>
> This discussion of the value of old bikes is a little foreign to me.
> Is the value in them being as close to all original as possible?
> Obviously, I understand condition ratings and such, but I've never
> been one to put much value on old bikes. Maybe I need to start paying
> closer attention.
>
There are a number of reasons, some of which are no different from the
affinity for old airplanes, sailing ships, and cameras. To operate them,
you have to understand them as they will not function on their own. So, you
develop an operator/machine intimacy that stays with you.
Then there's the aspect of nostalgia. Not the nostalgia of admiring
something that you were not associated with directly in your past, and
especially not before your existence. But rather the nostalgia that comes
from having been intimate with something that you learned to admire and
respect in first person. You were a team, and neither of you could function
fully or at all without the other.
I lived in France for three years back when deGaulle was president and
HQ US Army Europe was in Orleans. The Algerians revolted against the French
army. The Soviets built the Berlin Wall and sent missiles to Cuba. John
Glenn orbited the earth. Difficult times for many.
At a lesser level, my American Huffy bicycle was an embarassment next to
the sleek bicycles that the French kids rode. But, I could take that Huffy
apart and put it back together, so the seed was there. It was some twelve
years later when I graduated to the Motobecane, and now almost fourty years
after that I finally have a Peugeot joining the family. I've already
stripped it down and put it back together before taking it out on the road.
We make a good team.
Chris
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