Wow, I get called uptight for MY rants.

I am pbbikes Barry Scott of Portland, OR.

Lets start with the derailleur being talked about. It's rare as hell, i think we all can agree, save for few who thought for a moment that it was an ICS like mod. Then someone looked closer and figured out that the Campy steel bolt was part of it. There are a few pics from the back that I have on another computer and will add. Its got a removable pin with a screw head, like the spring stop on any nr/sr derailleur (i think the parts typically called a grub screw, but I don't recall offhand)

The whole thing was made by Campy, i don't doubt it. I put hours and hours into searching and questions to others about it- no one's seen it before. And these are people who have played with this stuff for decades. I have seen one other person labeling it as some short lived attempt at adding the angle adjustability. Perhaps it was too early for that, and campy only made a few. perhaps there's a ton of these and campy never let them out for some reason (maybe they break, like first Gen C record stop) Maybe they were looking for replaceable stop option because a few mashers broke the typical tab of the sr/nr derailleurs but there just wasn't enough need? I really don't know.

I referenced the Japanese book, Campagnolo derailleurs, they have 11 variations of the Super record "2nd gen" derailleur but not this one. Everyone knows the japanese are some of the best collectors and have great eye for this stuff and all the subtle variations that most of could care less about, (check out Hi Campy's page) .

Your all correct , the price is ludicrous, I honestly have no idea if it will sell- nor do I care. Its created quite the stir, and fast. This thing has been sitting on my desk for the last month. I'm a hoarder. I love being surrounded by everything bike. My life is bike from waking til sleep. I don't ride or wrench as much as I used to, The collector geek side of me has taken full control. I get high of finding this stuff, I search every country I can, constantly, both online and in person. I make many friends in the process and no one is giving this stuff away, and haven't been for years.

So Invest crazy amounts of time and even more money; everything I make goes back into parts. In the end I may be the haggard man on an episode of hoarders who poops on the floor but has an immaculately kept collection of bikes and parts in the kitchen cupboards. yet to be seen.

I am very aware that my prices are extremely high and that this leaves most people unable to purchase the goods I have secured. Simple economics isn't the only reason. As rootboy pointed out in our conversation about China, these people are paying whack money for this stuff right now, it began about a year ago. Unless you're a seller on ebay or have dealings with these people, you cant see it, ebay hides id's so you can only speculate on what country the bidders from. I've been on the forum and read a lot for years, also I reference stuff here. Everyone is in agreement that when a rare GS rear goes for 5k, its the Japanese. So most people already know this. A couple years ago, the Southeast asians (all countries) started buying up my stuff at a crazy rate, they were a large percentage of my business.

I dont think Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, cambodia, and now China imported campagnolo in the vintage/classic days. So in these countries , the rarity is extreme. Not here where even the most modest collections have campy derailleurs kicking around. As the internet becomes more accessible, or maybe just ebay , these guys are buying direct with all kind of factors, currency conversion, true rarity, that weird nostalgic feeling you get when you weren't really there the first time, maybe that's just fascination.

That's one factor of my high pricing, people do buy this stuff, right now 50% foreign, another odd economic phenomenon is VAT. All the Euro countries are charging 21% value added tax, this is bringing in quick loot in taxes short term but drying up their own domestic sales. So now these guys in the Euro union are having trouble selling to each other because they're charged 21% more on top of asking price. So that $100 is actually $121+ if you buy from next door, If my part is $100 also , its a $100 plus shipping which doesn't always make it worth it -but a bucks a buck.

Plus this gear isn't rare in Europe, it was manufactured there, theres always some guy who finds a lot of Ideale saddles that are worth a fortune.

So I think that some of that market is coming directly to we US sellers as a result of that VAT tax & all kinds of economic problems in europe. Of course they have the asian market too.

It comes down to if someone will pay x why would I sell it for less? If it was easier I would. That brings me to the second "justification" of my prices. This business is run by myself and my wife (somewhat reluctant wife). If we are the only 2 doing almost everything and 20 packages a day is enough madness, then I cant drop my prices, because we couldn't keep up with packages . We had a sale before we left CA last year, i think it was 30% off, for october and it was madness. we could not keep up with packages, every question(of which I get maybe 25 a day on average) They take a bit of time,I cant even answer the how many grams or some measurement questions, not because I don't want to , but because I cant. Not enough time.

So supply and demand , cost of these new parts with inflation of the original cost in today's dollars (which sometimes that expensive parts was expensive in 1983 $ wen it was in high production, which should give a bit of premium for rarity aside from inflation of 32 years), how I would just love to please you all and be loved by everyone, its just not possible. There's a limit to what we can do without becoming a big biz like everyone else. We are truly mom and pop.

One more little tidbit, We are store that happens to be on ebay, not to be confused with an auction. Were convenient and fast. That justifies a premium.

There are are only a few of us that sell as stores and never auction anything off. The stuff only gets harder to find as the years go on. This means that there are 2 distinctly different price structures, so comparing my price (right there when you want it), with an item that no ones awake to snipe that day or the other side , where 17 guys battle it out and 1 win, 16 lose isnt a very good marker on where my price should be.

A few of you guys love to flame me, its the same few guys that love me enough to bring up my absurd asking prices in as many threads as they can with lots of lols and ha's .

I didn't set out to become a huge parts dealer, I rode and wrenched and got good at finding gear for my own bikes and bikes themselves, so this organically morphed into the pb bikes.

Oh and the reason people do sell to me is because i'm not a lowballer, i rarely complain about price , Im willing to take the risk of spending 10's of thousands of dollars at a time to get the gear i covet. If i cant do the price I walk away from negotiations without insulting the seller, in some cases this the case dealing with so many nationalities. That why i wake up daily with someone offering something, sometimes huge, guys in Itlay I havent dealt with in a few years come with deals because theyre tired and want out, they hate ebay, or the ruthless customers.

Oh ruthless customers , its been brought up that i have quite the tongue, yes I do. Im not always the most sane individual- but who is really? When you are bombarded with BS hate mail about your prices from people that aren't your customers that dont take really anything but the end price into consideration , it gets a little old and makes you grumpy. I can ignore most , but sometimes people get caught at the wrong moment. If im reading a rad thread about how much of ****** i am and someone sends me a 30% offer on a 60 year old nos part (coloneljlloyd- I wasnt sure what you were talking about so i went back to my email), I can be a jerk. Trust me I'd rather make friends and welcome corrections to my listing listing mistakes when thyere not laced with wankerness. So if I was a jerk and you didnt deserve such a response , im sorry.

Im a pretty reclusive guy , so its a shame that the only fame i receive is that im a ******bag for my boutique prices, even though thats pretty much what I am (a boutique, not a ******bag) If you cant or don't want to shop in my high priced store, I wish you the best in your search for deals, truly. I get high of scores. I know i have my part in driving prices up, its not intentional, I frequently make prices up when I dont really want to sell something, just look at the top $ stuff in my store - i know I will maybe never have it again, so we must enjoy our time together as long as possible.

So what has happened as a result of being too busy to deal with also being the shipping department , is that the parts are piling up and even I am at a point where i need to move stuff which means prices will drop. i dont want my wife to be stuck with this stuff, when i have heart attack due to working constantly. That said until I have shipping dept and someone can deal with lots of other aspects or I stop buying, the time isnt now. And frankly who cares, i love this gear as much as anyone, but its luxury goods, were all nerds who geek at the site of this stuff. We cant contain ourselves when we see the score of the year. I've almost passed out before.

I should probably move on with my day as the coffees obviously working and let you guys go back to hating on me. Sorry for getting in the way of you "REAL" collectors (sorry I couldnt resist.)

ciao