Robin Williams' bike collection is up for auction (charity)

[jmeb]

Wow. What a fun and out-there collection. Some truly extraordinary bikes and pieces of history.

That Outland VPP belongs in a museum. One of the earliest instances of one of the most influential (and loved) suspension designs out there.

 

[Jwrags]

According to the Google machine he was only 5'7" so the frames are probably on the smaller size.

 

[cantunamunch]

According to the Google machine he was only 5'7" so the frames are probably on the smaller size.

Yeh, I was getting to the same conclusion just by eyeballing the head tubes.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

That Outland VPP belongs in a museum. One of the earliest instances of one of the most influential (and loved) suspension designs out there.

I agree, that's the one I'd take.

 

[Muleski]

I mentioned this to our adult kids, as I thought they'd be interested. RW would be between them, frame size wise. NOT that they would be bidding! However, our daughter told me that she knows a woman who is watching this closely. Her bike guy knows his bike mechanic, she now knows the bike details , and she's very interested in 2-3 of them. She's a very serious rider, to say the least. Interested in the charity, and bikes. Small world.

 

[chemist]

This is common use now for cyclists. It's simply the number of chainrings times the number of cogs out back.
So in this example she has a double crankset and a ten speed rear cassette.

I am aware of that. Re-read my first post carefully, or look at the description I screen-captured below (which is the one I quoted from), and you will understand the source of my confusion .

Subsequently, I looked in more "Details", and didn't see this discrepancy with other bikes. I now conclude it was a typo.

 

[Bill Talbot]

I am aware of that. Re-read my first post carefully, or look at the description I screen-captured below (which is the one I quoted from), and you will understand the source of my confusion .

Subsequently, I looked in more "Details", and didn't see this discrepancy with other bikes. I now conclude it was a typo.

View attachment 14740

Clearly whomever is running this auction are not 'bike' people.
This sounds like a normal auction house that basically has NO CLUE.
Bikes should have been sold on Ebay with assistance from pro level shop.

 

[Philpug]

While this is a "collection", thse seem more like daily drivers. I wonder where the good stuff is.

 

[Carl Kuck]

I was talking with my buddy (also my go-to wheelbuilder) who told me that Williams used to go someplace (on tour, performing, filming, whatever) and hit a local bike shop and buy something to ride.

 

[Jim Kenney]

Brief CNN article with a couple insights on this bike auction:
http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/15/media/robin-williams-bicycle-auction/

 

[Dave Marshak]

There's a few interesting bikes in there, but mostly it's just the kind of high quality bikes my rich friends ride every day. Why would you have more than 1 or 2 road bikes? You would think a "collector" would want some antique bikes or bikes ridden by Eddy Merckx or Greg LeMonde or someone.

 

[Carl Kuck]

There's a few interesting bikes in there, but mostly it's just the kind of high quality bikes my rich friends ride every day. Why would you have more than 1 or 2 road bikes? You would think a "collector" would want some antique bikes or bikes ridden by Eddy Merckx or Greg LeMonde or someone.

Dave, are you familiar with the "N+1" rule? N+1 is the number of bikes you should have where "N" is the number of bikes you currently have. Related to that is the "S-1" rule. S-1 is the number of bikes you should have where S is the number of bikes that would cause your spouse to leave you. Note that this rule applies to both men and women.

And no, I'm not rich; I just buy used frames and build them up with scrounged parts...

 

[Philpug]

There's a few interesting bikes in there, but mostly it's just the kind of high quality bikes my rich friends ride every day. Why would you have more than 1 or 2 road bikes? You would think a "collector" would want some antique bikes or bikes ridden by Eddy Merckx or Greg LeMonde or someone.

What I think is cool is that these seem to be "daily drivers". I have no problem with reduncancy in a collection especially since they are not rack queens.

 

[Carl Kuck]

Curse you, @Philpug !!! Although these bikes are not my size, I started to get the itch to build something else and I'm now looking at frames on eBay...

 

[graham418]

Dave, are you familiar with the "N+1" rule? N+1 is the number of bikes you should have where "N" is the number of bikes you currently have. Related to that is the "S-1" rule. S-1 is the number of bikes you should have where S is the number of bikes that would cause your spouse to leave you. Note that this rule applies to both men and women.

Is this the same rule that applies to skis?

 

[crgildart]

Here's the only one I'd want out of the entire lot..

 

[Muleski]

Not that I'm a bidder, but, it sounds like most of the road bikes are about a 54cm frame. A bit larger than some look like in the pics, and that I would assume they might be based on his size. I have a friend who lives in SF, is a serious rider, and he is interested in a couple of the bikes. My hunch is a Pegoretti. Has been doing a lot of homework/research on the frame dimensions. He won't overpay because it was RW's bike, and figures others may.

These might not be "real" collector pieces, if you restrict that to a bike that Hinault won on, or real exotics, etc. I agree that the auction could probably raise even more, with more details, though. Like how/why RW ended up with them.

I think that $10K for the US Postal Madone sounds like a lot, right now. But what if that bike was given to RW by Lance and the team, as a thank you? Value goes up. Could go WAY up. Emotion and money intersecting!

I mentioned another bidder earlier, and she might be irrational!

I'm prepared to be blown away by some prices in the end. Look foreword to some head shaking.

He obviously loved to ride, and I'm guessing that's reflective in most of this "collection." Pretty sure that most of these have some miles on them, and like most of us, I think that's pretty neat.

It sounds like his kids have kept a number of his bikes, which are not part of this. Maybe 20-25 others. I have read where he had well over 100 bikes at his home. Would be curious to know what they are? Those might include a handful of the very rare ones. Who knows?

Fun to watch.

 

[Carl Kuck]

Is this the same rule that applies to skis?

Absolutely! In fact, I was getting ready to point that out (seeing as this is a ski forum, after all) but you beat me to the punch.

 

[JeffB]

I finally put a bid in on something I've wanted for awhile but never got around to ordering. And these sizes work for me as I ride a 53. Fingers crossed, I suppose. Gulp, hope this bike if won is still S-1 insofar as the real boss is concerned.

 

[cantunamunch]

Curse you, @Philpug !!! Although these bikes are not my size, I started to get the itch to build something else and I'm now looking at frames on eBay...

You and me both, and the proof is: I now have a 531 frame that looks built from a '78-'79 Proteus kit.