uncle uncle

I always wanted to have a muscle car... and in the early 1990's I purchased a 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang. I did everything wrong in the purchase, buying a car that wasn't anything special, that had too many things wrong with it. At that time, I would say that the majority of people into muscle cars believed that the only "right" thing to do was to bring the car back the state it was in when it hit the show room floor. And to do something like that with my "not that really special" Mustang would mean pouring more money into it than I would ever be able to get out of it. The saving grace to my story surrounding the car was that I was able to drive it most days to work, for probably 3 or so years, pay lower taxes and fees on it than a new car, and sell it for 15 dollars less than my original purchase price. The vintage bicycle world, I'm glad to say, and I'm glad to see with most of the posts, doesn't really follow those same guidelines (I'm not really sure the vintage car world does so much now either). Probably only a handful of bicycles should warrant the "all original" treatment, as few were even "all original" from the very origins. And, in a way, it makes riding a vintage bicycle less stressful, than say, driving that car that's been restored to near factory specs.

OldsCOOL

Yes, in Middletown, Ohio.

Cougrrcj

IIRC,they were in Youngstown, OH

OldsCOOL

You might be right though this one was 215 Main St, New Middletown, Ohio 44442. Love this old stuff.

Miele Man

I'd REALLY like to get a "Catalogue Correct" steel aero frameset to put my vintage Shimano Dura Ace AX groupset on. in the meantime i had a framebuilder add the brazeons needed to run my Dura Ace AX stuff on a MIELE Columbus SL frameset. One day that aero tubing frameset will show up and if I'm really lucky it'll be a ta price I can afford.

Colour me weird if you like but I've always loved the shimano Dura Ace AX groupset's look and performance and I'm immensely sorry that i sold my Velo Sport aero frameset with complete Dura Ace AX groupset back in 1988.

The long search continues.

Cheers

Cougrrcj

Middletown is about halfway between Cinci and Dayton in SW Ohio. NEW Middletown is in the Youngstown area in NE Ohio.

norskagent

close enough for me

OldsCOOL

It's all the same to me.

RobbieTunes

Which one has the Pumpkin Festival? Or is that Centerville? Maybe Circleville?

Middletown
New Middletown
Centerville
I'm so confused....

Bandera

" Centerville
A real nice place to raise your kids up
Centerville
It's really neat!

Churches
Churches
And liquor stores"

-Frank Zappa

Cougrrcj

Pumpkin Festival was Circleville - which is some 25 miles due south of Columbus. Columbus is pretty much smack dab in the middle of the State. both E-W and N-S. Circleville is the optional 'breakfast' rest stop of TOSRV on Saturday... Been There, Ridden That, got the T-shirt (and patches...)

carbomb

Bikes that come to me with all their original equipment tend to stay that way. I like the idea of the bike being a little snapshot of an earlier time. If I got something iconic or exceedingly old I'd want to make it period correct probably. Catalog correct sounds like a bit of a stretch to me if it isn't already. If it were like 1 or 2 components off maybe I'd consider hunting those parts down.

However, most of my bikes start off as a frameset only purchases and I don't really care what components go on them so long as they look good to and ride well according to me.

Chombi

Mehhhh.....
I don't think most manufacturers put the best stuff on their bikes out of the factory, as they are always built to a particular price point. Especially most mid-level models, that can use some modding up in most cases, straight out of the dealer's showrooms....,to get the best out of them. Even top line bikes are limited to what the manufacturers contract to, so unless you were buying a bare frameset, you are stuck to what came with the bikes.
For this reason, I'd rather go just period correct than catalogue correct, and even then I allow for some modern items like tires, brake pads and pedals to make the bike safer and more rideable as it will interface better with things like my mostly modern pairs of bike shoes.

Rcrxjlb

Can't have a vintage bike with a straight-from-the-factory look.
I don't own a motor vehicle so, any bike i own may/will be subject to commuting duty.

Would REALLY like to own a mint Raleigh Professional!!

But if i gotta go to work and the beater is broke i'm riding her (full Campy group be damned)

PolarBear007

Initially, i really wanted my Schwinn High Plains in as close to catalog condition as possible. Most of the components are/were original (except the seat and tires) and generally in great shape.

However, there are/were enough scratches/gouges in the black spider-web paint (which are just not able to be replicated) to realistically maintain the dream of the "catalog" bike.

Sooooooo, having an imperfect (far from perfect!) specimen, i decided to leverage all the best i can from it and upgrade the rest where it makes sense. Powder coating here I come!!!

I do wish i could source a complete set original-ish decals though - that would be awesome to put on a completely re-worked frame and componentry set up.

steelbikeguy

I always thought that this era Raleigh track bike was sooo cool looking! To be honest, I loved all of the top level Raleigh bikes of that era, which might be why I have two of the models. Nice to see an example of the track bike on the road and looking so good!

How many deviations from factory spec do you think you've got? The rims are the only things that stand out. Any others are pretty subtle.

Steve in Peoria

Velocivixen

It depends. I have an '85 Nishiki mixte and an '87 Miyata mixte and they're somewhat updated, but in keeping with the spirit. For example I used Paul Thumbies to move the downtube indexed shifter from the Miyata and put on VO Porteur bars. It's a lot more functional for me that way. Similar with the Nishiki - VO Porteur bars with SunTour barcon shifters to replace stem shifters.

I have a 1972 pristine, all original Raleigh Twenty that I plan to keep original (except tubes/tires and cables - used original housings). I have another one that's been powdercoated and modified, and although it's more functional in some ways (aluminum rims, modern brakes) it has lost it's original charm, IMO.

ThermionicScott 

+1 for "it depends." None of my bikes were so special in the beginning to merit being kept anal-retentively original and perfect, if I could even find info on how they were originally equipped. So I've felt pretty free to change parts as needed or desired.

That said, I really dig seeing really nice, original bikes, or those where the BF owner has taken a neglected castaway and lovingly repainted it and found all the right parts. Always love it when @ScottRyder posts that one Fuji that's not only catalog-correct, it was the bike in the catalog picture!

And I dig original C&V cars, too. Nothing against those who hot-rod or do other mods, but for me, it's so much cooler to see 50s/60s VWs with original interiors and 36hp/40hp engines. Makes it easier for me to imagine myself in that time period, I suppose.

vancityrider

Agreed. On some I want it to be 100% on others, hey as long as they are functional I'm happy

fietsbob

Zilch. Zip, Nana Nyet.

Lazyass

The question is if you would have bought bike "x" when it was brand new, would you have kept it completely original? I don't care about catalog correct, period correct with parts I would have bought for it back then is what I care about.

norskagent

everything is pretty spec except for the wheels and bars and stem. The rims are modern clinchers but the hubs are campy high flange as per spec. The catalog has GB bars w/ ttt stem, mine has a cinelli road stem and bars. I also have an ambrosio stem w/ cinelli track bars but I only use them if I am showing the bike (which is rare).

ScottRyder 

I wish it had been a Fuji ! Alas, it was my 1976 Austro-Daimler Ultima Superleicht .. which now has been sold and hangs in the A-D boardroom in Maine. I guess I need to post those photos again.





Scott

The Golden Boy 

When they rebuilt the P-38 Lightning they pulled out of the pack ice in Greenland, they put some of the original air into the tires.

ThermionicScott 

D'oh! Misremembered it slightly.