[CR] Now: "concours crisis" or "marquee madness" Was: RE: Con Denti

(Example: Framebuilding:Technology)

From: "Dr. Paul B. Williams" <castell5@sympatico.ca>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:32:56 -0400
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTimNYs53bIaOY4Nwv5q6ljFmqVu9fu3bT-Y6zajH@mail.gmail.com>
References:
Subject: [CR] Now: "concours crisis" or "marquee madness" Was: RE: Con Denti


Ah Matthew, we all do it - call it "marquee madness," "concours d'elegance crisis" - it is the addictive illness which binds us together in our endeavours. I am such an addict; I'll say it again I am an addict. I too have wrestled with the demons of whether or not I can get away with "non-period-correct" components; whether some PC (that is "period-correct") bike police will turn up at my workshop or pull me over on the side of the road for using (gulp) clipless pedals on my 1982 Bob Jackson!

As I wrote last week, I build with an eye to one day showing off my latest project at Cirque, but must temper this with the reality that the likelihood of that is rare. Moreover, the reality is that there are few here in Ottawa (there are a few of us CR types around) who would know or care whether I used a 1948 rather than a 1950 part on my 1948 Carpenter.

Why then? Because - we know!! A colleague of my dad's who made museum-quality boat models was once asked why he made excruciatingly detailed working motors for his boats - which would never be seen by anyone. His reply was: "because I know they are there!"

But then we stop and think - it is really part of the collector's game; the hunt; treasure-hunting for that elusive prize. We crave authenticity. It is the joy of seeing and riding a bike built up the way it was intended. With that in mind, I battle and bid on EBay hoping to get a deal and fight back a conscience which dictates that it is insane to pay $300 for an Osgear. I beg fellow listers, and anyone I encounter online who has similar interests, for parts. I plead with my wife to allow me to buy that one last part needed to complete my masterpiece.

It is the collector's curse, but then the reality - I can go and ride that bike. Try that with a stamp collection!!

Now if only I could find someone to pay top dollar for the mint condition 1987 XJ6 dashboard which the previous owner of our house left in our garage loft ... ;^)

Paul Williams, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Dr. Paul B. Williams, BAH, MPhil, PhD Instructor, Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada


> Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:15:25 -0400
> From: dennisflange@gmail.com
> To: devotion_finesse@hotmail.com; classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR] Con Denti
>
> Hi Matthew,
> I too enjoyed your post. I do not, however, understand your resistance to
> fitting a pair of pedals to the Frejus that would allow you to ride it. The
> bike won't mind, I assure you (I asked my Frejus and was informed thus), and
> there is no way a lesser pair will damage your fine crankset. The authority
> figures in your cosmos won't know, and I suspect God has other, more
> pressing concerns.
>
> Your shoes, be they Detto Pietro or otherwise, will cope. Your bikie friends
> will understand. Lamp posts will not snicker as you pass.
>
> This obsession, if you feed it, is gonna cost you big-time. The desire to
> ride the magic Frejus will win out over frugality. Some dark hour of the
> morning will find your bloodshot eyes illuminated by a computer screen as
> your trembling finger hovers over, than touches the button that seals your
> bid of $41,949.63 for the last remaining unsold pair of Con Denti pedals in
> the world. All your things will be sold or repossessed, your wife will leave
> you, your children will abandon you for squandering their inheritance, you
> will be thrown out of your hovel whose stoop you will be forced to haunt
> until the day the man in brown drops a small, surprisingly heavy package
> into your filthy, shaking claws. Cackling with demented glee, you'll stumble
> to a nearby alley where you have stashed your last possessions: the Frejus,
> and a Campagnolo pedal wrench, unused, still in its rosewood presentation
> case lined with purple velvet.
>
> Later, your body will be found, your face frozen in an expression of deepest
> despair. In your hand, a lump of coal. Scrawled on the wall above your
> lifeless form, the cryptic words, "French thread!!!"
>
> --
>
> Michael Shiffer
> EuroMeccanica, Inc.
> 114 Pearl Street
> Mount Vernon, NY 10550
> (914) 668-1300
> euromeccanicany.com