One thing I do on every road trip is I look for bikes. And I always find them. This past weekend was no exception. I traveled up to see the inlaws, and hit some great garage sales along the way. This trip I picked up four bikes, all at attractive prices, along with a nice work stand.

I just got home, and had to dig into the Panasonic first. Its an unusual size, 45/46cm, which makes it quite marketable in my area (it may stay in the family fleet, my wife is test riding it right now). Should be a good match for my red and white Panasonic built Prologue. Very similar paint scheme. I upgraded some of the parts, using up some donor pieces from a Tempo that moved on to another lister a few weeks ago.

Strange this time is that I only saw five bikes at garage sales, and three were winners. Usually, one in ten is something decent.

Another tip on garage sales, most of the time, bikes are NOT listed in the ad (the Panasonic was the only bike in the ad, I was amazed it was still available). So if you just go to the ones that list bikes, you are going to miss most of the bikes. Second, although its great to be early at garage sales, sometimes, you can find bikes late in the day. All three of the bikes below were found at noon or later. In the case of the Masi, the seller just brought it out (garage sale was half way through its second day). So the early birds never saw it. My third tip is to look outside large metro areas. I didn't see any pickers, while where I live, the garage sales are swarming with pickers.

Here's the Panasonic, in finished condition (I need to find a better saddle):





And three of the bikes as found (no picture of the Raleigh mixte, find #4 yet):

Panasonic:



Masi Gran Corsa:



Schwinn Letour Luxe:

Good pickings, Bill!

Nice. I look on trips too, but I don't know why. I never have the space to bring anything back with me.

Great advice!

When I'm on vacation, I enjoy a break from Craigslist, ebay, garage sales, etc.! As you know, finding good bikes is hard work.

Yes, I was full up on this one. Including the three bikes I took with me, I ended up with seven in the van, plus the bike work stand, plus.... I need to take a rack with me. I had to pass on four bikes one trip because the van was already full.

Great finds! You have to have a bike carrier in the trunk of the car at all times!

Phenomenal finds, especially the Masi! Definitely always carry a rack with you, and if the bikes are not out, ask! If by any chance you are fortunate to find more bikes than you can carry in your car/van, rent a tow cart from Uhaul! I wish I could be faced with this dilemma on more than one occasion. Congratulations again! Seek and ye shall find! :-)

Flash

I usually bring a frameset or three back from family visits to Bayern.

Almost always for friends!

Its a great way to beat the "I never see anything decent in my town".

Took our daughter to college on the E coast a few years ago, with her Miyata mixte on a rack on the back of the van. Came home with the other two kids by way of Gettysburg, etc. Checked a few CLs along the way, picked up a Shogun mixte just off the highway outside Toledo. cb400bill posted here about a Miyata 210 in N Indiana ($25) which I swooped down and grabbed too.

My family's very patient with me. But this is also why they all have nice bikes.

Just store it in my garage.

Nice finds and great turnaround on that Panasonic. I was going to ask why you would upgrade the components like you did for a flip but then saw that you might hold on to it.

When I was flipping, I noticed that most people wouldn't know a 600 RD from a Light Action or even a Tourney... after one summer I started to get sick of it and and when I started to exhibit some DKO characteristics, I retired (well sort of...I still do a few higher end flips but try to only buy and sell bikes in my size). I've still got 10 or 15 low end bikes in my parents' barn I have ZERO motivation to rehab and sell.

You're headed abroad this summer, right? Will you be my friend?

Yeah, I throw the bike rack in the back when we go on road trips and I check Craigs for the areas we're going to.

So very true! On many/most bikes I have sold, buyers could care less about the grade of component. It was really all about the cosmetics.

On the question on size of the Masi, its a 59 ctc. Too bad, a 57 or less would be a keeper (like I need another keeper.....)

I've got a white WTB Deva saddle for that 'sonic. We can talk.

A Masi? What a really nice find, I need to do a road trip. I haven't found anything decent in a long while.

Nice finds! I've not yet been that lucky looking around town much less on road trips. Most of the stuff that I have seen around here is Huffy and Roadmaster and WalMart bikes, definitely not nice Panasonic or Masi bikes.

What size is the Masi?

Bill - WELL DONE!

I'm like 4ring...I rarely flip anymore, and only stuff that's very safe and very high margin. I've found that I only enjoy selling things I'd want to ride and that I'm interested in. Mostly what I like to do now is buy something interesting at below market value, keep it for a year...maybe more, maybe less, and sell it for a profit after enjoying it for a bit. Some stuff falls into the, more or less, permanent stable.