I have to agree with this, although it might not even be CL, sometimes bikes almost literally fall into your lap.

In my case, I've appreciated Italian bikes, Italian bike components, etc for a long time, but when I opened my bike shop three and a half years ago I was too busy to be thinking about acquiring an Italian bike, or much of anything else for me personally.

But one day not long after the shop opened, an older gentleman who stood about six foot five came into the shop and announced that he wanted to do some "horse trading." Turns out he's a friend of a friend, and a very nice guy. I asked him what he meant by "horse trading" and he said he had a used bike he wanted to trade for a new one. I quietly commented that it usually doesn't work that way, but asked him what he had. "A Pinarello." My interest was a little more piqued, but I was still skeptical.

We walked out to his car and he pulled out a shiny blue, lugged steel Pinarello that looked tiny next to him. He explained that his room mate of quite a few years had fallen on hard times and had to move away. The bike had been the room mate's, and when the room mate left town he owed this gentleman some money for rent. They agreed on a trade that included the Pinarello. As he explained all this, I had gone to get my measuring tape. I'm between five-seven and five-eight. The seat tube (c-t) measured 54cm, the top tube (c-c) was 54.5 cm.

Looking at the bike, and looking at his six-foot-five frame, I asked, "Have you ridden this bike?" He shrugged, and said, "about a hundred yards." He explained, in a very frustrated voice, how uncomfortable it was and how he had decided "it's just not for me."

Now, before anyone accuses me of taking advantage of this fellow, which I would have never done anyway, let me say that the conversation turned very serious soon after. He explained that he had been on ebay and other websites, and that he knew that these bikes were worth a good bit of money. I agreed with him, and said that it wasn't your average used bike. We talked and talked, and basically, he just wanted a new, comfortable, hybrid bike that FIT him, and maybe some accessories. We explored lots of possibilities.

The Pinarello had a full Shimano 600 group on it when he brought it in, which did not turn me on at all. It had a decent set of wheels on it, Mavic rims with Shimano 600 hubs. My business partner was interested in those. I had never owned an Italian bike, and if I did, it wasn't going to be Shimano equipped. I love Shimano stuff, just not on this bike, I decided. So I talked about ebay with the fellow, and the Shimano 600 group, and the potential for value there.

In the end, I stripped the bike completely, cleaned up all the parts for him, my business partner made a separate deal for the wheels, the fellow ebayed the Shimano 600 stuff, I got a beautiful Pinarello frame and fork, and he walked out with a nice, new, gigantic hybrid bike equipped with a rack, bag, and a new helmet. He came in a few weeks later and told me how much he was enjoying the bike, how happy he was about our deal, and that "this was exactly what I was talking about when I said I wanted to do some 'horse trading'." I agreed wholeheartedly that it had worked out well for all involved. I haven't seen him for quite a while, but he did come into the shop periodically for a long time, and we had some nice visits.

I consider the day that fellow walked into the shop wanting to do some "horse trading" a very luck one. I equipped the bike with '09 Centaur, and have had several cockpit configurations on it since I've owned it. It fits me perfectly, and rides like a dream. It's from the late '90's, most likely one of the last lugged steel Pinarello's, built from proprietary Pinarello tubing (Deda). I enjoy it more than any bike I've ever owned, it makes me feel faster than I am: