On Wed, 2005-02-02 at 09:10 -0500, marcus.e.helman@gm.com wrote:
> All of this rambling brings me to a suggestion. Instead of the Cirque
> and Velo Rendezvous, perhaps there should be a big annual exchange.
> Bring a bike to swap, get a new bike to take home.
I did this last night.
A while ago I bought a Carlsbad Masi frameset on ebay for no good reason other than that I wanted it. I had been a subscriber of CR for a few months and the hook was set. It was an MC60, which means 58.5cm seat tube, c-c. I'm 6'2" and I ride 60cm c-c road bikes. I rationalized the purchase, but it always bugged me that it was a little small. I kept rounding up that seat tube length in my head.
Last week I bought an MC62 Carlsbad Masi on ebay, again, for no good reason other than that I wanted it. Paid way too much, way too much. This freed up the MC60. I had another mongrel bike I'd bought for parts, a 1980 Gios Professional with a mix of parts. Someone I know locally had also bid on the MC62, and we talked about it. I mentioned my situation and he offered to help me out. :) So last night I exchanged bikes with him, after a fashion, ebay being the third party. I also got to know this guy better, spent a couple hours talking about bikes and looking at his really cool collection of bikes. I brought my kids and kept them up way too late on a school night. His wife and his dog were gracious hosts, and my kids had a good time. I look forward to showing him my garage / collection / mess sometime, doing more local rides with him and the SF Bay area group. I had a great time talking with him.
I will soon have a Masi frame at Ed Litton's shop that fits me. So will he, and he'll have a Gios Professional to restore, in his size, something he's been wanting for a while. No money will have entered or left my family's books, meaning everyone in the family retains the happiness they had before these exchanges. Thank you, again.
Marcus, your idea is a good one: reduce, reuse, recycle. :)
Morgan -- Morgan Fletcher, morgan@hahaha.org Oakland, CA