Re: [CR] A bit of history redux

(Example: Humor:John Pergolizzi)

From: "paccoastcycles" <paccoastcycles@sbcglobal.net>
To: "Hon Lee" <lejosun@sbcglobal.net>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References: <120827.28296.qm@web81801.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 21:54:08 -0700
Subject: Re: [CR] A bit of history redux


Hon Lee,

Kind of a side trip, skidding with abandon down memory lane for you, no doubt. That frame probably is thinking something along the lines of "What a long, strange trip it's been." Thanks for sharing that with us. I can't wait to see what unfolds.

Chuck Hoefer
Pacific Coast Cycles
Oceanside, California


----- Original Message -----
From: Hon Lee
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 9:13 PM
Subject: [CR] A bit of history redux


Dale and Jack have graciously permitted me to recount a moment of history that seems to me to be the stuff of Cycling's version of Oprah Winfrey. Here it is as I sent to Dale, with a postscript:

Unbelievable bit of news: Jack Gabus seems to have purchased what used to be my Alex Singer frame at a garage sale in Riverside, CA. He just sent me a note asking if I ever owned such a frame, and included a page from Spence Wolf's bicycle sales journal noting A. Singer serial number 1375 frameset, sold to Hon Lee in May of 1971...he also included two pics of its current condition: bare frame and fork, grey primer. I could see no dents or dings in the frame, and all the lugging and fork crown looked so clean, crisp, thinned. It was a startling experience. I sold it in 1978 to pay for Grad School II to a student in a private school in Danville, CA. So what happened in 32 years that left it so anonymously clad in grey primer, sans hs, bb, Campagnolo crankset, seatpost, Ideale cutaway, Singer stem, Cinelli bars and bivalent wheels with Nisi rims, Mafacs, front and rear pannieres, white paint, decals and gold lug lining??? It's all so remarkable.

Jack, it seems, spotted an announcement on Craigslist , twice, and followed up, purchasing this 40 year old tidbit. We managed to speak for a moment, enough to ascertain that the frame is structurally just fine, but the accoutrements such as that fabled Singer stem were shattered....indeed a very, very worthy project. It's the stuff of CR fable: Jack contacted Guy Apple regarding the serial number and finds me here on CR. I'm just beside myself with a kind of fuzzy joy, made all the fuzzier by the blurry memories of 1978 and braced with the heady anticipation that the restoration will feature a collective Hurrah here on CR.

Hon Lee Stockton, California Vereinigten Staaten _______________________________________________

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