Fifty Plus (50+) - I went to a swap meet and left with ...

Just got home from attending the Madison, WI bike swap meet. By glancing into my wallet, I see that I have $77 less than what I left home with. Here's what the $77 got me:

- Titec H-Bar handlebar (like the one I posed in the flat bars alternative thread). Just looked at one in the store the other day and they wanted $85 for it. This one is brand new, still in the cardboard package.

- Bontrager Crow Bar handlebar, also brand new & still in packaging. List around $30.

- Serfas HLM-1 1 watt Luxeon LED helmet light. Brand new still in packaging. Usually $40.

- Bontrager CRZ+ saddle, pull off of brand new bike. Normally sells for around $40.

- Kryptonite 1018 Cable Lock, brand new still in packaging.

- adjustable road bike stem

- road bike stem high angle, probably 40 degrees

- Fuji adjustable mountain bike stem, looks brand new and is surprisingly light weight for an adjustable stem.

- Forte (Performance) 90mm 40 degree mountain bike stem

- no-name metal platform pedals

And ...

- A late 1980s Panasonic Sport LX road bike that was just converted to a flat bar by an "Old Man Bike Fix-it Guy" who hauled it to the show with a basketful of old parts to sell. It is in average condition, but was just tuned up and has new brake levers. Everything works fine. Typical low-end 80s Japanese road bike. Lugged cro-mo steel frame (Tange 900 double butted), Suntour AR 6-speed group set, stem lever shifters, and 165 mm Sugino triple crank (been wanting to try 165 cranks). Oh, and it has a old pair of MKS AR-5 aluminum platform pedals on it.

Nothing fancy for sure, but it was a very inexpensive way to try out lugged steel & 165 mm cranks.

These bikes have never been valued by collectors and usually go cheap on Craiglist, but are said by many to be surprisingly nice rides.

That's what I got for $77.

sounds like you have a frame to convert to a fixie :) You even have the 165 cranks (so you don't bottom-out on a curve). For what you paid, you got some great deals... no swap meets in this area (DC) ever have deals like that...

train safe

A lugged steel road bike with a sugino triple crank--if I didn't know better, I'd say you just bought a pricey Rivendell. Well done.

Jeez! What a haul! How big was this swap meet?

- Bontrager CRZ+ saddle, pull off of brand new bike. Normally sells for around $40.

-That's what I got for $77.

Wow! You certainly got a lot for your money.

I hope you like the Bontrager saddle better than I did. I have two of them in the garage:( They came on the Trek road bikes. I still have a Bontrager on the mountain bike but I don't have enough miles on it to determine if it will stay or be replaced like the others. Of course, I don't sit on the saddle as much when riding the mountain bike.

It filled up a reasonably large convention room, about 20,000 square feet - dimensions of around 90' x 220'. 7 rows of tables, with 4 aisles. I'd guess around 50-60 sellers. Some were bike shops selling higher end gear, some were bike shops dumping off excise inventory and bike pulls, some were people who just get into bikes and have a lot of stuff to move, others were small repair shops. The Bike Wisconsin tour group had a table, along with the Tour de Cure group.

This room was packed wall to wall with buyers and sellers.

I don't think I'll love the Bontrager saddle. This is one of their wider ones, with the split pads. Wanted to give it a try and it only cost $2.

Shopping for bike parts is fun...:)

Great fun! Congrats on finding some real useful bargains.

I shudda bought a crank that I was looking at.

Almost bought a carbon seat post, but it had several surface scratches on it and they wanted $20. All those scratches on something I would be sitting on, made me nervous.

... and 165 mm Sugino triple crank (been wanting to try 165 cranks).

If I remember correctly, you're vertically challenged, like me and that dude Napoleon from France. I bet you'll like the 165mm crankset. What is your height and pubic bone height, and let us know how you like the shorter cranks.

sounds like you have a frame to convert to a fixie :)

One booth was offering a very nice steel mixte, can't recall the brand but it was a good one, complete with a Brooks B17 saddle and cork grips for $300. Looked very sharp. But it as a single speed and I have no use for a SS. Did stop to look it over for 5 minutes.

That's quite a haul. I wish this area had a bike swap meet.

I shudda bought a crank that I was looking at.

Almost bought a carbon seat post, but it had several surface scratches on it and they wanted $20. All those scratches on something I would be sitting on, made me nervous.

As well it should.....Seatpost failure is imho the worst possible failure on a bike...followed by a handlebar failure. I have found small cracks in CF bars after about a year of use and it is much more likely that you will take the time to inspect the bars than the post.

With regard to CF aftermarket.....the big name companies who shall not be named but are not "Weston" have excellent quality departments and their parts if installed properly can be trusted. Other major players have reputations for quality.....search them out.

Carbon forks from most sources seem to be ok because they are overbuilt but........let the buyer beware. Carbon frames from reputable companies (your just fine Curtis) as delivered are fine but we still don't have a lot of "down the road" knowledge about that.

On the 165 cranks- It was not till I got the OCR that I had 165 on a bike I rode. I always said that for me- I could not notice any difference in Crank length. The shorter cranks help me to spin faster and that is the only thing I can honestly say about them now. But Boreas has 172.5 on it now and this is the bike I spin on. And at low cadence up hills- I do feel that I can put more power in with the longer cranks.

Some more testing to find out if crank length does affect me.