I don't think it's nonsense for a seller to charge for boxing the bike. It does take time to do it right, and I don't think it is appropriate to critricize someone for refusing to give their time away. There is room in the sport for those who want to treat it as a hobby and those who want to make it a business (the secret desire of many hobbyists, after all). Let market forces do their thing.
$35 does sound a little steep for someone who has boxed a number of bikes, though I personally would not want to do it for a living, even if it were profitable. I am more leery of selling people something that just doesn't work, and that's a category in which I place any fixed gear created by screwing a cog onto a freewheel hub, whether or not a lockring is used. It's a recipe for trouble. I know, because that's how I made my first fixed gear back in 1971, with a threaded cog donated involuntarily by my Hercules 3-speed and a BB lockring when I found how quickly the cog could spin off. The lockring needs to be left-hand thread in order to work properly over time, unless the rider is a wimp. Perhaps locktite and really reefing on the LR might work, but a real track hub or engineered conversion unit solves the problem.
I don't think he is terribly accurate in his descriptions, either. For example, I don't recall that this particular bike ('75 Motobecane Grand Touring) used butted tubing. I think it was straight-guage.
I wonder what he does with all the derailleurs he takes off his conversions.
Steve Barner, Bolton, Vermont
> Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:01:19 -0800
> From: "joel metz, ifbma/sfbma" <magpie@messengers.org>
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: Re: [CR]53cm Ebay Moto Classicbeater
>
> oh, this guy. hes the same one selling the legions of hoopdy "track
> bikes" to the hordes of messenger groupies scanning ebay for anything
> remotely resembling a cheap fixie. hey, i know! ill take a freewheel
> hub, respace it and redish it with wacky tension so itll work as a
> single-speed hub, throw a fixed cog on without a lockring, and sell
> it to someone as their first fixed gear! and *then* charge them $35
> to put it in a box, even if they come pick the bike up! oh wait, if
> they come pick it up, ill only charge them $25, but only if they
> leave the box.
>
> i sense someone buying bikes from the local police bike auction, and
> turning them around on ebay for $100 a pop - or more, depending on
> what fools are willing to pay for janky fixies.
>
> bummer is, he has a fiorelli/magistroni headset up right now that i
> could use for a bike with a problem headset, but i refuse to buy from
> him. $4.95 shipping for an item thatll cost $3.85 to ship in a free
> box from the post office, and mandatory insurance aint my bag.
>
> and yes, i know multiple people whove gotten fixies from him and had
> them go wonky in the rear wheel department. waste of time buying
> half-ass fixies off ebay when they could do just as well buying a
> used bike from the thrift store and doing it themselves.
>
> oops. did i mention that i detest this crap? :) but damn if it aint a
> moneymaker! $35 to drop a bike in a box. genius.
>
> -joel
>
> >http://ebay.com/<blah>
> >
> >Looks pretty clean. A comfy ride based on the may I sold.
> >
> >Beware this professional seller's professional $35 boxing nonsense. I
have
> >never charged boxing on any bike I've sold- but I'd love to box bikes all
> >day at $35 a crack.
> >
> >Joe Bender-Zanoni
> >Great Notch NJ