Supposed to read: And the folks at Plum didn't give a damn about the obsolete stuff because their customers _didn't_ want to buy the stuff. Just business...
Chuck
On Apr 12, 2006, at 8:05 PM, Chuck Schmidt wrote:
> I think you misunderstood Brandon. I'm talking about when the
> stuff was contemporary, not years later. Supposedly the stuff is
> taken off the race bikes at the end of the season and thrown in
> bins (to be tossed?).
>
> And the folks at Plum didn't give a damn about the obsolete stuff
> because their customers did want to buy the stuff. Just business...
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> South Pasadena, Southern California
>
>
> Brandon"monkeyman"Ives wrote:
>
>
>> Actually that's not correct at all. A guy I know named Enno
>> Roosink is a
>> manager of one of the major Presto shops in Amsterdam and told me
>> this
>> story. When he started managing the shop about 6 years ago he
>> heard from
>> one of the old timers that about a year before the previous
>> manager had
>> thrown out BOXES of new and used Campy stuff. His reason was that
>> it was
>> just a bunch of old stuff that never sold.
>>
>> When we were living in Belgium I heard similar tales at least
>> three other
>> times. 99.99% of cyclists over in the low countries couldn't give
>> a damn
>> about old stuff. Folks into classic stuff are very few and very far
>> between. Even the folks at Gent's Plum shop didn't give a damn
>> about the
>> stuff really. They had old Campy on display and some for sale,
>> but they
>> still looked at it as just old stuff.
>>
>> I do think this is changing a bit. The main reason this is
>> changing is
>> Ebay and everyone having access to the internet.
>> best,
>> Brandon"monkeyman"Ives
>> Coeur d'Alene, ID.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> 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