From time to time, folks ask me where I find vintage bikes. An event today reminded me of this, and I thought I might share some thoughts, at least for those who live where the ground was seeded with bikes decades ago.
Rare: bike shops that remain in little towns. Got a fine 61 or so Carleton, fully Campy, in Ardmore, OK, 10 or 15 years ago. Just dropped in and asked. I guess most of those shops have gone by the way by now.
Not Infrequent: several of the local shops know that I enjoy vintage bikes. Every couple of years someone with something neat calls a shop and they refer him or her to me. Got my '49 Raleigh Lenton that way. It might help that I'd swapped some parts with the manager.
Not rare: the local bike advocacy group, WABA, has consignment sales/swap meets 4 times/year. Draws bottom feeders like Larry Osborn and me. When something interesting comes in, I make sure I'm nowhere near anyone helping the seller to set a price (since I'm one of the volunteers). I've gotten several nice bikes there (Medici, old Italian tracker, Paramount).
I've gotten a couple of garage sale bikes, but more come from friends-of-friends and things like that.
Today was an interesting alternative. Local shop, Bikes@Vienna, had its annual winter demo day at the local community center. They invited me to bring over and display a few bikes. Sure enough, a few people dropped by with comments like "I've got an old LeJeune and a couple of other bikes down in the basement. Probably time to sell or donate them..." You bet he has my card. so, maybe that's another reason for cultivating the relation with the LBS.
Your mileage may vary, but it's fun to be surprised by getting bikes you didn't know you wanted. (???). even if I'm still now sure how I talked myself into buying that '49 Raleigh Lenton that was all original except the bar grips and the brake shoes.
And no, I haven't found the elusive '73 Masi. Yet.
harvey sachs
mcLean va