In the meantime, I can introduce you to a
more long-term project that I’m going to work on during the autumn/winter, as
funds allow. If you are a frequent reader of the blog, you may recall my discussion on Colnago bikes and my love for new or vintage models of that bicycle build. I
have a saved search on eBay for Colnago bikes, just to browse through when the
mood hits me. My brother-in-law also directed me to a fairly new internet site
called If This, Then That, with which I can plug in details that will alert
me to new Colnago posts on craigslist.
A few weeks ago I saw an auction on eBay for
a Colnago Super Saronni, which refers to a vintage machine modeled after the
bicycle on which Italian Giuseppe Saronni (pictured above with bike) won his 1982 World Championship. The
bike is distinguished by its wine red color, which I’ve heard is done by
applying an undercoat of black with a translucent red topcoat – very much the
color of a real candy apple, not the color people regularly call “candy apple
red”.
Colnago also started regular use of the World
Championship rainbow stripes on their frame decals to celebrate Saronni’s win,
even adding them diagonally behind their trademark Ace of Clubs logo (photo right) on their
bicycle headtube badge.
The bike up for auction wasn’t complete, but
it featured a mixed bag of components, including Campagnolo front and rear
derailleurs, aero seat post, pedals, brakes and brake levers with hoods,
Cinelli handlebars and stem, a Dura-Ace crankset, headset and bottom bracket
and a new retro-look Selle Italia leather saddle. Someone had obviously built
up this frame with high-quality parts, but in my mind I was already selling off
the mismatched stuff and returning the bike to its original all-Campagnolo
glory!
I was
aware of the bike’s value, but I wasn’t willing to invest the $900 the seller
asked with the “Buy It Now” feature, but he also had a “Make Me an Offer”
button on the page, and I punched in $700. I was a little disappointed to see
the auction end later in the week, but just a few days after that, I received a
Second Chance Offer at my price when the original buyer backed out.
Aware that the bike required a signature for delivery and that Carrick’s class schedule might not allow me to be at home when the FedEx truck came by, I requested the bike be left at the Collegeville FedEx office for me to pick up. On the way home from Wednesday's class, we picked up the package, which was obviously a do-it-yourself job in a U-Haul box. The box was not particularly well-sealed, with some of the seams split open a bit, but nothing from which I immediately thought any of the larger parts could escape.
The large box wouldn’t fit into my Honda
Civic, so Carrick and I unpacked everything and put it in the back seat.
The contents were in a big, taped-up cluster of what I thought was pipe insulation tubes used
for packing protection, but upon closer inspection, I think the seller just split
a bunch of those floating foam noodles kids use in the pool. There was no way
Carrick and I were going to undo this in a parking lot, and with our empty
stomachs begging for dinner, we decided to wait until we were at home to attack this
mess.
Sellers often use free shipping as an
incentive to buyers, and unfortunately some people go the "do it yourself" route. I am used to receiving bicycles professionally
packaged, especially because it involves partial disassembly of the bike and some
experience arranging the parts in the box efficiently in order to protect the valuable
bicycle – skills usually beyond the average person. I was very annoyed when I
saw the packaging tape was all over the paint and the vintage decals, which (unlike
modern vinyl decals that sit under a clearcoat for protection) do not stand up
well to any type of handling, let
alone adhesives!
I was somewhat glad that the paint had no
issues with the packing tape, but I wasn’t happy to spend hours removing all
the torn pieces and rubbing off the tape residue left behind. With some
assistance from Sue, I kept damage to the decals to a minimum, but this shouldn’t
have been a problem at all, if the seller had a clue what he was doing.
After the unwrapping was complete, I
assessed what was in front of me. The nasty “splash” bar tape immediately stood
out, and, as most people know how much I hate that crap, it was the first thing
to go! I was disappointed to find someone had drilled holes in the beautiful
Cinelli bars, apparently to allow for internal cable routing. The real problem,
however, was that the seatpost, saddle and pedals were missing!
I quickly ran out to the car to double-check
that we hadn’t left anything in the back seat, but unfortunately it was empty. I
then sent a quick note to the seller to inquire if he had accidentally left
these parts behind, and after the time he spent on his tube/wrap extravaganza,
I wouldn’t be too shocked to find out that was the case!
This
posting is getting a bit lengthy, so next week I will let you know about the (painful)
exchange of messages with the seller to try sort out this deal and any progress
I’ve made on either of these projects.
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