Re: [CR]Hoarding or Collecting -- Hide it or ride it

(Example: Humor:John Pergolizzi)

From: "Dennis Ryan" <loubobky@hotmail.com>
To: chuckschmidt@earthlink.net, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]Hoarding or Collecting -- Hide it or ride it
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 14:46:04 -0400


The difference between hoarding anc collecting? Well, collecting wasn't illegal during WWII ... ;-)

BSF, the dictionary has for "hoard" -- "a hidden fund or supply stored for future use; a cache" -- "and collection" -- "a group of objects to be seen, studied, or kept together" or "an accumulation; a deposit."

More helpful is "collectible" -- "One of a group or class of objects, such as period glass or domestic utensils, prized by fanciers."

I'd certainly class myself as a Confente-fancier, though pictures on eBay might be the closest I'll ever get to one. But it seems that, officially at least, the difference is whether one hides it or displays it (or, in our case, "hides it or rides it"). Also you might be "hoarding" NOS Campy NR rear der.s if you kept them back to drive up prices, fully intending to sell them someday at a profit, and with no intention of keeping more than one or two for your own use.

RE: future prices for collectible bikes -- The Internet (esp CR) and eBay have "brought together" fans, fanatics and collectors of vintage lightweights all across America and around the world, but it's the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The point about our particular demographic is well taken -- we Boomers do tend toward predictability. Naturally we want the cars, bikes, etc of our youth, for complex psychological reasons we needn't digress on because we all know what they are! But that doesn;t limit us from liking/collecting things that come before or after our mythical heyday (this is it), and it doesn;t prevent Generation X, Y or Z (this could get scary if we have to break out "On Beyond Zebra" for subsequent generations) from developing a well-justified lust for Masis, Colnagos, Hetchins, etc (after all, some of them are our kids! We WANT them to turn out right, right?)

I've seen some huge prices for old, unridable (ie only collectible) bikes on eBay and elsewhere, and not just Ordinaries, either, so I don't doubt a new generation will arise deifying Mario, Richie, Brian et al in the future. We tend to think parochially, too, because the US and Europe tend to lead, but i'd be surprised if there weren't more than few North Koreans whose Crime Against the State is an unquenchable desire for Western bike porn.

There's no "if" about the Internet spreading to every corner of the globe, only "how far & how fast." "Foreigners" have proved ready, willing, and able to buy American and European cultural artifacts, whether they're traditional antiques or stuff like Coke signs, Louisville Sluggers, and Simplex derailleurs. And it's not like the rest of the world doesn't ride bikes ... There are probably fewer daily cyclists in the whole US than in the average large Asian city. Eventually, if our deeds match our words as a nation and a culture, these people will enjoy the freedoms and benefits we enjoy (free speech, disposable incomes, free time, safety, etc). A few of the billion or two people already on bikes may develop an interest cycling's glorious past -- who could blame them? Heck, that's what I'd do!

Sorry about the length ... Dennis Ryan (who turns 40 this August and is thus a "late Boomer") Louisville, KY, as near as no matter to the demographic center of the USA, in more ways than one

----Original Message Follows---- From: Chuck Schmidt <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net> Reply-To: chuckschmidt@earthlink.net To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Hoarding or Collecting Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 10:21:04 -0800

New subject: Hoarding or Collecting

Compare and contrast.