Kudos to Nick.
I think he it puts it well. There is a difference between bicycle hobbyists and beanie-baby coveteurs disguised as bicycle collectors. But the good news is that they we are all equal under the IRS or some other higher power out there.
Cheers-
Nels Cone
Seattle WA
> Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:59:44 +0000
> From: nicbordeaux@yahoo.fr
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR] Collecting madness, collective hysteria: 256 buck snotrag
>
>
> Marc St Martin was kind enough to point out a 256 buck piece of cloth. 256 bucks because it says "ALE".
>
> With 256 bucks I can buy a very nice bike. Even if I could afford 256 bucks for a snotrag (english idiom), no way would I want one. I wouldn't want to be admired by a bunch of people who buy 250 buck rags.
>
> This is a clear example of the difference between vintage bike enthusiasts, and people with Collector's Collective Madness Syndrome. A bit like lashing out 500 ++ bucks for a JOS tail light when you can get something just as good, indeed better and nicer, for 100 th of that price.
>
> Anyway, anybody wants a pair of old socks darned ALE for 300 bucks, the wife says no hassle, she can supply any quantity. ALE underpants are rarer, 500 bucks.
>
> Nick March, Agen 47, France
>
>
>
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 06:29:57 -0700
> From: "Marc St. Martin" <marc.stmartin@earthlink.net>
> Subject: [CR] Pricey water bottle
> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Message-ID:
> <1163911.1245504598122.JavaMail.root@mswamui-swiss.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Hello,
>
> I was told by a listmember at Cirque that ALE bottle cozies were quite rare. This recent eBay closing seems to bear that out:
>
> http://ebay.com/
>
> I was watching it for a while before it departed from my monetary reality.
>
> Regards,
>
> Marc St. Martin
> Livermore, CA
> USA