Thanks. Actually, I did pay a little too much for it. It's one of those times when a "friend's rate" isn't the seller selling too low, but the buyer buying too high.

Something off Scam-Bay would have been cheaper, but I wouldn't already know the history of the frame, and wouldn't already know the reputation of the seller. Heck, I know and ride with the seller and his wife. That said, I did my due diligence and found the asking price was at the high end of the appropriate range. I was okay with that and bought it without any haggling.

It wasn't a sympathy thing (poor guy has to ride recumbents now), but that knowing the bike, its history, and its owner had value to me. On his side, he turned away several other offers between the time I told him I wanted it, and the time I was able to start making payments.

That's the sort of thing I'm using this project to discover. I already have two bikes I consider to be all-day comfortable. Why not a third? Plus, since I'm trying to cut through all the hype, smoke and mirrors about bikes, it seems a sensible purchase.

My current crop of bikes seem all to have waited for me to buy them. Serendipitous, I suppose. In each case it was a matter of "when the student is ready, the teacher appears". Can't wait to start this set of lessons!

(It'll be at least two weeks before I start the build-up because I promised Blue I'd take it to the GFLBT/50+ ride weekend.)