Dave Hemming’s vintage Roberts Dogs BOLX is up for sale for the second time within the 5 months.
It first appeared on Gumtree where a lucky guy paid just £150 for it from a seller who didn’t know what they had. It was outed on a Retrobike forum thread and the new owner made themselves known on there a few months later.
Fast forward a couple more months and the owner has already decided to sell it on, and has been asking for ‘pricing advice’ (translation: please send me DM offers) in another Retrobike forum thread. This type of behaviour is frowned upon on Retrobike and tends to affect the price people are prepared to pay – it does with me anyway.
The reality is that this is a tired Dogs BOLX frame (although still a work of art under the paint!) and the obvious option for the next owner is to do a Dave Hemming build. The problem is that Dave Hemming’s former ownership doesn’t really add much/any value. He just isn’t a legend like Jason McRoy (JMC) – sorry DH. The Jo Burt (Mint Sauce) scribbles are very cool and do add some value though.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, but I suspect it will fetch little more than going rate for a Dogs BOLX frame, whether it sells on a forum or on ebay.
Personally, I think the best next owner – and the one who would value it the most – would be Dave Hemming himself. Go for it Dave!