Just a small reality check here... "Subject: throw-away Campagnolo parts"... you can bet if it was a shop in Holland with Campagnolo parts thrown into bins, they weren't "throw-away Campagnolo parts" okay? And I think you all know what I mean, right? No urban myths here. Parts is parts, and expensive Italian parts is expensive Italian parts whether it is the end of a racing season or no.
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California
Galen wrote:
>
> I'm sure that there were well-sponsored amateur racers who could
> afford to throw away last season's equipment and replace everything
> for the next year. But when I started racing in the mid 70s, most
> of us bought our own gear, and with rare exception treated our bike
> (usually singular) and components with respect. Not many of us had
> neurosurgeons for fathers who could buy us the best and most
> expensive stuff. We worked in bike shops for pocket change and a
> 10-20% discount on tires and parts. I'll never forget the first
> time I ordered something from Nashbar because I could get it for
> less than my discounted price at the shop! It sure pissed off Dave,
> the owner, because he was working hard to make a living in a very
> non-boutique shop in Urbana, Illinois. No one I knew discarded
> perfectly good equipment at the end of the season. We were just
> glad to be able to get to the race, because gasoline was starting
> to hover around a dollar per gallon!! Oh well,
>
> Galen Poole
> Jackson, MS
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Williams"
> <castell5@sympatico.ca>
> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 3:00 PM
> Subject: Re: [CR]Re: Unfortunate Victims of Boutique Bicycle Buying
>
>> A few years ago I remember talking to a chap from the Netherlands,
>> who was working in a bike store in my home town (Kingston,
>> Ontario), who remembers stripping NR and SR parts off bikes while
>> he was a mechanic in Holland and simply throwing them into large
>> bins in the back of the shop. This used to happen at the end of
>> every race season as riders would upgrade to the new year's parts.
>> He remembers that in most cases there was nothing wrong with them.
>> Made me weep when he told me that - oh that I had a time machine!!!
>>
>> Paul Williams,
>> Ottawa, ON, Canada