Pelican Parts Forums - bicycle seat question...

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammyg2 (Post 6265315)

Yes way.
It was in Fullerton, Ca. Part of the Mulrooney group of shops. 1979 or 1980 IIRC.
I rode with team Paramount.

The true bikers knew exactly what the stuff cost, but once in a while we'd get a "you get what you pay for" type of guy who buys bragging rights from buying the most expensive stuff he could find. One just happened to walk in the door that weekend.

It was a Medici frame-set, it was definately columbus tubing but was custom painted.
$500 for the frame set sounds about right back then, maybe $600.

IIRC we were getting better than $500 for a full campy set. Prolly closer to $650 retail but it was a long time ago.
Add in the seat, handle bars and stem, chain, wheels, tires, etc. it all adds up.

$1600 was actually a very good price for a bike like that in the OC.

EDIT: one thing of note, at that time NOTHING could compete with campy. Everything else was junk. Phil woods hubs were good for touring or tandems but that was it.

Later on, lots of really good Japanese high end stuff came on the market, some from shimano.
Their pro stuff was darn near as good as the italian stuff.
As QC got better and the competition got stiffer, that drove prices down for a while instead of up.

I got out of that business in 1981 so didn't follow it as closely after that.

I started riding in 83, enter my first USCF race in 84, and won my first race in 85 all as a Jr. I remember how expensive the pro bikes were because I can never afford one as a kid. I had to count pennies toward a Campy Nuevo Record gruppo. I know that a Medici was a cheaper bike compare to many of the Italian frames only because they were made in LA. I am sure the quality is just as good as any frame out there, but as the guys in the club would say that a Medici was the best touring bike money can buy.

I rode Suntour for a good many years, due to the Montrose Cycle Club discount, and found it to be as good as Campy. I had never had any issues with it under hard use. Over time, I couldn'y resist and bought a Super Record gruppo for myself.