FINDING THE PHILLIPS

Finding the Phillips involved nothing more than walking down the street to a neighbourhood  Yard Sale.  Though there were no bicycles being offered, I did ask the Yard Sale host if he might happen to have an old "Ten Speed" for sale?  Asking that simple question has produced a lot of bicycles for me!  The old fellow indicated that he did and invited me to follow him.  Two Phillips bicycles appeared - the man's, presented here, and its matching sibling, a woman's step through model.  Both bicycles were great shape, however, some of the components on the man's bike were showing signs of oxidation.

Both bicycles were sold to me for a paltry sum and I spent the next five or ten minutes, walking the flat tired pair back to my daughter's house in Winnipeg.  My wife and  I were traveling across Canada when I found the Phillips.

Three or four weeks before stumbling upon the Phillips, I walked out of the Paper Mill where I had worked as an Industrial Mechanic for a very long time.  I had been forced to retire five years earlier than planned.  The company had made the ever so popular business decision to "downsize".  Though this did create difficulties, it was a relief to get out of that heat laden, chemical infested environment designed to eat the trees that someone else had already killed.

As part of my "loose your job survival program", my wife and I headed West.  I needed a break and we both wanted to visit loved ones in several different cities throughout Western Canada - Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon and finally Calgary.  These visits would be repeated on the return trip.

In addition to visiting relatives and friends, it was my plan to practice my bike hunting procedures in different cities.  If I could try fresh ground, perhaps I could find a bicycle or two that might prove interesting.  The result - twelve collectable and great old bicycles, the most impressive of which was an early nineties Pinarello that I almost kept for myself.  Other holiday finds included a Bianchi 848, Nishiki Olympic, Coventry Eagle, a mid level Miele, a higher end Miele, a Jeunet Captivante, an early eighties Mikado, and others that fail to come to mind at the moment.  The Phillips, however, and its little sister, Lady Phillips, were included in the inventory of bicycles found in other cities.

The two top finds on the trip out west were the Pinarello "Trevisio", which I built up and rode for a season or two.  The second, top find, was an eighties something Bianchi 848 which I built up, test rode and should have kept for myself.  I do want a nice Bianchi and this one, found junked in the back of an equally junked half ton truck, was probably it.  Although, I did give serious thought to keeping a much older Bianchi that I got one day for the price of being a good guy.

NEXT - BUILDING THE PHILLIPS