I don't know about bicycles, as I've only started playing with them in the last 5 years, but for the last 20, I've collected 16mm 1950s monster movies. There were at least 2 publications that survived by publishing classified ads. I used to buy and sell a couple movies a month...plus many of the people I bought and sold with I maintained contact - even to this day - and built collector relationships with. eBay killed both publications.

I'm not complaining - although I am, really - but that's progress.

The point I am making is that there _were_ markets for trading in obscure stuff before eBay, and there will be markets after eBay jumps the shark. Stuff finds a way to redistribute itself.


Incidently, Mr Tunes, I'll have you know my reputation in the film collecting world is impeccable. I always made a point of passing on deals on stuff I didn't really want to keep I got thru my contacts to people newer and less experienced. I do the same with bicycles - I buy a lot more stuff then I need, and I pass it on, either thru CL or by building bikes for kids. I find that things that come around do, in fact, go around. I find it disturbing that I make your list of notorious collectors becasue I don't follow your rules. It's creepy.

But, then, it's all pretty meaningless anyway, since really what I take away from bikeforums is knowledge, not deals. The exchange of knowledge on the internet is something that did not exist before, at least not on this scale, and while I appreciate the ease of finding what I need on eBay, it's really the shared knowledge that would be harder to replicate if it got unplugged tomorrow.