Did the concealed bidder identities bother anybody? Was it used to thwart fraud?

No, that's a new standard practice for ebay. Probably used to thwart spam.

I really hate that new bidder 1 bidder 2 stuff on ebay....I always like to know who I am bidding against so that for example......a bidder from JAPAN is bidding I can just forget it!

Q: beautiful bike. SIZE ? SEat tube and top tube. Was this not the bike seen on the cover of the Richard Ballantyne book ? Upside down, in fact ?Nov-28-07

A: Hi; The top tube is 22 inches and the seat tube is 23 inches. The stand over height is 32 3/4 inches.This bike WAS on the cover of Richards bicycle book( I have a scan of the cover, but can't figure out how to post it) and it was not upside down on the cover..

WAS THE BIKE UPSIDE DOWN OR NOT?.........I do not have the book!

Having a father who just left Wells Fargo and the Mortgage business entirely because he couldn't make any money in the current market, I resent that statement. You may be complaining about your interest rates, but don't blame the loan agencies.

Oh, and the bike is nice...but not $2k nice.

You mean the agencies who gave everyone and there mother more money than they could ever possibly afford to ever payback? The agencies that would give people credit even though they had bankruptcy's and poor credit? Ultimately it is the consumers responsibility but many loan companies were just making stupid short sighted decisions.

There's a very nice Latino boy in my class this year named Jesus. I think I'll build him a bike.

Thats great! lol!

Richard

In the Condor auction I was referring to the usage of the private listing format which conceals all bidder info. Only the seller can see the bidders' identities. Unless someone tells me differently I am assuming this is done to prevent fraud. I have seen it used before on highly sought after items. My problem stems from a growing suspicion that ebay fraud is increasing and I am losing confidence in their ability to combat it.

Well, I just got back home and can finally post the pic form Richard's Bicycle Book. The bicycle was on the BACK cover and was upside down. However, it is not the same frame as the seller claims. The following differences are apparent:

1. The seller's frame uses clamp-on shifters while the Richard's Condor has cable stops in this location, for bar end shifters.
2. The seller's frame uses clips for the rear brake cable while the Richard's Condor has cable stops.
3. The seller's frame has no tubing decal, while the Richard's Condor has a Reynolds 531 decal.
4. The seller's frame has an orange band at the top of the seat tube while the Richard's bicycle has a red band at the top.
5. The seller's frame has a red head tube while the Richard's bicycle has an orange head tube.
6. The seller's frame has ERIC CLAPTON On the top tube, while the Richard's Condor does not.

In short, the seller's frame has all the discrepancies that I listed in post #2 of this thread (it's nice to know that my memory hasn't totally deserted me). While the frames are similar, they are not the same, as claimed by the seller. Supposedly this claim came directly from Condor. May be Condor goofed, maybe not. For me, this makes the rest of the seller's claims suspect and there would appear to be at least three Condors with similar though not identical graphics. It's still a gorgeous bicycle.

Hmm, two adjustable wrenches, a long-nose pliers, and an allen wrench. And what the heck is he doing to the left side of that rear wheel, anyway? Was that all supposed to encourage someone to buy the book?

Neal

I might bid something extra if it were, say, Rory Gallagher's bicycle (not that he ever had one to my knowledge). Who's this Clapton guy, anyhoo?

Get a load of the brake cables being smashed from being placed upside down. Also note the odd black hoods on the Campag levers - Modolo replacements?

-Kurt

Even having the book in front of me, I can't quite figure out what he is doing. Also notice that the chain is crossed over from the large chainring to the 2nd largest cog. And look at how the top chain is coming off the chainring at the rear of the front derailleur. The pic was apparently snapped after an unsuccessful shift!

Regarding the tool selection, they probably did not want to scare off potential buyers by showing specialized, expensive tools. The implication was that bicycle mainteneance is simple and easily accomplished with a few standard tools. Remember, at the time, derailleur equipped bicycles were a strange and complicated piece of machinery to almost everybody in the USA. To this end the back cover was emblazoned with "Everything Necessary ofr Zestful Riding and Painless Maintenance".

Joe Strummer's bike... now I might throw a bid on that. Although, he probably had a rusty DL1 with a broken headlight from a crash on the way home from the pub!

Agreed - more heart, but less liver.



Link: Rory Gallagher Tribute
Link: Paul Brady, Phil Lynott & Rory Gallagher stage action

As a MORRISSEY fan I am still waiting for his bike to appear on ebay....seen here on youtube?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_STy4L86lk

Well, Condor definitely had some rock-star connections back in the day: https://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/20...n074/CondorP06

Probably trying to pry off the quick release with a screwdriver.

-Kurt