Post 100 - how did that happen? and an analysis of a missed opportunity

This is my 100th post since starting this blog at the end of 2012, how did that happen? In honor of this milestone I have posted a shot above of the Shimano Arabesque shifters that came on the Miyata 912 I found for $25 at a garage sale.  The coolest component on any bike I have worked on. Its been fun and I hope I have another 100 posts in me.  Its kind of odd many of the blogs that inspired me have gone dark or at least dormant; Ecovelo, Hugh's bike blog, , Old 10 speed gallery , My Ten Speeds  and some have scaled back Trailer Park Cyclist but I am still plugging away -not smart enough to know when to move on lol.




Montreal express

I also thought I would take you through an opportunity that got away from me.  As you know I have been a bit obsessive about Craigslist lately and one morning as I am checking for new listings -a Peugeot for $15.00 pops up.  Now the 2 pictures were pretty crappy and neither took in the whole bike but I was intrigued by a couple of things:

• $15 a good place to start, old Mt bikes aren't as popular (yet) as road bikes but unless its total trash I could make a profit starting there
• Although the photos were crappy I could see what appeared to be a "garage queen" -barely ridden, paint and graphics looked good an ideal rebuild candidate
• I have been interested in finding a lugged steel MT bike to work on and I think they would make an excellent bullet proof commuter.
• Based on the catalog description on the internets the Montreal express although near the bottom of the line still had some solid components so it would probably be worth $15 just for the Sugino cranks, Shimano thumb-shifters etc.

So I dropped them an email that morning, no response, I texted, no response.  I wasn't too surprised based on the price my assumption was it went fast but a week later the ad is still there on CL! Again I assume that they are just to lazy to take it down but I email anyway, nada.

$155 on CL

Then I see this ad today on CL, and while I can't say for sure its the same bike based on the fact its in the same neighborhood as the first sale and its the same model and color I am 97.2% sure its the same bike.  The new CL ad has the following description:

• Peugeot Montreal Express
• Would make a great commuter or city bike (Yeah!)
• Nice easy rolling street tires (New tires - nice job)
• 18 speed gearing (3x6) with new cables and thumb shifters (replacing not just wiping down -nice)
• Big comfortable seat and a rear rack (the original had a rack)

So they did exactly what I would have done and if they sell it at this price, not unreasonable, that is an easy $50-75 profit after the new parts (not the labor of course) and a clean up. 

I suspect that the seller replaced the original thumb-shifters with the inexpensive SunRace ones pictured, I have used them and they work great, so they could keep or sell the nicer 80's thumb-shifters that came with the bike, and comfort saddles are a dime a dozen.  The new tires are a nice and probably necessary touch, I might have gone with some nicer cruiser pedals rather than the resin ones but that's just nit-picking.

I am guessing the seller got the bike because A) they were checking, B) were in the same neighborhood and C) unlike me could probably go right away rather than after work.  A & B are why I got the Nishiki in the previous post.  It would have been a sweet get but that's the way it goes, chapeau to my fellow old bike refurbisher.

are you mocking me?



Until next time...Ride.Smile.Repeat