Ciao Arno, et al
I'm very glad Arno posted his comments regarding leaving post-it notes on appealing bikes in The Netherlands. I have never thought of that or seen it done - a wonderful idea! In fact, now as I think about it, an auto mechanic friend once mentioned having purchased a few cars by leaving similar notes, so why not bikes as well!
I have often engaged in long conversations with riders of interesting bikes who I had encountered while out riding. Having become frustrated with scrambling for scraps of paper and writing utensils while pedalling down the road, I finally decided to ride better prepared.
This year I began to ride with business-type cards printed with my name, e-mail and phone number printed on them, AND, with the cards individually sealed (or laminated ? - I'm not sure of their process) so that the cards will not degrade in a jersey pocket during a long sweaty ride or following an unexpected rain storm.
People, here at least, may think this odd behavior. But I'm now old enough to not care. Besides, this happens in business circles all the time. So, why not utilize these chance cycling encounters just as well as time spent waiting in airports.
On three occasions I unexpectedly either sold or bought bikes because of this simple initial information exchange. In each instance I was contacted by the individual nearly 2 weeks after that first meeting. This allowed some time for calm consideration while that person pondered whether he might in fact actually wish to either buy or sell the bike in question. This works out well for both parties, because with a card exchange there is no pressure and no expectation of a response even implied.
This is also simply a nice way to build a local circle of riders who may appreciate the same types of bikes, and eventually to create an informal, casual and yet selective cyclists "network" locally.
And, perhaps my "non-business" cards may even make their way onto someone's Last Will and Testament, too. You never know.
Regards, Bob Hanson, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA -------------------------
Arno Volkers wrote:
Subject: [CR] Re: saving bikes for future generations
Hi folks,
I don't go often to bike jumbles, there are not so many of them here in the Netherlands, Mostly I try to find parts on national trade sites (for the Netherlands) You can find nice things there for very reasonable prices, Sometimes it's better to buy a complete bike, than some parts. In my town you have a secondhand store, and they have bikes, and the best is, that there are always some roadbikes, last month there was a Benotto bike for 30 euro's with campy nuovo record and a really ugly sandbrown 1 cm thick paintjob. There was also a full chrome motobecane with a 531 frame and shimano parts, i was to large for me, otherwise i would have bought it.
And I had an idea, that when you're on the street, especially in the city and you see a nice old roadbike that somebody is using for his normal everyday transportation, just put a post it on it, that tells the owner that you want to buy it!!
Probably he doesn't know the historical facts about the bike, it's just a bike for him. Maybe it's not interested in other countries, but in the Netherlands it is!! so if you have new ways to collect your bikes, let me know it's always interested to know how people get things.
greets,
Arno Volkers
5224 VG Den Bosch
The Netherlands
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