Classic & Vintage - I hit the jackpot

I was lucky enough to be the first respondent to a craigslist add that said parts galore and it turned out to be true and then some. What happened is a guy in a small Texas town died and left his niece everything he owned which was mostly bikes and parts. She flew in from California and tried to sell some of it and after a couple of days paid some guy $300 to haul everything away and he placed an add in my city much larger then his and I was the one who responded. Long story short I ended up with 15 vintage bikes in great shape mostly Schwinn with a couple of Rollfasts or three and a Volks cycle which have never heard of and various other bikes. The parts are unbelievable I haven't even had the chance to soak it all in. he apparently took bikes apart and sorted through all the parts and stored them in bags and labeled most everything. I have hundreds of tires, tubes, hubs, bearings. spokes, pedals. kickstands, wheels, cranks, book racks, seats on and on. Its so overwhelming I don't know where to start. There is a couple of 1962 Schwinn Corvettes, a Schwinn Hollywood a couple of a breeze I'm not sure what else its amazing and I got it all for way under 1K total. The guy I got it from was paid $300 to haul it off. What a deal he got. Anyway I'm so stoked I don't know where to start just wanted to share with someone who could appreciate it and maybe be a little jealous. I will post some pictures when i get a chance to sort through it all. Here is a quick glimps.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d46/jstar1000/bike%20parts/P5050022.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d46/jstar1000/bike%20parts/P5050023.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d46/jstar1000/bike%20parts/P5050024.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d46/jstar1000/bike%20parts/P5050025.jpg

jstar, I'll get the photos all posted correctly for you, I want to see this haul! wow!

I predict you will be spending a lot of time on eBay...congrats!

We may have to start a separate ISO/WTB thread for those of us salivating at the thought that you may have that longed for part or tool in your treasure trove.:)

Better call in sick for work for the rest of the week! :D We want details! Pics! Pronto!:p

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Awesome!

I predict your wife will start asking you what you're going to do with all those bicycles in less than a week.

Well I'm going to sell enough to at least get my money back and then some. I cant possibly store that many bikes, I already have 10 or so. There are all kinds of parts, its unbelievable this guy took wheels apart, put the spokes in paper bags and labeled them by wheel size, spoke size, spoke count, lace pattern and there is a box that is over a foot thick with them folded completely flat. Plus I have at least 50 or more complete wheels. There are bearings in the original packages. pedals in original packages. on and on. I have only looked at maybe half of the stuff its so packed in my garage I cant even get around to look in all the boxes.

Oh yea I'm a home inspector and its so slow right now I have all the time in the world to play!

this old man was a Taxi driver in New York City in 1948, the guy I got this stuff from had his badge, they were called public Hack drivers. He was also a WWII fighter pilot and later a baritone opera singer and he loved bikes and cats. I would have loved to had the chance to hang out with him and work on bikes and hear all of his old stories. Its sad that his kin folks had not even cared about his stuff. I feel blessed to have his bike stuff though and I can appreciate it all because I love to wrench on bikes as much as he did I believe. He just did it longer so acquired more stuff then I have in my year or so that I have gone ballistic with the wrenching. Its truly addicting and I'm hooked!

You've got enough Craigslist bait to last you a good half-year! ;)

-Kurt

I had a similar odd thing happen to me back in December. I was selling an old Otari reel to reel recorder. The person doing to the purchasing was a friend of the buyer who was a music producer. I couldn't find the guy at our meet up spot so I gave him a call and hit his voice mail. His message mentioned so-and-so bike shop. I brought it up when we met. Oh I have some good stuff, Colnagos, an Olmo, etc etc he says. Turns out he was wanting to retire so met up the next week and I bought out the guy's entire shop stock for $500.

I got over 20 complete bikes, over 200 wheels and a lot of yummy components. Even a high-end Park work stand. Most of these have been ebayed and C-Listed by now. I had to just give away a lot of stuff.

I did come out with a very nice 1958 Olmo track bike and a 1970s Colnago Competition. Oh, and a 1960s Schwinn tandem that I really want to keep, but the practicality of that seems doubtful now. I probably ended up making around $5k off the deal and I still have a shed full of components and a few bikes left.

Overall, not a bad happy alignment of the stars considering I would have been more than happy to pay well over $500 for the Olmo which has become my main squeeze.

You will quickly learn the money is in quality components, not the bikes. Oh, and the sheer physical space they occupy will alter your personal relationships and how the world views you. A cautionary tale.

I had a similar odd thing happen to me back in December. I was selling an old Otari reel to reel recorder. The person doing to the purchasing was a friend of the buyer who was a music producer. I couldn't find the guy at our meet up spot so I gave him a call and hit his voice mail. His message mentioned so-and-so bike shop. I brought it up when we met. Oh I have some good stuff, Colnagos, an Olmo, etc etc he says. Turns out he was wanting to retire so met up the next week and I bought out the guy's entire shop stock for $500.

I got over 20 complete bikes, over 200 wheels and a lot of yummy components. Even a high-end Park work stand. Most of these have been ebayed and C-Listed by now. I had to just give away a lot of stuff.

I did come out with a very nice 1958 Olmo track bike and a 1970s Colnago Competition. Oh, and a 1960s Schwinn tandem that I really want to keep, but the practicality of that seems doubtful now. I probably ended up making around $5k off the deal and I still have a shed full of components and a few bikes left.

Overall, not a bad happy alignment of the stars considering I would have been more than happy to pay well over $500 for the Olmo which has become my main squeeze.

You will quickly learn the money is in quality components, not the bikes. Oh, and the sheer physical space they occupy will alter your personal relationships and how the world views you. A cautionary tale.

I hear you, I just really like to play with the bikes for a short bit, take pictures and then sell them for a profit. I don't buy a bike if I cant steel it and sell it for triple what I paid for it. I go through bikes like beer through a bladder. to me the only good bike is one I just bought or one I just sold! I do have about three bikes I keep for riders the rest are like women were in my 20s, here today and gone tomorrow but enjoyed tonight!

Haha, Jstar, that was totally my take on the experience. I was able to pimp out a couple rides with some nice new components, got a couple good frames, and left the rest for profit.

jstar, just realized you were across town from me. I may need to swing through and see what I may need.

I saw this ad (http://dallas.craigslist.org/bik/670573673.html). What this the listing you replied to or is this your craigslist ad?

I saw Midlothian as the city and in the photo could only make out some older Schwinn models that didn't interest me, so I passed.

Congratulations on the big find!

jstar, I'll get the photos all posted correctly for you, I want to see this haul! wow!

roadtrip? I will pay 1/2 the gas!

Well, the rest of the universe is pretty much jealous.
Plus, it's frustrating to have to have a big truck just to steal that stash.....