Steven Maasland wrote:
> Whoever wrote that the buyer is located in Sunnyvale is completely off
base. He is an off-and-on reader of the CR and a recent participant at le
cirque du cyclisme. He also has a wonderful collection of bikes. I am
proud to say that he has deemed two of my former bikes to be worthy of
addition to his collection. He also has more knowledge of auctions than
perhaps anybody else on the CR list, so it is highly unlikely that he had
not reasoned the purchase out beforehand.
I don't think anyone said the buyer was from Sunnyvale... that's where the seller is from. I believe one poster commented something to the effect that '...things are picking up in Sunnyvale," perhaps in reference to the seller's windfall, or perhaps he WAS referring to the financial means of the buyer but mistook the seller's city for the buyer's.
While I'd love to know who bought this bike, for now I'd just like to congratulate him. I think the bike is beautiful, rare, and a great investment (even at the sale price), for reasons that Dale, Steven and others have pointed out so well. I look forward to seeing it in person if the buyer ever brings it to Cirque.
I hate to admit that there is a part of me that recoils when I see the prices of these bikes escalating, but if I am to be honest I must also admit that the underlying source of that feeling is merely selfishness and envy on my part because I can see them getting further and further from my reach.
But if I step back from it all and view things in more general terms, it appears to me that the rising prices tend to reflect not only the ever increasing scarcity of these objects, but more encouragingly, their increased appreciation by collectors both serious and casual. I cannot help but hope that this will allow fewer of these wonderful old machines to rust away in garages... ignorance causes waste (talk to any antique dealer and hear the horror stories about stained glass Tiffany lamps that were tossed in the trash in the '50's). Overall, I think the price of this bike is probably a good sign for our hobby if we look at it in general rather than personal terms.
Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA