If it was anything like the bike shops I used to frequent as a youngin' that "other exotic" smell that lingered in the air was probably marijuana. Admittedly, I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and my LBS was staffed by a bunch of overweight stoners who looked like they had never ridden a bike, nor heard about personal hygiene but they had the best prices and could fix anything quickly. Yep, the shop had that distinct inimitable (intoxicating ?) smell of grease and weed. It's not an unpleasant memory albeit a foggy one. YMMV
ciao,
ben kamenjas Kensington, Australia
On 14/08/2009, at 3:28 AM, <classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org>
wrote:
> At Lutherville Cycles North of Baltimore in the early '70's, for me
> it was the combination of lithium grease, WD-40 (pre-Triflow, one of
> the smells that linger in my own basement shop now) and some other
> exotic that just lingered in the air, something special about that
> place! Stopping by again a few years back, before the new owner
> moved the shop across and up the street into newer digs, it still
> smelled just the same. Lots of good memories! ... And Stephan,
> the shop's main marque was Gitane.
>
> Happy trails,
>
> Dan Artley in Parkton, Maryland USA