Hi all, yes Garth has made some very valid points.
Yes the exchange rate is good, over here it peaked yesterday or thereabouts at 80cents. I can remember when the exchange rate was under 50cents, so therefore instead of an American $ costing me NZ$2 its now only $1.25, so as you can see I can afford to spend more relative to my income/spending money.
Fashion will always change, just think in 50 years time cyclists will be collecting 90's carbon fibre frames, god forbid why I don't know, but thats what will happen.
Yes with the track stuff as well, 144mm is still very much the happening size here, but there are more 135mm items being seen, but as far as entry level stuff goes, there is a lot of steel out there, its not to bad price wise, if you want to get one of your kids out there doing it, you can get something steel for $500-600, brand new alloy for $1000, so its cheap enough. But not everybody cares about flange widths etc, in competition its all about the new lighter stronger etc, but with the fixie crowd they would like the older stuff. It does amaze me how many eBay listings now have "fixie" & "track" built in there somehow, just another marketing ploy by those sellers I guess. Thou seems to be more widley used than selling a Dura Ace item with Campagnolo in the eBay auction title, you just gotta love those try hards.
Seasonal variations come into play between the Northern & Southern hemisphere as well.
I remember a line being told, something like, "when you have 20% of your bike to finish thats when 80% of your spending will occur" (Sorry DB could'nt find the email with that quote), as when you think about it most of us would be that way, I could'nt say all, some poeple would end up emailing me to say otherwise.
Yes the mighty "air" laptop, I'm quite happy with my 12" G4, yes may weigh more, but mines stronger and smaller face on. Look at desktops, DVD recorders, TV's, digital cameras etc, all coming down in price. As far as the camers go, what I spent based on my income, on my 1st camera, I could buy a camera today that would be 10X better, and thats just on cost. Thats over about 10 years.
But in closing, yes the prices will go up as demand out strips supply, but, and I could be wrong, there will come a day when demand does drop, as us collectors drop of the perch, will there be a strong base behind us to take up the slack?...............regards wayne davidson invers NZ.........
Bianca Pratorius wrote:
> Bemoaning constant inflating ebay prices is an old tired song around
> these parts. It's not just the devaluation of the US dollar because
> there are still plenty of low priced modern items on the market - from
> Asian made clothes to whole modern bicycles and parts. Unfortunately,
> some of the items that are decidedly going up in value are old bike
> parts. The reason, I believe and have said before in other words that
> "The Emperor has NO CLOTHES". A recent visit to my local bike shop
> reveals a bike shop owner saying that modern hubs are less valuable
> for the track because the rear flange width of old Campy is 75 mm vs
> 50 something for many of the new stuff being made for the fixed gear
> crowd. Instead of being met with doubt, the younger set is beating him
> to the punch line, saying that the old cranks are better, the old
> saddles are better, the fruits and tomatoes used to taste better,
> President Kennedy was more inspirational than (insert name here).
> Literally no one left in my neighborhood wants any modern bike or bike
> part, save for new tires, spokes, rims and chains. The hip folks
> around here want vintage clothes, vintage movies, vintage music,
> vintage rugs, vintage furniture and in short long for better times
> because they feel that the present is not to their taste.
>
> The bloom is off the rose for modern bikes because the youngsters
> believe they have been sold a bill of goods. Many modern bike parts
> are better but can you blame them for being skeptics? The modern stuff
> looks like a massive effort to maximize profits while minimizing labor
> costs, and with cutting edge technology being sold at premium prices
> today and bargain basement prices for the same item tomorrow, people
> long for anything that looks like an enduring statement of beauty and
> pride in workmanship. (E.g. : The spectacular Apple Air laptop won't
> be worth the price of a dinner in just a few years.)
>
> The situation will continue to get worse with prices escalating for
> sought after items and with that people seeking out anything old that
> is still undervalued. In any time when a Sears Free Spirit bike looks
> like a nostalgic comfort zone - Watch Out for your pocketbook when
> surfing ebay for that perfect item to complete your project.
>
> Garth Libre in Miami Fl USA