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I have a Question For The Collectors Concerning Decals On A Higher End 80's Road Bike

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MarkKBike

Finally riding a big boys bike
I was talking to a friend of mine who owns a vintage 1986 Pinarello Montello. He has owned the bike since it was new, and he never rode it very much. He always babied it, and It has never even been loaded on a car rack. The bike is in mint condition, except for the decals..

In High School, I remember when he saved up and purchased it. We used to ride together, but would always ride around his neighborhood. He did not even like to load the bike up inside his vehicle.

At the time his father had a mid 60's Schwinn Paramont, and another vintage racing bike. He would usually ride his dads bike, instead of his.

He told me that for the first time ever, he over wintered the Pinarello in the garage, and recently noticed that the cold air must have messed with his decals, and they started to crack and flake a little bit. He was upset when he saw this.

He was researching replacement decals, and went into a bike shop. The shop told him they would leave it as is, since its all original, and that most Pinarello Montello's of that age have the same issue since the decals were placed on top of the paint, and not in it.

He is primarily interested in maintaining its collectors value.

He asked me what I thought, and told him I would check with the members here to get a solid opinion on whether or not it would be wise to replace them, or leave the bike as is.

Does any one have any thoughts on what he should do?
 
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Thanks for the reply, I will let him know. He was already leaning towards leaving them as is, but said he hates to look at it now. Purchasing the replacements, but not applying them sounds like a good idea.

He was told the originals are not being made for that bike anymore, but reproductions are available.
 
I just spoke to the owner of the bike, and he said he will send me photos to post here in the next day or two. He has his kids today, and they are out.

He also told me That it might be a 87. He said after I post the photos of his bike, if anyone has access to the original decals he would be interested in purchasing them (he does not want reproductions).
 
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Schwinn had the same decal problem in their last years. As far as I know, all decals are applied on top of the paint and I have no idea how anyone could apply them in the paint. If the new decals are exact duplicates and can be applied as original, I personally would replace them if the degrading originals bothered me. On a used bike that is well taken care of maintained and ridden I'm sure the tires, tubes, brake pads, cables and casings, chains etc. would be replaced at some point. Does that devalue the bike and it's now considered non original? If your buddy wants an untouched 100% original wall hanger then keep it in damp garage and let it naturally deteriorate.
 
I think what I had meant to say was was that they do not have a clear coat over them. and are on top of the paint. My terminology used may have not been correct.
 
My Pinarello track bike had the same problem. The decals looked miserable. I replaced them with graphics I got from Velocals and the bike looks great.I don’t see how having peeling decals enhances the value of a bike when it didn’t leave the factory like that.
 
My Pinarello track bike had the same problem. The decals looked miserable. I replaced them with graphics I got from Velocals and the bike looks great.I don’t see how having peeling decals enhances the value of a bike when it didn’t leave the factory like that.
I have to agree with this. My bikes have a mix of decals - what's left of the originals where they're okay, and Velocals or Cyclomondo reproductions where they're needed.
They're easy enough to peel off again and replace if you do find the originals.
I don't see a problem with taking Goof Off to a shot decal, removing the peeling original, polishing the paint with Meguiar's, and sticking a Velocal over the spot.
Though more expensive, Velocals will also offer any of their reproductions in waterslide.
If you can find the originals, great, but good reproductions are better than peeling original waterslides.

The one exception is my original condition '57 Lenton frame, because the ghost original decals just look too cool.
and just a few of them are still really sharp
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I'll also have to admit I don't collect bikes, but build comfortable, reliable and practical bikes for me, family, and friends from classic steel frames.
I've never agreed with catalog-perfect, because even when they were new, we went to work on our classic bikes right away to improve them and meet those same 3 priorities - comfortable, reliable, practical. Unless you were there, you can't imagine how many Nuovo Record RD's were removed to replace with SunTour Cyclones in 1976 (it's still the best RD ever made until Campy themselves began copying the design on all their RD's in 1988).
The need to be catalog perfect is the same mentality that drives whole classic bikes to be parted out, because somebody is willing to pay too much for those parts to make their old frame catalog perfect.
While it may be a collector's dream, there's nothing sadder than a bike never ridden. (and in my case, may take liberties with the decals).
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1st-gen Chorus with delta brakes, 1988 - nice bike and my size, but I'm not in the market. Hope Lou sees this.
 
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