I agree with Mr. Merz's comments, specially those regarding the finish on I talian bikes as part of their appeal.
In defense of the average ebayer...I looked at the listing on ebay for the Davidson. I get the "too lazy to part it out" thing, but perhaps a good cle aning would have netted you a few hundred more dollars for the bike. I don' t think people like to spend a lot of money on something that they will hav e to clean first! A little bit of polish goes a long way on Ebay!
Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA USA http://www.GitaneUSA.com -- Gitane: French for poorly-finished (but well built) bicycles!
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One of the problems with making and selling bikes depending on just doing nice work for a guy like Bill is this lack of recognition. He was/is a really nice guy and never tried very hard to sell outside of Seattle area. I was in kind of the same boat but put a little more effort into promotion an d got some really great shops to sell my bikes in other regions, and did trad e shows. The current selling price of bikes from the era you are talking abou t has very little to do with the quality of the machine or place in history. In my opinion it has mostly to do with old guys wishing to have a bike they lusted after when they were young. I built only custom bikes, mostly all brazed by me, for around ten years. My passion was to build the best bicycles and for me the fashion side was understated . Of course fashion ha s a large part in being able to sell any bike as most people are not skilled enough to determine if one bike is better than another. I think the Italian s had a reasonably good racing bike but excelled at the marketing and fashion . But post bike boom American builders took the build quality to a new level. I am sure this statement is true if the subject were studied academically a s is done in art history. But currently the market value for bikes in this time period does not reflect the place in history or true quality of the bike for that matter.
Jim Merz Big Sur CA
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of chasds@mindspring.com Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2009 10:20 AM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR] medidation on a bargain
I just sold my Davidson:
http://ebay.com/
I basically broke even on it. Maybe I lost a little, but not much, if I did. I suppose had I parted it out I might have gotten a little more for it, and since I bought it as a frame and fork originally, and built it up as-sold, parting it out would have been no crime, but I'm too lazy to do that kind of thing. I much prefer selling whole bikes.
Anyway, it seemed to me that this bike sold for a price that borders on surreal. Try ordering a frame like this from any custom maker, and the frame and fork alone will cost you over 2K easy. And this was a Bill Davidson, who is one of the grand-old-men of custom frame building, and who has been doing astonishingly beautiful work for a long, long time.
Finally, the bike really rides like a dream. With some nice fat Paselas, i t would ride even nicer. The person who bought it is local--I think--and the y got a great deal. They got an all-purpose road-bike that is as good as anything you can buy now, modern or vintage, with a big dash of hand-made elegance, for the price of a nice beach cruiser...
I'm happy to pass it along...no regrets about the price. But it seems a commentary on the strange little world we all inhabit. This bike, which is one of the nicer bikes I own, sold only because I'm out of space and because it really is a bit big for me, and because I have other bikes that do the same thing, is the equal of any more famous marque you can name, and better than most of those for most kinds of riding. And it sold for not much more than two pairs of Dugast tires.
I guess I'm a little sad that Davidson doesn't get more regard. This is a hell of a nice frame, and every Davidson I ever saw has been the same, a superb piece of work.
So it goes. I suppose it's the times, and the bike itself, as built, while first-class all the way, is not especially sexy. And, in our little world, as everywhere else, sex sells, by whatever name.
I have a very sexy bike coming up next, a beautiful early '70s Pogliaghi in Faema colors. Be interesting to see what that one goes for. Functionally, the Davidson is the better bike, but, as we all know, function is sometimes the least of the matter--which is not to diss the Pog...it's a very, very sweet piece, low bottom bracket, long stays, relaxed angles. I'd not sell it ever, but it's too big for me... the pogliaghi/faema livery will put the price up there. But for sheer function? At best equal to the Davidson.
Not the first time one of us has remarked on this kind of thing, but it struck me somehow, as the auction ended. Emotional intensity counts for fa r more than function when it comes to the price of a bicycle. _______________________________________________
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