At a swap meet once...
Years ago I walk into a swap meet and the first thing I see is a pair of Campy Con Denti pedals with a big price tag of $5 on them. I simply hand over my $5 and the seller seemed perfectly happy.
I never felt right about it - and years later I had some other dealings with the gentleman when I owned my shop. He brought a bike in one day that I was interested in - but he wanted about $150 to $200 more than I figured it should be worth. But I just handed over the money - and in my mind the order of the world was restored.
Similary, a number of years ago I bought a bike that was outside my "knowledge" zone and I probably overpaid by about $300 ( I took a huge loss on it when I sold it). Years later I see a gorgeous Legnano at Veloswap during set up with nobody around. So rather than go hunting for other treasures I just cooled my jets and waited for someone to show up figuring that nothing I would find elsewhere would be as cool (bike had the rare Campagnolo Brooks saddle and the cool Campy front with the screws at the pivots). As luck would have it, the seller was the person who sold me the bike I overpaid on years ago - I asked him how much he wanted - and I pointed out some damage he had missed on the Legnano, and we happily settled on a price that was probably about $300 too low.
Once again, everyone was happy and order of the Universe was restored.
What goes around comes around...
Mike Kone in Boulder CO
> Sometime back in the 80's I accompanied a friend to a private residence that had
\r?\n> a truck shell for sale that he was interested in. While my friend and the shell
\r?\n> owner were talking I glanced into the garage and saw a road frame with all Campy
\r?\n> NR parts, sew-ups, and Reynolds 531 DB stickers. I'd never heard of the brand
\r?\n> but I knew enough to realize that this was a very good bike. I asked the owner
\r?\n> if the bike was for sale and ended up getting it for $180. My level of income
\r?\n> at the time didn't really support that kind of purchase but it was something I
\r?\n> couldn't pass up.
\r?\n> That Haral became my daily commuter and weekend friend for many years. I still
\r?\n> have it and only very recently saw another like it on the Campy Only web site.
\r?\n> According to the pictures and story on the Campy Only site, only about a dozen
\r?\n> Harals came into the US.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> As an aside, I saw a pair of NR track pedals at a swap meet one weekend. The
\r?\n> owner only wanted $5 for them. I handed him the bill but he seemed hesitant
\r?\n> about handing me the pedals. Finally, he put them into my hands and then
\r?\n> grabbed my hands over them. Looking intently into my eyes he said, "Dude...
\r?\n> these have been really good to me... give them a good home!" I assured him that
\r?\n> I would and I know exactly how he felt.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Guy Taylor, Anaheim CA