Chuck wrote:
> > I buy bikes strictly in order that they be available for riding, but if
I
> > stumbled into a historic bike -- a Coppi Tour winner, Merckx's first
Tour
> > winner, Merckx's hour bike, let's even say Thevenet's Tour winner.... I
would
> > either hang them up on the wall, or make sure they got to a place that
would
> > hang them up on the wall for the pleasure of lots of folks.
>
> I would say the chances of the above scenario happening are nil. Said
> bikes are already on display.
Museums are known to sell their collections!!! So it is not totally
far-fetched.
> How about a more down to earth example. Motorola team bikes raced in
> Europe by Lance Armstrong have come up for auction on eBay a few times
> and have not gone for big bucks. Lance went through a lot of bikes in a
> season. Multiply that by the number of season's that Lance has raced.
> Ride one of those? My friend does.
I have a De Rosa used by Roberto Conti in the 2000 season. Roberto is a past
winner of the Alpe d'Huez stage of the Tour de France. I use it like any
other bike that I have. Besides, like all former pro bikes, it has its share
of scratches and mementi of a hard life. For those who are interested, most
frame suppliers get their team bikes at the end of the season and sell them.
Very few teams actually own the bikes that they use. They usually return in
October/November, so you need to get your request in shortly.
> BTW, I can not name a place west of the Mississippi where you can go to
> a bicycle museum to view bikes.
This therefore begs the question: When are you going to start charging an admission fee to see your garage?
Steven Maasland Mooresotwn, NJ
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