Originally Posted by
USAZorro
I hear you. If I still lived in Rochester, NY, or Carlisle, PA. I could possibly make a case for keeping something like this (relatively flat and bike friendly). Honestly, I think that a hard-core collector or a museum would more properly appreciate this than an average Joe/Jane. Rod brakes are an anachronism, and finding replacement pads is a research exercise in and of itself. I think you're blessed and cursed here.
Agreed on that count. I could make the LBSes laugh at the engineering of the Rudge back when I got it in 2008 - to the point that they would call me up if a DL-1 would show up, asking for rod brake adjustment pointers, usually.
I can't speak for LBSes in cycling-friendly cities, but
so much has changed in 10 years that I don't think that the local shops even take anything with cottered cranks seriously. Not before trying to send the owner out the door with a new bike, anyway.
On the note of donations...I PM'ed
branko_76 to see how many Spin Gen 3's it'd take to convince him to send the DL-1 down here, given how donatable the Spins are
. Having a bunch of bikes to give away has its good points (share the love) and bad (shipping costs and enabling)!
Oh, how do I get myself into these things
-Kurt