The Tom Sanders McLean #M26081

The Tom Sanders McLean Touring was completed by McLean Fonvielle on August 26, 1981. The tubing is Reynolds 531, the standard of the time. It has clearance and eyelets for fenders if you were to chose to mount them. The components are NOS Campagnolo Nouveau Record and Super Record  - a nice triple crank. Nice little touches like the matching toe clip straps. This appears to be a wall hanger. It doesn't look like a pedal has ever been turned in anger since the restoration. Just a gorgeous piece. As Tom says, "The quickest way to get a $1500 bike is to put $2000 into a restoration." His point is well taken, but I think $1500 is a little light for this one. Following is a note from Tom with one obvious censure by myself. No point in kicking a dead dog (unless Tom wants to):
It came from the Atlanta area.  A gent put it up on E-Bay.  He had been wheelchair bound for years and it had been rotting in his basement.  It was a mess…one of the worst of the ---------- paint jobs and improper decals. When they screw up a bike it can get really bad. The guy paid some bike sop to professionally pack it and when I got it, it had just been tossed in a box with absolutely no packing at all.  What a mess!   I was somewhat inexperienced (my first full restoration) and I brought it back from the dead with McLean’s favorite color paint and decals from his widow, vie Dale, and I replaced every screw, nut and bearing with NOS stuff.  I really over restored the bike.  It was basically a new bike with an old but restored frame.  I no longer go to these excessive lengths. At any rate it came out beautiful.  The heart cut outs perhaps indicate it was built for a woman, according to Dale. One of McLean’s biggest dealers was a woman (I think in N.C.) who owned a bike shop.  May be some connection there.
Tom