Identification of a cycle

Quoted message said:

The markings include:
TOWNSEND - handbuilt in England
Daytona

Calling Mr Mason... calling Mr Mason!
Oh Simon, where are you???

Cheers, helen s

--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam--
to get correct one remove fame & fortune
h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$

--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off--

Alan Secker vaguely muttered something like ...

Quoted message said:

Not long after being given a man's cycle by an emigrating
friend, my daughter had a bad car accident and decided she
would never ride it again. She now wants to sell it. The
problem is one of identifying it and discovering if it has
any value. Hence this message. If it is considered way off
topic, my apologies.

Not really much value .. Townsend are mostly 'Catalogue Sales' oriented,
though some larger 'chain' cycle shops also sell them too.

Generally low-level equipment at relatively low-level prices and at specific
price points, say £69, £99, £149 etc

http://www.littlewoods-online.com/rf/navigation/product.do?SN=199415851&versionid=916&categoryid=199415851&Np=1&displaybanner=false&thisprod=205547501&product=205547501&D=207182654&row=2&col=5
or
http://tinyurl.com/5539e

--
Paul ...

(8(|) ... Homer Rocks

"A [censored] is a [censored], no matter what mode of transport they're using."

in message <[email hidden]>, Paul - [censored]

(') said:

Alan Secker vaguely muttered something like ...

Quoted message said:

Not long after being given a man's cycle by an emigrating
friend, my daughter had a bad car accident and decided she
would never ride it again. She now wants to sell it. The
problem is one of identifying it and discovering if it has
any value. Hence this message. If it is considered way off
topic, my apologies.

Not really much value .. Townsend are mostly 'Catalogue Sales'
oriented, though some larger 'chain' cycle shops also sell them too.

Yup, but this one sounds as if it's earlier than that. 'Handbuilt in
England' suggests the frame might be quite good, simply because no-one
has built [censored] frames in the UK for a long time - the labour costs are
simply too high.

Still, given that it had a 21 speed gear train it can't be earlier than
about 1992. This does not make it valuable; early rigid MTBs were
nothing like as good bikes as current generation MTBs and their value
is usually fairly low. 'Daytona' however is a model name of a
Campagnolo MTB groupset. If the bike has the word 'Campagnolo' on any
of the small engineered parts (usually in cursive script) then that ups
the value considerably, especially if in good condition. On the other
hand I'm pretty sure that (a) Campag never made gripshifts, and (b)
that Grip Shift is an SRAM trademark (but was probably a Sachs-Huret
trademark in 1992?). The other thing that would up the value a little
would be if the frame was in good tubing.

If the frame has a 'Reynolds' sticker on it anywhere that's good,
particularly if it has '853' or '531' on it.

But fundamentally what it comes down to is this: that a complete
Campagnolo mountain bike groupset (that is both brakes, chainrings and
cranks, both gear changer mechanisms ('deraileurs'😉, bottom bracket
bearing etc) is collectable because very rare and worth around US$500
if in good condition; all that on a contemporary good quality frame
(such as Reynolds 853) would be worth a little more. But unless it has
this sort of collectable quality (and I don't associate the name
Townsend with collectable quality - as Paul says it is now a very
downmarket brand) then a non-classic rigid mountain bike of this age is
virtually worthless.

A few photos would help.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

'You cannot put "The Internet" into the Recycle Bin.'

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Paul - [censored]

(') said:

Alan Secker vaguely muttered something like ...

Quoted message said:

Not long after being given a man's cycle by an emigrating
friend, my daughter had a bad car accident and decided she
would never ride it again. She now wants to sell it. The
problem is one of identifying it and discovering if it has
any value. Hence this message. If it is considered way off
topic, my apologies.

Not really much value .. Townsend are mostly 'Catalogue Sales'
oriented, though some larger 'chain' cycle shops also sell them too.

Yup, but this one sounds as if it's earlier than that. 'Handbuilt in
England' suggests the frame might be quite good, simply because no-one
has built [censored] frames in the UK for a long time - the labour costs are
simply too high.

Still, given that it had a 21 speed gear train it can't be earlier than
about 1992. This does not make it valuable; early rigid MTBs were
nothing like as good bikes as current generation MTBs and their value
is usually fairly low. 'Daytona' however is a model name of a
Campagnolo MTB groupset. If the bike has the word 'Campagnolo' on any
of the small engineered parts (usually in cursive script) then that ups
the value considerably, especially if in good condition. On the other
hand I'm pretty sure that (a) Campag never made gripshifts, and (b)
that Grip Shift is an SRAM trademark (but was probably a Sachs-Huret
trademark in 1992?). The other thing that would up the value a little
would be if the frame was in good tubing.

If the frame has a 'Reynolds' sticker on it anywhere that's good,
particularly if it has '853' or '531' on it.

But fundamentally what it comes down to is this: that a complete
Campagnolo mountain bike groupset (that is both brakes, chainrings and
cranks, both gear changer mechanisms ('deraileurs'😉, bottom bracket
bearing etc) is collectable because very rare and worth around US$500
if in good condition; all that on a contemporary good quality frame
(such as Reynolds 853) would be worth a little more. But unless it has
this sort of collectable quality (and I don't associate the name
Townsend with collectable quality - as Paul says it is now a very
downmarket brand) then a non-classic rigid mountain bike of this age is
virtually worthless.

A few photos would help.

Thanks for all the replies. I did take a few photoshots
yesterday but I can hardly attach them here. Where might I
post them?

Alan

Simon Brooke said:

'Daytona' however is a model name of a
Campagnolo MTB groupset.

Is it? Daytona was a road groupset that was renamed Centaur in 2002.
Centaur was previously used as a name for an MTB groupset. Are you
thinking of this or was the Daytona name also recycled in the same way?

~PB

"Simon Brooke" wrote

Quoted message said:

Yup, but this one sounds as if it's earlier than that. 'Handbuilt in
England' suggests the frame might be quite good, simply because no-one
has built [censored] frames in the UK for a long time - the labour costs are
simply too high.

Still, given that it had a 21 speed gear train it can't be earlier than
about 1992. This does not make it valuable; early rigid MTBs were
nothing like as good bikes as current generation MTBs and their value
is usually fairly low. 'Daytona' however is a model name of a
Campagnolo MTB groupset. If the bike has the word 'Campagnolo' on any
of the small engineered parts (usually in cursive script) then that ups
the value considerably, especially if in good condition. On the other
hand I'm pretty sure that (a) Campag never made gripshifts, and (b)
that Grip Shift is an SRAM trademark (but was probably a Sachs-Huret
trademark in 1992?). The other thing that would up the value a little
would be if the frame was in good tubing.

I recall purchasing a rigid MTB w/ 7 speed cassette, 3 speed chainset in
1989 (Deore XT), to say nothing of a road bike w/ 7 speed Regina freewheel
in 1988. By 1990 8 speed cassettes were available from Shimano.

"Daytona" is indeed, as another poster pointed out, a Campagnolo road group.
I recall seeing the names Centaur, Olympus, and Record OR applied to
Campagnolo's MTB groups, but I don't recall seeing a Campy MTB group called
Daytona.

I do recall seeing gripshift like shifting mechanisms in pictures of Campy
MTB components, although I don't recall seeing/hearing it called GripShift.
--
mark

On Mon, 06 Sep 2004 23:00:06 +0100, Alan Secker <[email hidden]>

() said:

Thanks for all the replies. I did take a few photoshots
yesterday but I can hardly attach them here. Where might I
post them?

http://www.imageshack.us

It's free, too. Just copy the links that it gives you.

HTH.

--
Matt K
Waikikamukau,NZ

"Alan Secker" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Not long after being given a man's cycle by an emigrating
friend, my daughter had a bad car accident and decided she
would never ride it again. She now wants to sell it. The
problem is one of identifying it and discovering if it has
any value. Hence this message. If it is considered way off
topic, my apologies.

The markings include:
TOWNSEND - handbuilt in England
Daytona

Quoted message said:

Does anybody recognise any of the above?

I'm here, don't panic! I rode one of these for a couple of years. It cost
me £300 quid new from Makro and is a very nice bike to ride with smooth
tyres on. Here's a photo of it in 1999. It was originally silver, but I
sprayed mine yellow:

http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/shed.jpg

It had Shimano Altus gears + brakes and the frame was a fairly lightweight
cromoly. Won't be worth much being a mass produced bike, but it is one of
the last old style MTBs before these Y framed suspension things took over.

Being a mass produced MTB it won't be worth much, but I'd put it in your
local paper for about £50 (seeing as it's as new) as an ideal commuter bike.
I'd still have mine today, but our lass rode it into the side of a taxi and
knackered it!

--
Simon Mason
Anlaby
East Yorkshire.
53°44'N 0°26'W
http://www.simonmason.karoo.net

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Paul - [censored]
([email hidden]'😉 wrote:

Yup, but this one sounds as if it's earlier than that. 'Handbuilt in
England' suggests the frame might be quite good, simply because no-one
has built [censored] frames in the UK for a long time - the labour costs are
simply too high.

We see a few of these pass through the workshop. IIRC they all say this
meaning something like assembled by a bloke with a spanner not by a robot.
Handbuilt frames they ain't.

Daytona is the model name (it appears on the top tube?)

£50 would seem about the right price

Paul M