My hobby business, Velostuf, is a ton of fun, but it also is a lot of work. In the 12+ years that I have been doing this, my net profit so far totals $6,122. When I divide this by the number of hours that I have spent "working", it comes to well over 30 cents per hour. So, as you can see, John Barron, vintage bicycle parts *DEALER* is really just a hobbiest who can fund modest beer purchases with his earnings.
I can assure you that there's no one making a killing on this stuff- even if it seems like they're charging a lot. FORGET IT! Until these bikes get to a much higher value level, (and they will) there's not much to be made.
My point here is that while I love collecting, and occasionally dealing in, fancy old racing bikes and parts, the small, less expensive stuff is a pain in the arse and essentially a charitable endeavor. Don't get me wrong- I know as well as anyone that it's often the small things that are required to finish a keano bike, and I sometimes get a kick out of hunting for these things. But, I'm getting to the point where it's not worth it. Plus, it's not like these parts are out there. for the most part, they're not. I've traveled over 150,000 miles searching, and each trip I take, there's less and less available.
I will be transitioning away from searching out and buying most items that are currently on my list. I have stashed away the parts that I think that I will need for future projects. If there's anything that you think you might need, I suggest that you work with the very few "dealers" who are out there to buy these things now.
If there's anything that you want that isn't on my list- feel free to ask me.
John Barron
Minneapolis