An '85 Peugeot PKN10 (I think that was the year and model) that I threw out on the trash. Not that it was anything really special but it was a really nice, very clean bike, original except for the rear wheel and it fit me perfectly but I wasn't very knowledgeble about 80's bikes in general and Peugeots in particular and when I posted (one of the first posts I made on Bike Fourms) the first several people who responded said it was worthless junk. It sat around the garage for a while until I finally got tired of it taking up space so I stripped a few parts off and sat it on the curb. Then I checked back a couple of months later and found that several more people, who I now know to be the real Peugeot experts, had responded with the year and model and told me what a nice bike it was. Too late. It still haunts me.

And maybe my old Bottecchia Special. I bought it new in 1974 and rode it until I was hit by a tow truck in 1996. The front wheel was taco'd and though there was no visible damage the fork was really stiff to turn like something might have gotten bent. I carried it around with me for another 5 years thinking about what to do with it but I finally sat it out on the curb during that same cleaning spree that got the Peugeot. Today I would know where to get parts and how to make period upgrades that could turn them into really nice useful bikes without breaking the bank but back then I had no idea.

The one consolation - somehow the rear Tipo hub from the Special was saved and when I decided to build a new wheelset for the Giro d'Italia I used that hub so the old Special lives on in spirit.