Peter: Again apologies. I should have remembered my fellow Wisconsonite. Sorry !!
If we stick our heads in the sands of Ebay, of course swaps will disappear, but if we encourage others to attend these events, they will always be a significant presence on the vintage scene.
Don't worry about stealing anybodies thunder, just call me Sparky !!
Peter Naiman
Shorewood, WI
> I'll give my biased two cents on the Madison Swap.
> Like the one in Chicago this past Fall, it was
> mostly
> purveyors of new goods. Thats where the market is.
> About a couple of dozen or so true vintage sellers,
> with about a half dozen genuinely great tables.
>
> It was fantastic to see "Hetchins" Pete Naiman, John
> Barron (Velostuf.com), and Greg Parker and company
> (bicycleclassics.com), all of whom had tables. All
> the
> sellers had reduced prices for the show. (Im one
> who
> thinks their normal prices are quite reasonable,
> considering the hard-to-find NOS gems they offer).
> So
> that part was a real treat. I picked up a NOS 50s
> Cyclo Benelux rear D from John for my Bertrand
> frameset (still being refinished by Mercian), a
> sweet
> Regina chain for my 60 Ideor Asso Olimpic from
> Greg,
> and various fitments for British bikes from Hetchins
> Pete.
>
> The one frameset of interest was a lovely 57cm
> Frejus
> (dont know which model) offered by another vintage
> seller with whom I wasnt familiar (Im madly
> looking
> for his card now!). The frameset was beautifully
> restored by CyclArt in a light blue
polychromatic?
> And
> it was being offered at a incredibly reasonable
> price,
> I might add---just not my size. It was still for
> sale
> when I left. If its still for sale and the seller
> sees this post, will he please tip off the list?
>
> I was trying out my new digital camera and took some
> shots of it. Unfortunately, the flash is built right
> into the body of the camera and I couldnt try the
> wise advice of using a diffuser without also
> covering
> up the lens! So some of the shots are a bit too
> reflective. Ill post a few to my Yahoo photos soon
> or
> to Wool Jersey if somebody will let me and tell me
> how. As soon as I got in the car -- Duh!-- I wished
> Id taken shots of the various CR folks Id met.
> That,
> truly, was the best part of the whole experience!
>
> You could see all the vintage stuff thoroughly in an
> hours time. Not the shows fault--were a small,
> niche market, we retro grouches. Unlike Chicago, I
> didnt see any neato seminars on riding in the Tour
> de
> France or witness any cool virtual road races on
> computerized stationery trainers. Id say in size
> both
> swaps were about the same, but the Chicago show had
> more features. After an overkill of three hours I
> was
> done. I dont mean to be negative, its just that
> all
> Im interested in is the vintage stuff, and there
> wasnt so much of that outside of those mentioned
> above.
>
> Was it worthwhile? ABSOLUTELY. Would I like more
> vintage sellers? YES! Will it happen? WHO KNOWS?
>
> Oh, I should also mention that Pete Naiman has some
> great ideas regarding how to bring the swap even
> more
> to life, from a vintage perspective. I dont want to
> steal his thunder, so Ill leave it at that for now.
> Film at 11:00, Pete?
>
> This is the other Pete, reporting.
>
>
> Peter Jourdain
> Whitewater, Wisconsin
>
>
>
>
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===== Peter Naiman Alias Hetchinspete4420 North Ardmore AvenueShorewood, WI 53211-1418
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