Swap wasn't too bad, although I had suspected this year would be better for buying than selling, and I was completely right. I did okay-- I basically broke even-- and I got rid of a bunch of crap from my basement. High end in parts sales was awful, and I basically gave away the bikes I came with. In the future, anything I can sell for under 150 goes on the local CL in late august. I'll probably just rent a small table at the swap from now on, bring a pile of stuff to sell, but mostly buy. Buying was good. Before the show opened, I picked up this for 375$:
I've got most of the group to go on it already, but I want to refurbish the Campy shifters first; plus I need to find a crank. This one will likely be one I won't mess around with, may even funnel some cash into the group or go modern.
I've always wanted one of these, despite their reputation for coming apart under larger riders. Back when I was commuting to work at the record store on my Peugeot, I would see these in the Nashbar catalog and lust after them in my heart. I always thought they looked cool. But as I moved into the vintage hobby, I steered clear, based on reputation. Whenever one of the local flippers found one, he'd be convinced he'd found something extremely valuable, and want way too much for it. But I swore if I ever found one for cheap, I'd buy it. After a very cursory bargaining process (I knew the seller and we'd dealt before, very cool guy) I walked away with this for 35$:
When I left to bargain for it, I told Syke to shoot me if I came back with it. For some reason, he did not. This one moved up to the front of the que today, getting brake levers and calipers (Modolo Mach 1), derailleurs (Suntour Cyclone MK II), bar and stem, wheels. Bottom bracket and crank should be on shortly, and seatpost is already on order. This build I go cheap, from the parts pile. If it's not too whippy, as they are reputed to be, I might source out a donor bike in time.
I really wasn't planning on more project bikes, but at least I didn't purchase any vintage steel. Oh, and my ape like reach afforded me a deal, because no one else can use these here Cinelli stems, 5$ for the pair:
In all, I'm okay with everything, though I'm changing some of the stuff I do at swaps from now on.