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how persnickety are you: would you *not* buy a bike...
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dddd
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3345
Location: NorCal

1/23/13 5:34 AM

Again, craigslist's fortunes are forcing me to investigate the rideability of a big frame.

Got this today from an HSE-driving Instruments Company guy with a front corner office, he being the third owner of this bike.

This one is kinda rare, being a full-custom from the '70s. He was asking 1200, but I got it for only 2/3 of that.
It was a long, nervous 2-hr drive to the buy location, but went down like clockwork as I avoided traffic.
So far, my tune-up (pulled 3 of 4 cables, changed tires and saddle) went fairly easily, and my first very brief ride into the hills (in the dark) gave me the impression of a good fit and spectacular handling.

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

1/23/13 7:57 AM

I had a Clubman - bought used about 25 years ago, same metalflake but brown, really dig the pinstriping on them. Not a bad ride either. Looks like yours is the same vintage.

So do you have a test saddle and pedals? They look the same in all 3 pics. For a thread about 3mm it's pretty clear that's within tolerances for a c-list find. Perfection is nice, but hard to find and tough to duplicate. It's all in the hunt.

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dddd
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3345
Location: NorCal

1/23/13 11:51 AM

Also, when I am forced to deviate from my idea of a best-fit platform, usually some aspect of the riding characteristics actually improves, even as a perhaps more important variable deteriorates. But you never know until you try, right?

As I had mentioned, I've come across a few Clubman's, but always 56cm and always blue. Some were older than others, though, and the geometry and design of mine is basically a lot older than the 1972 birth dates of both my Clubman and the silver one.

As for the pedals and saddles, those (~$100 msrp) ti saddles went on sale for $20 a year ago at Jenson Online, so I bought six! It has a very rare combination of shape and resilience, firm with a softer thin surface layer and broad flat nose. It is the best non-tri saddle I've found for riding "on the rivet" or riding sans padded shorts/tights, but requires the nose-down tilt because the central section is concave as this is a mountain saddle.
Same with the pedals, I've stocked a half-dozen pairs of these older Ultegra-SPD pedals which often sell for only $20-30 these days.

Whatever happened to your Clubman? These were very inexpensive, so likely considered disposable by most. The deceased original owner kept mine for quite a long time and rode it up into the '90's. I bought it from his son in December.

The blue Richard Sachs has a very low bottom bracket and 175mm Nuovo Record cranks, so I wouldn't dare ride it with a 2-sided SPD pedal for fear of digging a pedal in a corner. I got flopped that way on my Masi 2-3 years ago and was very lucky to only have torn my handlebar tape in that one.

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

1/23/13 8:14 PM

Stolen by a friend.

The paint was too very attractive. I'm sure they were disappointed when they found out what it was worth. Pfffffffft.

In inflation adjusted dollars you really got a bargain. I paid $75 in '84.

In wage adjusted dollars you freaking made out!

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dddd
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3345
Location: NorCal

1/25/13 8:25 PM

I can relate to that.
Once back in the late 1980's, I was driving through the nearest local "ghetto" section of White Plains, and was very surprised to see a new-looking, green Cannondale road bike leaned against the front wall of a bodega, and with no owner present and no lock.
I thought to myself, how long will that one last? Is that perhaps a bait bike?
And as I passed by, I couldn't help but also notice the resemblance to my own bike.
So I went back, and it WAS my bike. I, un-armed, waited nervously outside for a few minutes, when one of my roommates came walking out.
She had borrowed the bike and ridden it to a store without even adding to the 45psi that I had left in the tires (good thing she was svelte).
A long talk ensued.
I sold the C'dale for $200 after arriving in L.A., to fund my first Epic carbon, which I later sold to buy a smaller Epic, which I still have.

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