A while back Chuck Schmidt often advocated that the garages of America were full of these hanger queens. I'm not so sure the quantity isn't diminishing. Its starting to be a long time ago and Ebay has given impetus to a lot of bike sales and garage scouring.
Other shifts are occuring. I see less and less nice bikes changing hands.
Track bikes have gone up 50 % in price with young people seeking single speeds. It is really silly in NYC right now with bikes not drilled for brakes commanding a premium- for road use! Used to do a lot of riding in the city on fixed wheels, with and without brakes (the no brakes thing was stupid and I gave it up), but at least I used a 72" gear, not a 90". Plus I'm not so sure they know how to lock the rear, which is a desperation method anyway.
Joe Bender-Zanoni
Little Falls, NJ
> When relating high-end "pro" lightweights to the Bike Boom in the USA, is
> it a valid assumption that a fair number (and considering the
> market/population, "fair" is pretty considerable) of guys who bought these
>
> bikes didn't really use them?
>
> I ask because eBay (USA) seems chockful recently of minty, original Raleig
> h
> Professionals, PX-10s, Cinelli SC's etc. etc. whereas eBay (Europe) ha
> s far
> fewer such machines and when they are offered, they seem full of patina (o
> r
> just plain beat to death) from hard use or updated with non-original
> components etc. Or is that eBay Europe isn't the way these bikes are bou
> ght
> and sold?? The last place I'd look for a primo French racing bike is e
> Bay
> France; you just don't seem them.
>
> Judging from the debris field of the Bike Boom which constitutes the
> goodies we all covet, it appears that there were a lot of guys who decided
>
> to "get the best", plopped down $240-350 for a top-notch road bike, rode i
> t
> until they got their first sew-up puncture and hung it in the garage. It
>
> sure seems the case with a lot of Raleigh Pros and Internationals of late.
>
>
> Peter Kohler
> Washington DC USA
>
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