Relic-ed guitars and Pre-Beausaged Rivendells...

[lungimsam]

Hello everyone,

 

You all have been around Riv-culture longer than I. I was wondering what your opinion is of Rivendell having a custom line of factory relic-ed (beausaged, in Riv-speak) frames one day. Is there a market for it?

 

Let me explain:

In the guitar and bass instrument retail world, makers manufacture special lines of their instruments, called "relic-ed", for high prices.

People seem to lust over these and pay thousands upon thousands for them.

The reliced versions have chipped, worn off paint, down to bare wood; aged hardware (rusted and oxidized metal parts); and discolored, "aged" plastic parts. This is done at the factory on a new instrument.

So, you can have a guitar that looks well played and 40 years old, if you think that looks nice.

 

Personally, I prefer to do all "relicing" myself to my instruments (and bikes), through years of lovingly playing (riding) and using them. So I like to buy new, standard models.

 

But there is a HUGE market for this in the guitar world.

 

Is there a market for this in the Rivendell world?

Would you buy a Rivendell, made with dinged paint, environmentally worn components, gassed gumwalls, and discolored plastic parts, for a more "artistic" look? Everything functions perfectly, of course.

 

I wouldn't, as I like leaving my mark on things myself.

Just wondering if you think there is a market for these kind of models. Pre-Beausaged bikes.

 

Looks like Brooks has already started doing this with their saddles, as they have an aged, line, I think.

[Marc Schwartz]

Sounds like the beginnings of a whole new profession;

"Le Beausagier"?

"Products Rendered "Vintage" While-U-Wait!
Bicycles. Guitars, Denim Clothing; Etc.
U-Name-It, We Maim It!"

"... And you said little Jimmy would never amount to anything!....."

Jeeez!


________________________________________
From: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com [rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of lungimsam [john1...@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, September 21, 2012 7:54 PM
To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [RBW] Relic-ed guitars and Pre-Beausaged Rivendells...

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[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

Just let me ride it for a few months, and it'll be beat to Hell. You'll love it, and I won't charge much.

[dougP]

My answer to your notion of a market for factory beausaged Rivendells
is "I certainly hope not". Not knowing anything about the musical
instrument world does not prevent me from offering the opinion that
this entire concept sounds pretentious in the extreme. I envision
this rich guy with this "new-old" guitar spinning some BS yarn about
playing it in his rock band in the 60s or something.

I like to think that people buy Rivs to ride, not put away as
collectibles. A bike gets its fair share of beausage even if ridden
moderately and well cared for. Ride a few thousand miles a year &
ship it around a bit, hop on'n'off a few buses & trains, and they get
thoroughly beat looking wihin a decade.

Of course, one of the ironies of owning a Riv is the occassional
inquiry "So how old is that thing, anway?". When I bought my
Atlantis, it was because I could load it down for a tour or go out
wandering on fire trails. Never thought of it as an old bike, just
one with the versatility I wanted.

dougP

On Sep 21, 6:54 pm, lungimsam <john11.2...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> You all have been around Riv-culture longer than I. I was wondering what
> your opinion is of Rivendell having a custom line of factory relic-ed
> (beausaged, in Riv-speak) frames one day. Is there a market for it?
>
> Let me explain:
> In the guitar and bass instrument retail world, makers manufacture special
> lines of their instruments, called "relic-ed", for high prices.
> People seem to lust over these and pay thousands upon thousands for them.
> The reliced versions have chipped, worn off paint, down to bare wood; aged
> hardware (rusted and oxidized metal parts); and discolored, "aged" plastic
> parts. This is done at the factory on a new instrument.
> So, you can have a guitar that looks well played and 40 years old, if you
> think that looks nice.
>
> Personally, I prefer to do all "relicing" myself to my instruments (and
> bikes), through years of lovingly playing (riding) and using them. So I
> like to buy new, standard models.
>

> But there is a *HUGE* market for this in the guitar world.

[Joe Bernard]

Nah, a lugged steel frame with cream panels; adorned with silver parts, a quill stem, and friction shifters; is pretentious enough. ;-)

 

Joe Bernard

Pretentiously residing in Vallejo, CA.

[Manuel Acosta]

Rivendell did something along the terms of a renovelo forgot what happened to it. Let me dig through so pictures.
..

[rob markwardt]

I wouldn't do it to a bike but my new acorn bag has been sitting out
in the back yard all summer to give it a little weathering. In grade
school I also used to scuff up my new shoes.

[Benz, Sunnyvale, CA]

I'm OCD so I like my bikes as pristine as possible, although I can understand and accept beausage if said beausage is obtained in the line of duty. Battle scars if you will. To me, however ugly I find beausage (remember: OCD), they at least remind me of the times and good times I had with the bike.

Thus, I cannot really understand the relic'ed option. Why would I want to pay extra for an essentially banged up item that I have no history with? I know this mentality exists outside of guitars. For example, a dude in Japan is charging hundreds of dollars to "brass" black paint Leicas, so they look like heavily-used pro equipment. I suppose the brassed look can be nice, but it's not really authentic and I'm old enough to not care about image.

Anyway, to answer your question, I'm fairly sure there's a market for such a product, although I'll hazard a guess that it's small and probably transient. But then again, I do not belong to the demographic that relic'ed guitars and Leicas are created for.

BTW, I see the aged range from Brooks quite differently. The Brooks are aged in the sense that they're pre-softened for immediate comfort. These don't look used and the user still has to break in and mold the saddles to her/his butt.

[Philip Williamson]

OCD takes many forms, but I'm with you and DougP. "I certainly hope not." 

I like the weathered look, but one of the attractions of a used piece of good gear is that it's significantly cheaper than a mint version. The idea of 'brassing' a Leica makes me kind of angry. 

Really good question for the list. I think there IS a market for pre-weathered fine bicycles, but not amongst current Rivendell owners. Which is nice, because it would expand their market, but it sucks because we'd be inundated with nouvelles riches and their faux authentique velocipedes. My friend is an amazing woodworker, and he's spent a fair amount of time fake-aging pretty furniture he made: drilling little worm holes, banging, sanding and scuffing, in order to give "authenticity" to pieces. It's not his choice - his best work is making things from actual salvaged wood and steel.

People crave authenticity. If you can fake that, you've got it made.

Philip

www.biketinker.com

[Matt Beebe]

This is like pre-faded jeans, but for bikes.    I loathe the idea myself and hope it dies before it can be born.    The whole point of wear and tear on a well-loved bike is that it tells stories.      A daily lock-up at the same spot in the same bike rack, or a scratch you got while heaving your bike up a scree in Lilooet BC.    Pre-worn guitars are a zeitgeist of a fake, throw-away society, and if people ever play them the music sucks on principle alone.

[PATRICK MOORE]

Well put, and Philip's snipe put it just right.

This is all conjecture, right? No one at Riv has spoken of such a faux-beausaged line? Please? It is a sign of pure marketing and I remember what Grant said long ago, "We are product driven, not market driven."

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[lungimsam]

Noone at Riv said anything about this (that I know of).

 

I am just tossing the notion out there for discussion.

[lungimsam]

By "talked about", I mean I haven't read/heard/seen/caught wind of/intercepted carrier pidgeon, etc.

 

I am just tossing this idea out there for fun discussion.

[Rex Kerr]

On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 6:54 PM, lungimsam <john1...@gmail.com> wrote:

Is there a market for this in the Rivendell world?

Would you buy a Rivendell, made with dinged paint, environmentally worn components, gassed gumwalls, and discolored plastic parts, for a more "artistic" look? Everything functions perfectly, of course.

No way!  Every scratch and ding reminds me of something.  My AHH is currently pristine (except for the loud chattering bird named "chain" that came along for the ride this morning, which reminds me, I need to go pick up some lube to make it home with my sanity), but I suspect that eventually it'll have plenty of stories to tell.  I like having stuff that has earned its "beausage".  In some ways my touring bike is more beautiful due to its scratched frame, darkened and sagging leather saddle, darkened and shrunken leather handlebar wraps, twined and re-twined bars, one black and one silver rim, etc...

That said, I have faked beausage once.  I had a canvas backpack that looked funny all pristine, so I filled it up with rocks and dragged in around on the ground and rolled it down the driveway a few times.  It's since earned quite a bit of its own beausage, but it really needed a head start.  Rivendell bikes, on the other hand, are beautiful pristine, and beautiful well used.

[Liesl]

not to be confused with the 'Resurrectio', which was /is a decal set you can get for a ressurected old trek, raleigh, etc...

I think the renovelo was/is a riv that had been in, say, a crash and had been repaired by riv and offered for sale as such?