well, I've sold enough stuff stupid cheap on Ebay over the last 15 years or so that it all evens out. For a bike guy, it's a helluva deal. For the average guy, it's cheaper than the $5 in gas to haul it to the dump...oh, i paid with Paypal.

Great score!!!

Got to love it! I picked up a Univega for $20 that same way out of Atlanta. Local pickup only, or nosebleed high shipping (with local pickup option) are two great ways to score deals on ebay. Sellers don't realize that they are chasing away almost all the buyers out there.

But $3.24? With seven bidders? Unfreakin believable!!

I guess my newest acquisition of a now identified '83 Schwinn Le Tour falls under here. Found the poor thing in a bulk garbage collection pile. Has minimal surface rust, gears in great condition after some simple lubrication of derailleurs, and to my disbelief good tires and tubes although cheap and produce horrid ride quality.

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/5223/28417129.jpg

Hi Happypills -
Getting a free road bike is always hard to beat! - But with the money you saved, please do a kindness to yourself, and get some decent tires!

so i went to the goodwill today on my lunch break and saw a front wheel, picked it up and it was a 27" Wolber Super Champion Model 58 laced to a atom hub. Looked around and couldn't find the other one. Then i went back this evening to go pick up the front, figure i could do something with it. Then i told the manager looked through the store and guess what we were able to find the other one, it wasnt laced and they thought i was crazy for buying the pair for 10 bucks.

I thought i got a good deal.

Only bad thing is i think someone drilled out the valve stem hole to fit a schrader valve, and i was looking at it and it looks a little wider than a scrader hopefully it doesn't bring the integrity of the rim down. The rim on the other will fit a presta.

so you guys think i made out ok.

I love finding wheels either at garage sales or thrift stores. Nice deal! That front wheel would never had lasted til evening around here, too many scoopers looking all of the time (including me).

So i didnt want to start a new thread about these wheels.

does it being drilled for a schrader affect the wheel any? will it make it more prone to blow up?

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...lberwheels.jpg


http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...berwheels2.jpg


http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...berwheels3.jpg

I may be talking out of my rear-end here, but if you just get a rubber grommet got the larger hole, you should have no problems. I would ride on it.

More frivolous threads have been started :)

From my time spent here, I'm guessing the concern would be cracks that might grow from the potentially rough edge if it wasn't drilled out perfectly.

ha ha ha, didn't feel like getting yelled at.

that was also my concern about cracks in the future.

^ It shouldn't be a problem. Install a grommet or crimp on a washer and ride.
You did real well for $10. Super Champs in 27" are rare indeed.

Saturday luck:
Took wife to catch Jeff Golub play blues and jazz in the East Valley. We each won 2 free tickets to a concert next month! Yay!
It was late afternoon and Mrs. WNG wanted to check out Goodwill because it's 50% off Saturday. Place look picked clean. I walk over to the bike section for fun. There is NEVER anything worthwhile. I see a road bike, dirty as heck. But see a familiar decal thanks to the posts on C&V. I made a bee line to the bike! It turns out to be a Specialized Expedition.
Looked complete and covered by a ton of dirt, with some scratches and chips. No dents though, and tubes are straight. Rims are 700C Super Champions (like jamesj's) and the wheels spun well and true. It has a dried out Brooks Professional, a Cateye Solar computer w/cadence, Mathauser brake pads, Superbe levers, 1/2 step geared Sugino AT crank, and Specialized hubs. Even a rack and a few spare spokes taped to it! Woohoo! With the 50% off, it came to $40 no tax. I wheeled it over to Mrs. WNG with a big stupid grin. She laughed. (and subsequently filled her shopping cart with her stuff!) :D
I'll need to hit up the Collective for advice on this one.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1215/...2c65ac79_b.jpg

^^^ Very nice find!

If it fits, clean it up and ride the heck out of it. If not, clean it up and sell it for over ten times what you paid for it!

Lucky indeed! There is a YahooGroup devoted to this model (and the Miyata tourers).

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/MiyataSpecTour/

Congrats,

Bob

Just caught this before it got smashed. I'm not sure of the model, but it's a nice 80's touring Cannondale.
600 components,27 inch rims, Vetta seat. Must have been time to clean the garage.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...r/DSC00890.jpg

86 ST500? Everything but triple crank.

OOOh La La!

Advice from the Collective? I'm not sure I like the idea of being in a 'collective'; but, as an individual I'll give my impression. For $40 you've found one of the top 3 vintage holy grail touring bikes. The touring bike trinity, as laid out by Sheldon and others as the best 80's production touring bikes are in my order: Miyata 1000, Specialized Expedition, Trek 520. I think the Expedition is the rarest of these, which ups its value. Yours is an 83-84 IMO, with its clamp-on shifters; mine was an 85 that I sold about 6 months ago for 700. They are very desirable! Yours appears to be in exceptional shape. It appears to still have its Mountech RD which is rare for a reason. You can go one of two ways with it; make it your-own and ride it knowing you are riding what is one of the most sought after vintage touring bikes that is only going to increase in value, or clean it the best you can and sell it.

^^ Thanks rothenfield1!
"Collective" is just a playful reference to Star Trek's the Borg. The C&V motto of n+1, where "resistance is futile". :D
It's reassuring to read that it commands such a reputation. I knew of the Expedition but not this special before buying it. Quite a following. After having a chance to inspect it closely, it comes as no surprise, it's finely crafted, and the previous owner configured it well. There isn't a that much wear, as the components are in very good condition.
I have decided that it'll be staying for a while.
I created it's own thread to solicit more info and nail down its original configuration. Also possible restoring tips for the Brooks that came with it.

Forgive my ignorance, but how does one go about saving bikes from the junkyard? Do you just show up and see if anyone has tossed any bikes? I ventured here and this thread has sparked my interest in building a classic/vintage frame for fun.

Hi Jaytron -
- I think a lot of these guys put a $15 bounty on anything worth keeping, and then leave their cel number with the old geezer at the metal yard... 20 minutes later, their phone rings, and they come back with their pick-ups to haul away loads of curly stay Hetchins, Vintage Bianchi's, '30's Paramount track bikes, etc. ;)

Persistence and low expectations. I've rescued a few myself (well with the help of my dad), but never when I was looking for one. My dad goes to two dump/transfer stations a week (one town for his house and the neighboring town for my grandmother) and has a good relationship with the metal guy at each place who knows to set anything with two wheels aside for my dad to check out for me. 99% of the time it's a Huffy, Next, Magna...etc. and my dad just tosses into the pile. Sometimes it's a minty fresh 60's Raleigh Sports or a Columbus Tenax Schwinn :)

Helps when you are the Garbageman too.

I normally camp-out at the dump and wait for the trucks to arrive. I’ve found a very nice ‘real’ silver spoon, a seemingly little used 8-track tape player, and a NOS Miyata 1000 so far. I threw the Miyata back 'cause it wasn’t my size, but the spoon and 8-track are tits!:thumb:

^ :lol:

pulled this from somebody's trash on the way home from work today