I recently joined the CR list, didn't present myself: it just didn't occur to me, and as I believe most rules are meant to be bent or ignored, I didn't read the rules section.
A quick presentation therefore. I am in France, and I've put an awful load of mileage into riding bikes. My first real bike was back in Belgium, I was about 8 or 9. It was green and had three gears. On Chistmas morning, I took it out for a ride, got a feel for it, then gave it all I had going up a mild hill. This was Merckx period, and every kid on the block who had any self respect rode head down and flat out. It took me approx 10 minutes to run the bike into the back of a parked car. I remember that the owner was very unsatisfied, my parents got called, and I was allowed to cycle on pavements/sidewalks only for two full years. Later I moved on to a Elvish full size 4 speeder, and covered tremendous distances for various purposes, amongst which travelling round the swimming pools for miles around to oggle well endowed ladies in bikinis. The Elvish got stolen when I was 17: I was miles from home after having visited a girlfriend, and I can't remember whether it was post-coïtal depression or I was smashed but I couldn't ride the bike, so I left it in some woods and hitchiked home. When I went back a week later, I couldn't find the bike. I couldn't even find the wood. Maybe this trauma explains my current interest in bikes ?
I have been around the bike collecting community for a long time, but have had other addictions like amateur archeology (or looting treasure, the definition depends on whether you are a official or not) which have prevented prior heavy involvement.
I now invest quite a bit of pocket money and time in bike collecting, and I ride my bikes. I have a particular interest in collecting very obscure or rare parts. I also refuse to take anyone's word for anything, so it is not because the consensus is that maker "x" is decreed collectable/respectable that I will necessarily have any interest in that brand. I collect what appeals to me. That, and nothing else.
One of my other passtimes is causing trouble, stirirng things up a bit.
Which brings me to where I intended to end up when I started this post: is is really necessary that CR be turned into a sort of daily report about ebay ? I find the whole thing to be utterly boring and annoying, but that's me. What I do not appreciate either is CR being used mainly to sell gear. A kind of ebay subsidiary. Isn't there a section devoted to sales? I recieve the posts in digest format, and it is a real pain in the lower part of my anatomy to have to scroll through great lists of "I've got this and that for sale, priced..."
If I am wrong and it's part of CR that there be great lists of sales, I apologize. But it does make the whole thing a lot less attractive, fun and informative, except if you are interested in selling or buying via the main CR page. Or getting told what's for sale on ebay. I know what's for sale on ebay, you just get someone to build you a few decent query strings if you are not computer savvy, set some "favourite searches" and you learn what's on offer the instant it turns up, worldwide. Well before the CR digest.
Apart from that, CR is great, I enjoy the relationships and info greatly, even if 99% of it happens offlist, which in a way is a pity because there is a lot of info of general interest not getting published.
Nick Bordo, Agen, France
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