FRAME CONDITION - PAINT & ART?

Both my early eighties Cambio Rino 2000 and my eighties something Miele LTD are beautiful examples of vintage road bicycles.  However and all other things being equal, even though the Cambio Rino's unblemished paint surface suggests better condition, it is the Miele that is the more collectable.  The Cambio Rino has been repainted while the Miele is absolutely original.

QUESTION:  " Is the paint and art damaged or redone?"

Chipped, scratched, worn or faded paint is not a huge issue when it comes to a bicycle's value.  Very few vintage road bicycles will still have their cosmetics in mint condition.  Expect a host of tiny scratches, chips and rub marks to be present.  Badly faded paint, particularly on one side or other of a frame set is an indication that the bicycle was stored out of doors for a considerable amount of time.  A frame set, subjected to the wrath or Mother Nature, for any period of time, will likely experience weather related damage and that should be taken into account when purchasing a bicycle.  Weather related damage can manifest itself in the form of rust, paint/art deterioration and seized components.

Considerable paint fade can also mean a seized seat post and/or steering stem.  Either of these conditions will cause grief, suck up time to effect repair and likely end up costing money to replace the, sometimes very difficult to locate and/or costly, components.  Paint fade cannot be touched up without considerable effort and usually warrants a full repaint.  Repainting a vintage bicycle frame set is a last resort when addressing cosmetic issues.  How does the old saying go?  "You can restore a bicycle a hundred times but it can be original only once!".

A critical factor, that helps to define a vintage road bicycle's collectable value, is the tubing material from which the frame set is made.  Once a bicycle has been repainted, there is no way of determining exactly what the tubing material is.  Even if the tubing decal has been replaced, who is to say the the chosen decal actually and honestly defines the tubing type.  If the bicycle you are considering purchasing has been repainted, back off!  Unless you are positive that the bike is what it is advertised to be, expect the worst and look elsewhere for a bike to restore.  And keep this in mind also...

If you repaint the bicycle, then you will have to convince the next buyer of the bicycle's virtues.  Repaint costs time, effort and money.  And, the process of repainting a bicycle will not necessarily increase the bicycle's value.  In fact, your expensive paint job will likely lower the value of the bike.

A vintage bicycle's finish need not, and probably will not, be perfect.  Chips, scratches, fading and surface rust will all be present somewhere on a bicycle's frame or fork and this is no big deal.  I call time imparted damage a "patina of age" and, believe it or not, a bicycle's patina of age can add positively to the beauty of a bicycle.  This nice old French Le Jeune had developed a wonderful "patina of age".  The bicycle had the usual paint chips, scratches and faded spots.  Additionally, the paint, itself, had crazed, resulting in the look often associated with very old pottery.  The effect certainly doesn't belong on a bicycle but, in the Le Juene's case, actually improved the appearance.  The paint crazing is a result of huge temperature swings.  A bicycle left to sit in a cold environment will be subject to temperature swings that exceed 120 degrees.  The dead of winter can often bring temperatures that drop below the -20 degree mark where I live, while summer produces beautiful 80 to 100 degree days.  To the winter's cold, add the wind chill factor and temperatures can feel as cold as minus forty or fifty degrees Fahrenheit.  All those temperature differences cause the bicycle's tubes to expand and contract.  The steel tubing's coefficient of expansion is greater than that of the paint and the difference between the two increases as the paint ages and hardens.  In order for the paint to stretch with the expanding of the steel tube, the paint will actually form a intricate pattern of tiny cracks, called crazing.  And it sometimes looks OK.

Rub marks commonly occur where control cable casings are allowed to come into contact with and allowed to work against a painted surface.  Such rub marks will not impact the ride but do detract from the appearance.  The head tube will usually suffer the most since cable casing movement is greatest there.  In fact, it is usually the cables that cause most of the rub mark damage on a vintage road bike frame set.

NEXT- FRAME CONDITION - LEGAL?