I remain utterly intrigued by the habits of Japanese cycle collectors. What pray tell is this... well almost pathological... obsession with les velos francaise? I mean around here we have about six guys who will admit to the list their love for French bikes and not the chi-chi Rene Herse variety but Peugeot PX-10s, Gitane Tour De Frances etc. Well maybe five. But seemingly even the most prosaic of French cycle parts are hors de combat to Japanese collectors in a bidding frenzy of.. well absurd proportions. And this is just eBay. One wonders how stuffed the overhead luggage bins on Air France and JAL airliners are from Paris to Tokyo with Simplex wingnuts, Ad Hoc pumps (absolutely lunacy here.. $256 for a pump!!) etc. And what pray tell do they DO with all this stuff? I was SO disappointed when I visited Japan. I didn't see a single PX-10. Not one. But I visions of someone opening the wrong closet in a Japanese home and having 426 Ad-Hoc pumps tumble out.
Peter Kohler
Washington DC USA