Re: [CR]Dumpster/Yard Sale/Thrift Store Finds?

(Example: Framebuilders:Pino Morroni)

From: "Art Smith" <ahsmith49@cox.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: Re: [CR]Dumpster/Yard Sale/Thrift Store Finds?
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 22:50:22 -0700
Thread-Index: AcdVKelUcIh956qaS0e4txfuUclm7wB2dcQA
In-Reply-To: <MONKEYFOODSZV7QbTwY000006a5@monkeyfood.nt.phred.org>


I found a Campy equipped Cilo under some palm fronds in a pile of trash in an alley.

I was at a yard sale and I asked the owner if he'd sell the red and black Motobecane hanging in the garage. He said yes, but he'd have to get $25 for it. He got his asking price.

I found a complete 70's Bertin randonneur at a swap meet. The seller asked me if $25 was too much for it. It wasn't.

I asked a fellow at a yard sale if he had any bikes for sale. He disappeared and rolled out a complete, 30's Schwinn motorbike, with original hanging tank. He asked me what I'd give him or it and he took $100. I ran into an old guy who collected Schwinn bikes and he offered to trade me a 40's Paramount, complete and original, for the motobike. I did, and ending up, disappointingly, selling it because it was just too small for me to ride.

Years prior to Ken Wallace establishing his bike museum in Bisbee, I had heard stories of an old lady who had a house full of bikes. Visiting the old mining town to take my young son on a tour down into the Lavender Pit Mine twelve years ago, I tracked down and found the old lady. She took me into an old house full of bicycles. A lot of them were higher end balloon tired bikes, but she had a lot of early safety bikes, including a Dayton and a Pierce shaft driven bike. Somehow I came away with a German single speed Torpedo, which was loaded with leather bags and pouches. The bike had sort of damper on the front fork that either stiffened the fork or loosened it up, which made riding on cobblestones a more comfortable experience. I paid $400 for it, which seems like a lot today, but I sold it for that amount to a guy who collected German army bikes.

These are the experiences that have made collecting bikes interesting for me. And it is the joy of the search that keeps me always on the lookout for the next interesting find.

Art Smith
Phoenix