[CR]Thoughts from a young vintage enthusiast

(Example: Production Builders:Cinelli:Laser)

Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 16:46:19 -0700
From: "eric a" <moschika@gmail.com>
To: calebhawley@yahoo.com
Subject: [CR]Thoughts from a young vintage enthusiast
cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org

Hey Caleb,

As a young(can i still call myself that at 37? :P) "collector" my interest is definitely not from any form of nostalgia. I began riding in the mid-80's on OT mtbs and it wasn't until about 7-8 years ago did i even ride my first road bike! The 30 minute TdF highlights on Wide World of Sports when i was a teen, kindled more a fire to ride then the actually bikes.

Then about 6 years ago, i found a neat old motobecane grand jubile at the dump and used it to commute on. In my research about this bike I found this list. and that's when the "bug" really hit. soon after i saw a cool Gios Super Record at the LBS and thought "i want one of those". Fast forward to today, i have my own Gios, 2 as a matter of fact, and a few other on-topic vintage bikes. The more I see, the more I like. Ironically, I have no nostalgia for the mtbs of my youth - though i did have to have a fillet brazed frame made like the kind from "back in the day".

as for bike funds, i was lucky to find a couple "deals" that I've been able to capitalize on, and somehow I have accumulated parts. $20-30 here or there adds up over time too. and the value of any particular part for me is driven to how much $$ do I have at the time it's offered, how often have I seen it and how much closer it completes a project. I've definitely paid more for some things then I think, in hindsight, i should've, but i've also gotten some good deals. YMMV

--
Eric Acuna
Santa Rosa, CA, USA