Hell, I could fill a dumpster with my stories on lost opportunities. These generally happen as swap meets where I see something and hesitate. Can you say Raleigh team twin plate track bike, vintage 70s Paramount chrome in cherry condition, vintage late 40s Rochet with dual shifters on one side and a drive train to kill for. I could go on and on here but you get the point. This is not to mention that I got into road bikes late in my collecing career, before that if someone wheeled up on a MASI I would not have given it a second look. Believe me, during my Balloon and Muscle bike days I had a lot of people stop by with road bikes that I just dismissed. I even cleaned out a lot of old bike shops and avoided the road stuff like the plague. Live and learn.
There was a method to my madness. I was familiar with the Balloon stuff from my research and was doing very well in picking up parts for nearly nothing and selling them a quite a profit. I picked up a case of 10 New Departure front brake hubs complete in the box for about $50 and sold each for $300. I also picked up a case of 12 Delta Defender lights in the box for $10 and sold each of those for $300 each. You tell me where you would concentrate your time if faced with this dilemma.
Ray Homiski
Elizabeth, NJ