So, as anyone who frequents the trade thread will have noticed, I'm trying to finish up a time trial bike and one of the items I'm looking for are aero bottles. I had added a pretty unremarkable-seeming bottle to my watch list on eBay thinking I might be able to snatch it up for cheap since the ad wasn't great and it was a gross looking colour. Well, I'll be damned if it didn't sell for an outrageous sum:

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=320367226723

There were two other nearly identical bottles with a BIN price of $25 that I had planned to buy if the auction didn't pan out which were of course also immediately snatched up, no doubt by some d@uche hoping he can re-sell them for with similar results. My question is does anyone know why it went for so much? I know it's not uncommon, I've seen several on eBay and elsewhere for around $20. Can anyone enlighten me? Was this particular bottle some sort of arcane treasure? A lot of really insipid transactions take place on eBay but they can usually be attributed to the buyer not doing his homework, this one has me feeling like I must be the one who hasn't done mine.

I saw the same shaped bottle at a lbs for $49

I'm not sure why it fetched so much, but I do recall owning one of those in the early 80s. Mine was silver and I liked it better than the Cannondale bottle with the velcro attachment method. I can't remember what the brand was, Vetta possibly?

I had one, It was a Dura Ace AX. I still have the cage, the bottle is long gone. Mine was the same blue color as the dust covers on the DA AX hubs.

I'm not sure if his is really green, or just a photo under florescent lighting.

It looked like two bidders really wanted it. Japanese collectors?

It's really green, I asked the same question before the bidding got out of hand.

Hi, I am the ****** who snapped up the other Aero bottles you were after. Sorry. ;-)

I am also more than a little shocked by the crazy high price on the other auction... and yes I was bidding there as well. I was after the bottle for my Panasonic Aero as it was the "correct" bottle for the bike. Truth be told, I bought four of those NOS Aero bottles. Two for me, one possibly for another local Panasonic Aero owner and one that is up for grabs if you need it. (And no, I don't expect $143 for it... my cost plus shipping would do.)

Well, that takes care of any future name-calling of the anonymous on this forum.. hehe.

lol, funny how these things work out

No worries, man. You have to understand that the circumstances seemed suspect, since the other bottles had gone unmolested for like a week before that odd ball bottle was bid up so high. I'm pretty cynical about eBay, so thanks for not taking it personally. I'd love to see some photos of the Panasonic. My TT bike is decidedly un-vintage, but if I could ever find the right frame I've wanted a funny bike for ages. I think that I'm set on the hydration situation for the moment, but I should know for sure within the next week. I'll definitely keep your offer in mind and let you know how things go.

Glass houses dude.

Yeah, I don't see how that adage applies.

How about karma police?

Perhaps if you could squeeze more than 5 or 6 syllables into a response I'd have some idea what you mean. If you're trying to call me a hypocrite or suggest that Karma will bite me in the ass for being too quick to jump to conclusions I'd say it's obvious you are wrong on both counts. I'm not an eBay profiteer, and the karma thing clearly turned out ok since the only person who has a right to take offense offered me just what I was after to begin with.

I actually bust out laughing when I read purevl's message. I might have thought the same thing actually... even though I am all for capitalism. I just didn't want to have to pay $143 for a water bottle if it could be avoided. ;-)

The AR-6000 should look like this when completed...


At the moment it looks like this however...

I paid 99 cents for my NOS aero bottle....

It is all relative though! I owned several Campy aero bottles ten to fifteen years ago, and I remember getting them off a close out table for a couple of bucks a piece. I certainly paid a lot more than that for the bottle set on my Merckx build. I didn't bat an eyelash when I paid the man.