5 minuted in the bone yard
 

(wow, wish there was a way to edit the thread title: That should be "5 Minutes...."

I stopped by my LBS earlier in the week to get a replacement spoke cut for the Motobecane I'm building up for my daughter. Shortly after I walked in, one of the senior staff stopped by and asked how my various restore projects were going. Considering that I'm not in that frequently, it's nice that he remembered a previous discussion (December, maybe?), and that they as a shop are reasonably vintage/classic friendly.

I bemoaned the difficulty in finding inexpensive sources for vintage parts, and mentioned that I really needed an alloy rim to replace the shot steel one up front (and match the alloy rim in back). I hinted at the scrap pile out back, and much to my surprise, they said yes with conditions! Not that day, as the pen was clogged with cardboard boxes from a recent building spree, but after the paper guy came, but before the metal guy arrived, sure.

My hunting yesterday was restricted to one corner of the yard, but within a few minutes I came up with a serviceable Ukai 27" on a Sunshine QR hub (near identical to what's on my Fuji S12).

Now granted, I'm a regular, having purchased for the family two Giant bikes, a Burley trailer, a helmet & various small parts & tools from them over the years. Last summer they did an order of custom spokes for a wheel I was building. But considering the liability insurance issues, I wasn't expecting a positive response. So yes, there are some good guys out there.

My LBS has let me rummage through their boxes on the shelves several times since August for parts and even told me to bring my Peugeot PL8 in when I'm ready to restore it because he might have many of the parts I need somewhere in the shop.