In a recent post, George Hollenberg stated that part of the tension in collecting is to figure out where or what to buy or sell.
This is how I buy bikes: I'm kind of a net in the river...I visit the swap meet, drop by the garage sales, sometimes drop into a thrift store. I visit Craigslist. Go to Bike swap meets. About once a month I find something of interest. But only once have I won an auction on ebay (thanks Day Kehew). I prefer to see what I am buying. I almost never go shopping for a specific bike or component. I just sift through all the bikes that I find, and buy a very small percentage of them. Cat lovers save little kittens. I save tall bikes.
I don't keep all the bikes I buy. Some don't fit, so I sell them for a small profit to feed my habit. Some lose their appeal..Sold! Some get traded to friends (thanks, Art Smith). I sold my Dick Power Special because it was a 49 cm, and I ride a 62. I sold a pretty black Zunow because it was too small. My Colnago Saronni? Gave it to my best friend because, well just because.
I bought a long haul Gitane Grand Tour from the early 80's. A former garage queen, it's a keeper. I checked Craigslist early last week in the evening. I had clicked in about 5 minutes after an early 80's Pogliaghi popped up. Full Campy SR. Lots of sun damage, must have been left out for 2 or 3 years. But this is the desert...everything works perfectly. Ugly as sin, it's now my main fixie. I was at the seller's door in about 15 minutes. I was out the door in a flash...gave him his full asking price, which was an embarrassingly small amount. The posting only lasted half an hour. My size. Lucky me. Got a cool bike and a box of SR packed away in a box on the shelf. I found an Austro-Daimler with a gold annodized Galli gruppo. Keeper.
This morning I answered a Craigslist posting. Came home with a DBS La Quarta (somehow connected to Crescent). Altenberger Brakes. A French crankset painted white. DBS headset. Huret, Sachs, Maillard. Red to white fade. A very clean, seldom ridden bike from the 80's. Weird bike. But I like it enough to ride it for a while just for the amusement, then it will move on just like so many others have moved through my life. Paid about the same as I would for a couple of bottles of garage wine.
I was in San Francisco last spring and wandered down to the Mission District and happened on a neighborhood bike shop named Box Dog Cycles. A 1999 lugged Waterford 1200 F/F was hanging in the rafters. I bought it (dents, chips, ugly), sent it back to Waterford, and now it is the best riding bike I have ever ridden. A keeper forever.
I have about 30 bikes now, and they all get to spend time with me, one on one. Every once in a while I think about selling every one of them, and maybe buy just one or two bikes I have always wanted...maybe a de Rosa or....but then, who would save all the great bikes that flow through the world, just waiting to be scrapped for the price of the steel? Me gotta go now. Friday swap meet starts at day break.
Every time I come home with another bike my wife just smiles at me. What a lucky boy I am.
Pat Moffat
Tempe AZUSA