As a note, I told the man that it was more valuable. I even told him
information on the original price of SCC rims and what some of these items
might fetch on ebay. He only wanted what he had in it since he had never
ridden it. He said if I didn't buy it he was going to give it away. So,
like Harvey, I feel no remorse.
Ken Wallace
Phoenix, AZ
> Ken Wallace
> raises an interesting topic. He wrote:
>
> "While looking throgh a local Sun City newspaper, I spied a listing for a
> Miyata Professional racing bike. The owner had bought it from a 75 yr old
> man, and the new owner had never even straddled it and knew nothing about
> bikes. All he wanted was $100 which was what he had in it." <after which
is
> a description of a fabulous value"
>
> About 1980, my friend Mel spotted a triple at an upstate NY garage
> sale. He didn't want it, but we decided to go look at it. It was early
> Sunday, and the old beast was lying on the grass, incomplete and
> unloved. 23"/23"/23", fully lugged, 1-3/8 tubing, part of an old head
> badge, clearly turn of the century. When we roused the homeowner, he
> wasn't happy, but explained that it was his neighbor's and she wanted (an
> extremely low sum). I made a couple of perfunctory responses about it
> being incomplete and rusty, but then paid in full. The bike, a Davis, was
> restored by folks in Columbus, Ohio, with a grant from the Huffmans --
> Huffy was a successor company.
>
> I have never felt any remorse about buying at that price, or any sense
that
> I had taken advantage of him. I met his expectations, and left him
feeling
> good about his negotiating skills. The bike needed complete restoration
> (rusty cotterless cranks from the 1890s). It took several years just to
> find 5/16" block chain, wheels, pedals, and other parts.
>
> What I am hearing is that Ken met the seller's asking price. Indeed,
since
> that is what the seller paid for the bike, the seller suffered no harm.
>
> harvey "not a saint" sachs
> mcLean va