Jim Redcay?

[Sam in VA]

I have the opportunity to purchase a Jim Redcay racing bicycle in my size. It is mostly NR, with nutted brakes and a single WB braze-on. I'm guessing late 70s-early 80s. The fork looks identical to the one on my Waterford... HJ fork crown (I haven't pulled the brakes to verify its a HJ). Does anyone have any opinions on Redcays? How collectable are they? Have Henry James forks been around since the late 70s or is it likely that the fork is a replacement?
Thanks!

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . a case tailor-made for the superhero talents of . . . . CAPTAIN DBRK!

BBDave

[Tom Kellogg]

Sam:

I spent a great deal of time with Jim over the years that he built frames. His frames were state of the art. Just beautiful. He did build with HJ crowns, but not for very long since he closed his business when he began heading up the Ross Signature department when I left at the end of '81. My guess is that he would have built the frame in either '80 or '81. The exact time is in a code in the serial number.

Redcays are collectibles since Jim only made several hundred between the mid 70s and '82. Even by the best of today's standards, Jim's frames are as clean as they get. As long as it is in pretty good shape, you should love the bike.

Finally, if and when you want to have it refinished, we do have the original decals. We have both versions of the head tube logo as well. GOOD FIND!

[Sam in VA]

I was looking for an expert opinion, but I guess Tom will do ;)

What a forum!!

[dbrk]

I have only seen one Redcay and it was a beautifully made bike. The crown on the one I have in mind was most certainly not HJ (maybe IT? hmmm...) Anyway, there will be no more, this is truly a classic, rare and with fine reputation. I doubt the original paint would cause it to have higher value in this case (that not being true of say, a Confente) but the general rule of thumb is not to repaint a classic if the paint is decent. If you are a collector then patina counts in the value. If you are a rider then you do as you like so long as you know what you have. It's a shame to treat a bike as just a "thing" that is your property and so you could do anything; bikes shadow the line of functional craft and perhaps art.
It's obvious you are respectful of the bike and good on'ya', that's all I meant plus just some thoughts about riding and collecting.

I have repainted two Rene Herse, both of which were in very rough shape and restored to period correct perfection by Mike Barry (who knows more about French bikes than any living human except Ernest Csuka...) but left a third alone (and that bike is likely worth much more than the repaints for its perfect patina). If you just want to ride the Redcay and enjoy it pristine (like I did with one of the restored Herse bikes, the other is just too neat on the wall) then I would send it to Spectrum. Their paint is exquisite and Tom's experise and connection is a true added value, almost a part of the family, as it were. If the paint is solid and you have collector's notions then leave it alone.

It's a funny thing about "restoration." The Classic Rendezvous guys have very strong opinions, along the religious lines, like the "sew-ups only" advocates. And they are the "market" for such bikes usually since nowadays most folks don't really care about the old stuff. I have more old bikes and modern classics (Rivendell, Mariposa, Sachs, Cooper, Masi, Pegoretti done up nice, incoming -hopefully- Nagasawa) than truly oldoldbikes (Herse, Singer, etc.) and I don't think of myself as a "collector" but as a rider. I LOVE to ride old bikes and the older parts. I would rather go out on a fendered, Simplex 5500 rear der/tear dropshifter classic than _any_ modern bike by a LONG shot... I don't have any show bikes or bikes I don't ride (except my 1966 Schwinn Fleet tank bike that my Dad bought me for my 9th birthday, two speed Bendix kickback, working bell in the tank, gotta love it...) but I think it's really swell that people _do_ care about bikes enough to restore them to original parts and hang them on the wall. If you ever get to see e-richie's two Masis or Paeng's Confente, whoa...that's somethin' to see.

Mike Barry has the most amazing collection of bicycles of anyone I have ever met, by far. There are just more interesting and well-kept and perfectly running rigs there in Toronto than anywhere I've seen. If you have a chance to visit Bicycle Specialties in Toronto, well, it is as interestign as the Louvre if you like bicycles...

I like also to ride modern, zooty bikes (the Hampsten-Parlee Z1 and Hampsten- Moots are my favorites by a long shot) but I find it very hard to love them like I love the great craft of lugged steel. Of the few other modern one-off classics I would still like to have: Spectrum, Della Santa, RichardMoon, CurtGoodrich, Eisentraut, Cycles Tournesol, Hampsten Giro'88 in Slurpie(tm) colors. Of the traditionalist modern production bikes: Gaansari (don't care which model), Rivendell's Saluki. Old bikes I still like to ride that I dont' have: Cinelli, a really nice one; Confentes and oldMasis are too expensive.

Of the techie-modern bikes so very few nowadays appeal to me. I'd like a Pegoretti GGM for it's weird and interesting idea but that's not really the zoot I mean, I mean more like carbon this and weird tubing that. I cannot bring myself to care. The Ottrott and Nove are too expensive, honestly, though they strike me as interesting enough. The Elium Seven is less but I would rather have any of those lugged steel bikes first. Cervelos for being honest and cheap are neat for their philosphy and so worth a roll but not the hassle and cost of actually buying one. Eddy's aluminum is tantalizing but I am so done with AL that I know it would be here and gone before it was here and here.

I'd bet there are some other modern classics I missed that would get me all jones'in'. Bikes offer different experiences, different styles of riding. There is no comparing an Alex Singer to an Ottrott. That would be like comparing violinist, I dunno, Stephane Grappelli to L. Shankar or something...not sensible. Now I know virtually nothing about violins but I'd venture to say that bikes make some comparison to violins: each one plays differently, every single one has its own personality, many are bad, some are good, some are actually quite excellent, many more than you'd think when you get to thinking about "best" or just superb.

dbrk

[e-RICHIE]

dbrk-issimo wrote (snipped):
"...but I think it's really swell that people _do_ care about bikes
enough to restore them to original parts and hang them on the
wall. If you ever get to see e-richie's two Masis..."


here ya' go:

http://www.richardsachs.com/articles/rsachsperiod.html
http://www.richardsachs.com/masimania/index.html
http://www.campyonly.com/retrobikes/sachs_masi.html
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Italy/Masi/Masi_RS1.htm
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Italy/Masi/Masi_RS2.htm
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Italy/Masi/Period_Corr_rs.htm
http://tinyurl.com/2sdvo
http://www.bates-lee.com/masi/html/richard1.html
http://www.bates-lee.com/masi/html/richard2.html
http://www.bates-lee.com/masi/html/richard3.html
http://www.bates-lee.com/masi/html/richard4.html

e-RICHIE®™©

ps

:p :p :p
;) ;) ;)
:D :D :D

arrange disorder

[Sam in VA]

Thanks for the advice and info. The bike is in surprisingly good condition... no need for a repaint. I'll post pics when I get it cleaned up and polished. I'll post some of my other bikes as well in the coming months.

[vaxn8r]

DBRK,

that was one of your all time best posts. IMHO of course. Bikes and violins. Who'd a thunk it? Yeah, that resonates with me.

[Sam in VA]

When i was in high school and college, I was a backpacking fanatic. In between treks (i.e. often, since I live 4+ hours from any good areas), I could always pull out and reread my well worn copy of "The Complete Walker". No one could romanticize hiking, particularly solitary hiking (and backpacking equipment) like Colin Fletcher. He also wrote of some of his longer treks. Most of these are out of print, but I highly recommend them if you come across one.

Back to my point... Douglas is the Colin Fletcher of cycling and things cycling