Today I went to the University of Maryland bike co-op to help a friend tune up her bike. As we were leaving, I noticed the guy who works there was building a fixed gear wheel. So I said to him, "Hey, fixed gear wheels, eh? I've been meaning to build a pair, but I need to get another 32-hole rim." He tells me to check under the counter, they've got a bunch of old rims...

I hunch over and look under the counter, not expecting much. There's a forlorn heap of wheels and rims. Mostly 26 inch and 27 inch. Most are single-walled and some are warped. Then, I find a nice-looking double walled rim. Yep, it's a 700C Sun CR-18 double-walled rim... drilled for 32 spokes, with hardly a sign of wear on the brake track, about the most solid rim known to mankind

Gosh, I love the bike co-op...

Well fine then *Don't* chime in and tell me what a great find that was

Don't ya just love finding free stuff when it's EXACTLY what you were looking for!

I do love it I guess it was a bit of good luck coming back at me for helping my friend tune up her bike!

Great find! (there. are ya happy?)

I wish I lived somewhere large enough to merit a co-op, though I do like driving to the city for bike swaps. My last one I got lucky and found a rigid fork for my singlespeed build. It was a Vicious Cycles fork---but the thing was, it was 425mm, meaning it was corrected for a bike with 63mm of travel. Out of date, right? Wrong. The frame I was using was a 2000 Gunnar Ruffian, the last year Gunnars were designed for 63mm travel forks!

Serendipity, baby!

Haha... thanks for humoring me Bike swaps are excellent. We have them about 3 times a year in the DC area, and I have had so many great finds... a pair of $200 Northwave shoes with pedals with $40, Sora brifters for $20, a 105 double crank for $10, lotsa good stuff.

It's great when you think the part you need is sufficiently obscure that no one would have it--like your fork--and then it pops up right in front of ya. Where are you in Wisconsin that's not big enough for a co-op? I hear that Madison has the highest rate of bike commuting of any city in the USA. DC is #4 I believe.

I'm in Eau Claire---about 3 hours north of Madison. I've hit swaps in Madison and in the St Paul/Minneapolis area.

If it had been a Mavic A719 I might have deigned to comment.

We got an old road frame and a set of wheels from a local guy through Freecycle. They weren't quite what we needed, so I passed them on to a local bike co-op. The guy there was pretty excited to see the stuff I gave him. Then he offered me (in trade?) a fairly new Rox Shox Duke fork that had been sent his way. My bf has been looking for a new fork for his mtn bike. So we were all happy.

Wow, that's a great trade eofelis! What is Freecycle?

My town, right down the road from Moxfyre, has a population of 8300 people, and it has a bike coop. Is Eau Claire smaller than 8300 people?

Excellent find, Moxfyre!

Thanks, velogirl! Where's this other bike co-op? I can't think of a town of 8300 that's anywhere near here... are you nestled in a little pristine clearing somewhere

HA! Pristine! It's getting there, now that we have a cafe! Mount Rainier, about four miles south of you on Route 1 on the DC line. Little bike coop won some sort of Maryland community award this year. Brentwood, North Brentwood, and Edmonston are even smaller, and closer to CP.

Aha, Mt Rainier. I ride through there on route 1 fairly often, but never thought of it as a small town because it's right next to DC and part of the general suburban sprawl

Aiaiaiaiaiaiai!!!!! The rim I found turns out NOT to be a 700C rim ... it has a bead seat diameter of around 605 mm or something crazy like that @#$()@*$@)#(*~!!!!!!!!!! No wonder no one had scooped it up already

Anyone have a nice 32H road rim they want to sell me cheap?

If it looks too good to be true...

Suburban sprawl? It's an early 20th century streetcar town filled with bungalows and foursquares and lots of character (and more than a few characters). I invite you to wander off Route 1 for the true MR. You're missing it. Sorry about the wheel.

Thanks, I'll do that. Any particular landmarks or attractions that I should take a look at in Mount Rainier?