Hi Brian & Don,
Despite the rant and sales patter this guy makes some valid points which I rather suspect will be lost on a lot of old bike afficionados. He is most probably young and therefore might not understand the connection with the past.
For example, as a teenager I used to hang around the Murray St shop of David Rattray & Co in Glasgow, Scotland. They were the makers of "Flying Scot" bicycles and these bikes were widely in evidence in Glasgow and the surrounding areas and were used as "get to work", touring and racing bikes. I owned 2 of these as a teenager with the second one inherited from my father as he migrated to using a car. I sold my Scot when I was about 17 for £10 to help fund the purchase of a Vespa scooter and I didn't bother to look back for another 40 years. I became a very unfit motorbike and car user and it was not till my father died and I inherited his Peugeot P10X bike that I even considered cocking my leg over a two wheeler again. That bike lay in my garage for a further 4 or 5 years till I decided to take it for a ride round the block one day in an effort to try and get fit. Our ranter is quite correct - those steel rimmed wheels and old brake blocks have almost no stopping power. I began to resume teenage habits and behaviour in dismantling cleaning and resetting various bits on this bike in an effort to improve its overall roadworthiness and safety. Finding parts is hard and fitting them (French cotter pins if you don't know how to use a file) is not easy. It was these personal experiences that rewakened my interest in bikes and so I set out to try and buy an old Flying Scot and maybe in so doing even to recapture some of the fitness and enthusiasm of my youth. After much searching I achieved this goal but have hit the same problems all over again as with the Peugot in that the spare parts needed are now pretty much obsolete and so I have become a collector and hoarder of parts in order to get and keep the wheels turning.
I went out one evening for a ride with the local bike club. There was I in long pants, bicycle clips and yellow reflective vest and there were they in tight fitting lycra, streamlined sunglasses and snap in shoes. It was an embarassing moment for all concerned. Bicycles have moved on and young bloods these days are riding "carbonistas" and generally they have no interest in old machines. The one thing that our ranter said that I think is wrong is in respect of the amount of money needed to spend to buy an equivalent road / racing bike today. In the UK this is certainly in the region of £2500 but don't forget it doesn't end there - one needs to purchase all the brand image clothing, shoes and accessories which will easily add another £1000 however in addition one also needs to own various bikes and wheels for winter, summer, training, turbo, racing and so its doubtful in my mind whether anyone engaged in this habit today will be able to fund this for under £5 - 10,000.
I've now put in 2500 miles on the Peugeot and am feeling quite fit but still find myself making longing glances at The Scot and this maintains the quest to obtain that last "hard to find" part needed to make a safe and smooth inaugural run on this time machine. My Scot was made in 1952 (almost the same age as me) and the frame was the only orginal bit of kit left on the bike but this is still fairly perfect and serviceable in almost every respect. I wonder if this will hold true for todays plastic bikes in another 60 years time or will they all be "junkers".
Regards
Ken Hume London England
> Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:37:43 +0000
> From: "brianbaylis@juno.com" <brianbaylis@juno.com>
> Subject: Re: [CR] Interesting NYC Rant ...
> To: <gillies@ece.ubc.ca>
> Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Message-ID: <20090809.213743.17280.0@webmail10.vgs.untd.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
>
>
> Don,
>
> I don't give a rat's ass what that guy says or thinks. From that point, in
> my world, he ceases to exist.
>
> Besides, it's obvious that he's either clueless or has an ulterior motive.
>
> He'd make a great salesman, though.
>
> Brian Baylis
> La Mesa, CA
> USA
> What negative effect can he have? Anyone who believes this guy is just
> leaving more for us, no?
>
>
>
> ---------- Original Message ----------
> From: donald gillies <gillies@ece.ubc.ca>
> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Subject: [CR] Interesting NYC Rant ...
> Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2009 20:24:46 -0700
>
> There is a guy ranting on the NYC craigslist about classic bikes, and
> even though more than half his email is a rant, I he has some good
> points to make.
>
> I'd like to konw, what does the CR list think? Do you consider the
> $100 in consumables for almost any used bike purchase? How do you
> avoid stolen bikes? Compared to cars, we really DON'T have road bike
> auctions from the 70's, etc., why not? We don't have nearly as many
> classic-bike get togethers as there are classic-car get-togethers
> ... will bikes ever sell for an inflation-adjusted premium vs. their
> original prices (note: Inflation is 7x since about 1972), like Ford
> Mustangs?
>
> - Don Gillies
> San Diego, CA, USA