georgetown Cycle Sport in Washington D.C.) So I bought some MKM decals in preparation for refinishing the frame.

In the end, though, I couldn't bring myself to use the MKM decals, since the bike was never adorned with those markings. So I sold the MKM decals (to a CR list member, in fact) and then recently purchased some MonoKote trim sheets. I'll try to make some suitable looking CID insignias using the latter material. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Last night I finished assembling the Andy Hamel track bike I bought from Eddie Albert a year or so ago. It had suffered, beyond patina, missing any markings, and didn't have a headbadge. But it seemed to ride nicely. So, off to the powdercoaters she went, to be painted close to the same red we could see on the steerer. And the powder coater, Figure Engineering in Manassas Park, VA, went beyond my instructions, and the Hamel now sports "Andrew Hamel" in script on the top tube, and LIWA (Long Island Wheelmen Association (?)) on the seat tube. And looks terrific. I'm sure it isn't quite how she was "dressed" originally, but I felt that it was the proper "mojo" for the bike. Distinctive but not gaudy or overly modernized. But, I couldn't resist going overboard in one respect: I had a lovely old 531 lugged stem my friend Jim Papadopoulos had given me decades ago, painted green. It's now the same red, and looks terrific. This little tart is gonna have red toe straps and red bar tape - and the brake lever has red cable housing. Whoopee!

A rather distinctive bike, she is. All lugless, but with a fork that looks much like a prewar Paramount. Fitted out now with 3-piece Campy track hubs, Stronglight Competition 5-pin cranks, and not much else except a pre-War B-17 Brooks.

So, not quite Fred's story, but I wasn't going to find the "right" decals, and the bike will never be an imitation of anything else, and it does look pretty. Just remember that it isn't original when you bid on it at my estate sale. :-)

harvey sachs
mcLean va usa.