A buddy of mine garbage picked a bike and gave it to me. It's encased
in a dust-bunny cocoon, but it looks like it was once quite nice.
A Maruishi stamp can be seen where the seat stays are brazed to the
seat lug (IIRC it's called the "salami cut".) The frame was repainted
gold with a silver head tube, likely by the owner -- it's pretty
gloppy. The repaint covered any other make or model information about
the frame (including any rust spots), which I'd estimate to be sized
around a 55 or 56. The shifting/braking is 5sp Dura Ace, with a tight
rear cluster. Nice Brooks saddle in good condition, Mavic rims look
true. I haven't measured the chain, but it looks like a bike that was
well used but cared for. If this wasn't someone's race rig I'd be very
surprised.
Problem is that there's a whopper of a ding in the seat tube just
above the chainrings that leaves the the tube with a ~20 degree bend.
Now, this wasn't my bike, so other than nostalgically wanting to
preserve the past I don't have any strong personal attachment to the
frame. It was also a freebie, so I'm not beholden monetarily. The
frame is also too small for me, and...rrrr...gah.. I've got to
accept...rrraaahhh... that I've enough of a personal fleet already
(according to my girlfriend), so I'll likely be flipping it. I was
thinking of casually shopping for another frame with 120mm spacing,
but with the fixie craze they're not as cheap or easy to find as they
once were. Should I accept that this frame is scrap, or look into
having the tube replaced and the frame realigned?
I'm sure that although '70s Dura Ace doesn't have the same cachet as
70's Campy it's likely collectible. With that in mind, should I just
craigslist or ebay as is?
scogo